Candidates vie for vacated seat

The Williston Selectboard has an unexpected opening this Town Meeting Day, as well as two regularly scheduled openings. Mike Isham and Ellie Beckett are both vying for election to the one remaining year of the seat that Gordon St. Hilaire vacated in December. St. Hilaire resigned after being charged with stalking and unlawful mischief in a case that remains pending in Chittenden County Criminal Court.

The Observer asked Isham and Beckett questions to help voters better understand their candidacies. We also have question-and-answer pieces with Terry Macaig and Jeanne Jensen (pages 3-4), who are running uncontested for a two-year and three-year term, respectively.

Town Meeting Day voting takes place Tuesday, March 7 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the National Guard Armory next to Town Hall, 7846 Williston Road. The town’s Annual Meeting takes place at 7 p.m. in the Williston Central School auditorium on Monday, March 6.

Describe your personal connection to the Town of Williston.

BECKETT: Growing up in Williston, graduating from Williston Central School and CVU, and choosing to live here as an adult, my roots in Williston are strong. My mother’s example of public service as our Town Clerk for 20 years shaped my life and connection to town. Community involvement was the default in our family, and I didn’t realize how special and unique that was until I got older. I’ve lived and traveled across the world but have always been certain of my desire to ultimately return to Williston to serve the community where I was raised.

Williston has its challenges; it is difficult to live here now as a young woman building my life. However, I am even more motivated to do the best I can for Williston — whether it be on the selectboard or through other channels.

Giving back to my community, listening to my fellow Willistonians and working to make the town better is fulfilling to me personally, and is a way I honor what the town and my mother have given me.

ISHAM: I’m a tenth-generation Vermonter, eighth-generation Willistonite. My grandfather was on the selectboard and my uncle Emerson Miles and George Isham Jr. worked for the town for decades.

Past Ishams served the town for decades. The Beckett/McGuire town meeting room was first dedicated to my uncle Emerson