Hadley voters convened on May 8 to consider crucial town votes, particularly whether and how much we should raise our taxes. Being present afforded me the opportunity to thank the leaders of our first responders, Police Chief Michael Mason and Fire Chief Michael Spanknebel. I had good reason to express my appreciation because on April 22 our first responders bundled me off to the emergency room. I heard their voices as they did so, but I didn’t see any of it because I was too sick to open my eyes. Many, many thanks for your quick, professional and caring response.
At the same May 8 meeting I was pleased that voters followed the Select Board’s recommendation and said “yes” to all three budget articles. In doing so we took important steps forward. We avoided sending our schools back to FY19 funding levels. We demonstrated respect to several town departments by providing them at least the basic funding needed to operate town government. And, most importantly, we started on the path to rebuilding our Fire Department. As voters our work is not yet over! I’m calling on all of my fellow Hadley voters to show up at the polls on June 2 because we need a second ballot vote to finalize what was achieved on May 8.
I’ll close with this reflection. While our Select Board voted unanimously in favor of all three budget articles, four of our five Finance Committee members were opposed to the third article which brings the total override request to $1.5 million. I listened carefully, in person, to many of the Finance Committee meetings. The overwhelming rationale for opposition to the larger amount was the voters simply would not support that request.
Meanwhile, in attending the Select Board meetings, the frequent refrain was to make a judgement based upon what is needed to run the town and to leave it up to the voters to make the judgment as to whether that amount is acceptable. We will soon find out if voters will affirm the override votes of May 8. I sincerely hope we do.
Bill Ennen
Hadley