SWAMPSCOTT — Early voting for the town’s April 28 local election began Tuesday, opening a week of in-person voting at Town Hall as voters cast ballots for open positions across town boards and committees, including a contested race for Select Board.
Early voting runs through Friday, April 24 at Town Hall. Voting hours are extended from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Wednesday and will run from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday and Friday. Mail-in ballot applications were due Tuesday at 5 p.m., and in-person absentee voting is available until Monday, April 27 at noon.
The Select Board race is at the top of the ballot, where four candidates: Charlie Patsios, Ted Dooley, Wayne Spritz, and Wayne Godfrey are competing for two seats.
Throughout the campaign season, the candidates have largely agreed on the scale of the town’s financial challenges, while offering different approaches shaped by their backgrounds in local government, planning, engineering, and policy.
Patsios, who has served on the Housing Authority, Board of Assessors, and Water and Sewer Infrastructure Advisory Committee, has emphasized long-term planning and coordination across town government. In a recent debate, he said the town needs to take a more balanced approach to decision-making.
“We really need to have smart and educated information provided to everyone so we make informed decisions,” he said. “We can no longer go after specific projects at the expense and the detriment of others,” he said.
Drawing on his experience across multiple boards, Patsios said that background has given him a broad view of how town decisions intersect.
“Having had the opportunity to sit in those various positions and understand the dynamics of this town, I felt that it was right for me to volunteer and ask for your support,” he said, adding that his experience in those roles allow him to “provide the best path forward.”
Dooley, who currently serves as chair of the Planning Board and the Harbor & Waterfront Advisory Committee and is a member of the Master Plan and Community Preservation Committees, has centered his campaign on economic development and the role of new growth in stabilizing the town’s finances, pointing to redevelopment efforts and zoning changes as a part of that strategy.
“I don’t think our residents can afford for us to continue to [raise taxes],” he said. “New growth is the new development that comes onto our tax rolls … that’s the one place that I think we can look to find ways to increase revenues for this town.”
Dooley pointed to his work on zoning and redevelopment efforts, particularly in commercial areas, as an example of that approach in practice.
“I helped lead the zoning overhaul in Vinnin Square. That has resulted in tens of millions of dollars being invested,” he said. “Those investments are going to bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars in new growth to our community.”
Spritz, an engineer with decades of experience in product design, has said that he brings over 20 years of experience volunteering on boards and committees across town. Spritz is currently the chair of the Solid Waste Advisory Committee and has served as a member or advisor to various committees across town. He has focused on a process-driven approach, often pointing to infrastructure and financial oversight as areas that require closer attention.
“We have so many layers to the onion here … we have rising fiscal costs, whether it’s from energy, employment, healthcare … it’s almost overwhelming,” he said. “But I think what I bring forward is … a real concentration on process and trying to build consensus and trust.”
Spritz said his professional background shapes how he approaches those challenges, particularly when it comes to complex systems and long-term planning.
“Facts matter. Details matter. Process matters. Evidence matters. Consequences matter,” he said. “It’s about building trust and making the effort to develop relationships with everyone who is affected by the outcomes of those decisions.”
Godfrey, a Town Meeting member with a background in policy work and advocacy, has emphasized collaboration and the need to engage with state and federal partners to address broader funding challenges.
“We have billion-dollar problems in this town that we can’t tax our way out of,” he said. “We need to use advocacy skills and connections to place upward pressure on state and federal partners to re-examine how things like school funding are structured.”
Godfrey said his background in advocacy and community engagement has shaped his approach to local government.
“My career has been spent building consensus and community within communities,” he said. “It’s about listening carefully and then crafting solutions to satisfy those needs.”
While their priorities vary, the candidates have repeatedly returned to a shared set of concerns, like school funding, infrastructure costs, and limited revenue growth, as the defining issues facing the next Select Board.
All four candidates also conveyed a similar tone when it came to the campaign itself, emphasizing the importance of maintaining a respectful dialogue throughout the process.
“We’ve really started a civil discourse between the four of us,” Dooley said during a forum. “Whoever wins, we’ll continue to be civil.”
Beyond the Select Board race, the ballot also has candidates running for several uncontested positions, including the School Committee, where incumbent John Giantis is joined by Katie Arrington and Martha Cesarz.
The town election will be held on Tuesday, April 28. On Election Day, residents of all precincts vote at Swampscott High School, where polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
