Swampscott group vows no letup on new lockup

SWAMPSCOTT – Although their efforts narrowly failed last election, the Vote Yes for a New Police Station Committee say, this time, they will not be deterred.”The need for a station has been a town issue and a Finance Committee commitment for a long time,” said Committee Chair Bob Baker, who first advocated for a new police station while Chair of the Finance Committee in the 1980s. “We need a functioning police station. It’s not an option, it’s a question of how we do it,” Baker continued. “We think the vote ?Yes’ is a better way.”This year, the committee began their advocacy efforts early last week, registering as an official committee with the Town Clerk and sending out mailings to residents. But many of the committee members said that, like Baker, their advocacy for the station began long ago.Jan Baker (no relation to Bob except, she said, “in our Police Station mission”) was the Chair of the Finance Committee and thus Chair of the first Police Station Building Committee in 1993. She also advocated for the building while on the Board of Selectmen in 1997.”I was involved in this effort when we first started 20 years ago,” added Walter Newhall.”I think it’s important to note that this is a committed group who have been involved in town issues for a long time,” said Bob Baker’s wife, Edye. “These are not people who have stood aside, but gather together again and again because there continues to be a need.”Bob Baker said that he is optimistic about the vote this year.The deficiencies of the police station – “putrid” cells, stairs that are too narrow for an officer to walk alongside a suspect and former closets that have been rigged up to provide bathroom and locker facilities for female police officers – have been frequently discussed in the community, and low interest rates and a weakened economy make construction and material costs more affordable than before.Baker also said that the changes made to the proposal since last year’s narrow loss – according to the Town Clerk’s office, the measure failed by a little more than 200 votes in an election where more than 6,400 voters cast ballots – made it the “right time.” The debt-exclusion to fund the project has been reduced from $6.05 million to $3.35 million. The 13,000 square-foot building has been pared down from previous designs that residents complained were too big, Baker said.He added that Swampscott has a long history of carefully reviewing projects – particularly those involving significant capital expenses.”In my years going back, nobody has ever announced it’s a good time for municipal spending,” Bob Baker noted. “People want to know it’s a genuine need, and there’s a desire to go back to things. The case is that most projects get looked at multiple times.”