Select Board candidate Wayne Spritz hosted a virtual meet-and-greet Sunday, where residents joined to listen and ask questions.
Spritz is running in the only contested Select Board race in the April local election, facing Charlie Patsios, Wayne Godfrey, and Ted Dooley. Andrea Amour co-hosted the event with Spritz
“Wayne has been a great thought partner over the last few years that I’ve known him,” Amour said, speaking to the work the two have done with the Saving Kings Beach group.
Spritz, a longtime environmental advocate, began volunteering in Swampscott in 2007 as a member of the Renewable Energy Committee. He has most recently served on the Solid Waste and Advisory Committee, a position he’s held since 2021.
He also helped Swampscott achieve Green Community status, bringing in more than $1 million in state grants for energy upgrades and repairs to town buildings.
Spritz and his wife moved to Swampscott 26 years ago. They raised two children in town. He has worked as a mechanical engineer for 30 years. While serving as chair of the Essex Tech High School program advisory committee for years, the group helped develop the school’s first engineering program.
During Sunday’s virtual meeting, Spritz discussed the need to support residents in their 20s and 30s and make Swampscott attractive to bring in more people of that demographic. He raised the idea of having “owner-occupied places,” as opposed to apartments for rent, to ensure that the younger age group is able to create a “foothold” and start to “build equity and move up.”
“Right now that’s impossible in Swampscott and frankly most of the North Shore,” Spritz said. “They’re trying to juggle everything from having kids and finding a welcoming place to live. When we see how much costs have gone up, particular property values, that becomes more and more and more out of reach. If we push it off for another ten years we’re not going to be able to keep the character of town for our kids.”
He noted to also bring in additional revenue to town he would want to look at the overall situation creatively.
“There’s the rising costs that every town in the commonwealth is going through,” Spritz said, mentioning post-employment and pensions. “There are no unfortunately easy answers other than bringing in revenue into the town. Development is one way.”
Spritz discussed reinvigorating the fishing community in Swampscott to “bring back that landmark.” He also mentioned looking at where the school and town have overlaps in the budgets that could lead to decreases in costs, rather than double the expenses.
When it comes to the schools, Spritz and School Committee Member Miguel Contreras had a conversation around the expenses, the Nahant Revolving Fund and the need for a middle school renovation.
“I look at the schools as a mechanism and I look at the students as the receivers…It’s critical to have students graduate with the ability to be upstanding citizens,” Spritz said, noting however that if there is only limited amounts of money available the town and school district will need to prioritize projects.
Spritz also expressed concern about overdevelopment in Swampscott, calling for a “balance of development and keeping the town’s character.”
“I’m concerned about overdevelopment as well. One of the treasures of living in Swampscott I think is the neighborhoods,” Spritz said. “Those become your lifelong friends…I think that’s a very unique thing about Swampscott.”
Swampscott’s local election will be held Tuesday, April 28. Residents will elect candidates to a variety of positions, from the Select Board and School Committee to Town Moderator and Town Meeting Members.
