By Rod Hansen
Staff Writer

Goffstown News/Eric Baxter Dale Spainhower, a Dover firefighter, was among more than 30 firefighters from across the state who turned out to support the Goffstown Fire Department union’s petition to increase the number of fulltime firefighters to 28.

Gossett McRae is out as a Goffstown selectman, and a proposed expansion of the town’s fire department failed to ignite voter support at this year’s vote.

McRae, the current chairman of the board of selectmen, lost his seat in what turned into an off-year election cycle rife with controversy.

McRae will be replaced by newcomers John Caprio, who earned 1,267 votes, and Nicholas Campasano, who took in 2,228 votes.

“I’ve run on a platform of open government, of giving people a chance to speak their piece. Lately things have been closed; I think people saw me as a change agent,” Caprio said.

Neither McRae nor Campasano could be reached to comment by deadline.

Voters approved the operating budget of $16,316,220 on Tuesday, March 14.

Voters also closed debate on a proposed merger of the police, fire and emergency services departments by ordering selectmen to discontinue the move to consolidate those departments into a single public safety department by a vote of 2,346-898.

Selectmen’s attempts to merge those departments erupted in controversy last fall, and included the dismissal of Fire Chief Frank Caprentino, who returned to his position following a ruling from a Hillsborough County Superior Court judge saying selectmen could not fire Carpentino without due cause.

The judge also ruled the merger of the town departments could not occur until voters gave their approval.

Changes made to the article at the deliberative session portion of Town Meeting on Feb. 8 effectively reversed the article’s intent. As it read on the final ballot, Article 24 asked if voters would direct “the Board of Selectmen to stop any and all efforts to consolidate Police, Fire, EMS, and Code Enforcement services into a Public Safety Department administered by a Public Safety Director?”

In other votes relating to the fire/police merger, voters elected to recognize the police and fire departments as two separate entities by a margin of 2,701-551 and to reinstate Carpentino by a vote of 2,350-792.

In another hotly contested vote regarding the fire department, voters defeated a move to hire 18 additional firefighters/EMTs, which would have given the town around-the-clock fire coverage. That article, submitted by a petition from Fire Lt. Bill Connor, was known around town as “Goffstown 24/7.” The article drew support from firefighters across the state. However, McRae said the cost of providing pay and benefits to an additional 18 firefighter/EMT’s would ultimately be more expensive than the $221,258 requested by the warrant article.

Voters rejected the article, 2,023-1,277.

In response to Tuesday night’s vote, Connor said, “I think what happened was there was a lot of money on the table for other items this year, and people voted with their wallets.”

Voters also had a say on agerestricted housing at Town Meeting, by rejecting a petitioned article requiring one resident 55 years of age or older in an agerestricted household, and prohibiting anyone younger than 18 years old from living in such housing. That article was rejected 2,172 to 1,017.

School district voting

For the Goffstown School District, voters approved $306,510 for the purpose of constructing a 10-classroom kindergarten facility. This funding required no money to be raised through taxes, according to the Goffstown School District Newsletter.

Voters also approved the operating budget of $33,114,203, which includes the anticipated costs of running the kindergarten.

The budget passed by a vote of 1,696 to 1,560.

Candidates elected to the school board included Keith Allard with 2,078 votes; Virginia McKinnon with 2,267 votes and Kent Nolan with 1,972 votes.