The League of Women Voters hosted a candidates' debate Wednesday night at the Senior Center, giving microphones and camera time to the various people seeking your vote on March 29. And it turned out to be a battle over how to balance the budget and what the purpose of a reserve fund is.

There are two selectmen seats open and four candidates -- incumbents Rick Nardella and Tracy Watson and challengers Don Stewart and Joe Smith. Smith was ill and was unable to attend.

A Dying Child?

Questions for the selectmen candidates focused mostly on the town's budget, specifically on the fact that low tax revenues mean a tightened budget for 2012. The main issue of contention was what to do with the town's Stabilization Fund, which is more than $2 million.

Stewart is pushing for the town to use that fund to pay for services and avoid many proposed cuts.

"You have to tread water until things get better," Stewart insisted. "And $600,000 to $700,000 would tide us over, and hopefully things get better next year."

But incumbents Nardella and Watson dismissed the idea, pointing out that the fund helps keep the town's bond rating high.

Stewart rebutted with a dramatic analogy.

"If you have a child who's dying in a hospital, and you have the means to help them, what do you do?" Stewart asked. "You heal the child."

This raised eyebrows from the other candidates.

"I do not see the town of North Andover dying at the moment," Watson said. "The Stabilization Fund is not a savings account. It affects our bond rating, which affects interest rates and affects long term growth and stability of the community."

Without the money in the fund, North Andover would end up paying more money for investments in community projects, such as the new police station and new fire trucks.

But when the candidates were asked which parts of the budget they would cut in order to slash the more than $1 million deficit next year, Stewart went back to the Stabilization Fund, saying that using that money would mean less pain for departments.

Hurt Distribution

One area of agreement was public safety, with all three candidates saying they would not approve of any layoffs of police officers or firefighters. But they still acknowledged that those departments would face cuts --  something Police Chief Richard Stanley recently spoke out against with a dramatic warning about neighboring Lawrence's crime rate creeping into North Andover.

The selectmen were able to achieve a balanced consensus budget -- when the selectmen, School Committee and Finance Committee reach an agreement on the town's budget -- three years in a row. That is becoming increasingly more difficult as revenues fall and costs rise.

Watson used Wednesday's platform to call for immediate and bold action. She called for dramatic changes in the way the town operates and uses its money and equated delays to kicking a can down the road.

Nardella agreed, saying that tough decisions needed to be made now.

"The biggest factor (in a consensus budget) is going to be how to distribute the hurt," Nardella said. "We gotta make sure the selectmen you elect can take on these issues and not put off until tomorrow. Tomorrow is today."

Also debating in the event were candidates for School Committee and candidates for Greater Lawrence Regional Technical High School representative. Topics for School Committee candidates focused mostly on budget issues as well as the effectiveness of the district's new trimester schedule.