Letter: Why I'm Voting Yes on the Hanover Override

I will be voting yes on the Override and I ask my neighbors in Hanover to do the same.

Hanover desperately needs an override and without it we will likely have to close the Library, close the Senior Center, close the Police Station outside of business hours, and reduce staffing in all departments. These are not exaggerated concerns. External costs outside our control have risen so dramatically that Hanover cannot continue providing the same services without an override.

This conversation has been happening over the last two years, and it feels like everything that can be said has been said. There is an overwhelming amount of information available on the town’s website to answer almost any possible question. We have numerous presentations and public meetings outlining why we need an override and what will happen without one. We have an online calculator so each resident can know exactly how much maintaining our town services will cost them; the average additional cost increase is $387 a year for a home worth about $775,000. For residents facing financial challenges, we have multiple available programs to bring down costs.

The only real question left to answer for each resident is how much do we value these services and are they worth the added cost.

How much do we value Teachers in classrooms nurturing our children? How much do we value Firefighters responding to medical emergencies at our homes? How much do we value Police officers being constantly available at a moment’s notice to keep us safe? How much do we value DPW workers clearing our roads, maintaining our fields, fixing our town buildings, and making sure everything runs?

Unlike at the federal or state level, local town government is not made up of faceless institutions, these are our neighbors. This is our opportunity to express our values and priorities, to truly decide what we want our town to look like. Without this override, we will lose the workforce that holds this town together.

Do we really want to be the town that lays off teachers and firefighters while closing our library and senior center? I do not.

I am immensely thankful for the hard work and dedication of our public employees. I am choosing to support them, to support my neighbors, and to support my community. We have a decision to make and I hope we can rise to this moment. I urge my neighbors to vote Yes on the override. Not just because we calculate that we will personally receive more in services than we pay in, or because we want to maintain our home value to sell in a few years, but because we want to support those hard workers who constantly show up to support us, our families, and our community.

Let’s do the right thing and invest in Hanover’s future. Join me in voting Yes for the override this Saturday May 17 from 8a-6p at the Hanover High School.

Emmanuel Dockter is the current Chair of the Hanover Advisory Committee and the former Chair of the Hanover Select Board.