Canton, Massachusetts · Saved source text

2014 Annual Report

Annual Reports · Record year 2014 · Record d4321d7d13a109992c

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ARTICLE 32

INCREASE STABILIZATION FUND
Article 32 To see what sums of money the Town will vote to raise and appropriate
or transfer from any available funds or borrow pursuant to any applicable statute, in
order to increase any Stabilization Fund of the Town established pursuant to MGL
Chapter 40, section 5B, or to take any other action related thereto.
Board of Selectmen for the Finance Director


MOTION 1
MOVED:              That the sum of Eighty Five Thousand Dollars ($85,000) be
transferred from Free Cash in the Treasury of the Town to the Special
Education Stabilization Fund for the Fiscal Year ended June 30, 2014.

                    FINANCE COMMITTEE VOTE:                 6-2-0

Mark Porter, Chairperson of the Finance Committee, moved Article 32, Motion 1 as
printed in the warrant.
Mr. Porter stated, ―The Town does have a surplus this year. The Special Education
Fund is an important stabilization fund to continue to make a habit of funding. We
did take $75,000 out just a few minutes ago, so we‘re recommending put $85,000
back in. We do realize that we could of just put $10,000 in but we feel that it‘s a
good habit when we have a surplus, to each and every year put money into this fund
because it can be a substantial drag on the finances when unexpected things happen.
The dissenting votes were based on the fact that we had a lot of things that we‘d like
to spend money on, not just special education, but also the roads, to which we‘ve
already allocated $500,000 to and OPEB are the other post-employment benefits
which you can read more about in your warrant.‖

VOTED: Article 32, Motion 1 adopted as printed.

ADOPTED UNANIMOUS VOICE VOTE


MOTION 2
MOVED:              That the sum of Four Hundred Thousand Dollars
($400,000) be transferred from Free Cash in the Treasury of the Town to the
Town Stabilization Fund for the Fiscal Year ended June 30, 2014.

                    FINANCE COMMITTEE VOTE:                 8-0-0




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Mark Porter, Chairperson of the Finance Committee, moved Article 32, Motion 2 as
printed in the warrant.

Mr. Porter stated ―The stabilization fund is truly the Town‘s emergency fund. It
requires two-thirds vote to put money in. it requires two-thirds vote to take money
out. Right now we are pushing our reserve up. The target we should have between
ten and fifteen percent. At the end of this Town Meeting, if everything votes the
way we expect, our reserves will be at twelve and a half so we‘re half way there.
Every year we try to put some money into stabilization because it looks very good to
the bonding agencies. We keep some in free cash and try and put some in
stabilization.‖

VOTED: Article 32, Motion 2 adopted as printed.

ADOPTED UNANIMOUS VOICE VOTE


                                    ARTICLE 23

HOME RULE PETITION – TO ALLOW CANTON TO HOLD MUNICIPAL
ELECTIONS ON THE FIRST TUESDAY AFTER THE FIRST MONDAY IN
NOVEMBER
Article 23 To see if the town will vote to authorize the Board of Selectmen to file a
petition with the General Court for special legislation allowing Canton to hold
annual municipal elections on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.
Bruce Rohr and 23 others

MOVED:               That the subject matter of Article 23 be indefinitely
postponed.

                    FINANCE COMMITTEE VOTE:                 6-0-0

Mark Porter, Chairperson of the Finance Committee, moved that Article 23 be
postponed indefinitely.

Richard Staiti, Town Meeting Moderator, stated ―It has been moved and seconded
that the subject matter of Article 23 be postponed indefinitely. Speaking on that, Mr.
Porter.‖

Mr. Porter stated ―The Finance Committee recognizes there‘s an issue with voter
turnout. You folks are here. This does not apply to any of you. You‘re here, you
vote and we appreciate that. This was really unique when it came to the Finance
Committee reviewing this article, because, while we all voted to postpone




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indefinitely, we all had different reasons. Some of the reasons that concerned us, one
raised by the Town Clerk, would be the strain on the election workers. The average
age of our election workers is about eighty. Asking them to work a little bit longer
could really, we‘re pushing them as far as we can push them and probably a little bit
further than we should. Additionally, there‘d be an additional cost of administration.
If we hold a Town election and a municipal election, I‘m sorry, and a Federal
election at the same time, it‘s not that everything goes on one ballot. It‘s duplicating
the entire process. Somebody comes in, checks in for one, votes, checks in for the
other, votes. So it is significantly more work. It may, potentially, add some
additional cost. There‘s little empirical data that this actually will increase voter
turnout. In fact, my personal fear, we had somewhere around two hundred folks vote
for Selectmen this past election, we had twelve thousand people come to the last
Federal election. I‘d be willing to bet, and again, it would be none of you here
because you‘ve actually shown up for Town Meeting but I would bet you that half of
those people don‘t even know that we have a Board of Selectmen. And it concerns
me that they would be casting ballots for Board of Selectmen having taken no time to
educate themselves. If you come to an April election you‘ve taken the time to
educate yourself, because you‘ve at least taken the time to get in your car and come
out. Finally, talk about getting more people involve, getting more people running, I
think it would be a heck of a lot more intimidating to run a campaign and raise
money for a campaign, when you have twelve thousand people you have to reach
twelve thousand people. That‘s a lot more expensive than trying to reach two
hundred people, which is, I think, just another thing that would prevent people from
running.

The Moderator stated ―Thank you Mr. Porter. The Chairman has made his position
clear. I know we have some people with different ideas. The Chair will recognize,
Mr. Rohr is it?‖


Bruce Rohr, the proponent of the article, stated ―Mr. Moderator do I have to
introduce a substitute motion or.

Moderator: ―Yes, just, name and address for the record and then you can introduce
your substitute motion.‖

Mr. Rohr: ―Bruce Rohr, 161 Chapman Street. I believe you wanted me to introduce
a substitute motion, which is, I move the article as printed in the warrant be
adopted.‖

Moderator: ―A substitute motion is before the body that the Article 23 be adopted.
Speaking on that.‖




