Winthrop residents overwhelmingly re-elected Jim Letterie as Town Council president, along with an allied slate of council members promising a more confrontational relationship with the state and a harder-line attitude toward housing expansion.

Mr Letterie, a 20-year council member, defeated Hannah Belcher, the council’s current vice president, by about 59 percent to 41 percent among more than 4,300 votes cast, for another two-year term as Winthrop’s highest-ranking government official.

Voters chose Mr Letterie and every other Town Council candidate broadly aligned with him on a slate on matters that included keeping Winthrop among a dwindling number of municipalities in eastern Massachusetts refusing to comply with the state’s 3A housing law.

In the other town-wide council race, Kurt Millar defeated Celeste Ribeiro Hewitt by a nearly identical 59 percent to 41 percent for the governing body’s open four-year at-large seat.

In the three other contested Town Council races, Paul Reardon defeated incumbent Joseph Aiello by 56 percent to 44 percent for the Precinct 5 seat; Kim Dimes defeated Mike Kinlin by 65 percent to 35 percent to represent Precinct 2; and Joe Romano finished ahead of Betsy Shane by four votes, 349-to-345, to become the new council member from Precinct 3.

Patrick Costigan collected nearly 600 votes in an unopposed victory to remain as the Town Council member from Precinct 1.

Financial challenges

The new Town Council will take office in January at a time of growing financial pressure on Winthrop, as it copes with a new voter-approved increase in school spending and teacher contract talks, the construction of a new fire station, and rising infrastructure costs associated with sea-level rise and deteriorating underground gas and sewer lines. The uncertainties are compounded by signs that many of Winthrop’s restaurants – a leading economic sector in town – are struggling, leaving the town to assess how aggressively it wants to court new residents and business activity.

That anxiety has taken the form of an often-toxic debate over whether Winthrop should keep defying the 3A law’s requirement for additional multifamily housing zones, even though the town could satisfy the law by simply rezoning areas that already have the necessary multifamily buildings. That debate has been acknowledged on both sides as less about the actual effects of the 3A law and the state’s established right to set zoning rules, and more about desire of some residents to symbolically assert their belief that Winthrop should try to maintain a small-town feel while bordering one of the nation’s major cities.

Mr Letterie, the Town Council president for the past four years, animated that sentiment with his campaign slogan, “Keeping Winthrop Winthrop.” He also took credit during the campaign for overseeing “over 10 miles of infrastructure improvements” while raising the town’s bond rating and bringing the town’s financial reserves “to their highest point ever.”

Ms Belcher, by comparison, suggested the incumbent’s approach represented a tolerance and perpetuation of attitudes more focused on driving division over such topics as 3A at the expense of paying greater attention to the challenges involving schools and infrastructure. Winthrop suffers from having teachers who are underpaid, infrastructure needs including leaky water mains that are underfunded, and Town Council meetings that have become a “place of divisiveness,” Ms Belcher argued in a joint debate appearance with Mr Letterie on the local cable TV channel WCAT.

Mandate claimed

Shortly after the voting tallies were known Tuesday, Mr Letterie returned to WCAT to claim a mandate for his approach.

“I just think this is a clear message that the town is sending to us,” Mr Letterie said.

In other races, Kaitlin Burroughs, Shannon Kubik and Leslie Darcy – all newcomers with no on-ballot opposition – were confirmed by voters to fill three open seats on the School Committee. The Town Council president, by rule, also serves on the School Committee.

Incumbent Peter Gill defeated Erin Barcellos, by 69 percent to 31 percent, for a four-year term on Housing Authority.

Gillian Teixeira, Cynthia Hastings and Grace Kingsbury won the three available seats on the Board of Library Trustees. Ms Teixeira is the board’s current chair, while the other two will be new to the board. Bill Schmidt, with 1,547 votes, fell short of Ms Kingsbury, the third-place finisher at 1,790 votes.

The total turnout, according to initial numbers, appeared to exceed levels seen the previous two cycles in 2023 and 2021.

Ballot questions

Voters also approved two of five ballot questions. One initiative, approved by a margin of 60 percent to 40 percent, would pave the way to increase pay for Town Council members, by establishing a process for reviewing salary hikes for council members at least every two years. Town voters still would approve any suggested increases. Council members are currently paid $50 per week, with the council president paid $100, and the low pay and complicated process for changing those amounts has been cited as one among several reasons – including the sharp tone of debate in council meetings – for low levels of interest in running for public office in Winthrop.

Another ballot question, to better protect council members with repeated absences, was approved by 70 percent to 30 percent. It followed a ballot question on that topic in the previous election in 2023, when town voters agreed to subject a council member to removal after missing three consecutive meetings over the first three months. The new question makes clear that missing council members – either three consecutive absences, or half of the meetings over a three-month period – would be granted a council hearing to explain the reason for their absences. Such a council member currently needs a two-thirds vote from the full council to remain a member, and the change now requires the hearing and a two-thirds majority vote to expel.

Another ballot question, rejected 61 percent to 39 percent, would have given the Town Council president a more direct role in choosing the council’s vice president. Two other questions, also rejected, would have allowed the use of electronic messages to announce special meetings of town bodies rather than keep requiring the hand delivery of such notices.