Reading Gives Overwhelming Yes To Override

Less than 18 months after saying a loud No to a $7.5 million override vote, Reading voters Tuesday turned out in impressive numbers to say Yes, passing the $4.15 million override by a margin of 60 to 40 percent. Residents will see the increase of roughly $500 for the average Reading home in their preliminary tax bill in August.

In the hotly contested race for a seat on the Board of Selectman, current board chair John Arena lost to Finance Committee member Vanessa Alvarado. Alvarado finished with 3,943 votes to Arena's 3,857, a difference of just 86 votes. In Precinct 3, Alvarado won by just one vote, 451-450. Overall, Arena won Precincts 1, 2, and 8, while Alvarado took 3-7. There were 729 blank votes.

"I'm beyond thrilled by the outcome," said Yes For Reading co-chair Erin Gaffen. "This is quite honestly more than I even anticipated. I thought it was going to a lot closer and I'm thrilled that people came out and did the right thing."

But what changed from 2016, when 4,097 voters said no to just 2,795 yes?

"I think people are more informed and educated and they wanted to show the educators in our community that they love and care about them," said co-chair Michele Sanphy. "And, that the police and fire are highly valued and we want Reading to be a desirable place to live, for everybody."

In the race for two seats on the School Committee, Elaine Webb (3,703) and Sherri Vanden Akker (3,109) won, beating out Alicia Williams (2,929) and Rebecca Liberman (2,549).

The strong turnout of 43.7 percent was somewhat expected given the stakes and the fact there were 457 absentee ballots cast, up from the norm of about 100 according to Town Clerk Laura Gemme. The results are unofficial until Gemme and her staff confirm them in a process that starts Wednesday.

The final results were delayed slightly when two voting machines, in precincts 4 and 8 broke, forcing the ballots to be recounted with representatives from all candidates watching. Precinct 8 was the last to report at 9:45 p.m., signaling an end to the night.

Photo by Bob Holmes