'Good Things Coming': Swampscott Select Board Chair MaryEllen Fletcher Shares Priorities

SWAMPSCOTT, MA — Amid escalating frustrations between vocal Swampscottt residents and town officials, and dueling visions when it comes to town-owned properties and priorities, new Select Board Chair MaryEllen Fletcher is looking to "turn the temperature down" on some of the recent rhetoric and rancor.

Fletcher spoke with Patch on her agenda following her election as the new Board Chair at last week's meeting in the wake of a school budget vote amendment and reconsideration on the floor of town meeting, and the reallocation of $1.5 million in American Recovery Plan Act funding away from myriad town projects and into concerted efforts to fix the sewers that lead toward Fisherman's Beach.

It also comes as the town prepares to open a $100 million K-4 elementary school, will see the Hadley School redeveloped into a boutique hotel, is overseeing the redeveloping of a Pine Street project into veterans housing and the hopeful redevelopment of Vinnin Square after last year's rezoning, and must decide what to do with the $7 million oceanfront Hawthorne property purchased two years ago.

All of those projects have drawn much — typically very lengthy — discussions both before the Board and at town public meetings in recent years with consensus often proving elusive.

"The No. 1 thing that people need to remember is that we are a full town," she told Patch. "We have to run as a town. We are not a King's Beach issue, or a school issue, or another another issue. We have to run it together.

"A little bit of that has been lost in the past. People need to take a breath. It's really good to find a happy medium there."

Fletcher said that while she wants to see progress on beneficial projects she is "financially conservative" and "I take it seriously the tax burden that people experience." That helped drive her push to reconsider the ARPA funding to spend it on the sewers, and could help guide discussions on the future of the Hawthorne property with some residents at a recent charged public meeting in favor of developing at least a portion of it to produce revenue for the town, and others pushing for it to remain mostly, if not all, open space.

"We have to find a way to make it work," she said, adding that negotiating the purchase of the property two years ago was "absolutely a must-have."

"I do get discouraged when I hear people say negative things about the government, or that we don't care, or they are just doing this or just doing that," she added. "It is important to listen to residents. But at the end of the day you do have to make a decision."

She said the reallocation of ARPA money toward the sewer infrastructure was an example of residents influencing the decision of their representatives.

"That was one of the issues where (Select Board candidates) Danielle Leonard and Katie Arrington were very clear on their priorities," Fletcher said. "When they were out campaigning, and hearing from residents, they heard about using ARPA for that construction."

The reallocation vote took place following the election of Leonard to the seat previously held by Peter Spellios, who chose not to run for re-election, and who was the swing vote in the previous 3-2 margin that did not include extensive sewer infrastructure spending.

She pushed back and the notion that the Select Board lacks "transparency" and said her goal is to "turn the temperature down a little bit" during what have occasionally become contentious arguments during marathon meetings.

"I want to stay away from a four-hour meeting," said Fletcher, noting that she's heard from even highly invested residents who tune out at some point of those nights. "The Select Board has to do a little soul-searching and really focus on how much they are going to be saying at these meetings. In the past, some Select Board members would go on and on and on on the same thing. Select Board members have to make their point and move forward."

She said she plans to work out a rough draft of agenda for the next year where all the timely items are covered and targeted discussions can be added in a way that makes residents feel their voices will be heard if they are willing to take the time to participate in the process.

"My hope would be that everyone can feel that if they want to reach out they can reach out and a Select Board member will listen," Fletcher said. "They might not always agree. But they will definitely listen. My experience is that Select Board members work really hard. They have a lot of responsibility and people don't always understand that and can be critical.

"But I think we are in a good place. We had a big turnout at the election. People are paying attention more. We have good things coming. We have really good things coming."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)