Town Meeting Voting History - Spring 2019
As promised, the record of my votes from this spring’s Town Meeting activities. I’ll continue to improve the formatting and search capabilities on these over time, but for now I’ve posted them here in this format just to have them available for constituents. Record includes votes on the primary motions, as well as votes on procedural activities (such as whether to limit debate by moving a given question or whether to approve various amendments and floor amendments/motions). Also note that these votes are self-reported, though you may cross reference against the Moderator’s notes if applicable, or against video livestreams of the session that may capture various votes of mine if/when I appear on camera. Also note that this is only a running list of how I voted, not whether a given article, motion, amendment, or proposal passed or failed.
Town Meeting Voting History
Special Town Meeting
Spring 2019
Night 1
Article 1
Main Motion - Yes
Article 2
Main Motion - Yes
Article 3
Main Motion - Yes
Article 4
Main Motion - Yes
Article 5
Amendment to the main motion: a further height & “negative impact” restriction - (tabled)
Table Amendment debate to subsequent Town Meeting continuation session after release of changes to the language of the Main Motion after errors were identified tonight - yes
Article 6
Table Main Motion - No
Main Motion - Yes
Night 2
Article 5 (taken up from prior session)
Motion: Resume debate on Main Motion & its associated Amendments - yes
Motion : Postpone debate on the proposed Amendment to the Main Motion, raised during previous session, until after changes to the language of the Main Motion have been adopted - yes
Motion: To adopt the changes to the language of the Main Motion after errors were found in prior night’s session - yes
Move the Question on Amendment to Main Motion - Present
Amendment to the Main Motion - No
Move the Question on Main Motion - No
Main Motion - Yes
Article 7
Move Question - Yes
Main Article - Yes
Article 8
Move Question - Yes
Main Article - Yes
Article 9
Main Motion - Yes
Article 10
Main Motion - Yes
Article 11
Main Motion - Yes
Article 12
Main Motion - Yes
Article 13
Main Motion - Yes
Article 14 - 21
Main Motion - Yes
Floor Motion: Reconsideration of Article 6
On the Floor Motion - No
Motion To Adjourn - Yes
Annual Town Meeting
Spring 2019
Night 1
Proposed Rules Change: Adoption of “Consent” style agenda procedures
Moderator’s Informal Census of the Body - Yes
Floor Motion to put proposed Consent agenda into study under a Rules Committee
Move the Question on Floor Motion - Yes
On Floor Motion - Yes
Article 1
Main Motion - Yes
Article 2
Main Motion - Yes
Article 3
Main Motion - Yes
Article 4
Main Motion - Yes
Article 5
Main Motion - Yes
Article 6
Main Motion - Yes
Article 7
Main Motion - Present
Budget Motions
Board of Selectmen
Main Motion - Yes
General Manager
Main Motion - Yes
Fin Comm
Main Motion - Present
Fin & Accounting
Main Motion - Yes
Assessors
Main Motion - Yes
Treasurer
Main Motion - Present
Town Counsel
Main Motion - Yes
Human Resources
Main Motion - Present
Information Tech
Main Motion - Yes
Town Clerk
Main Motion - Yes
Election & Registration
Main Motion - Yes
Community Development
Move the Question - Present
Main Motion - Present
Municipal Building Expenses
Main Motion - Yes
Annual Town Reports Submitted
Reports Approved as submitted - Yes
General Government
Main - Yes
Public Safety: Police
Floor Amendment: Shift a chunk of funds from the Police to the Council on Aging
Move Question on Amendment - No
On Amendment - Present
Move Question on Main Motion - Yes
Main Motion - Yes
Public Safety: Fire Dept
Main Motion - Yes
Building Commissioner
Main Motion - Yes
Public Safety Building Maint.
