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By-law minutes September 29, 2025
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Municipal By-law Modernization Committee Minutes for September 29, 2025 Salah Meeting Room, 7:00 pm Members Present: George T. Comeau, Jen Kemalian, William Quinn, Paul McAuliffe, Susan Harrington, Larry Overlan, and Louis Jutras Absent: Randy Scollins, William Kring The meeting was called to order by the Chair George Comeau at 7:00 pm. Mr. Comeau introduced the committee members to those in attendance and provided a general overview on the committee’s mission, our progress to date, the contract with General Code, and the expected deliverable when the contract is complete. He concluded his opening remarks by stating that the purpose of tonight’s meeting is to focus on Annual Town Meeting and we have invited staff from the Town Clerk’s office, current and prior Town Moderators, Finance Committee and Capital Planning Committee. The chair asked if the Town Clerk would come forward to begin the discussion. Ms. Kenney and Ms. McHugo came forward and began a discussion on electing a moderator and electronic voting. Ms. Kenney mentioned that she had sent out a survey to the state clerk’s group and one questions asked about the election of the moderator and all of the responses that she received stated that they elect the moderator at the ballot for either a 1, 2, or 3 year term. The second question was on electronic voting. 38 communities responded that they use an electronic system. Some rent the devices while other purchased them. There are 3 different vendors (Meridia, Echo 360, Option Tech) that provide this equipment. Ms. Kenney provided some historic cost information stating that in 2023, 500 devices had a cost to purchase of $15,000 while a rental of 1,000 units from a different vendor was about $8,000. The Town Clerk believes that there is a time savings with the use of electronic voting but that the cost could be prohibitive. Ms. Kenney also questioned that if the town did have an electronic system would the moderator have the authority to use it or not. Mr. Comeau asked the Town Clerk if she had any thoughts on who would be responsible for purchasing an electronic voting system as well as who would run and verify the equipment. Ms. Kenney stated that she has only seen videos of any of the systems and not a live demo, so she did not have an answer to these matters. Dr. Harrington asked about the life expectancy of the equipment while Mr. Quinn inquired about any reservations that the Finance Committee had when this topic came up a year or so ago. Mr. Mauro, the current Finance Committee chair, noted that he recalls that the cost as well as the number of required devices were the main concern of the Finance Committee. Page | 1
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The Chair then invited Mr. Salvatori and Mr. Staiti up to join the discussion as they are two of our most recent moderators. Mr. Staiti thanked the committee for the invitation but noted that he was unsure about attending and providing comments since he appointed most of the members to the committee. Having expressed his concern Mr. Staiti provided the following comments: Town Meeting has changed over the years. We went from having a set quorum to a quorum of 200 down to not having a quorum in order for the business of the Town to continue. On electing a moderator, he thinks that the current process works. There is a caucus between the 2 major parties and after deliberation, a candidate is presented at Town Meeting and voted on by those in attendance. He mentioned the amount of work and preparation that is needed before, during, and after Town Meeting. Mr. Staiti is intrigued by electronic voting and thinks that it can expedite the voting process. Mr. Comeau commented that electronic voting would aid the voters and maintain the privacy of the vote. Mr. Staiti noted that he recalls 3 or so scenarios in his tenure where electronic voting would have helped. Mr. Salvatori was then recognized by the chair and Mr. Salvatori thanked Mr. Staiti for his comments this evening and also agreed that it is difficult for a moderator to recommend items to the committee as he feels that the job of the moderator is to call balls and strikes and running the process of Town Meeting. Mr. Salvatori did provide a 4 page handout to the committee which addresses his comments on the moderator, electronic voting, reconsideration, schedule and time of meetings as well as other bylaw articles in sections III and IV. Mr. Salvatori commented that he doesn’t like the idea of electing a moderator on the ballot and that the members that attend Town Meeting should be the ones that make the decision. Mr. Comeau commented about the current caucus process and asked if an unenrolled / unaffiliated voted could be nominated as moderator. Mr. Salvatori is unenrolled and was presented by the Republican caucus as their option for moderator. Mr. Staiti has been the Democratic representative for a number of years. In wrapping up the discussion with the moderators, Mr. Staiti noted that there are various boards and committees, like the Finance Committee and the Capital Planning Committee, the Town Clerks, Finance, and Executive Office, as well as Town Counsel that help in the preparation for town meeting and noted that it is the preparation part that is key for success when running a Town Meeting. Mr. Comeau referenced Town Meeting Time and its part in running Town Meeting. Mr. Salvatori noted that people have also referenced Robert’s Rules of Order but as informative as that document is we abide by Town Meeting Time for Town Meeting. The chair thanked the two moderators for their attendance and asked Mr. Mauro for his comments on Town Meeting. Mr. Mauro noted that he believes that electronic voting can aid with privacy concerns and would be a time savings. He noted that the Town must supply the Page | 2
