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SPENCER – Responding to a citizen’s petition, Selectmen this week voted to hold a special election on December 9 asking voters two Proposition 2 ½ override questions about public safety funding.
The board unanimously approved putting the first question on the ballot. It asks for $368,390 to fund four firefighters, currently paid by a grant that runs out in February of 2027. (FY27 begins July 1, 2026).
The second ballot question asks for $150,000 to pay for the Spencer Rescue Squad contract.
Selectmen voted 4-1 to include this override request on the ballot, with Vice Chair Jonathan Viner in opposition.
The election will be held from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Town Hall.
Discussion before the first vote centered on its timing, the failed Proposition 2 ½ override votes this past spring and the town’s overall financial picture.
Viner questioned why a special election would be scheduled in December at a cost of approximately $10,000 instead of including these questions on the regular ballot next spring.
Noting funding for the firefighters expires in February 2027, he questioned the timing as well as a lack of board discussion about the overall budget.
Viner asked why the board is not talking about funding emergency services in the budget or “other changes going forward.”
The uncertainty about their future employment has contributed to the loss of three career firefighters and five on-call firefighters over the past six months, according to Fire Chief Bob Parsons.
Selectman Ralph Hicks said there is no money in the operating budget to fund the firefighters “unless you want to close something.” As examples, Hicks referred to reducing Town Hall hours back down to three days per week instead of three and a half and impacts to library and senior center services.
“(These) are dreadful cuts people are not going to like. You can live in this town at your peril if you need the fire department or ambulance services,” he added.
“Operating on a shoestring budget,” Hicks said, would continue to result in staff leaving. The previous override failed, Hicks believes, because the questions, totaling $1.3 million, included mandatory school funding and requests for new positions in the police and highway departments.
Selectman Gary Woodbury said following the previous Proposition 2 ½ failure, the police and fire chiefs said they were not going to pursue another one.
Woodbury said he was the only board member to question what would happen to the four firefighter positions when grant funding ran out after three years.
He said the town has been relying on free cash to balance the budget and no matter what happens, there are going to be cuts. “We’re not out of the woods,” Woodbury added.
Viner said although he does not disagree with the “seriousness of the matter,” it is difficult to ignore the 1,000 voters who said `no’ last time. “Are they not as worthy as the 300 people who signed the petition?”
Hicks responded it is a different request this time, “to keep what we’ve got to keep safe.”
Woodbury noted that approximately 300 people think the issue is important. “Our job is to do what the voters ask us to do.”
Selectman John Howard said Spencer has 8,000 registered voters. With the safety issue on the ballot, he noted, “maybe another 2,000 will say yes.”
Chair Jared Grigg said he liked to see citizens being proactive, as with the petition. Grigg said he regretted the decision to “lump together,” various requests on the last override attempt. “Let the people decide,” he said.
Rescue Squad question raises concerns about RFP process
Town Administrator Jeff Bridges noted Requests for Proposals were out for emergency services—with responses due in November. The long lead time was given, Bridges said, because whoever provides the services must secure a location in town.
Viner said it would be “irresponsible” to put the Spencer Rescue Squad funding on the ballot as it “prejudices the process,” for other bidders. “That’s poor business practice. It sends a horrible message,” Viner said.
“If I’m a respondent and see (we) are asking for a bid and also doing an override for a specific entity…That’s bad faith,” he added.
Both Viner and Woodbury said the board and fire and police chiefs had put a lot of time and effort into developing the RFP and questioned what would happen if another bidder comes in lower.
“The question may fail,” Hicks said. “No one has said to me, `I hope we get a new ambulance company,’ of the people who called me.”
Bridges warned Selectmen to discontinue those types of comments.
“I caution the board on expressing biases toward RFP respondents,” he said.
Selectmen then voted 4-1 to put the item on the Dec. 9 ballot.