A chaotic budget process, deep political divisions, and the sudden resignation of Select Board member Trish Simpson have thrown Marshfield’s town government into turmoil just weeks before the scheduled town meeting.
Simpson’s resignation came shortly after a tense joint meeting between the Select Board and the Advisory Board, where officials confronted the consequences of a budget that was presented far later than required under the town charter and without the review time typically required before town meeting.
In a resignation letter, Simpson said she had entered office hoping to help improve the town’s financial management but concluded that the environment made that goal difficult to achieve.
“I came into this role committed to real reform and to support a transparent, responsible budget process,” Simpson wrote.
Simpson said the town’s financial planning had been hindered by the absence of a clear structure for developing the budget. Marshfield has been working without a permanent town administrator since April 2025, and has relied on two, part-time administators to manage and develop the town's more than $120 million budget.
“The interim Town Administrator made it clear that, until recently, there was no true budget framework in place,” Simpson said in the post. “Every department needs to be open and honest and find creative ways to make necessary budget cuts in order to be fair to residents. Without that shared commitment, it becomes impossible to move the town toward responsible, sustainable financial management.”
She also cited the tone of discussions surrounding town business as a motivation behind her decision. “I stepped forward to serve, not to engage in hostility or to accept disrespect,” Simpson wrote.
The two other Select Board members - Chair Eric Kelley and member Steve Darcy - both said that this morning's Facebook post came as a suprise.
“I am completely shocked and floored,” Darcy said. “I had no idea.”
Simpson's resignation leaves the three-member Select Board with just two sitting members as the town prepares to make major financial decisions about its budget and a potential property tax override. That dynamic could further stall action on the board, as Kelley and Darcy are often at odds over policy priorities, according numerous town officials that spoke to South Shore Times. A tie vote would result in no action being taken.
In an interview following her resignation, Simpson said the immediate trigger for her decision was the tone of the recent joint meeting between the Select Board and advisory board, where educators and school officials filled the room during debate over the town’s budget and a potential override.
She said pressure around the override debate had been building in the community, including discussions about possible job losses if voters reject a tax increase.
“There's been a lot in the background that's been going on, chat on social media, people reaching out, et cetera,” Simpson said. “Yesterday, I received a text from my daughter saying that the teachers were talking about losing their jobs if an override didn't go through, and everyone's talking about this.”
Simpson said she was uncomfortable advocating for an override before town leaders had fully examined potential budget reductions.
“I did speak up about how I was struggling to feel comfortable pushing an override when I feel like people weren't really coming to the table and being honest about where cuts could be made,” she said. “And until we did that, we shouldn't be talking about cutting jobs and scaring people.”
According to Simpson, the joint meeting drew a large contingent from the school department and quickly became tense as members of the audience reacted to comments from the board. She said the meeting had been intended as a discussion between the Select Board and the advisory board rather than a public debate.
“This should not have been a public forum. I mean, it should have been public, but it was not a discussion with the public,” Simpson said. “It was supposed to be a meeting between the select board and the advisory board. The discussion should have been coming between us, and unfortunately, the mass took over.”
Simpson said the atmosphere in the room ultimately led her to question whether continuing to serve was worth the toll.
“I was told by one individual I was whining,” she said. “And at that point I thought, why am I doing this?”
She said the moment was particularly disheartening because many of the people in attendance were educators.
“When I'm looking at a room full of educators, and I'm an educator myself, and I teach college students professional skills going out into the workforce, and these people are treating me like this, I was just absolutely disheartened,” Simpson said.
Simpson said she did not make the decision to resign during the meeting itself. Instead, she drafted a resignation letter later that evening and decided to revisit the decision the next morning.
“I came home and I talked to my son, and I talked to my husband, and I didn't say anything to them,” Simpson said. “And I wrote my letter, and I thought, ‘If I feel this way in the morning, I'm sending it.’”
She said the following morning confirmed her decision.
“I woke up and I'm like, ‘This is the right decision.’ And I sent it.”
Simpson said the meeting was the tipping point in a larger set of concerns about Marshfield’s financial situation and the difficulty of addressing it through the town’s political process.
