Wrentham Debt Exclusion Fails at Polls

In a Saturday special election, a measure that would ease some of Wrentham's budget woes through debt exclusion was defeated, 1,142 to 1,886.

The election saw a turnout of 3,028 voters, or 40.6 percent of the town's registered voters.

Selectman Stephen Langley said he was disappointed with the result.

"Certainly, there was a lot of effort made to give people the truth," he said. "Unfortunately, we had a segment of the population mislead people. They did things like send out calls sending people to the wrong polling place."

"It's unfortunate that some folks would stoop to that," he said.

Board of Selectman Chairman Joseph Botaish said he was let down by the vote total as well. He said the board had attempted several methods to educate the voters.

"I think the education process in place was great, but no one took advantage of it," he said. 

Wrentham Elementary Superintendent Jeffrey Marsden said the town's schools would have to move forward.

"We'll have to see what our actual allocation is at Town Meeting on June 13, and base our budget cuts on that," he said.