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Mr. Rohr: ―Yes, sir. It‘s no secret that voter turnout for Canton‘s municipal
elections has been dropping for decades. Last month three percent of Canton‘s
registered voters voted despite there being a fairly significant ballot question
concerning CPA taxation of commercial properties. The year before only one point
five percent voted. Canton is not unique, as most towns across Massachusetts are
recording record low turnouts for local elections. There is a way, however, to
dramatically increase voter turnout in our local elections, move the date of local
elections from April to November to coincide with city, statewide and Presidential
elections. When I first proposed this article I naively thought that most people would
think it‘s a good idea. I must say that I‘m shocked and deeply disappointed that
virtually every Canton public official who has expressed an opinion on the article is
against it. No one contests the fact that moving elections from April to November
will increase voter turnout, in other words, no one contests the fact that keeping
elections in April suppresses the vote. Suppressing the vote in America has a rich
history, often by enacting new laws, but also by allowing archaic laws to remain on
the books well beyond their useful life. Massachusetts General Law preventing
towns from holding elections in November is such a law. The discussion that the
Finance Committee had concerning why they opposed the article centered around the
fact that they thought it might cost more money, so maybe it was not fiscally not a
good idea with our tight budget and everything like this, however, the actual
discussion on March 10th, the public hearing there, which I presented my ideas, and
also their March 18th public hearing where they voted to postpone the article
indefinitely, they really talked about some other things of which the Chairman of the
FinCom has mentioned briefly. I have a quick PowerPoint presentation. I was
wondering if Louis could just go to the second slide, start with the second slide. This
is what, actually, the Chairman of the FinCom said during the March 18 th public
meeting, of which, some of which he has just, amazingly, restated tonight.
Questioning the quality of the vote, questioning whether the voters have sufficiently
educated themselves. ―They might not know what they‘re doing.‖ ―If only we could
put some test, like name two articles that they voted on in Town Meeting last year to
be able to vote on Selectmen.‖ This is deeply disturbing to me that we would
actually suggest, that in order to vote in a municipal election you have to take a test.
I think it‘s deeply un-American. Louis, next slide. Just a few months ago, Augusta,
Georgia, which had had their municipal elections in November for decades decided
that they wanted to move their elections from November to May. The Federal
government came down on them very hard through the Voting Rights Act and told
them that this was an obvious attempt to suppress the vote and forced them back to
November elections. We‘re not subject to the Voters Right Act because we‘re not a
southern state, but, clearly, when we have the opportunity to increase the vote we
should do it. Next slide. This is the state of elections now in Massachusetts. We
have fifty cities in Massachusetts, all of them have November elections. We have
three hundred and one towns, all have elections in the spring. The reason that all
three hundred and one towns have elections in the spring is because of Massachusetts




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state law. We are required by statute to have our elections. This goes back to
colonial times, I believe, it goes back to the fact that town elections and town
meetings occurred on the same day. Next slide. Although Massachusetts towns are
not allow, by law, to have municipal elections in November, many states across the
United States have their elections in November and there is an increasing wave
across the United States, moving elections in towns and cities from the spring to
November. In Connecticut, a neighboring state of ours, all cities and towns in
Connecticut have November elections and they have for a long time. And, by the
way, their turnout for their elections, both on off year, by off year I mean odd years,
in November they still have a turnouts in the thirty or forty percent compared to our
percent. Next slide Louis. Municipal elections in Michigan. All town general
elections take place in November, by state law. The don‘t allow you to have spring
elections. Next slide. Something new just happened in New Jersey which is pretty
interesting. The state government enacted a new law in 2012 that allows all the
elected school officials, if they want to, all the school districts, to move their
elections to November. There‘s a lot of talk now in New Jersey of moving all
municipal elections to November but they decided to do it a little bit piecemeal by
just having the school districts. So, just since 2012, four hundred and sixty-eight
school districts have now moved their elections to November while seventy-three
school districts have continued with April elections. Next slide Louis.

Moderator: ―Mr. Rohr, I‘m just going to caution you‘re getting close to ten minutes,
so be mindful of that. I think you making an lot of points that across America
they‘re changing but you want to accelerate a little bit.‖

Mr. Rohr: ―How many more minutes do I have?‖

Moderator: ―Well, I‘m going to give you about three or four but you‘re getting up
there.‖

Mr. Rohr: ―Well, I can go one. There‘s a wave going across the United States.
Here‘s another one here in Virginia where Virginia state law was changed in 2000.
It takes a while, of course, for municipalities to get going, everything takes a little
time, but just since 2000, now nineteen cities, twenty-eight towns are holding their
elections in November and eight more are scheduled for this year. Los Angeles, they
always had their elections in May. They have a new commission there, 2020
Commission, and one of their primary recommendations was for Los Angeles to
move their elections from May to November. Next slide. This is a town in Virginia,
just had a referendum, two to one voted. This is, by the way, a town in
demographics, in many ways similar to Canton. Next slide. Newark News.
California. There‘s a wave going across California, not just Los Angeles, but most
of the cities in California are discussing as we speak moving their elections to
November. And I could go on. Anchorage is moving their elections and so are many




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other cities and towns in Alaska. So, in summary, there‘s a growing trend across the
United States moving elections to November and it‘s for the reasons, the very simple
reason that I gave, that people across the United States are saying the more people
that vote, it‘s better for the democracy. Finally, I‘d just like to say I know a lot of
people are going to get up and speak against this article and I‘d just like, when you
listen to what people say, if you would just keep two things in mind, do any of their
reasons for opposing this article justify suppressing the vote in Canton and second,
do they personally have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo. Thank you.‖

Moderator: ―Thank you.        I‘m not sure who was up next.         Pat Johnson, we‘ll
recognize you.‖

Pat Johnson: ―Patricia Johnson, 1350 Washington Street. I rise in support of the
substitute motion. Anything, anything, anything that will get a voter to a poll is a
good thing. If it‘s a little harder on someone if this happens, I don‘t care. It‘s a good
thing. If a voter‘s not educated I kind of wonder, whose fault it that? The people out
there campaigning are out there to educate. And, actually, I do want to say that I
believe a lot of people don‘t vote because they don‘t remember that it‘s an election
day. There‘s no hoopla, there‘s no signs, there‘s no campaigns, there‘s no nothing
and they just forget. There is, I was very impressed one year, there was a Selectman
up there, who was running unopposed, and he got out there with his campaign signs
anyway. And I thought that was brilliant because it showed commitment, it showed
he was willing to get out there and educate, he showed that he cared, and people
respond to that. I‘ve heard the argument that, well, someone‘s going to be
intimidated for running in a November election. Let me tell you, I can speak from
personal experience, I ran in a spring election. I was out there in February and
March, in snowbanks, with freezing feet and freezing fingers and I‘d much rather run
September, October, November, let me tell you. And there is this discussion, well,
people aren‘t going to run. The election I ran in, the person who beat me, beat me
with about two hundred and fifty votes. I spent about three thousand dollars, that
person spent about thirty thousand dollars. You know, it‘s not, when are you holding
the election, it‘s how much money can you raise, that‘s a big factor for why people
don‘t run but if there‘s a chance that you can begin to draw people into the system,
you can get them energized, you can get them, at least, to go to the polls and vote,
that is a good thing. There have been wars fought in this country to give us the right
to do that, whether we‘re stupid or not, we have a right, and we should be able to do
that and anybody that wants to stop that or dampen that down, that worries me. It is a
good thing to get people to the polls under any situation that you can. Get them to
the polls. If you can get them engaged in a little bit they‘re going to get engaged
more. They‘re going to become more educated, they‘re going to become more
interested. It‘s a good thing and I rise in support of moving the election, in the off
years, to the fall instead of the spring. Thank you.‖




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Moderator: ―Thank you. Tracy Kenney.‖

Jeremy Comeau, Chairperson of the Planning Board: ―Do we need a motion to move
past eleven o‘clock? Because, it‘s almost eleven o‘clock and I‘m anticipating us
probably going a little bit later.‖

Moderator: ―We‘ve begun debate. Normally, we continue until we‘re done but then
if we were going to take the last article up, I don‘t want to be presumptuous, we
would need a vote then. But thank you. Thank you. We normally would continue
with debate until it‘s done. But I‘m going to recognize the Town Clerk, Tracy
Kenney.‖

Tracy Kenney, Town Clerk: ―Thank you. Tracy Kenney, 38 Oak Road, Town Clerk
and a member of the Canton Board of Registrars. I am going to speak against the
article. I know it‘s very late but I do have a few things that I‘d like to say. Before I
do that, though, I did have a question. To the proponent, I was just, out of my own
curiosity, I was wondering if any of those other states who have moved their
municipal elections, if there are any states that conduct dual elections, combining
state and local.‖

