Kate Seckinger is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media four candidates are competing to fill two open seats on the Chatham Town Board. Highway superintendent Joseph Rickert, and town clerk and tax collector Beth Anne Rippel, both incumbents, are running unopposed. Newcomer Michael Blasl and incumbent Henry Swartz Jr. are running on the Republican, Conservative and Independence lines; incumbent John Wapner and newcomer Ken Weldon are running on the Democract and Chatham Citizens Party lines. Blasl has been a resident of Chatham for 13 years. He is a funeral director at French, Gifford, Preiter & Blasl Funeral Home and has served as a Columbia County coroner for three years. Swartz is seeking his third consecutive term on the Chatham Town Board. A native of Niverville, he has lived in Chatham for 40 years. He is a plumber at his Valatie-based business Hatfield-Joyce Inc. Wapner hopes to be elected to his first, four-year term on the board. He has held a seat on the board since Chatham Town Supervisor Maria Lull appointed him to serve out the remainder of her term when she was elected supervisor in 2015. Wapner has lived in Chatham for 40 years. Weldon has been a resident of Chatham for nearly 20 years. He works as an interior designer and owns Weldon Design based out of East Chatham and is a board member of the Society of New Concord. Polls are open 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 7. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.