A divided Wareham goes to the polls Tuesday

By Steve Decosta
sdecosta@s-t.com
April 04, 2010 12:00 AM
Turnout is important

WAREHAM — There seems to be little middle ground in this sharply divided community as Tuesday's highly anticipated town election approaches.

The campaign has played out as an us-vs.-them battle between warring factions that have dubbed one another the "hate-bloggers" and the "tin-foil hat club" in bitter battles on the Internet and in the pages of the town's three weekly newspapers.

Even if they don't see themselves as being in one particular camp, most folks around town seem to be on one side or the other.

"I think the town has been going in the right direction," said Ellen Begley, who has written letters to the editor in support of the incumbents on the ballot.

Harry Irving, who has posted campaign signs of some of the challengers in the Main Street window of his Gone Hollywood hair salon, said, "I definitely think the town has been headed in the wrong direction."

Talking to people outside the post office or the grocery store, it's hard to find any moderate positions, making it difficult to predict whether voters are in any mood to dump the incumbent selectmen, moderator and town clerk and head in a new direction or keep them around to maintain the town's current course.

The one thing both sides agree on is that this election is the town's most important since a 1985 recall election in which four selectmen were removed from office.

"The progress that's been made would be stopped" if the incumbents were to lose, Begley said.

But if the incumbents were to lose, Irving argued, "It would just be more of the same, and then they'd try to change the form of government," referring to a nonbinding ballot question and subsequent warrant article to scrap town meeting in favor of a mayor and town council.

On one side of the ledger, supporters of the challengers say the town government has been secretive and vindictive, making key hiring decisions behind closed doors without any real public involvement, intimidating and driving out employees and inviting a flurry of costly lawsuits.

Those on the other side of the argument say the board has made good, solid appointments of a new town administrator, accountant and soon-to-be-police chief and is merely demanding accountability from its employees.

"This Board of Selectmen is saying to people, 'Show me you're doing your job,''' Begley said. "Those who aren't are being held accountable."


One little piece of middle ground sits at the highly visible intersection of Onset Avenue, Minot Avenue and Depot Street, midway between Wareham center and Onset Village, where Depot Auto owner Anne Campbell lets any candidate who asks put up a campaign sign. "I'm an equal opportunity sign-poster," she said.

On the one hand, she said, "The town is doing good; we seem to be making some progress," but later added, "It seems to me that people are looking for a change."

And Campbell said she doubts that local political leaders could have an impact on the bigger picture of the staggering economy, which means "we don't have a lot of control with what's going on."

"This is a very important election to a lot of people," she said. "How will it change the politics of what's going on? I don't know. Maybe small changes can be made but can it really make a difference? I don't think so."

The challengers to incumbent selectmen Bruce Sauvageau and John Cronan think differently.

Stephen Holmes, who said the current board is "all about vengeance and power," claimed that "our future is at stake" in Tuesday's election. "We can continue to be the laughingstock of SouthCoast or we can bring real leadership to Town Hall."

Frank DeFelice said: "We can't let either one of the incumbents in to finish off what they've been doing to the town of Wareham or we'll have nothing left."

And Cara Winslow, who said, "at the end of the day, we all want the same things," said she was "committed to reaching out to people, sitting down and treating them respectfully."

Incumbents Sauvageau and Cronan did not accept invitations to speak with The Standard-Times Editorial Board or respond to requests for comment for this story.


Mary Ann Silva, the incumbent town clerk who is seeking re-election, is looking for a better-than-average turnout on Tuesday.

"With the questions on the ballot, that could bring a lot more people out. With all the controversy and the questions, I think we could have more than 3,000 people" vote, which still would be only about 20 percent of registered voters.

Challengers for the selectmen's seats are hoping for a higher number, somewhere in the vicinity of 35 percent.

The polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Last edited by old timer (2010-04-04 00:41:33)