Collier, Revis-Plank win in Milton
A tight three-way race in Milton ended with John Collier and Lee Revis-Plank as the winners for two Milton Town Council seats in the March 6 municipal election.
While Collier was the top vote-getter with 252 tallies, Revis-Plank held off Allen Sangree by 13 votes, 239 to 226. Former Councilman Emory West finished fourth in the race with 99 votes.
Collier and Revis-Plank will take their seats at town council’s Monday, April 5 meeting and begin serving three-year terms.
“I thought it was a well-done race where everybody was nice to everybody; everybody was cooperative, it was just a nice campaign,” Revis-Plank said.
Both new council members said they were looking forward to addressing issues facing the town.
“There’s been so much that has been lingering since the pandemic began. Hopefully we can get started on moving some of these things, because there is a whole lot of things facing this town in the next three years,” Collier said.
Revis-Plank said completing the town’s $1.67 million water main project – which will replace mains on Atlantic Avenue, Chestnut Street and Atlantic Street – and keeping the town’s financial situation on track are two of her big priorities.
For Collier, this term represents a second opportunity on council; he left during his first term five years ago to become the town’s project coordinator, a position he retired from in April 2020.
“I left the council in order to learn how to serve the council and how to serve the citizens. That five-year period I spent was the smartest thing I ever did. Now I feel like I understand this town from soup to nuts. Before, I only knew it from the councilman’s perspective. I’ve learned a lot and I still have a lot to learn,” he said.
Revis-Plank becomes the second woman to be elected to the council in the last two years; Councilwoman Randi Meredith was elected in 2020. A member of the town’s Historic Preservation Committee and formerly an interim director at Milton Historical Society, Revis-Plank said it was exciting that two women are now on the council.
“It ‘s exciting that the public has more confidence in women, and that women are more active and have more ownership. It’s a great opportunity to have a partnership with another woman,” she said.
Most voters in Milton cast their votes via in-person voting machines. In order to maintain social distancing protocols, much like the January water main referendum, the town held the election at the larger Goshen Hall instead of Town Hall.
Collier’s vote broke down to 231 machine votes and 21 absentee votes. Revis-Plank had 206 machine votes and 33 absentee votes, while Sangree had 213 machine votes and 13 absentee votes. Only 35 percent of Milton residents cast a ballot; the town has 1,215 registered voters, with 427 casting a vote.
Collier and Revis-Plank will take seats that had been held by Kevin Kelly and Charlie Fleetwood. Kelly declined to run for another term and Fleetwood resigned in December due to health issues.