“Nobody is willing to say that we are in severe financial restraints,” Simpson said. “And the school department will not give up anything and they're not willing to come to the table and try to be creative.”
She said the focus on worst-case scenarios, including potential school closures, came before officials had fully discussed alternatives.
“To try the fear tactics and scaring people into we could lose this and that, where could we close an elementary school,” Simpson said.
At the same time, Simpson said she had been meeting with other municipal unions to make clear that she did not want the town’s financial challenges resolved through layoffs of frontline workers.
“I sat down and talked with the fire union last week and the DPW, and I said, ‘I do not want this to fall on teachers, firefighters, DPW, police,’” Simpson said. “The last thing I want to do is see people lose their jobs.”
Simpson said she believes the current budget situation reflects long-standing structural issues within town government. When she joined the Select Board, she said she was surprised by the way budgets had been prepared in the past.
“I’m just shocked at what I walked into a year ago,” Simpson said. “Departments were being handed budgets. They weren't creating them. It was totally backwards.”
She said the interim town administrators have been working to rebuild the budgeting process while also trying to close a significant financial gap.
“The two town administrators… they're trying to put together a responsible budget and put things in the right places where they're supposed to be,” Simpson said. “So it took a lot of time when you start from scratch.”
Simpson said past spending decisions and a lack of financial planning contributed to the town’s current deficit.
“We're in the hole and the continuous overspending and some departments more than others,” she said.
Ultimately, Simpson said she stepped away because she no longer believed she could make meaningful progress in the role.
“If I felt like I was making a difference, I would stay,” Simpson said.
She said she also worries about the long-term financial trajectory of the town and whether many residents will be able to remain in Marshfield if costs continue to rise.
“We have 27,000 people in this town and they need to start paying attention,” Simpson said. “For the most part, they're not going to be able to afford to live here if it goes the way that certain people want it to go.”
Simpson said greater participation from residents and cooperation among town officials will be necessary to address the town’s financial challenges.
“Unless you get the department heads on board and you get all these boards and committees willing to come to the table and work together, we are going to keep circling the wagons,” Simpson said.
At the center of the turmoil is a budget timeline that fell far behind the requirements laid out in Marshfield’s charter. According to estimates presented during Select Board meetings, Marshfield currently faces an operated deficit of more than $7 million going in to next fiscal year, which begings July 1.
Under town rules, the Select Board must present a finalized budget to the Advisory Board by the last Monday in January. That schedule allows the advisory board time to meet with department heads, evaluate spending proposals, and develop recommendations for town meeting.
Select Board member Steve Darcy said that timeline was not met this year. Instead, the advisory board saw the final budget proposal only at last night's joint meeting with the Select Board.
“It’s not an exaggeration to say one bit that last night was the first time that literally everybody is seeing the final budget presentation,” Darcy said.
The late presentation placed the advisory board in a difficult position. Without time to conduct its usual review, the board declined to take a position on the budget before town meeting.
“The advisory board is going to take the position that they are not going to vote on the proposed budget because they feel like they have not had ample time to review it and ask questions and to conduct their due diligence,” he said
Darcy said he is not aware of another instance in Marshfield where the advisory board failed to receive the final budget by the January deadline.
“I cannot think of an example where the advisory board did not get a final budget presentation by the last Monday in January,” he said.
Advisory Board Chair Chris Rohland echoed that in an interview with the South Shore Times. "In all my years working with the town, I’ve never seen a situation where we didn’t hit the deadline to present a budget to the Advisory Board,” he said. "According to the town charter, we should have had the budget by the last Monday in January, and we didn’t get it. Our job is to recommend to Town Meeting whether the budget should be adopted. None of us feel we have the information we need to do that."
At the same time the town is dealing with a compressed timeline, officials are also debating whether Marshfield should pursue a property tax override to support municipal services. The discussion has centered on two budget scenarios presented to town officials.
One proposal, referred to by officials as the “A Budget,” would rely entirely on spending cuts and include no tax override. A second option, known as the “B Budget,” would combine spending cuts with a $4 million override intended to soften the impact of reductions across town departments.
