By Seth Daniel
Councillor Matt Frank has announced he will not seek re-election in District 3, leaving former Councillor Joe Perlatonda without an opponent.
This week, as the City Election ballot is being finalized, with Nomination Papers due on Tuesday, Councillor Matt Frank of District 3 made the announcement that he will not be running for re-election.
Nomination Papers were required to be submitted to the City Clerk by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, and the office was still verifying signatures as of Wednesday afternoon. At that time, it appeared that contested races would take place in District 1, District 2, District 5, District 6, District 7, and District 8.
However, District 3 will not have a contested race, as Councillor Matt Frank has decided to step down, leaving former Councillor Joe Perlatonda as the sole candidate.
Frank stated that his decision was recent and was influenced by his work in Dorchester. He mentioned that the difficulty of balancing his work schedule, which requires him to attend meetings on Mondays and community events, was a factor in his choice.
“After dealing with the Council job and my regular job simultaneously for awhile now, I haven’t really been able to balance the two,” he said. “I had to make a decision and I had to go with the one that pays the bills…The biggest thing is getting back and forth to Chelsea from my work.”
With Frank’s withdrawal, former District 5 Councillor Joe Perlatonda will now run unopposed. There had been interest in the potential race between the two, as they were not on good terms when they served together on the Council several years ago. Perlatonda left the Council two years ago and has since moved to Clinton Street, where he currently resides.
The most competitive races are expected to be in District 1 and District 8.
Candidates who have submitted nomination papers in District 1 include former City Clerk Bob Bishop, Collaborative organizer Sylvia Ramirez, Planning Board member Todd Taylor, and School Committeeman Shawn O’Regan.
As of press time, only Bishop and Ramirez had been certified, though the others were anticipated to qualify.
District 1 is an open seat, as Councillor Paul Murphy had previously announced that he would not be running for re-election.
In District 8, political newcomer Zaida Ismatul Oliva, former At-Large Councillor Calvin Brown, and Jermaine Williams have all qualified for the ballot and will be competing for the open seat. Councillor Dan Cortell had earlier this summer announced that he would not be seeking re-election.
In District 2, Soldiers’ Home resident and attorney Olivia Anne Walsh will be running against incumbent Councillor Luis Tejada, both of whom are certified and on the ballot.
In District 5, Councillor Judith Garcia will be facing challenger Henry Wilson. Both candidates are certified and ran against each other in the last City Election.
In District 6, Councillor Giovanni Recupero will be competing against newcomer Kristofer Haight, who is focused on issues such as public transportation but is not well known in the community. Haight has not yet been certified for the ballot, while Recupero has.
In District 7, Councillor Yamir Rodriguez will be facing License Board member Mark Rossi.
In District 4, Councillor Enio Lopez will be running unopposed.
All three at-large candidates, Roy Avellaneda, Leo Robinson, and Damali Vidot, will also be running without any opposition in the election. All three have been certified for the ballot.
Bobby Pereira will not seek re-election
Another unexpected development came as School Committeeman Bobby Pereira announced on Tuesday that he will not be seeking re-election.
Pereira, who is one of the few consistent members of a School Committee that has struggled with attendance and achieving a quorum, was expected to win re-election easily.
Pereira, who represents District 5 on the Committee, explained that his decision was influenced by the fact that he and his wife, Shirley, are expecting their first child.
“I must withdraw myself from the race because I will be given the greatest gift of all in about six months,” he said. “I found out very recently that my wife is nearly three months pregnant with our first child. I will be moving from district 5, and do not want to be elected to serve a district I am not going to live in for much longer… As for now, I need to focus on my child and their needs. I was gearing up for election season but last week when we were given the news I was faced with a choice. All my life I wanted to be a Dad and now I have my chance.”