Main Motion - Yes
Emergency Management
Main Motion - Yes
Traffic Control & Fire Alarms
Main Motion - Yes
Motion to Adjourn - Yes
Night 2
Budget Motions Continued
Schools
Move the Question - No (I really wanted to hear, and for the public to hear, how bad it’s going to be if sufficient funding is not obtained)
Main Motion - Present (sorry, couldn’t bring myself to vote yes on such deeply slashed school funding)
Public Works
Main Motion - Yes
Engineering
Main Motion - Yes
Highway Maintenance
Main Motion - Yes
Snow & Ice Removal
Main Motion - Yes
Street Lights
Main Motion - Yes (Shout out to the LED grant program that has allowed us to lower costs on lighting the town!)
Waste Disposal
Main Motion - Yes (Fun fact: the trade war we instigated with China is what is torpedoing us on waste removal costs, doh!)
Sewerage
Main Motion - Yes
Drain Maintenance
Main Motion - Yes
Water distribution
Main Motion - Yes
Airport
Main Motion - Yes
Cemetary
Main Motion - Yes
MWRA Assess
Main Motion - Yes
Electric Distribution
Main Motion - Yes
Broadband
Main Motion - Yes
Board of Health
Main Motion - Yes
Council on Aging
Main Motion - Yes
Veteran Services
Main Motion - Yes
Library
Main Motion - Yes
Recreation
Main Motion - Yes
Parks Maintenance
Main Motion - Yes
Celebrations
Main Motion - Yes
Debt Services
Main Motion - Yes
Regional Schools
Main Motion - Yes
Retirement & Pension
Main Motion - Yes
Worker’s Compensation
Main Motion - Yes
Healthcare
Main Motion - Yes
Medicare
Main Motion - Yes
Capital Projects
Main Motion - Yes
Liability Insurance
Main Motion - Yes
Reserve Fund
Main Motion - Yes
Transfer Perm Funds
Main Motion - Yes
Motion To Adjourn
Move the Question - Yes
Main Motion - No (I was very sad that we adjourned when we did, and would have favored instead tabling articles/motions that had presentations attached until the continuation session on Monday and skipping ahead to motions that had no scheduled speakers or presentations just to bang out a few more. As it stood, we adjourned early with those smaller items still left to do ;_; )
Night 3
Budget Motions Continued Further
Article 9 Contingency Budget
Main Motion: Appropriate 5 mil contingent on the passage of Override by electorate June 3rd
Amendment to the Main Motion: decrease the funds appropriated from 5 mil down to 2 mil and put it 100% toward the school.
Approval for Member Hall to extend his floor speech in opposition of Amendment by an extra 5 minutes - Yes
Motion to move the Question - Seconded
Move the Question - No (Was interested in more floor commentary on why 2 mil was or was not sufficient, mostly for benefit of public watching from home)
On the Amendment to the Main Motion - No (Amendment did not sufficiently convince me that 2 mil would combat the deficit, nor appropriately fund the schools, nor could the resulting gap from lowering appropriations be sufficiently made up by volunteer fundraising on the part of PTO, students, & charities. I applaud looking out for vulnerable residents such as low income, vets, & seniors, but we’re in a hole now that is literally going to take all of us to get out of, and those in dire need can apply for hardship assistance to help mitigate the impact. At the end of the day, the average home owner is looking at an impact of: 30 bux a month, and Town & School leadership have made a public commitment to stay within a max threshold for the next 5 years, and will have oversight and accountability to Town Meeting and constituents.)
Main Motion (voice vote) - Yes
Main Motion (show of hands for 2/3rds verification) - Yes
Article 10
Motion: Indefinite Postponement of Main Motion
On Indefinite Postponement - Present
Article 11
Motion 1 - Yes
Motion 2 - Yes
Motion 3 - Yes
Article 12
Motion: Indefinite Postponement of Main Motion
On Indefinite Postponement - Yes
Article 13
Main Motion - Yes
Article 14
Main Motion - Yes
Article 15
Motion 1 - Yes (accessibility, woot!)
Motion 2 - Yes
Motion 3
Move the Question - Yes
Main Motion - Yes
Motion 4 - Yes