After special election, another Bellingham Select Board member resigns. What happened

Tom Benoit, The Milford Daily News
·3 min read

BELLINGHAM — A second special election could be in store for Bellingham after the resignation of another Select Board member.

On Tuesday, the Town Clerk's Office confirmed that Kelly Grant had resigned from the five-member Select Board on Aug. 31.

In her resignation letter, Grant said she has been appointed to a leadership position in an unnamed municipality. Grant was forced to resign from the Bellingham Select Board because her new position requires that she not also hold an elected position.

"Although this is an amazing opportunity, and one that I have been working towards for some time, I am still very sad to be ending my service to Bellingham," Grant wrote in the letter, which was provided to the Daily News by Town Clerk Larry Sposato.

Bellingham Town Hall, April 28, 2023.
Bellingham Town Hall, April 28, 2023.

Sposato said the town has not yet discussed the possibility of a special election to fill Grant's spot on the five-seat Select Board.

The news comes less than a week after the town held a special election to replace former Select Board member Cynthia McNulty, who resigned in May. In the Aug. 29 election, former Town Clerk Ann Odabashian defeated School Committee member Jennifer Altomonte, 741-648. About 11% of Bellingham's 12,705 registered voters cast ballots.

Odabashian will serve through next June, when McNulty's term ends.

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Grant, who did not respond to requests for comment, was first elected to the Select Board in 2020. She was reelected to a second three-year term in May.

Grant has also served on the town's Finance Committee, Capital Planning Committee and Master Plan Committee. She was honored last year as a Heroine of Massachusetts by the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women.

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While it remains unclear whether another special election will take place to fill Grant's seat, Altomonte has already announced her intention to run again.

"It has come to our attention that Select Board member Grant has accepted employment within a nearby municipal government," Altomonte wrote on her Facebook page last Friday. "As a result of such, Ms. Grant has sent a letter resigning effective September 4th.

Bellingham School Committee member Jennifer Altomonte, shown with her son, says she will make another run for Select Board if the town holds a special election. Select Board member Kelly Grant resigned last weekend.
Bellingham School Committee member Jennifer Altomonte, shown with her son, says she will make another run for Select Board if the town holds a special election. Select Board member Kelly Grant resigned last weekend.

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"If the current board decides to have another special election, I will run to fill such a vacancy. If the Select Board decides not to hold a special election, it is my intention to run again in the spring."

Altomonte did not respond to requests for comment. But last month, during her previous Select Board campaign, Altomonte described herself as a "serial volunteer" to the Daily News.

"There was an open seat and I wanted to elevate my level of service at some point and I felt like it was the right time for the next level," she said at the time.

"I really want to be a strong partner with other boards and departments," said Altomonte, who chaired Bellingham's 300th Anniversary Committee. "I worked hard for what I do, and I expect to bring empathy and compassion to the seat."

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Bellingham Select Board member has to step down due to conflict