CLAREMONT — Former City Councilor Jon Stone, who narrowly lost his council seat two years ago, is running against Chris Irish, another former city councilor and former School Board member, for the Ward 3 seat in November’s city elections.
Jonathan Hayden, the Ward 3 incumbent, is not seeking a second two-year term.
Stone, a Republican, was first elected to the City Council in 2017 and served three two-year terms before losing his seat to Hayden in 2023.
Stone also is a former state representative who drew national attention when was defeated in his reelection bid in 2024, months after a judge allowed the release of his employment records as a Claremont police officer in the early 2000s.
Those records showed he had made profane threats of violence against the police chief and his fellow officers. He resigned from the department in 2007.
From Claremont, Stone went on to work as a corrections officer at the Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield, Vt., until he was fired in late 2021 for his alleged toxic behavior.
In other contested races, incumbent Mayor Dale Girard is being challenged by James Campos, and incumbent at-large Councilor William Greenrose will face Derek Ellerkamp for the Ward 2 seat.
Brian Zutter, the incumbent in Ward 2, is running for one of four at-large seats along with incumbents Nick Koloski, Wayne Hemingway and William Limoges and newcomers Christopher Cogswell and Raymond Menard.
Assistant Mayor Deb Matteau and Ward 1 Councilor Andrew O’Hearne are unopposed.
Also on the November ballot will be two proposed amendments to the city charter.
The first would remove the residency requirement for the city manager. The council voted 9-0 earlier this month to place the amendment on the ballot. Previously, the council has said it believes the pool of qualified candidates for city manager will increase without requiring the manager to live in the city. Voters rejected a similar amendment in 2022.
The second amendment would allow for a citywide referendum on proposed ordinances. Currently, no such provision exists and the authority to approve ordinances rest solely with the council.
Under the amendment — which the council voted to put on the November ballot last spring even though it could have been voted on last November — citizens would be able to propose ordinances with or without council support, and put them to a citywide vote.
If the amendment passes, referendum questions can go on the ballot once signatures of 10% of the voters in the most recent election are obtained.
The municipal election is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 4
