HATFIELD — Julia Frisby, a member of the town’s Comprehensive Plan Committee who campaigned for the Select Board based on creating a “happier Hatfield” and listening to all residents, decisively won a three-year seat at town election Tuesday.
Collecting just over 63% of the two-way vote against fellow candidate Jason Yagodzinski, Frisby will replace Greg Gagnon on the three-member board. Gagnon opted against seeking another term.
The tally for the only contested election on the ballot was 546 to 319.
A self-described mid-career mother, Frisby has been chairing a successor committee to Hatfield 2040 to implement the work of that panel.
In the campaign, Frisby said she understands the flood zone impacts on town center and climate change on farmers, and the possible zoning changes needed to accommodate more housing.
The town’s housing shortage, she said, makes it harder to bring young families to Hatfield and increase enrollment in the town’s schools.
Of the 2,793 voters, 874 cast ballots, for a turnout of 31%. By early evening, Town Clerk Alaina Wilcox said voting had been fairly steady throughout the day, starting at 7 a.m., and that the turnout would surpass 2025’s election, when there was also a contested election for Select Board. That election, though, also had two Proposition 2½ override questions, one a general for around-the-clock fire and ambulance coverage and the other a debt exclusion for projects at the schools.
Both Frisby and Yagodzinski, who had lawn signs throughout town, spent most of the day on a grassy area in front of Smith Academy Park, positioned far enough from the polls but still able to speak to voters.
With record-breaking warm temperatures, the candidates both set up canopies to offer some shade to themselves and their supporters and had plenty of fluids to stay hydrated.
Frisby said it had been a long campaign, but she got out Tuesday afterr seeing her daughter off to school. Still, she was happy the campaign was winding down.
Yagodzinski said his interest in seeking the position was mostly due to property tax bills continuing to increase, observing that his 94-year-old grandmother is on a fixed income and yet has to pay for each year.
He said that several projects around town haven’t been fully explained, such as the new salt shed on Elm Court that is now being converted into a garage.
While there were no other contested elections, two residents will be joining the School Committee for the first time. They are Nancy M. Potvin of Gore Avenue, who won a three-year seat, and Tania V. Menz of Bridge Street, who won a two-year seat. They will join incumbent Christy L. Boudreau of Main Street, who has been the committee’s chairwoman and earned another three-year term.
Other incumbents who won reelection were Douglas C. Finn of King Street for a five-year term on the Planning Board; James A. Lavallee Sr. of North Hatfield Road for a three-year term on the Board of Assessors; Marsha L. Humphrey of North Street for a three-year term on library trustees; Jonathan W. Bardwell of Main Street for a three-year term on the Cemetery Commission; Timothy J. Menz of Bridge Street for a three-year term on the Board of Health; Alaina E. Wilcox of Nolan Circle for a three-year term as town clerk, and also for a one-year term as elector under the Oliver Smith Will; and Robert E. Betsold of Pantry Road for a three-year term as moderator.
With no candidates on the ballot for a five-year term on the Housing Authority, Leanne Visnaskas of Bridge Street earned that spot by receiving 24 of the 143 write-in ballots cast.
