BudCom Candidates Back Casino, School Renovations

A wave of candidates for Salem's Budget Committee turned out for a candidates night hosted by the Greater Salem Chamber of Commerce on Thursday.

Expanded gambling and school renovations received the most play during the discussion.

Six of the seven committee hopefuls showed up to Salem High School to each state their case for one of three open seats. Two vacancies exist for three-year terms while another one-year term is also available.

Current Budget Committee Chairman Russell Frydryck told voters that he is running for the one-year seat despite having four years of experience on the board.

He explained that there is a learning curve for first-timers on the committee, and he wants to leave the three-year terms open for those who are new to the gig.

"Budget Committee isn't something you go and try and see if you like," Frydryck said. "It's a commitment."

Three-year-term candidates sitting alongside Frydryck at the SHS television studio were Paul Welch, Martha Spaulding, Stephan Coufos and Eugene Morgan. Josef E. Brown was absent from the forum.

Steven Plante is running against Frydryck for the one-year seat.

Plante, a six-year resident of Salem who has a Bachelor's degree in Economics, said he has been quite concerned with budget increases on both the town and school sides over the last four or five years.

He embraced a casino at Rockingham Park as a revenue resource for Salem, but noted that the town has to be careful.

"I think we have to be very cautious (if Salem gets a casino)," he said. "This money (would be) newfound money and it can be easily whittled away."

Coufos said that he saw the plans for the renovation at the recent Rockingham Park casino forum, and the renovation would be "stunning."

"The renderings were beautiful, so aesthetically it would be really pleasing to our community," he said.

He noted the traffic and problem gambling negatives, but said that a casino would still be "something positive, something different."

Spaulding said she is indifferent about a casino in town, but did mention that she would like to see more than one casino in the state if the legislators went for expanded gambling.

That didn't stop her from reminiscing about the Rockingham of yesteryear.

"I am old enough to remember the hay day of Rockingham racetrack and I thought it was a great place," she said. "Personally I'd love to see the horses come back. I think it's a beautiful location and I think it's something to be proud of."

Spaulding also spoke to the facility upgrades to Salem's schools, specifically to Haigh School, which she said needs to see the renovations proposed if it's a situation of the health and safety of Salem children.

Morgan, who has been in Salem for 50-plus years and spent three years on the school board long ago, also backed the facility repairs and renovations.

"I think that it's important to change those schools and do the work at hand," he said. "I think education is probably one of the most important things that we can do.

Welch said he was running for the committee for the third time and hopes "persistence pays off."

He would bring 19 years of experience as a firefighter to the position.

"I think I have a better sense in some areas, not all, on how things work, what some of the real things are, and some of basically what's a wish list," Welch said.

He backed Frydryck's notion that the first year would be a learning curve, but despite his lack of experience with a $95 million budget, he would learn how to approach it like he has with any other job he has faced in his life.

Other issues discussed were Senate Bill 2 and a possible public safety complex in town.

The event was moderated by Joel OlBricht with questions asked by Michael Carney and Brian Hannen.