Danvers 2023 Town Election Guide: Where To Vote, What's On Ballot?

DANVERS, MA — While there may not be too many decisions for Danvers residents to make on races for townwide office in Tuesday's annual town election, they will be asked to weigh in on whether the town joins the state's Community Preservation Act program.

The Community Preservation Act would create a tax surcharge used to fund projects such as the restoration and upkeep of open space, preserving historical documents, rehabilitation of playing fields or protection of water sources.

The funding source for these projects would come from a proposed 1 percent surcharge on annual property taxes, which is then matched, in part, with state funding from an annual trust fund.

Only communities that adopt the Community Preservation Act are eligible for CPA state funding.

A taxpayer receiving a regular property tax abatement or exemption will also receive a pro-rata reduction in a surcharge.

If adopted, a town by-law will be established that creates a Community Preservation Committee to study projects and applications for funding each year, then make recommendations for fund usage at the annual town meeting.

All expenditures under the act must be approved at a town meeting.

While some of the town meeting precincts have contested races on the May 2 ballot, that is not the case for any of the townwide offices.

Patricia Frazier is running unopposed for town moderator, Maureen Bernard is running unopposed for the one open seat on the Select Board, Eric Crane and Joshua Kepnes are the only two candidates on the ballot for the two open School Committee seats, Lisa Silva is the only candidate for the one open Housing Authority seat, and Irene Conte, Cory Ryan and Charles Desmond are the three candidates for the three open Library Trustees seats.

A full draft of the specimen ballot — which includes all eight precincts for town meeting members — can be found here.

Where To Vote?

All voting will take place from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. at the Danvers High School fieldhouse located at 60 Cabot Road.

Those who have absentee ballots must drop them off at Danvers Town Hall by 8 p.m. on Election Day. No absentee ballots will be accepted at the Danvers High polling location.

Check back with Patch Tuesday night for the results of the ballot question and vote totals on races across the ballot when they are available.