Neither option includes a level-services budget that would fully maintain existing programs and staffing levels. Officials said that scenario would likely require an override of more than $7 million.
Select Board Chair Eric Kelley said the request for a level-services option emerged late in the process.
He said the $4 million override proposal was intended to reduce cuts while still demonstrating fiscal restraint. “The four million one would give the town some money, but you would still potentially probably have cuts,” Kelley said.
Kelley said a larger override would preserve current services but could create future financial pressure. “You go with a $7 million override, then everything’s saved, status quo, nothing changes, and we’ll be revisiting an override… a few years down the road,” he said.
The debate over override options has also intersected with questions about the town’s election schedule. Kelley said separating town meeting discussions from a potential override vote could require additional elections, increasing costs for the town. He estimated costs of between $12,000 to $16,000 for both the additional town meeting session and election.
Beyond the financial questions, the budget debate has also exposed deeper political divisions inside Marshfield’s local government.
Kelley said he believes some of the maneuvering around the budget and election timing reflects a broader struggle over who holds influence in town government. He described what he sees as an “establishment” group that has historically shaped local decisions and is now trying to maintain control.
In Kelley's view, the dynamics of the upcoming election could shift that balance. Three candidates are running for the seat currently held by Select Board member Steve Darcy, who is not seeking reelection.
Kelley suggested that political calculations may be influencing how budget and override decisions are being handled, particularly if those decisions affect voter turnout in the town election. He noted that higher turnout at May's scheduled town election would hurt what he called "establishment" candidates.
Darcy offered a sharply different perspective, saying conspiracy-style thinking has increasingly influenced public debate around town government. He believes higher voter turnout would ultimately be beneficial for the town’s political process, even as tensions rise over the budget and upcoming elections.
Rohland, rejected suggestions that the push for additional budget options was politically motivated ahead of the town election. Rohland said the idea that the proposal was designed to benefit or disadvantage candidates was unfounded and distracts from the real issue facing the town.
“All I’m thinking about is what’s right for the town and the people of the town,” Rohland said. “Giving people options is never a bad thing. These are the taxpayers who are paying the bills.”
Rohland also pushed back on comments from Kelley suggesting the proposal amounted to political maneuvering. “Eric Kelley is a person that’s full of opinions but very little substance,” Rohland said, adding that he believes the discussion should remain focused on giving residents clear choices about how to address the town’s budget deficit.
Town officials say another factor behind the delayed budget has been Marshfield’s administrative structure over the past year.
Following the departure of the previous town administrator, Marshfield has relied on retired administrators serving in interim roles. Because of state pension rules, those officials can only work limited hours each week.
“We’ve been operating with two retired interim town administrators who are restricted to part-time hours,” Darcy said.
Peter Morin and Charles Sumner have both served in those roles, typically working about 20 hours per week. Darcy said the restrictions have made it difficult to complete large projects such as the town’s annual budget on schedule.
“With the amount of work they have to do and how they’re restricted, they are doing great work under the circumstances,” he said.
Still, the limited hours mean the town has effectively been operating without a full-time administrative leader while trying to assemble its financial plan.
“It’s just that this is what happens when you have two retired town administrators working part-time,” Darcy said. "And we're never going to get a good, qualified candidate for the full-time position when the select board is managed the way that it has been."
With the budget delivered late, Marshfield officials are now planning to split town meeting into two sessions because the advisory board will not be able to complete its review in time for the April 27 meeting.
Under the current plan, the April 27 session would be used to take up non-budget articles. Budget and financial articles would then be postponed until a second session in June, after the advisory board has had more time to review the proposal and conduct its due diligence.
Simpson’s resignation adds another layer of uncertainty as the town heads into that two-step process. Marshfield now faces not only a delayed budget debate, but also questions about how the Select Board vacancy will be filled while those decisions are still unfolding. Kelley noted that state law requires a special election to fill her seat; however, it is too late to add her to the May annual town election ballot.
This story is developing.
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