Four Swampscott Select Board Candidates Clash Over Hawthorne Site, Kings Beach

SWAMPSCOTT — April 7, 2026 — Four Swampscott Select Board candidates debated Kings Beach, the Rail Trail, and the long-stalled Hawthorne-by-the-Sea site at an April 7 forum ahead of the April 28 election. Charlie Patsios, Ted Dooley, Wayne Spritz, and Wayne Godfrey — competing for two open seats — converged on the Hawthorne property as the town's most urgent unresolved question, with Patsios putting the annual carrying cost at roughly $400,000, combining debt service on the $7 million purchase and forgone real estate tax revenue. Dooley, chair of the Planning Board, called for an immediate Request for Information to solicit concrete proposals from developers and community groups: "There's no currency in hope — we need to make sure whatever happens there is actually going to happen." On Kings Beach, Patsios argued for a modern vacuum truck and a separate Water and Sewer Commission empowered to bond independently, while Dooley called for the intergovernmental working group's meetings to be made public. All four candidates said they support completing the Rail Trail, with Spritz estimating the project still needs roughly $850,000 to advance through eminent domain proceedings.