Moderator: ―Question, then, to the proponent. On that, could you answer that
question?‖

Mr. Rohr: ―Yes, Mr. Moderator, through you. There are both, and many, and many
variations of it. There are some states, or some towns, that vote every year, so that
you would, in November, so one year, it would be an off year, it would be very
similar to our local election, and then, then, there would be an even year. There are
some towns and cities across Massachusetts that have them only on odd years and
they adjust their terms, so instead of, in our town we have three year terms for all
elected officers other than the Planning Board which are five years. We would have
to change those to two, so Selectmen would either have a two year term or a four
year term and then we could just have November elections on just the odd years or
on just the even years. And so there are, I don‘t know how many different
permutations you can have on this, but there‘s five or six different ways of doing this
and across the United States there done in all the particular combinations that you
can imagine.‖

Tracy Kenney, Town Clerk: ―Thank you. Now, as I said, I am going to speak
against the article. I want to provide you with a little bit of information. If the town
were to move the town election to November the biggest change would take place on
even numbered years, when state and national elections occur. On odd numbered
years conducting the town election in November would be similar to conducting it in
April. There really wouldn‘t be any change, to speak of.




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In even numbered years when state and national elections occur, moving the town
election to November would not mean simply combining Canton‘s municipal offices
and state offices onto one ballot. If Town Meeting approves changing the date of the
election from April to November, and it is subsequently approved by the state
legislature, the state will not allow local offices to appear on the same ballot with
state offices, which would mean that on even number years, Canton would be
conducting a dual election, running two separate elections, town and state,
concurrently. This would mean a separate ballot for each election and a separate
check-in line and separate check-out line for each election, which means a longer
wait in line for the voters.

Canton has never held a dual election and if this legislation were to pass the timing
would be such that our first dual election would be combining the town election with
the Presidential election in 2016. Currently we maintain the equivalent of six
election workers per precinct. I say equivalent because, although most of the workers
work the entire day, we do have a handful of workers who split the day, one worker
works the first half of the day and someone else takes over for the rest of the day.
Based on information I have gathered from other communities that have held dual
elections, and with voter turnout historically quite high in presidential elections, it
seems that we would need to acquire three additional election workers per precinct,
eighteen new election workers, in order to provide adequate coverage on election
day. We have had a difficult time finding new election workers just to maintain the
status quo. In the past, advertising in the local paper has helped us acquire a few
workers but most of our new election workers are acquired through word of mouth,
usually recruited by current election workers.

I am concerned about the issues we will undoubtedly face in finding enough new
election workers to provide the adequate coverage and the problems we could
encounter if we cannot come up with this necessary coverage because the burden
will fall on the rest of the election workers. And it takes a tremendous effort by the
election workers, who, after the polls have closed at 8pm and they have already put
in a 14 hour day now have to count every single ballot cast, that‘s 10,000 plus ballots
and also must examine each individual ballot for potential write in votes. Now, think
about doing that for TWO elections with potentially double the amount of ballots and
the potential for disaster if you‘re short staffed. Like many other communities the
majority of our election workers are retirees. In state elections they are already
putting in a seventeen hour day that keeps them busy all day long. There are no real
lulls on state and national election days. My fear is that if we add the additional
pressure of a dual election, for some, it may become too much and they request to
have their hours reduced or, at worst, resign. Also, I should mention that currently in
Massachusetts, to be eligible to vote in an election you must have registered to vote
at least twenty days prior to that election, however, the state is in the process of




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implementing legislation that will allow a citizen to register to vote on election day.
This will only add to the burden of the election workers and the Clerk‘s staff on
election day. The Presidential election is the most demanding election, both
physically and mentally for anyone involved. The Presidential election, in 2012
Canton had an almost 90% voter turnout, about 12,500 voters. Thanks to the
experience and dedication of our election workers the day ran about as smoothly as
one could hope. They did a fantastic job but they were all exhausted by the end of
the day. I was myself.

Another concern I have in moving the town election to November is, will the town
election be overshadowed by the state election with the constant bombardment of
election news, political ads on television and radio and the onslaught of campaign
literature sent through the mail, I‘m concerned that the Town election may get lost in
the shuffle.

I had been asked about the potential cost savings that moving the town election to
November could incur. In attempting to compare the total costs of conducting a
Town and Presidential election separately versus the estimated cost of a dual
election, when I factored in the salary estimates for nine workers in each precinct, all
working what could be a nineteen hour day, not to mention the additional hours for
the Town Clerk‘s staff, the election day police detail and the school custodial staff,
plus a training class for the workers, and the additional estimated cost of printing
enough Town election ballots to supply a higher voter turnout. Because, although, I
believe it‘s unlikely that every voter who casts a State election ballot will also
choose to cast a Town ballot, just knowing that there are going to be upwards of
thirteen thousand voters who will be appearing at the polls on election day in
November 2016, we have to be prepared and have an adequate supply of Town
ballots available for those voters. What I came up with is that the costs are close but
there was no indication that we will see any cost savings.

It‘s also been suggested that moving the election to November will increase voter
participation and possibly encourage more citizens to run for public office. We can
be certain that there will be a high percentage of voters who will turn out for a state
or national election, so it is possible that with such a high percentage that some of
those voters would choose to cast a Town election ballot as well, if it were offered.
However, the theory that holding the town election in November, could encourage a
citizen to run for public office is merely conjecture. There is no evidence to show
that a citizen would be more inclined to run for public office in November than they
are in April.‖

Moderator: ―Tracy, I have to be very respectful, you are the Town Clerk, but rules
are rules, you‘re getting up around ten minutes, so, if you could wrap it up. Just to
be fair. I limited his speech, I have to do the same to you to be fair.‖




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Tracy Kenney: ―We did, in fact, just last month, we did elect two elected officials
who were each running for office for the first time. So there is, in my opinion, still
interest in citizens running for public office.

We‘ve had a low voter turnout in recent years when the races were uncontested.
When there are no contests on the ballot you can see a definite decline in the voter
turnout, however, when there is a contest on the ballot we do get a better voter
turnout and that is like most towns in the state.

When I was gathering information, I did get information from the Concord Town
Clerk and the Whitman Town Clerk, who have both had experience with several dual
elections in their communities and they both had positive things to say about dual
elections, however, they both indicated that they would never want to conduct a town
election with a state or national election because they feel that the voter turnout is
just too high and the volume of in person and absentee voter ballots in a combined
state and local election would be overwhelming.