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devices and not use a system that allows for individual / personal devices. Mr. Mauro noted that the by-laws should be updated to reflect how the current process works even if we don’t move to a ballot process. He did question if a ballot vote would result in more political interest or more involvement by residents and also noted that a 3 year term would provide the option for a moderator to learn and grow during the term. Mr. Staiti commented that if a moderator was in office for 3 years then that could impact board and committee appointments as groups like the Finance Committee are 3 year terms. The chair then discussed the reconsideration process and asked for comments from the moderators. Mr. Salvatori referred the group to his handout. Mr. Mauro liked the option that Mr. Salvatori presented and Mr. Comeau noted that the committee will work further on this topic. Various members and participants noted other town meeting items like the amount of time to speak, the flow and motion process when an article is presented as well as committee responsibility from groups like the Finance Committee, Capital Planning, and Community Preservation. Mr. Mauro also noted the need for provisions in the by-law to outline options for a multi room layout. Mr. Staiti mentioned that we have had those occasions and although the layout was not perfect we made it work. The chair then invited representatives from the Capital Planning Committee to join the conversation. Mr. Chris Deck introduced himself as the current chair for the committee and acknowledged Mr. Dave Emhardt for his service on the committee. In relation to the topics at tonight’s meeting, Mr. Deck noted that he likes staggered moderators but does not like voting on the floor of Town Meeting. He also mentioned that any option to change the date or time would be valuable for families with young children. Mr. Overlan asked if Mr. Deck had any recommendations for these changes and although he did not have an answer, he made the analogy to voting at the polls where that is available for 12 hours or more while we have various night with a 4 hour timeframe for Town Meeting. Dr. Harrington and Mr. Comeau questioned if a Saturday would be better but questions were raised about location availability, sports, or religious conflicts from various attendees. After Mr. Deck wrapped up his comments the chair recognized Mr. Nick Corkery. Mr. Corkery is a new member of the Finance Committee and had the following comments. People will attend Town Meeting when they want, there isn’t a specific rhyme or reason but we should be as accommodating as possible to allow those that want to attend to do so. He sees voter engagement as the issue, likes the option to elect a moderator that Mr. Salvatori provided but questions if the reconsideration process works. Mr. Overlan agreed that the residents need to make an effort to be informed and attend the meetings. Page | 3
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Mr. Emhardt rose to the microphone and offered some comments on the quorum requirement in past years, reminded everyone that the recommendation report is sent to every household and that it contains a lot of information on Town Meeting and the process. He also agrees that residents don’t participate and are not involved when they can be and feels that the alternative will be representative town meeting instead of open town meeting. Mr. Comeau noted that a change from open to representative town meeting would require a charter commission and that this committee is not charged with that task. Mr. Deck expanded on Mr. Overlan’s comment about residents not reading the material provided and commented that we night need to look at changing the medium to which Ms. Kemalian responded that the town is currently looking to fill a communication specialists position that was approved at the last Town Meeting. Mr. Allen Karon rose to the microphone at which point the chair acknowledged Mr. Karon and asked if he could hold any comments until our next meeting. Mr. Karon started to provide his thoughts on electing a moderator at the ballot as well as outlines the caucus process at which point Mr. Comeau as if he could hold any additional remarks until our next meeting. The committee then address the approval of the meeting minutes from the August 21, 2025 session. Mr. Comeau entertained a motion to approve which was offered by Mr. Quinn and seconded by Mr. Overlan. The minutes were unanimously approved 7-0. The committee then discussed the next meeting date and Monday October 27 was selected. The location of the meeting will be determined. No other members had any additional items to discuss so the chair entertained a motion to adjourn at 9:30 pm. The motion was made by Dr. Harrington, seconded by Mr. Quinn and the motion was unanimously approved. Respectfully submitted, _____________________________________ Louis Jutras Page | 4