DEERFIELD — Residents overwhelmingly voted down two overrides and elected write-in candidate Alison “Ali” Wilson-Pierce in a landslide to serve on the Deerfield Elementary School Committee at the polls on Tuesday.
After Deerfield annual Town Meeting voters rejected both overrides on the ballot on May 11, they were also voted down at Tuesday’s election.
The first override called for $103,253 to fund the South County Senior Center’s relocation to a 12,000-square-foot office building at 112 Amherst Road in Sunderland.
To pass, the relocation required approval from Sunderland, Deerfield and Whately. After Sunderland voters approved the move at their Annual Town Meeting and town election in April, Deerfield’s defeat of the override at Town Meeting and the polls has stopped the proposed move in its tracks. Deerfield rejected the override at the ballot box by an overwhelming majority, with 178 votes for it and 864 against.
The other override called for $400,000 to fund an increase in the South County EMS budget. According to South County EMS Chief Joshua Sparks, the purchase of a $325,000 ambulance, which Deerfield voters approved at the October Special Town Meeting, led to this increase, along with cost-of-living adjustments, health insurance rates and “indirect costs to the town of Deerfield.”
On Tuesday, 337 residents voted for this override, less than half of the 702 votes rejecting it.
The override would have folded Deerfield’s assessment for the South County EMS budget into its fiscal year 2027 town budget instead of using free cash, as has been the case in the past. Describing the override at the May 11 Annual Town Meeting, Selectboard member Tim Hilchey said the state Department of Revenue recommends towns not pay for “critical expenses” like EMS with free cash due to free cash often shifting.
With voters having rejected the override, the town will continue to draw from free cash to cover the $400,000 increase in FY27, according to Town Administrator Christopher Dunne.
Write-in candidate secures School Committee seat
The open three-year seat on the Deerfield Elementary School Committee prompted Wilson-Pierce and David Wemhoener to launch write-in campaigns, with 144 writing in Wilson-Pierce’s name and 25 voters writing in Wemhoener’s.
Wilson-Pierce, a mother of two young children, decided to campaign for a spot on the committee about two weeks ago when she heard about the vacancy.
“I would like to get more involved in town politics, and this felt like the best decision possible for me, because so much of my energy and passion is around parenting and the school system,” Wilson-Pierce said. “I really care about the community, and I really want to get to know my neighbors more, and it’s a great way to be of service and be involved.”
Wilson-Pierce and Wemhoener spent Tuesday standing outside Deerfield Town Hall chatting with voters about issues on their minds.
“It was a pretty inspiring day,” Wilson-Pierce, 39, said. “It felt like a real example of our local politics and democracy at its best.”
Wilson-Pierce plans to apply her skills as a social worker to “make sure that all students are well served and well taken care of” while addressing the “tight” budget and declining student population. Enrollment at the school has dropped by about 10% in the last five years, based on data from the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
According to Shelley Poreda, director of business administration at the Frontier Regional and Union 38 school districts, after a projected 10.46% increase in the Deerfield Elementary School’s fiscal year 2027 budget, the School Committee shrunk this to 3.81% by cutting $300,000 worth of positions, including a special education teacher, reading interventionist and part-time physical education teacher.
Next school year, the sixth grade will narrow from three to two classes, with the two consisting of 17 students, based on current enrollment data.
“As a clinical social worker, I have a lot of skill when it comes to solving problems and balancing the needs of many different stakeholders,” Wilson-Pierce said. “I can help look at problems pretty thoughtfully and the needs of many different parties and help find ways forward.”
To the voters, she expressed a “depth of gratitude.”
Other election results
One thousand and forty-seven residents cast their ballots on Tuesday, representing 24.63% of the town’s registered voters.
In the only contested race between ballot candidates, voters chose John Baronas Jr. as the next Elector Under the Oliver Smith Will with a one-year term. Baronas earned 492 votes while his competitor Robert Decker III earned 314 votes.
According to Carla Kone, treasurer and administrator of the Oliver Smith Will, the “primary role” of an elector entails spreading the word about the gifts available to trade workers, nurses, widowed mothers and new brides established in the will’s provisions and recruiting applicants for these gifts.
Over the phone on Wednesday, Baronas thanked residents for their votes and “for trusting [him] to carry out the intentions of the Oliver Smith Will.”
Voters also elected the following candidates:
- Selectboard, three-year term — Trevor McDaniel, 752 votes.
- Board of Assessors, three-year term — Paul Olszewski, 755 votes.
- Frontier Regional School Committee, three-year term — Melissa Novak, 727 votes.
- Moderator, three-year term — Mark Brennan Jr., 748 votes.
- Planning Board, two seats with three-year terms — Denise Mason, 643 votes, and Kathleen Sylvester, 620 votes.
- Library trustee, three-year term — John Stacey, 732 votes.
- Constable, three-year term — Adam Sokoloski, 806 votes.
Along with the ballot questions related to overrides, residents voted down a question that proposed switching the constable position from an elected position to an appointed one. Four hundred and twenty-seven residents voted in favor of the change while 549 people voted against it.
