Chelmsford Starts to Rebuild

After a victory for selectmen and Choose Chelmsford in yesterday's officials and residents on both sides of the issue say today is a day to move on and start fresh.

"I am obviously disappointed; however, the voters have spoken and it's done.  The Board of Selectmen need to be mindful that a 60-40 split was by no means a landslide and that over 3,000 voters would have removed them from office," said Richard McClure, a pro-recall resident and local lawyer who worked with lead petitioner Roland Van Liew throughout the campaign.

"Chelmsford is a great town and I can't help but believe the town is better off from this election. Vote No folks were well-organized, cordial to me personally, and fought a hard fight; neither side will convince the other, but the town needs to put this behind them, learn from it, and move forward," said McClure.

After the election, Town Manager Paul Cohen said he was relieved and now the town will resume regular business. There are matters that need to be attended to, such as the start of , and a

But Cohen said he doesn't think Roland Van Liew will stop with his political mailings anytime soon.

"There's no indication he's going away, he's been on this crusade for four years," said Cohen.

Choose Chelmsford organizers say the group will continue to organize and bring out the good in town.

“There has been a lot of discussion about having Choose Chelmsford stay intact in some capacity – either under this name or another – as concerned citizens who care about our town and want others to be informed about issues that impact our community," said Co-Chairs Stefani Bush and Angelo Taranto in a statement. "We are still riding the wave of last night’s election results and haven’t discussed the particulars yet, but it’s safe to say that the people of Chelmsford will continue to look out for the best interest of our town.”

Bush and Taranto also said they hope Van Liew will move on.

"We would like to think that Roland Van Liew will respect the outcome of last night’s election results and, along with Judge Gordon Piper’s ruling on Friday, put 9 North Road and allegations of corruption and graft behind him," they said. "If he does not, then we  think he’ll find that the voters are through talking about it and want to move onto other issues.  Either way, our town officials and members of the community, such as those who were against the recall effort, are available to answer any questions the voters might have – not through Mr. Van Liew as a self-appointed conduit – but directly from each concerned citizen.”

"If there was one thing we wished 40% of yesterday’s voters took advantage of was the opportunity to ask questions of our selectmen, town manager or any of us working against the recall rather than base their vote on one side of the story," said Bush and Taranto in a statement.