In conclusion, while I commend the proponent of this article for putting in such
thought and effort in attempting to devise a way to encourage citizen participation in
local government, my own twenty-five plus years of election experience, the last
fourteen as Town Clerk, along with the wisdom I‘ve recently acquired from other
Town Clerk‘s regarding conducting dual elections, makes me believe that the strain
such a change would place on our voting infrastructure, combined with the lack of
empirical evidence that this solution will have any certain impact on what it seeks to
do, namely increase voter interest in town elections and encourage qualified
individuals to seek public office, I cannot offer my support to this article. Thank
you.‖

Moderator: ―Thank you. Mrs. Thomas from the School Committee‖

Cindy Thomas, a member of the School Committee: ―Cindy Thomas, 22
Longmeadow Drive, and I rise in favor of the substitute motion. Speaking
personally, not as a representative of the School Committee. One point I would like
to consider, that hasn‘t been mentioned, is what it‘s like for an elected official to start
their time in office in April, as we enter Town Meeting season, as we come to sort of
a critical time the budget planning process. It‘s really not a great time in the year
and in the cycle of our work to step into those kinds of roles and I think, a separate
point, I certainly would like to see whatever we can do to increase the number of
people who are paying attention to our Town elections, who are voting those
elections but I also think this motion would afford an opportunity for a better
transition for new elected officials in terms of their opportunity to get engaged in
their role, to learn and to be well prepared as we come to this kind of a process that




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really is so essential in our town. So I just would like that additional point to be
considered.‖

Moderator: ―Thank you. I see Mr. Merigan at the microphone.‖

Dave Merigan: ―Thank you Mr. Moderator. Dave Merrigan, 2356 Washington
Street. I rise in support of the substitute motion. As you heart a previous speaker
said, there‘s virtually no difference in the cost. We have a very easy way, cost
effectively, to increase voter turnout, to increase democracy and to stop suppressing
the vote. It‘s not going to cost us any more money because we‘re going to have one
less election, so if the numbers are close, why aren‘t we doing this? I strongly urge
you to support this article.‖

Moderator: ―Mrs. Curran.‖

Marilyn Curran: ―Marilyn Curran, 26 Old Coach Road. I‘ve been involved in the
voting process here in town for over thirty-five years in many different levels and
I‘ve seen it all, lots of people coming, not so many. But I think we have to think
something along the lines of, maybe, quality versus quantity. I watched this past
election, we didn‘t have a lot of people but when I think back there was variety,
every age, everybody in all kinds of shape, people with canes, people with walkers,
people in wheelchairs, young people, old people, people running from the train or
running to get the train, we had everybody there. There was a variety. I think one of
our, and I really think of those long days, believe me, I‘m up there in years and I‘m
probably one of the younger ones yet. It‘s a long day, when you get to the end and
you still have to open up the boxes and pull out the ballots and have those ballots
equal the number of votes that you have on your voting papers, that‘s hard, the eyes
are tired by then. It‘s a long, long night. Now just think now you‘ve got to go
through two groups. You have to put one group over here, one group over there. I
don‘t think they‘re going to be different colors, they‘re all going to be white, that‘s
going to be a little difficult. The state has also put some new things into effect, we
now have a list, a blue list, when you come to vote, and if you haven‘t sent your
census form back you‘re not going to be on the regular voting list. You‘ve received
a card, you haven‘t responded, so you get put on that list. There‘s also a deadline, if
you haven‘t voted in a certain period of time, you‘re also on that blue list. So you
get through the line, you‘re not on this white list, people try to find you or your
street, that takes time, they have to go to the blue list and that‘s not the end of it
because if you‘re on that list, if you‘re lucky to be on that blue list, that means you
haven‘t moved out of town, just haven‘t changed your address, you have to go and
fill out a form. During the Presidential election, there‘s also Provisional, where
people can come and vote who haven‘t, who don‘t appear anywhere and you have to
try to find them by calling the office and looking on every list we have. The lines are
long be that time but they still have to fill out this form, show some form of




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identification and, believe me, people start seeing that, they turn around and say
―goodbye‖.

I think what we, perhaps, need more in this town is an education on what it means to
be, I used to have a badge that said ―think globally, act locally‖. Think globally but
act locally. In other words, do something you can do, right here, light that candle,
don‘t try to wait for a fire but light your candle. I think we have to work on trying to
educate, now maybe our students a little better in the process, again, our townspeople
more in the process. And I really wouldn‘t like to see those candidates put in to
November, when we all get so sick of those commercials and we turn off everything
that even starts with ‗vote for‘, and try to mix those people in. I think I‘d be turned
off. I hope that, right now, we don‘t follow through on this petition. Give it some
more thought, think it through and work on some other ways on educating our town
how to vote properly. Think globally but act locally.

Moderator: ―Thank you Mrs. Curran. Listen, I‘m looking out here at the audience, I
see many, many tired faces and I know the hour is getting very late. I would ask the,
I see six, seven people lined up here, if you could keep your comments brief. We‘ve
heard, basically, two sides. One seems to be, innovative, a trend, it‘s democratic or
whatever and the other side is basically saying that there‘s a cost and it may not be
good. So maybe we could just speak to the point and get this thing done because I
doubt we‘re going to finish tonight but, being cognizant of people who have
responsibilities. I'm going to recognize Allen and then I‘m going to go to Jeremy,
you were at the mic and then down front. Allen, yes.‖

Allen Karon: ―My name is Allen Karon, 4 Newell Hagan Court. I‘ve been working
on campaigns a lot, for many, many years. I would not want the town election on the
same day as a state and federal election because I‘m, in terms of my volunteer work,
I probably work more for Governor or President of the United States and I think a lot
of people, when they‘re giving their volunteer time they‘re probably more concerned
about that election as well. If somebody else is running for Selectman as well it‘s
going to take, you‘re going to have to decide what campaign you‘re going to want to
work on. It probably, Selectman‘s probable not going to be the one you‘re going to
want to work on. And, number two, if they need poll workers, we usually have to
have representative of each party making sure each party is equally represented by
poll workers at the polls. And if you‘re a poll worker working at the polls you‘re
probably not going to be campaigning, trying to call this stuff. because by nature you
have to be neutral as a poll worker. So I‘m opposed to this substitute motion and it‘s
better off to just modernize our election laws, have early voting so that people can go
to the Town Clerk and cast their vote, maybe like, two weeks before election day
rather than have a situation where we‘re going to have three hour election lines
because we have a town election and a presidential election on the same day. If we
have three hour election lines, that‘s the real voter suppression.‖




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Moderator: ―Thank you Allen. Jeremy, Mr. Comeau‖

Jeremy Comeau, a member of the Planning Board: ―Jeremy Comeau, 854
Washington Street. Speaking as a private citizen. I just have two quick points to
make. First of all, I keep hearing about quantity versus quality. Why can‘t we have
both? We have the quantity, people come in November. And, respectfully, I
disagree with my friends in the Town Clerk‘s office and I apologize, don‘t yell at
me. But, we can get all these people to come in November, these five people here
(pointing to the Board of Selectmen), the people that I sit with on the Planning
Board, we should be the ones dealing with the quality, informing the public. And,
the last thing I want to say is, how can you sit on a board and say I have a mandate
when only two hundred people vote, or three hundred people vote? That‘s not a
mandate, you‘re not representing the voters of the Town of Canton, the citizens of
the Town of Canton. We need to get more people to vote and, respectfully, I stand in
support of this.‖

Moderator: ―Thank you. I‘m going to recognize someone up front and then, Mary
Jane, I will get to you. Mr. Salvatori, Chairman of the Board of Selectmen.‖

