Results from the April 3 election show that all four candidates for the Board of Selectmen were genuine contenders, representing a cross-section of voters with distinct voices on the issues facing Harvard.

A large majority of Town Meeting voters agreed the town should spend $25,000 to audit the operations and expenditures of the schools’ special education program, but only after defeating two amendments that would have reduced the role of the school board in overseeing the audit.

Five Devens residents, including this reporter, attended Harvard’s Annual Town Meeting last Saturday. Last year, 18 Devens residents attended Town Meeting. One reason for the lower Devens turnout this year might be that Devens residents were not included in the townwide mailing of the Annual Town Meeting warrant.

A fire that broke out at midnight in a four-unit apartment house on Beacon Street in Westford destroyed the home of Harvard Elementary School custodian Matt Gintner last Wednesday, March 4. The fire also took the life of Gintner’s 21-year-old sister-in-law, Suzanne St. Gelais.

A home rule petition to grant a property tax exception for registering affordable accessory apartments passed at Town Meeting, authorizing the selectmen to ask the state legislature to grant the petition.