To the editor:
As I write, I’m dabbing at the beads of sweat gathering on my brow, now that I’ve finished the Current’s clear and comprehensive article titled, “Marblehead chiefs urge caution as town trims $1.7M from FY 2026 budget” in the March 27 edition. If you haven’t read it, please do. Every word.
It sums up the best reasons yet for supporting the town’s 3A state mandate.
And make sure to focus on every single dollar amount in it. Our departments and services are already struggling to work with a sizable shortfall in town funds —with special pain inflicted on our town’s fire and police forces. To me, it makes no sense at all to add more financial pain to Marblehead’s already remarkably inclusive shortfall.
But this is the future I’m seeing if we continue to fight the 3A state law and end up on the losing end.
I urge you to listen very, very carefully this month and next to the many scheduled pre-Town Meeting public discussions about 3A. You’ll come away with a picture of what we face if we buck the law: possible towering new legal fees needed to fight it; the potential for fines associated with noncompliance; loss of essential state grants on which many town programs depend; and the strong possibility (inevitability?) that our leaders may come to us taxpayers to help cover the costs (who else would cover them?); plus all of the other nightmares that would further darken this dispiriting financial future.
Never mind the issue of badly needed affordable housing — that fight is at the heart of my argument, and it’s already being eloquently fought by many others. For me the question is, do I want a future characterized by overwhelming financial debt because we voted against a mandated state law and will now pay the price? A future of effort after effort to keep the snarling wolf at the door from chewing away at Marblehead’s robust and vital protection services, quality education, good teachers and the kinds of essential programs we’ve been blessed with for so long? And all because our town is fighting a state law whose implementation here will surely cost me less than will a protracted fight against it?
I offer a resounding NO. My wallet is already thin enough.
Please, vote YES on 3A at Town Meeting in May.
Francie King
Chestnut Street