Gerald Salvatori, Chairperson of the Board of Selectmen: ―Thank you Mr.
Moderator. I actually came into this open minded tonight, believe it or not, I‘m sure
some people don‘t think I did, but I did. I was hoping to hear a compelling argument
on why we should move it to November and I haven‘t. What I‘m looking for is,
what really is the problem. Is the biggest concern that people have that we‘ve had an
uncontested election but we had twelve thousand people vote for the only choice
they had, or is the problem that people want to see more candidates so they have
choices? And, I, myself, would rather see candidates with choices even if only three
or four thousand people show up to vote for them. I think, if you look at the chart
that was on the screen a few moments ago, it showed the years that we had contested
races in town, thousands of people showed up to vote but when we have no contested
races on a ballot, it‘s really not that hard of a stretch to imagine that people aren‘t
going to show up because they‘re vote really, as much as it‘s nice to see that you
have the support of x number of people voting for you, as long as you get the one
vote cast, you‘re going to be elected. And that‘s what happened. We had new
people on the ballot this year who ran unopposed and they were elected without a
contest. But when we‘ve had the contested races, we‘ve had people show up.
Haven‘t has fourteen thousand people show up for municipal elections but pretty
darn close to four thousand elected, voted, the year that I was first elected to the
Board. So, I think that, really, what we need to look at, in my humble opinion, isn‘t
merely saying that we got thousands and thousands of people to vote in the local
election, we need to look at the root of the problem. What is the problem? Is the
problem that you merely want more people voting or is it you want more choices,




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more candidates? And that‘s going to come out to you guys. You guys are the ones
that are showing up, we‘ve got eighty people in the room tonight, eighty people out
of fourteen thousand registered voters. There‘s a chance, albeit a thin chance, that
we‘re going to vote a seventy-eight million dollar budget with eighty people out of
fourteen thousand. Should be move the Town Meeting to Thanksgiving, just
because people are kind of in the election and campaign spirit at that time of the
year? It‘s about really looking at how do we get people really engaged in the
process, and that‘s part of what all of us need to do. If there‘s candidates coming
forward, running for the offices, they‘re going to campaign. When they campaign
they‘re going to bring out voters. I think, in the year that I ran uncontested, the
reason that I didn‘t campaign that actively with fundraising and advertising was I
thought it was disrespectful. The economy was bad, people were stretched with their
time, they were having difficulty as work, and so forth. Why would I ask them to
give money so that I could put ads in the paper when I was running unopposed?
Why would I ask people to stand on the street corners holding signs, trying to get
people to come out and vote for me when I was running unopposed? I still
campaigned the way I always campaign, I still held signs and went to people‘s
homes and went to coffees and so forth, but the organizations in town didn‘t hold
their candidates nights, things got real quiet. It‘s not just the idea of getting a certain
quantity of people to show up, it‘s about the whole process and I think that‘s we
collectively, we collectively as a community, not just the five on the Board or the
five on the Planning Board or the eighty in the audience tonight but what we as a
twenty-two thousand member community need to focus on, is what really is our
objective and work towards solving that objective. And, if this really is such a great
idea, why is that out of three hundred and one towns in the Commonwealth, none
have adopted this, none. I think I need to hear a compelling reason before I can
consider supporting it. Thank you.‖

Moderator: ―Okay, I‘m going to go to Mary Jane.‖

Mary Jane Mangan: ―Mary Jane Mangan, 26 Angela Street. I have a few quick
points, one, the disruption to the schools would only be once a year instead of twice
a year and believe me it‘s a disruption to the schools, I mean a lot of them are now
having teacher days.‖

Moderator: ―I‘m sorry, are you rising in favor of the substitute motion?‖

Mary Jane Mangan: ―In favor of the substitute motion.‖

Moderator: ―Just get my head clear, that‘s all. Thank you. Okay.‖

Mary Jane Mangan: ―Two, I do not believe that the police force needs to be any
greater by adding town election, huge crowds of people to the town into a federal




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election, one policeman is going to be one policeman, I don‘t think you‘re going to
have increased load that way. Three, as far as the election workers, I understand it‘s
a longer harder day and, as the Town Clerk mentioned, right now election workers
are hired basically through word of mouth. We have to fix that. Maybe we should
do more split shifts and actively recruit new election workers so that we have more,
maybe bring in a little bit more youth, but I don‘t think that should be a reason we
shouldn‘t combine it. I think that it‘s easier for citizens, when you see on your
calendar that the second Tuesday in November is election day, that it happens to be
your election day for your town too. The final point that I want to make, I‘d like to,
a previous speaker mentioned about elected officials stepping in in April and then we
have Town Meeting right after that, the warrant‘s already printed, you have no input
into the warrant, but you‘ve got to defend the articles the previous board members,
when you step into an election you have to support, you have to defend what they put
in the warrant. You‘ve got no input into it. If you were elected in November, you
would have input into the warrant articles for the May Town Meeting. That would
be very helpful for elected officials. Thank you.‖

Moderator: ―Thank you. Mr. DelVecchio, Board of Selectmen.‖

Victor DelVecchio, a member of the Board of Selectmen: ―Thank you, Mr.
Moderator. Victor DelVecchio, 87 Chapman Street. I am in favor of the substitute
motion. This puts me in a stark contrast with the remainder of my board. The others
are against and I think as you see it‘s pretty rare that all five of us speak and that
appears to be the case tonight. Oddly enough, I‘ve actually been interested in this for
about twelve years. When I first came on the Board of Selectmen I wondered why
we didn‘t have November elections, because it seems basic to me that you get more
people voting and while it is true that there are more votes in a contested year, the
numbers we saw a moment ago demonstrate pretty forcefully that you‘re still getting
only twenty-five percent. Twenty-five percent, approximately, aren‘t bothering to
show up. So, I was actually very interested in this twelve years or so ago and then I
didn‘t pursue it, in part because there were some other things I thought were equally
important to the way we govern ourselves in Canton, and one of them was increasing
from a three member board to a five member board. And at the time I argued in
favor of that I was on a three member board and I thought it would be fundamentally
better for this organization and for this town to change, in a dramatic way, the way
we govern ourselves. And there were lots of opposition to that, and you know what,
I‘m absolutely convinced that having these guys here, even though they‘re going to
speak against me, was absolutely the right thing to do. So, for me, at least,
fundamentally, this is not whether there will be some additional costs, and I don‘t
think that the costs are going to be exorbitant. We have a ninety million dollar
budget. There may be additional costs but they‘re not costs that we won‘t be able to
address. It‘s not whether poll workers, who do a great job, are up to the task of
doing additional work. Frankly, we need to address the problem, so-called problem,




