WILTON — A father and son defeated two incumbents in Tuesday’s election, shifting representation on the Wilton Board of Selectpersons and the Regional School Unit 9 board of directors.
Nathan Hiltz won a seat on the select board, and his father, Douglas Hiltz, won a seat on the RSU 9 board.
Nathan Hiltz defeated Keith Swett, the board’s current vice chair who had served three terms on the Board of Selectpersons, and Nickolas Georgen, a member of the Comprehensive Plan Committee. Hiltz received 486 votes to Swett’s 282 and Georgen’s 38.
Douglas Hiltz defeated Amanda Caruso, who had served one three‑year term on the RSU 9 board. He won 481-388. Hiltz also ran last year, losing to Griffin Mayhew 209-146.
In uncontested races, First Selectman David Leavitt received 733 votes for a fourth three‑year term, with 18 voters writing in other names.
Angela Leclair received 761 votes to complete the remaining two years of Mayhew’s term. Sixteen voters wrote in other names. Leclair was appointed Jan. 3 to the RSU 9 board as interim school director after Mayhew died in December. He was 26.
Leavitt, 67, previously served as support services manager for Maine School Administrative District 54 after spending 33 years with RSU 9, including time as support services director. He is also a maple syrup producer, boiling 960 gallons this year.
Leclair had served 15 years on the Maine School Administrative District 9 (now RSU 9) board of directors before being reappointed to complete the first year of Mayhew’s term. The Board of Selectpersons had been split on appointing her, with Leavitt and Swett arguing for naming Douglas Hiltz instead because he had “shown interest and got votes” when he ran against Mayhew.
Leclair was backed by Selectpersons Nancy Allen, Philip Hilton and Tiffany Maiuri, winning the appointment 3-2. Neither Leavitt nor Swett nominated Douglas Hiltz.
In a twist, Swett had pushed to appoint Douglas Hiltz to serve out the first year of Mayhew’s term — and Nathan Hiltz went on to defeat Swett for the Board of Selectpersons seat.
Asked to comment on his election, Nathan Hiltz quoted Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw: “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world. The unreasonable one persists to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”
Asked about the election, Leavitt replied by email that it “will be an interesting term.”
He added: “The Hiltz family had signs everywhere, even in Jay. Hopefully, they work for what is best for Wilton.”
The Hiltzes, Caruso and Leclair all put out campaign lawn signs. The two Hiltzes’ signs read simply, “Vote Hiltz.”
Swett, who serves on the Wilton-Jay Police Collaboration Committee, is a former member of the RSU 9 board. At a candidates’ night last week, he praised the board’s cordiality, saying, “Once the vote is taken, I support it, even if I wasn’t for it.”
He added that the Wilton Board of Selectpersons works so well that “other communities come to Wilton to ask how the board keeps things so cordial.”
Douglas Hiltz, 70, has retired from the military and from the U.S. Postal Service. In Wilton, he has served on the Planning Board and worked with the committee updating the town’s parking ordinances.
Of his hopes for his time on the school board, Douglas Hiltz wrote, “I have little to no experience in regards to school board matters, but as a member of the public I realize that we’re not going to be able to gain the knowledge or experience unless we get in and get involved.”
He added: “I am looking forward to working with my fellow board members and getting involved with the discussions and having the opportunity to not only learn what goes into the decision-making but also to have the opportunity to provide my own input into the process. I intend to represent the interests of the students, the teachers and the public to the best of my ability.”
On the RSU 9 board of directors, Amanda Caruso served as chair of the Cell Phone Policy Committee, vice chair of the Personnel and Finance Committee and as a member of the Budget Committee. RSU 9 has adopted a no‑cellphone policy during school hours.
Caruso is also president of the Western Maine Play Museum board of directors. She and Joseph Caruso have four school‑age children.
