The recall drives were started by people who said they were responding to votes taken against keeping Francis Fox as police chief.
Attempts to recall Belchertown selectmen George Archible, left, and Kenneth Elstein, right, failed Monday night, but voters recalled Selectman James Barry, center, from the final hours of his current term and then chose Brenda Aldrich over Barry in his bid for re-election.BELCHERTOWN – Selectmen Kenneth E. Elstein and George D. Archible fought back recall drives in the town election Monday and will stay in their positions, but James A. Barry, the third selectman who voted in February against keeping Police Chief Francis R. Fox Jr. on the job was defeated in his re-election bid by Brenda Q. Aldrich.
Barry was recalled from the final hours of his current term and then was defeated by Aldrich in a scheduled election for his seat. The vote to recall Barry was 1,182 in favor to 1,155 against.
In the regularly scheduled election for a three-year term on the Board of Selectmen, Aldrich won the seat with 1,157 votes to Barry's 1,017. Curtis B. Carroll received 126 votes.
"I knew it would be close,'' Aldrich said after the results were announced Monday night in the Belchertown High School gymnasium. "Now the work begins.''
Residents voted 1,244 to 1,069 against a proposal to recall Elstein, whose term expires in 2012, and 1,312 to 1,013 against a recall of Archible, whose term ends in 2013.
The election drew 2,398 of Belchertown's 9,295 registered voters, or 25.8 percent, a turnout that is higher than annual town elections typically produce.
The recall drives were started by people who said they were responding to the votes taken initially against keeping Fox on as police chief, but Elstein and Archible changed positions on that issue and a new contract was offered to and accepted by Fox, who has agreed to stay on as chief of police through 2014.
In the only other contested item on the ballot Monday, residents voted 1,429 to 576 in favor of a proposal to eliminate the excise tax on animals and equipment at working farms in town.
Elstein called the election results bittersweet, expressing thanks for the voters keeping him on the Board of Selectmen but disappointment that Barry will be leaving the board after six years as a selectman and several years before that of town government service.
"Jim Barry has been a towering figure in Belchertown,'' Elstein said.
"I am very glad that I won and that Archie won, but this is now a time to mend and a time to heal,'' Elstein said.
Archible, who was elected to public office for the first time just a year ago, said that even though he won the votes to stay on the Board of Selectmen, going through the process of a recall hurts.
"You should not be recalled on something you did which is not against the law,'' Archible said. "Even after this, I am still not at liberty to tell the people what I want to tell them (about his decisions on the police chief position),'' Archible said.
Selectmen Chairman Ronald E. Aponte, who was not up for election this year or subject to a recall drive, said the process was divisive for the town.
"Hopefully after today Belchertown can pull together,'' Aponte said.
"As for the three selectmen who were subject to the recall drive, I never saw it affect their decisions or their work. It had to be weighing on their minds, but they did their jobs. They were professional,'' Aponte said.
Aldrich and some leaders of the recall efforts said the process resulted in bringing out an unusually high turnout for a town election.