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of our poll workers because we need to attract a younger core and we need to pay
them more. We are not paying our poll workers, currently, the state minimum wage
in Massachusetts. I don‘t know about you but I‘m offended by that. We should be
attracting a new cadre and paying our current poll workers more. I mean, if you look
at what we‘re paying our summer help, that the Selectmen have approved for this
summer, we‘re paying them nine and ten and eleven dollars. I recognize that they‘re
going to be working harder, they‘re doing a very good job but we need more folks,
and we need to attract more folks and we need to pay and compensate our current
workers better. It‘s not also whether incumbents such as Selectmen or Planning
Board may lose some of their advantage if confronted by a larger turnout well
beyond their conventional base of support. Trust me, we each have our base of
support. When you through into the mix that you have maybe five thousand or six
thousand or ten thousand folks coming out to vote it‘s a very different ballgame. But
it‘s not about incumbents, and I‘m an incumbent and I have been for nineteen
straight years. First on the Planning Board, then on the Board of Selectmen. It‘s not
about that. And it‘s not whether the voters are, so-called, informed. We don‘t have
tests for the right to vote. We don‘t say whether or not, you don‘t know enough
therefore you shouldn‘t have the right to exercise, and I understand we‘re not taking
anyone‘s right away, you can vote in April, but it‘s not about whether you know or
don‘t know. Frankly, I think we underestimate what people know. I think they just
chose not to come out. But, if you make it more convenient for them that may
change. What I do think this is about, frankly, is reinvigorating the process, the core,
the reason why we‘re here. This is democracy. This Town Opening Meeting,
frankly, isn‘t the most efficient method we have in the world for governing but it‘s a
very effective mechanism and we need to reinvigorate the way in which we vote for
our local officials. Yes, you can say, why don‘t we move this to November but,
frankly, that‘s not a relevant argument because we don‘t have a state and federal
Town Meeting in November. If we did I think we just might suggest doing that, but
we don‘t have that. This is a pure example, this Town Meeting, of what we in New
England, what we‘ve embraced for hundreds of years. Doesn‘t really relate to what
we need to do on the electoral side. So, the fact that this may encourage contested
races is an added benefit. We‘ll see whether it does. The fact that it would likely
increase voter awareness, which I think it would because now folks that were going
to come out and vote on the state and federal side will now pay a little bit more
attention to the local side, I think that‘s an advantage too but fundamentally it‘s not
about that, it‘s about getting more people out, it‘s about making it easier for them to
exercise their rights as citizens of this country. I want to just wind up if I could Mr.
Moderator by reading to you some excerpts from an opinion piece that appeared last
week in the Canton Citizen. And I don‘t necessarily embrace everything in here, I‘m
not saying it because I‘m adopting it, it‘s my language, it‘s not, but I think is raises
some sobering and thoughtful comments. The author in the Citizen wrote, ―The
current system leaves a disproportionate influence of local policy to a tiny fraction
that is not demographically representative of Canton. It‘s why ―good taxes‖ like the




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CPA died a certain death in the April voting booth. The anti-tax sentiment of
Canton‘s older base combined by the significant influence the business community
has on local officials was a hurdle too high for a tax like CPA. If it were not for the
savvy of the CPA supporters who cleverly brought the question before a larger fall
voting audience, this May‘s town meeting would not be voting to fix its tennis courts
at the high school with the CCPC‘s state-subsidized funds. Whether moving the
town election to November will revitalize the system is yet to be seen, but certainly
the voting booths need more than 428 people, or the concentration of interests to a
very few will continue to have a contracting affect on how community problems are
heard and how they are solved.‖ As the political analyzers of the study referenced in
this opinion piece said, ―There may be some argument that elite rule is an informed
rule and will not act to selfish ends, but we tend to doubt it.‖ And I tend to agree with
that. Thank you.‖

Moderator: ―Thank you, Mr. DelVecchio. Thank you. I‘m going to recognize Mr.
Burr and then I‘ll go over to you, alright. Mr. Burr, you‘ve been waiting to speak.
Selectman Burr‖

Robert Burr Jr., a member of the Board of Selectmen: ―Thank you Mr. Moderator. I
stand in opposition to the substitute motion. The real question here is, is there a
problem with regard to voter turnout? I think we‘ve even heard in November
elections, at the state and federal level, there‘s a general concern that not enough
voters are participating in the process. We actually hear that even in state and
federal elections. The proposal to move the elections to November, at best, would
improve the problem, if it does improve the problem, fifty percent of the time. It
would work in even years, perhaps, but certainly not in odd years, puts us in the
same situation that we‘re in in April. This Town Meeting originally was in April and
now it‘s in May. It‘s usually attended by a hundred to two hundred people that vote
ninety-two million dollars worth of our revenues for the following fiscal year. If we
had this meeting in February, or July, or September, or November, would the
numbers be any different? Perhaps not, probably not. So, I know that there‘s this
big idea that somehow government will run better if more people participated in it
but changing this election to November, especially given the fact that, at best, it can
only improve the situation fifty percent of the time. The evidence doesn‘t support
that outcome. I guess I have more of an optimistic viewpoint after having been a
Selectman now for ten years, and that is, it‘s that, one of the reasons we have a
hundred to two hundred people here tonight may be because the town‘s actually
running pretty good. People delegate to you, those of you that are interest in the
civics of this local community to come out and actually vote on these articles, and
that actually take the time to actually read this warrant. But I‘m reminded of a
Special Town Meeting that we had some years ago, a Special Town Meeting, when
there was a proposal for a senior center behind the police station, and I was
Chairman at the time so I remember it vividly. Part of the project, or part of the




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proposal was to build assisted living facilities or over fifty-five housing in precinct
three, the smallest precinct in this town, East Canton, as it‘s known. And in
exchange for the allowance for those homes to be put in this developer was going to
build a senior center behind the police station. I think you may remember it, because
most of you attend all of these Town Meetings. On that particular night, and it
wasn‘t a great night weather-wise, the line for precinct three, to get into this Town
Meeting was out the door, and it was a lesson for anybody that actually serves in
these public seats, and that is, at any time, if the matter becomes important enough to
the people, they will show up. So, I have more of an optimistic viewpoint. And one
of the reasons why you see a hundred or a hundred and fifty people here or
uncontested elections may be because of the fact that most people in their busy lives
are generally pleased with the way their government is running. Second. There‘s
only three points Mr. Moderator. Second is the timing. I think Canton has been
recognized as one of the better run communities in the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts. The structure of this local government is, we take up the local issues
for Town Meeting in the spring and then we set aside the state and federal matter for
the fall. It‘s a system that generally works. Our fiscal year starts in July and I think
it‘s import that many of us, the people in this room, and those that serve on these
boards spend this part of the year on the local issues of the town. So, I think there‘s
a tremendous advantage to having the elections for the local body here in the early
spring, followed by the Town Meeting. And then, finally, this Board of Selectmen
routinely recognizes the importance of the opinions of department heads, and tonight
you heard the Town Clerk whose years of experience make arguments that there
wasn‘t going to be a cost savings, in fact, perhaps a cost increase, a whole host of
logistical concerns with having both state, federal elections along with local elections
at the same time and is generally not in favor of this. And I think that we actually
listen to our town department heads who actually have the experience on the ground,
in this instance, running these elections. Out of three hundred and fifty-one
communities in this state, three hundred of which are towns, no other town is doing
this, so I think that‘s something to consider as well. Thank you.‖

Moderator: ―Thank you Selectman Burr. Ms. McClain.‖

Tori McClain, a member of the Planning Board: ―Hi, Tori McClain, 33 Wall Street.
Thank you Selectman DelVecchio for saying a lot of what I wanted to say. I had to
stand here for a while but it was worth it. I just want to go on record for Bruce, Mr.
Rohr, that I‘m the third, now, elected official who has said they agreed with you, and
support your new motion. Very quickly, we‘ve heard that there are possibly two
problems we‘re trying to solve here with this new motion, and this is, that we have a
low voter turnout and we don‘t have a lot of contested races. We can solve one of
those, the statistics show, overwhelmingly across the United States, you can solve
one of those problems by choosing to move our election to November. And,
perhaps, the second part of that solution is something that can be brought up at a




