CHINA: Rumpf succeeds Batteese as budget committee chairman

Newly-elected budget committee chairman Thomas Rumpf succeeds Robert Batteese, who has held the position since 1993, with a one-year break in 1994 when Norman Dwelley was elected.

Batteese said he accepted election as budget committee secretary in 1987. Fairly new in town then, he “figured it would be a good way to meet other citizens and get a first-hand view on how the town government functioned.”

“I have always felt that China was more than a small town and should offer good services for its citizens,” Batteese said. He therefore supported creating the Public Works Department and building the transfer station as a successor to the town landfill.

He also favored China’s investing in FirstPark, the Oakland business park supported by a number of local municipalities. Granted, he said, the promised financial return has not materialized; but he still considers it was “a responsible action to collaborate with many other communities to try to improve employment opportunities.”

On a contemporary issue, Batteese said he recognizes the value of good internet service in China, but did not support the bond issue on the Nov. 2 ballot, “because I felt it was premature before we know what surrounding communities will be doing with all the funding that is becoming available in the next few months.”

Batteese said, “I am proud that citizens have had the confidence to re-elect me to serve so many years. I am also pleased they have generally agreed to accept budget committee recommendations when they differed from those of the Select Board.”

He declined to run for re-election this year, he said, because he “decided it was time for a younger, more energetic person to take my place.”

Batteese is satisfied that Rumpf is willing to head the committee, calling him “a very diligent member in reviewing financial reports and asking pertinent questions.”

Rumpf’s election creates a vacant budget committee position in District 2, the northeastern part of China, which he has represented for the last half-dozen years. Selectmen are authorized to fill the vacancy until the November 2022 election.

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China’s transfer station opened in the fall of 1991, after almost five years of planning and setting aside money, according to town reports. Closing the landfill on the site was started and completed promptly.

The origin of the Public Works Department is harder to date. In the late 1900s China was buying trucks, although still hiring contractors to plow snow. Discussion of building the sand and salt shed began around 2000.