Salem Voters Approve $38.6M Police Station; School, Town Budgets

SALEM, NH — Here are the results from the March 12, 2024, town and school elections in Salem.

Town Races, Info

Town Council (3 seats)

Lisa Withrow: 2,468

Jeffrey Hatch: 2,239

Robert Bryant: 2,135

Donna Loranger: 1,728

Daniel Guild: 1,313

Budget Committee (3 seats)

Jeffrey Boyer: 2,074

Jon Stark: 1,994

Scott Olsen: 1,929

Gary Karibian: 1,631

Brian Tipton Thornock: 1,456

Budget Committee (1 seat)

Brenda Tecce: 2,139

Ross Cooper: 1,667

Town Moderator

Christopher Goodnow: 3,581

Supervisor of the Checklist (1 seat)

Melissa Sorcinelli: 2,358

Jaime Thornock: 1,526

Library Trustee

Christopher George: 3,549

Trustee of the Trust Funds

Marybeth Stramaglia: 3,439

Planning Board

Damon Norcross: 2,602

Jim Harvery: 2,534

Lawson Brouse: 1,010

ZBA (2 seats)

Edward Huminick: 3,468

Write-ins: 523

ZBA (1 seat, 1 year)

Dionne Garon: 3,242

Article 2: Approval of a recording secretary for the town council, approved, 2,855 to 885.

Article 3: Clarifying the town manager’s role and the library’s budget within state law, approved, 3,689 to 735.

Article 4: Approval of charter amendments relative to charter and default budgets, approved, 3,403 to 880.

Article 5: Revising language to be more cohesive to aid the ethics committee, approved, 3,547 to 782.

Article 6: Clarifying budget impacts, approved, 3,652 to 653.

Article 7: Increasing the conservation commission from six to seven members and increasing alternatives from three to five, approved, 3,101 to 1,222.

Article 8: Approve $38.6 million for a new police station (three-fifths needed), approved, 3,680 to 1,025

Article 9: Approve $2.2 million for Millville Lake Dam rehabilitation project, approved, 3,292 to 1,262.

Article 10: Senior Center HVAC replacement (NHCDFA loan), approved, 3,883 to 704.

Article 11: Captain’s Pond watershed management plan (CWSRF loan), approved, 3,297 to 1,231.

Article 12: $62.2 million operating budget or a default budget of $58.8 million, approved, 2,754 to 1,698.

Article 13: $3.4 million for road construction and engineering program, approved, 3,576 to 944.

Article 14: IAFF Local 2892 collective bargaining agreement $438,890 in 2024 and 4 percent salary increases in April 2025 and April 2026, approved 3,306 to 1,210.

Article 15: $50,000 other post-employment benefits trust fund, approved, 2,727 to 1,696.

Here is the link to the sample town ballot.

School Ballot, Articles

School Board (2 seats)

Michael Carney Jr.: 3,623

Pamela Berry: 3,425

Article 2: $90.5 million school budget or a $89.8 million default budget, approved, 2,701 to 1,242.

Article 3: Salem Educational Personnel Association collective bargaining: $149,755 increase for 2024-2025; $56,677 for 2025-2026; $52,225 for 2026-2027, approved, 3,205 to 1,294.

Article 4: Salem Educational Support Personnel Association collective bargaining: $390,522 increase for 2024-2025; $234,458 for 2025-2026; $262,163 for 2026-2027, approved, 3,018 to 1,467.

Article 5: Amending Feb. 8 deliberative session to include $1 million for an all-weather surface at Grant Field; $632,000 for impact fees; accept donations $68,000; $300,000 raised for via general taxation. The appropriation shall be void unless the school board votes to withdraw $700,000, approved, 2,419 to 2,047.

The town clerk said 4,747 voters participated in the election.

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