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subsequent Town Meeting, and that‘s term limits or other things that may go on in
our community that we could do things that would solve the second part of that, to
create more races, contested in our community. I ran uncontested in my race and I
was quite disappointed by that because I had a lack of exposure to the community, I
had a lack of people who know who I am. Many people don‘t know who I am
except for the sweet ladies who stop me at the Shaw‘s and say, ―I think I saw you on
t.v. one time.‖ But, my point is, it is a disservice to the candidates, as well, to not
have someone to run against, to espouse what you believe and what you view and
what you think you can bring to the community. And so, I think that moving the
election to November is a great first step in solving one of the two issues, and just
because it‘s not a complete solution, as I said earlier, does not mean it‘s not a good
solution.‖

Moderator: ―Mrs. Elkort, Board of Selectmen.‖

Arvil Elkort, a member of the Board of Selectmen: ―Hi there. One of the first things
I have to say here is that, you should all be damn proud of the Town of Canton. I go
around to a lot of different meetings in different states, and different areas of Canton,
of this state, and I can assure you Canton has a high repute as a very good, well run
town. You look at it tonight with your town boards. We‘re in good fiscal shape,
things have changed, they‘re not changing too much but we‘re doing it. We‘re
slowly doing it and we‘re well run. Triple A, one of the few people with Triple A
rating and we‘ll still have it again next year. Our auditors report came back glowing,
absolutely glowing. You should be proud of it, and that‘s one of the reasons that
people don‘t want to change things too much. They‘re quite content the way it is.
When they‘re not content, I can assure you, you know it real fast. You know it, the
phone doesn‘t stop ringing, okay, we want to let you know that we don‘t like this,
don‘t like that. But that‘s it. But the big thing that‘s not been mentioned here, why
do they turn out in November, every other November, that is, not every November,
just every other one. Because of millions of dollars is spent to get you out there,
millions of dollars. Not just a few thousand, not a few hundred. My goodness,
we‘re getting it already, the 2016 election, it‘s almost as if it‘s here. I hear who‘s
running, who‘s not running, who‘s doing this, who‘s not doing that. By the time you
finish up there‘s nothing but Democrats that hate Republicans and saying nasty
things about them and Republicans saying nasty things about Democrats. And then
Democrats are saying about the other Democrats. But it‘s all money, it‘s an
incredible amount of money. You have it on t.v., you have it in you papers. Now,
how does someone come along, on that year, who wants to be a Library Trustee,
perhaps, ―Who ever heard of a Library Trustee? What are they, Democrat,
Republican, what are they, what are they doing, are they for this?‖ the big things
become, ―Are we going to war with Russia, are we doing this, what are we doing?‖,
not who wants it or who wants to be on the Board of Health. ―The Board of Health,
where, what is it?‖ It would make your whole Town Elections irrelevant, your people




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here, irrelevant. I don‘t care what you do when you go there, who you‘re voting for.
And I‘m with Allen, he loves to go in the elections. He‘d be terribly torn, there‘d be
half the people he couldn‘t vote for because he wouldn‘t be able to. Is that right?
(gesturing to Allen Karon) You‘d have to stand there, you‘d have to select one
person. So really, think of it this way, keep what you‘ve got, you‘re doing well,
you‘re doing very well. You‘re not the only town where people aren‘t turning out.
My goodness, Hanover even had a whole blank on its thing, they couldn‘t even get
people to fill them, they had to appoint people to fill some of their things. These are
well run towns too. But people are quite content. They‘re not content with the state
government, they‘re not content with the federal government, my goodness, they‘re
all yelling already. It hasn‘t even started. ―Who‘s on, who‘s off, who‘s doing this?‖
Within parties, they‘re fighting. And the money that‘s going to be spent is criminal,
criminal, because it could be spent so much better taking care of things that we need
to have done. So think carefully. I wouldn‘t change things, not really, it‘s not worth
it. And, by the way, if you think it‘s cold in May, you ought to see how cold it is in
November sometime. Thank you.‖

Moderator: ―Thank you Mrs. Elkort. Yes.‖

(Gentleman‘s name could not be heard): ―I‘m not rising to offer an opinion. I think
the issue‘s ripe. I move to call the question.‖

Moderator: ―He moved the question. Mr. Connolly yielded to you. He did move it.
That‘s not debatable. I‘m sorry, we‘ll have to call the question. So the question is
before the vote. This only requires a majority vote. I‘m going to be very careful,
obviously. We have two side, clearly presented. They‘ve had ample time to talk this
through. So let‘s start with the yellow cards, just to make sure, and we‘re voting
first, on the substitute motion which was to change the date of the election as
presented by Mr. Rohr. So, all in favor of the substitute motion, if you‘d raise the
yellow card…Okay, thank you. All opposed...This is close. I hate to do this at this
hour. I feel more comfortable on something more important, counting this. I‘m
sorry. I‘m going to call for a count. It‘s just too close.‖

A counted vote was taken and the Moderator declared that the substitute motion was
adopted by a vote of 43 voters in favor of adoption and 40 voters opposed to
adoption.


VOTED: That the town authorize the Board of Selectmen to file a petition with the
General Court for special legislation allowing Canton to hold annual municipal
elections on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.

ADOPTED 43 AYE – 40 NAY, SUBSTITUTE MOTION ADOPTED




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Due to the late hour the Moderator took a vote to determine if the voters at Town
Meeting wished to continue past the preset adjournment time to discuss the last
remaining article and conclude Town Meeting tonight.

The majority of voters in attendance wished to continue.


                                    ARTICLE 33

APPROPRIATE FUNDS TO MEET EXPENSES FOR NEXT FISCAL YEAR
(FY15)
Article 33 To see what sums of money the town will vote to raise and appropriate,
transfer from any available funds or borrow pursuant to any applicable statute to
meet the expenses of the next fiscal year for the various Town Boards, Committees,
Departments and Agencies, or to take any other action related thereto.
Board of Selectmen


MOVED:              That the various sums of money contained in the printed
report of the Finance Committee be raised and appropriated for the various
purposes as are enumerated in the said report, and that certain funds be
transferred to meet such appropriation as set forth below, provided however,
that for the purposes of MGL chapter forty-four, section thirty-one (c. 44, §31)
the individual and separately numbered items within each account are not to be
considered as separate votes but rather as detail provided only for general
information purposes, it being the intention of this vote to have a, so-called,
bottom line budget enabling department heads, with the approval of the
Finance Director, to shift funds from one subsidiary account to another within
the total amount available to the department, office or agency.




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Votes to Transfer Available Funds
   WITH A VOTE THAT $2,270,348 BE TRANSFERRED AS FOLLOWS:

               TRANSFER FROM                     AMOUNT                PURPOSE


   AMBULANCE SERVICE                              $650,000    FIRE DEPARTMENT
   WATER ENTERPRISE FUND                           620,022    FIXED COSTS
   SEWER ENTERPRISE FUND                           376,369    FIXED COSTS
   SOLAR FACILITY                                  307,500    TOWN-WIDE ELECTRICITY
   SCHOOL FOOD SERVICE                             122,378    HEALTH INSURANCE
   RINK ENTERPRISE FUND                             90,729    FIXED COSTS
   AMBULANCE SERVICE                                53,350    DEBT SERVICE
   GREENLODGE STREET PARKING FEES                   35,000    EXECUTIVE OFFICE
   SALE OF LOTS/GRAVES                              10,000    CEMETERY MAINTENANCE
   CEMETERY PERPETUAL CARE (EXPENDABLE)              5,000    CEMETERY MAINTENANCE

   TOTAL                                         $2,270,348



                     FINANCE COMMITTEE VOTE:                   7-0-0

Mark Porter, Chairperson of the Finance Committee, moved Article 33 as printed in
the warrant.




