Nominate a Mayor of Dedham Candidate and Help Local Charities

Update: The nomination period is now closed. Thank you for your suggestions. We will launch the voting phase of the Mayor of Dedham election in the next couple days.

We at Dedham Patch are teaming up with the to revive the Mayor of Dedham - with a couple of twists.

As in the past, we're looking for someone who screams Dedham, is proud of the town and is involved. It could be someone who volunteers their time, a member of the business community, a teacher or educator or anyone who is involved in the community. You know who makes this community great and we want to hear about them!

That's where you come in. We are asking readers to make suggestions for who you think should be honored as Mayor of Dedham.

We do have two rules. First, anyone who is a current office holder cannot become the Mayor. This means no members of the Board of Selectmen, Finance Committee or Planning Board, for example, nor can the Town Administrator, Town Clerk, Treasurer, etc. cannot be nominated. Members of un-elected volunteer boards and Town Meeting members can be nominated.

For example, Peter Reynolds could be in the running (it's his twin brother that's the selectman), or Marie-Louise Kehoe since she is a former selectman.

Secondly, our most important rule is to keep it positive. After we get nominations we are going to ask people to vote and comment why they think their candidate should be elected. We ask readers to offer any positive thoughts on their nominee but to refrain from posting anything negative about any of the other candidates. Any negative comments will be deleted.

And finally, the top two nominees after the voting phase is over, will then get out the vote, asking friends and family for $1 per vote. The person with the most votes after a month of campaigning will win.

And that, is our final twist to this tradition. The winner will split the fund-raised cash between the Parks and Recreation Department and a charity of their choosing.

As we move forward, we will provide more details, but for now, all we want are nominees. Who do you think should be Mayor of Dedham? Let us know your nominations in the comments section below