Roberts Weighing Recount Options, 'Disappointed' After Election Loss

The difference between winning a fifth term on the Dedham School Committee and bringing that career to an end was four votes.

And now Dave Roberts, who came in fourth in , will decide if he will petition Town Clerk Paul Munchbach for a recount of the 1,908 votes.

"It's in my thought process right now, but I haven't made a final decision," Roberts said in a phone interview Sunday afternoon. "I need to talk to some close friends about that."

Three incumbents - Kevin Coughlin, Joe Heisler and Dave Roberts - looked like shoe-ins for the three open seats for most the election season's seven weeks, but in the final week, a to elect Jennifer Barsamian as a write-in candidate.

with 784 votes. Coughlin finished with the most votes, and Heisler finished four votes ahead of Roberts.

"What I'm disappointed in is that there was no opprotunity - as there has in the past - for dialogue between candidates," Roberts said.

When there has been a contested race in the past, organizations hosted candidate nights, giving voters a chance to hear a candidate's vision, goals and accomplisments.

Without a contested School Committee race until the final week of the campaign season, those nights didn't happen.

"It allowed a forum for people to make a decision based on what they hear and what they see. This was not part of this process this time," Roberts said.

Roberts said he respected the descision of the voters who went to the polls.

"The electoral process took its course," Roberts said. "The electorate speaks, and we all have to respect that."

If this is the end to his School Committee service, Roberts said he will be proud of what he helped accomplish - construction of a new , a and a to name a few.

"And if [my service] continues, I will continue to be proud of it," he said. "I can hold my head up high."