The Norwich Observer asked the candidates for Selectboard the same five questions. Below is the fourth question and the candidates’ responses. A list of all five questions, without responses, is here. Article 11 is pertinent to this question. It reads:
Article 11. ADVISORY VOTE: Shall the voters advise the Town to consider the appointment of a full-time police officer in addition to the three budgeted full-time police officers for a total of five including the chief?
QUESTION: Police
Police. Article 11 of the Town Meeting Warning is an advisory article. It asks voters to indicate whether they want to add another full-time officer to the Norwich Police Department. Some proponents of the article say that an additional officer is necessary to provide Norwich with 24/7 in-person coverage. Are you in favor of adding another full-time officer, to bring the police officer staff to five, including the police chief. Why or why not?
RESPONSES
Candidates running for the three-year Selectboard seat
Rob Gere:
Declined to respond.
Marcia Calloway:
I am in favor of doing what is needed. We should listen to advice of experts and weigh it carefully. Norwich hired a well-qualified police chief, experienced with law enforcement in general and Vermont practice in particular. His recommendations should be seriously evaluated by our community. Data provided by the police department on a monthly basis and in the town report will help us understand the nature and scope of the work facing the department each day. As with any type of job, the hours required to meet demand, and the employee risk, must be considered by the employer. Our community and the board should be informed by the data. The board’s employee, the town manager, should be instructed to use funds budgeted by the board, and voted by the people, to provide the type of coverage indicated by the data, which could mean a fifth employee.
Candidate running for the two-year Selectboard seat
Pam Smith:
I am disappointed that the citizen petition was not placed on the warrant as written. I am also disappointed that the Selectboard only placed an advisory article for hiring a 5th officer on the warrant without a funding mechanism. I think a second article asking the voters if they wished to fund the additional position should have been placed on the warrant. Rather than a Selectboard of 5 residents making the decision, I am in favor of letting the voters decide.
Candidates running for the Selectboard seat with an unexpired (one-year) term
Priscilla Vincent:
No surprise, I am in favor of adding an additional officer to the Norwich Police Department. (The idea is actually to provide 20/7 coverage, not 24/7 coverage.) My house was broken into after Christmas. In the wake of the pandemic, we have more mental illness and more drug abuse than before. People suffering from these afflictions sometimes require police to prevent them from harming either themselves or others. We should have enough staff that our police officers can have an acceptable work/life balance, and also the equipment (like body cameras and improved radios) that they need. HOWEVER, I am one person. The town should vote on this and the townspeople should decide the issue – not 5 people on the select board.
Aaron Lamperti:
I have several thoughts about this question. The Selectboard has decided that this year’s task was to rebuild the Police Department to the complement of officers it had before the ‘great resignation’ of the COVID years. I was part of that discussion and I continue to feel that our decision was appropriate. Happily, this goal has been accomplished.
The next Selectboard may well wish to consider increasing the staffing of the Police Department. If I am on that board, I will engage in that discussion with an open mind. I will look for evidence that increased staffing will solve problems or better serve the town. The outcome of Article 11 will inform that discussion.
ABSENTEE BALLOTS
The Town Clerk posted the following on the listserv on February 10 regarding absentee ballots.
Absentee Ballots for the 2023 Annual Town Meeting and School District will be available soon. If you will be asking to vote absentee, please request your ballot sooner rather than later. There are a couple of ways you can request a ballot:
You may go to https://mvp.vermont.gov and request your ballot online or you may go to our website (Town of Norwich), under Departments go to Town Clerk and find the application for an absentee ballot . Print it off and mail the request of leave it in the dropbox once you have filled the request out. On that same note, the request for a Dresden Ballot Request is also there. Do be sure to include the address in which you would like the ballot to be mailed to.
The link to the Town Clerk’s page on the Town of Norwich website is here.
* * *
Contact the Norwich Observer at norwichobserver [at] gmail.com