Last modified: Tuesday, June 17, 2008 2:54 AM EDT Bob Irving, left and Anne-Marie Martin campaign for a "Yes" vote outside the Wood School in Plainville on Monday. (Staff photo by Martin Gavin) Plainville passes override BY LAUREN CARTER FOR THE SUN CHRONICLE PLAINVILLE - Town officials and residents cheered, hugged and breathed collective sighs of relief Monday night as the town's $650,000 Proposition 21/2 override passed by 10 votes, 724-714. Nearly twenty-seven percent of the town's 5,413 registered voters - 1,438 residents - turned out to make the close call. Onlookers in the Wood School gym made phone calls to pass along the good news and planned celebrations after the results were announced. The override's passage will prevent massive cuts and layoffs across town departments. "We're elated," Selectmen Chairman Rob Rose said. "I mean, how many other towns get to vote an override, especially in this financial situation?" Rose said the key to passing the override was the character of the citizens in town. "There's no playbook, there's no magic wand," Rose said. "We've got special people that care, and they did the right thing." Selectman Robert Fennessy said he was "ecstatic" and likewise praised residents for putting the town's needs before their own. "It speaks volumes about the quality of the people in town, knowing that this is going to hurt them a little financially, but to still put that money back into the town," Fennessy said. Without an override, the town's infrastructure would have been decimated. Five of 12 jobs in town hall - including the town planner's position - would have been lost, the equivalent of two positions would have been cut from the police department and one would have been cut from the fire department, the park department would have been cut in half, the senior center would have lost its outreach worker - one of two employees besides the bus driver - and the library budget would have been cut by about 20 percent, putting it at risk to lose state certification. Without an override, the highway department would have lost three employees. With an override it still loses two, but most other departments will be restored, if not fully, at least so that layoffs will not occur. The town planner position, now occupied by Amy Love, will be reduced to part-time. Among the positions saved was that of Ann Marie Eisele, the town's assistant assessor and a widow and mother of three. "Thank you Plainville, thank you Plainville," Eisele said after the results were announced. "I was scared. I didn't know what to expect. I didn't know what to do. I would have been up the creek because it's just my income." The schools, which would have been level-funded without an override, will now see a 4 percent increase over last year's budget. That's not the 6.7 percent increase originally requested, but it does prevent key programs and staff from being cut. "I'm very pleased," Superintendent David Raiche said. "I know it was a very difficult decision, because every day you hear more bad news about the cost of things. I appreciate that people are willing to sacrifice for town services, and in my case, school services. It makes us want to work even harder." No one was more satisfied by the override's passage than Town Administrator Joseph Fernandes, who has overseen - and agonized over - the budget process. "I am just absolutely elated and relieved," Fernandes said. "I'm just thrilled. The community never ceases to amaze me. We still have difficult times ahead, but this just makes it that much more manageable." Without an override, next year's fiscal situation looked disastrous and town officials predicted that within two to three years, the library, senior center and park department would be completely eliminated. Resident Bob Irving organized the Yes for Plainville 2008 campaign that helped to raise awareness about the override through signs, meetings, phone calls and e-mails. He said he wants the town to continue making forward progress. "I wanted to see Plainville keep moving forward and not go back," he said. "It was a necessary override that affected many departments across the board. There's so much that Plainville needs to do in town. "It just made sense," Irving said. "I'm proud that the people in Plainville could see beyond just today; they can see into the future."