By Carol Britton Meyer

Sixteen elected town officials have terms expiring in 2023, including members of the school committee, select board, and the Hull Redevelopment Authority.

Depending upon the decisions of the incumbents, and whether other citizens step forward to run for office, the town could see an active election season this May. The HRA, school committee and select board have several important issues and decisions to make in the coming year.

The select board will be conducting a search for a new town manager to replace Philip Lemnios, who is retiring in at the end of June, the school committee appears to be on the cusp of deciding whether to consolidate the three schools following completion of the Best Educational Use of School Facilities study by the MARS Group, and the HRA is in the midst of finalizing a draft Urban Renewal Plan.

Nomination papers for the Monday, May 15, election will be available in the town clerk’s office in February, according to Town Clerk Lori West.

An informal poll of school committee and select board members with terms expiring this year produced mixed results, as the incumbents shared their thoughts about whether they intend to run for re-election with The Hull Times.

School Committee member Ernest Minelli plans to pull nomination papers for a second term.

“A near-term goal would be to ensure a smooth transition as we resolve the pertinent details related to the best educational use of our school facilities,” he said.

Colleague member Stephanie Peters, who has served on the school committee for 17 years, said she is “undecided” about another term.

Select board member Donna Pursel said she plans to run for re-election and would be “honored to serve another term on the board if given the opportunity.”

She said she has “really enjoyed my first term serving on the select board and have learned a lot. As a board, we’ve started projects and communication around affordable housing, coastal resiliency, the draft HRA Urban Renewal Plan, and of late, the search for a new town manager.”

Select board member Domenico Sestito is doing what he said he always does when he is facing this kind of decision.

“I evaluate whether to seek re-election and make a final decision around the January-February timeframe,” he said. “So at this point, I am still evaluating.”

Other incumbents with expiring terms include:

Housing Authority (five-year term): Jim Richman

Assessors (three-year term): Pamela Sinton-Coffman and Mario Peter Grieco

Light Board (three-year term): Patrick Cannon; Jake Vaillancourt

Planning Board (five-year term): Joseph Duffy, Harry Hibbard, and Jim Pitrolo (who was recently appointed to fill a vacancy until the upcoming election).

Hull Redevelopment Authority (five-year term): Henry Dunn and Max Walder, who also was appointed recently to fill a vacancy.

Library Trustee (three-year term): Ceila Nolan and Gail Saitow.

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