DANVERS — There could be Bettencourts in high elected office in both Danvers and Peabody.
Richard Bettencourt Jr. has pulled nomination papers seeking one of the two three-year terms on the Board of Selectmen up for grabs in the May Town Election. His cousin, Ted Bettencourt, was elected last fall as the mayor of Peabody.
Bettencourt, who moved to Danvers 61/2 years ago, is seeking to unseat either Bill Clerk or Gardner Trask, who have both served two terms.
Clark, the owner of Clark Farm and a former teacher in Topsfield and Danvers, has returned his papers.
Trask, who said he intends to return his papers, is a software project manager who serves on the board of the Danvers Family Festival. He is a member of the River Committee and chairman of the Affordable Housing Committee.
Bettencourt's father, Richard Bettencourt Sr., was a Peabody police officer for 36 years.
Bettencourt works as a managing partner in a family-owned mortgage company and manages a branch on Maple Street. Bettencourt graduated from Peabody High in 1993 and the University of New Hampshire in 1998.
In other races, School Committee member Bill Bates has said he does not plan to run for re-election. There are two three-year terms up for grabs.
Alan Vervaeke and Manuel Lopes, who have both run in the past, have pulled papers.
Vervaeke, an applications database administrator, ran three years ago for the school board against Bates and incumbent Connie Pawlak. He has served as a Town Meeting member, is the co-chairman of the Danvers Special Education Parent Advisory Committee, and was a member of the Groton-Dunstable Regional School Committee.
Lopes was an assistant principal at Chelsea High last year when he ran for the school board. A native of Lisbon, Portugal, Lopes grew up in Belmont, and he lived in Everett before moving to Danvers several years ago. He's a former math teacher and school technology director and a longtime youth soccer coach.
Pawlak is a retired principal of Concord Middle School who would be seeking her third term. She's a former art teacher and assistant principal at Hamilton-Wenham Regional High.
Also on the ballot are a one-year term for moderator, a post presently filled by Patricia Fraizer, and three, three-year terms for library trustee, with Glenn Dagley, Clarence R. Lyons III and Mary Beth Verry pulling nomination papers. Lyons has already returned his.
There is also a single five-year term open for the Housing Authority.
Nomination papers must be returned by March 13. Townwide office seekers must get 50 signatures, and new Town Meeting members must get 10. Town Meeting incumbents can sign a letter of their intention to run without having to get signatures. There are 18 open seats in each of the town's eight precincts due to redistricting after the 2010 U.S. Census.
Ethan Forman can be reached at 978-338-2673, eforman@ salemnews.com or on Twitter @DanverSalemNews.
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