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FY15 BUDGET
SCHOOL DEPARTMENT (300)                                    $34,548,305.00
     TOTAL SCHOOLS                                         $34,548,305.00
APPROVED UNANIMOUS VOICE VOTE
ASSESSORS (141)                                              $261,427.00
BUILDING AND ZONING (241;176)                                $341,624.00
COMMITTEES & COMMISSIONS (131;149;182;184;547;691;692)         $26,049.00
CONSERVATION COMMISSION (171)                                  $88,406.00
COUNCIL ON AGING (541)                                       $263,024.00
EXECUTIVE AREA (129;151;154;179;192-195;199;244;632;910)    $1,448,823.00
FINANCE DEPARTMENT(133;135;145;155)                          $924,061.00
FIRE DEPARTMENT (220;221;231;232;291)                       $4,876,555.00
HEALTH DEPARTMENT (510)                                      $337,772.00
PLANNING BOARD (175)                                           $53,931.00
POLICE DEPARTMENT (210;292)                                 $4,393,607.00
PUBLIC LIBRARY (610)                                        $1,146,576.00
PUBLIC WORKS (400;410;420;421;425;426;427;491;492;493)      $2,109,896.00
RECREATION & PLAYGROUND (542;630)                            $525,071.00
TOWN CLERK AND ELECTED (161;163)                             $217,426.00
VETERANS SERVICES DEPT. (543)                                $260,123.00

       TOTAL MUNICIPAL                                     $17,274,371.00
APPROVED UNANIMOUS VOICE VOTE
BLUE HILLS REGIONAL (840)                                   $1,098,642.00
DEBT SERVICE (710;751;752)                                  $4,880,575.00
EMPLOYER SHARE-HEALTH/LIFE INSURANCE (914;915)             $11,321,785.00
NORFOLK AGRICULTURAL HIGH SCHOOL (841)                         $10,000.00
OPEB TRANSFERS (993)                                         $551,000.00
RESERVE FUND (132)                                           $500,000.00
RETIREMENT BENEFITS (911)                                   $3,604,434.00
SNOW & ICE (423)                                             $414,500.00
STREET LIGHTING (422)                                        $140,000.00
TOWN INSURANCE (946)                                         $935,341.00
TRASH COLLECTION (433)                                      $1,552,000.00
UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION (913)                              $150,000.00
     TOTAL FIXED COSTS                                     $25,158,277.00
APPROVED UNANIMOUS VOICE VOTE
TOTAL BUDGET                                               $76,953,153.00



                               220
                                221

ENTERPRISE FUNDS

700               RINK ENTERPRISE                                  $387,833.00

APPROVED UNANIMOUS VOICE VOTE

600-602           SEWER ENTERPRISE                                $5,795,392.00

APPROVED UNANIMOUS VOICE VOTE

640-642           WATER ENTERPRISE                                $5,873,373.00

APPROVED UNANIMOUS VOICE VOTE



A motion was moved and seconded to adjourn Town Meeting.

VOTED: That the 2014 Annual Town Meeting be adjourned sine die.

Adjourned at 11:59pm on May 12th, 2014.

Attest:



Tracy K. Kenney
Town Clerk




                                   221
                                     222

INDEX


ALMANAC                                                 5
APPOINTMENTS                                            6
ASSESSORS                                              18
BLUE HILLS REGIONAL DISTRICT SCHOOL COMMITTEE          75
BUILDING DEPARTMENT                                    19
BUILDING RENOVATION COMMITTEE                          21
COMMUNITY PRESERVATION COMMITTEE                       23
CONSERVATION COMMISSION                                29
COUNCIL ON AGING                                       32
DIRECTOR OF FINANCE                                    34
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY                            41
FIRE DEPARTMENT                                        42
HEALTH DEPARTMENT                                      45
HISTORICAL COMMISSION                                  50
HOUSING AUTHORITY                                      52
HUMAN RESOURCES                                        54
IMPORTANT INFORMATION                                   5
LIBRARY                                                55
NORFOLK COUNTY MOSQUITO CONTROL PROJECT                59
PLANNING BOARD                                         61
POLICE DEPARTMENT                                      64
PROPERTY MAINTENANCE                                   66
PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT                                67
PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT                        70
REGIONAL EMERGENCY PLANNING COMMITTEE                  74
SCHOOL COMMITTEE                                       80
SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT                                  80
SELECTMEN                                              14
TELEPHONE NUMBERS                               Back Cover
                          223

TOWN CLERK                             97
TOWN COUNSEL                           94
TOWN OFFICERS                          7
TOWN MEETINGS
ANNUAL –                              114
VETERAN’S SERVICES                     90
WATER/SEWER RATE & POLICY COMMITTEE    92
ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS                93




                          224

EMERGENCY NUMBERS                   911
Fire & Ambulance                    911
Police                              781-828-1212


FOR INFORMATION                   CALL                           AT


Animal Control                      Animal Control Officer   781-575-6507
Bills & Accounts                    Town Accountant          781-821-5010
Birth Certificates                  Town Clerk               781-821-5013
Building Permits                    Building Commissioner    781-821-5003
Cemetery                            Public Works             781-821-5040
Conservation Commission                                      781-821-5035
Council on Aging                    Director                 781-828-1323
Death Certificates                  Town Clerk               781-821-5013
Dog Licenses                        Town Clerk               781-821-5013
Elections                           Town Clerk               781-821-5013
Engineering                         Engineering Office       781-821-5063
Finance Director                    Finance Dept.            781-575-6610
Fire Business                       Fire Dept.               781-821-5095
Fire Permits                        Fire Dept.               781-821-5095
Fishing, Hunting Licenses, etc.     Town Clerk               781-821-5013
Forestry                            Public Works             781-821-5023
Fuel Oil Storage                    Fire Dept.               781-821-5095
Gas Inspector                       Building Dept.           781-821-5003
Health Information                  Health Dept.             781-821-5021
Library                             Library                  781-821-5027
Marriage Certificates               Town Clerk               781-821-5013
Metropolis Rink                     Recreation               781-575-6660
Municipal Legal Matters             Town Counsel             781-821-5000
Planning Board                      Planning Board           781-821-5019
Plumbing Inspector                  Building Dept.           781-821-5003
Police Business                     Police Dept.             781-821-5090
Recreation Dept.                    Director                 781-821-5030
Schools                             School Administration    781-821-5060
Sewers/Streets                      Public Works             781-821-5023
Tax Assessment                      Board of Assessors       781-821-5008
Tax Collection                      Town Collector           781-821-5006
Town Administrator                  Selectmen’s Office       781-821-5000
Town Hall                           Custodian                781-821-5015
Treasurer/Collector                 Town Treasurer           781-821-5006
Veterans’ Services                  Veterans’s Agent         781-821-5005
Voting Registration                 Board of Registrars      781-821-5013
Water Billing                       Public Works             781-821-5017
Wiring Permits                      Building Dept.           781-821-5003
Zoning Enforcement                  Building Commissioner    781-821-5003
Zoning Board of Appeals                                      781-575-6589