‘Serious challenges ahead’ after Select Board showdown

Two days after prevailing in his bid for a Select Board seat, Dean Banfield was in the audience for an update on the 2229 Main Street Superfund cleanup. 

He’s got little downtime before he starts his term and has said Acton has “serious challenges ahead.” 

Banfield, a retired IT professional, defeated non-profit executive Sam Hiersteiner by 183 votes in this year’s lone contested town race.

The candidates praised the election season’s civil tone. Banfield thanked his opponent in his victory speech, and Hiersteiner said he had “no regrets.”

‘Freight train coming’

Banfield won support from several ex-Finance Committee colleagues. 

He’ll join a Select Board juggling municipal debt and more building projects on the horizon. 

Town leaders across Massachusetts have lamented dire straits as state aid lags.

Acton will get “a little breathing room,” Banfield said, as it pays off its elementary school building debts. But additional borrowing that voters already authorized for road repairs and water treatment upgrades will soon show up on tax bills.

Where some see inefficiencies, Banfield told attendees at last month’s Acton Business Partnership candidate forum that he thinks it will be hard to shake extra savings loose from lean town and school budgets. 

Bigger tax increases might be on the table as Acton foots the growing bill, and “it’s highly likely we’re in a Prop. 2½ override” in the next three years, he said, referring to a state law requiring voter approval for property tax hikes above 2.5%. 

“I can see the freight train coming,” Banfield said.

Volunteer help

Hiersteiner outspent Banfield during this spring’s campaign and blanketed his message across social media. He racked up endorsements and said he wanted to bring a new generation of Concordians into civic life.

Banfield’s base included multiple former Select Board members. He focused on promoting the experience he says will help lead Acton through major pending decisions like the redevelopment of the MCI-Acton prison property.

This year’s 22% voter turnout was down from the past two years but still better than the 14% who cast ballots in 2023, the last year Acton had only one contested seat. 

“People are paying attention” to politics, Housing Authority incumbent Stephan Bader said, pointing to last month’s well-attended No Kings demonstration, and may have been less likely to ignore any voting opportunity.

Bader cruised to reelection as Karlen Reed sailed uncontested into the town moderator’s role. Drew Magliozzi won the lone School Committee vacancy. 

Alexa Anderson, who lost her 2025 School Committee reelection bid, picked up 18 write-in votes — most from Precinct 1, where she lives. 

Banfield, Magliozzi, Reed, and Bader will start their terms after Town Meeting, which begins April 27.

Incumbents who opted against seeking reelection are entering their final weeks in office. 

“I don’t know what to do with myself come May 1,” Select Board Chair Mark Howell told The Bridge.