Newcomers Tony Weeg and Matt Stoehr, incumbent Jay Knerr assume roles Oct. 13
By Tara Fischer
Staff Writer
(Oct. 1, 2026) With no contested races this year, Berlin’s municipal election has officially been cancelled. The three candidates who filed for the three available Town Council seats will assume their posts later this month.
On Oct. 13, Berlin Planning Commission Chair Matthew Stoehr will take over the council’s District 1 seat; We Heart Berlin founder Tony Weeg will take over the District 4 seat; and incumbent Jay Knerr will serve another term to the at-large position.
Stoehr is replacing current Councilman Steve Green. Green was elected to the Worcester County Commissioners this summer and will leave his Berlin council seat this week.
As he is unopposed in the November general election, Green (an editor with this publication) will be sworn in as the county board’s District 4 representative Dec. 1.
Weeg will step into the council position held by Vice President Dean Burrell, who is retiring after 32 years as a council member.
The regular candidate filing for Berlin’s election closed in early September with no additional contestants.
Residents had one more chance to throw their hats in the electoral ring as a write-in candidate, but that deadline came and went last week without any takers.
No additional filers means the municipal election scheduled for Oct. 6 has been scrapped, and Stoehr, Weeg, and Knerr have been declared as Town of Berlin councilmembers.
Stoehr has served on Berlin’s Planning Commission since 2019, including the past two and a half years as chair.
The owner of Mast Contracting, a home remodeling company, he has identified open communication with residents and development within the town’s existing boundaries as priorities.
Stoehr also opposes annexation as a way for the town to grow, saying he would rather see vacant properties within Berlin developed for commercial, residential, or mixed-use purposes.
Weeg, who founded the nonprofit We Heart Berlin, ran in a 2020 special election and sought the District 4 seat in 2022.
A photographer and videographer who also works in software development, Weeg has proposed making town government records more accessible through a searchable database of past meetings.
He has also emphasized reviewing the town’s property tax rate earlier in the budget process, improving pedestrian and bicycle connectivity, and preserving Berlin’s eastern side from development encroachment.
Knerr joined the council in 2020 following the resignation of then-councilman-at-large Thom Gulyas and won a full term in 2022.
During his tenure, Knerr has highlighted efforts to maintain a stable property tax rate, support infrastructure improvements, and preserve Berlin’s historic character. He has also pointed to the redevelopment of the former chicken-processing plant at Heron Park and plans for a community center at the former Flower Street School site as important municipal projects.
The three council members will each serve four-year terms.
Additionally, officials this week announced a location change for October’s Town Council meetings. Rather than the Berlin Library, mayor and council gatherings this month have been relocated to the Buckingham Presbyterian Church.