ROME — After the death of a Board of Selectmen member in April, Rome residents are scheduled to elect a new town official in August.

The winner will have to run for office again in seven months.

Town officials scrambled to organize the Aug. 9 special election after Board of Selectmen member Robert Hudson’s unexpected death.

Budget Committee member Philip Burnworth, 65, is the only candidate on the ballot. He did not respond to requests for an interview.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve had a vacant seat in the middle of the term, so we weren’t really sure what the outcome was going to be so close to the end of the term,” Town Clerk Julie Morrison said.

Hudson had only been on the board for a few months, and because of the one-year terms of Rome Board of Selectmen, he was up for reelection during the town’s annual election in March 2025.

Hudson was described as a man who took that to heart during his shortened first term in office.

He was elected by a margin of 16 votes in March 2023 and promptly helped construct a number of community projects, building a new pavilion outside Rome’s Community Center about a month after being sworn in.

“Bob was a really nice guy. He volunteered quite a lot, and was always willing to put in a hand to help somebody out,” Selectman Larry DiPietro Jr. said. “Being a selectman in his first year, he had a lot to learn, and he was picking it up pretty quickly. In a couple years’ time, he would’ve been a really good value to the community.”

Burnworth was the lone Rome resident to submit nomination paperwork, Morrison said. Barring a successful write-in campaign, he will win the August special election.

DiPietro said the town had received interest from other potential candidates, but few said they could dedicate the time and energy required to be a member of the Board of Selectmen.

“You’re working full time, so you have to have the desire and want to do the job,” DiPietro said. “It’s not a hobby thing, like a lot of people think it could be.”

The town’s first selectmen receives an annual salary of $6,000. The second and third selectmen are paid $5,500 each year.

Given that Rome is small, with slightly more than 1,000 residents, town officials said they are having difficulties getting more people involved in municipal politics, and Burnworth’s lone application to run for the Board of Selectmen is evidence of that.

Rome is also one of few towns to vote on each of its board members every year, so board members must mount annual campaigns if they seek to remain in office for more than one term.

It remains unclear if Burnworth will face competition when he, DiPietro and Selectwoman Kelly Archer are up for reelection in March.