2020 Town Meeting

Well, that was the strangest Town Meeting I've ever been a part of.  Two hours start-to-finish.  It was over way to early.

We started filing onto Peirce Field to sit in chairs six-foot on center.  It was cordial among the members, but it was strange not being able to really say "hello" and catch up.  The Moderator opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance instead of the Star Spangled Banner.  The blessing was delivered by Dr. Wong from St. John’s Episcopal Church.  It spoke to the racial tensions around us, and the involvement of the youth in working to better the community.  This was followed by the swearing in of the new members.

After brief remarks from Mr. Hurd on behalf of the Select Board, reports from the various boards were received.  We reappointed Mr. Worden as the Measurer of Wood and Bark and Ms. Wren nominated Mr. O'Conor to serve as the Assistant Moderator.

We opened with the first of two consent agendas.  This one was intended to accept all the "no action" votes put forward by the Select Board and the "refer to committee" votes by the Arlington Redevelopment Board.  Since there were no substantive votes, and no substitute motions were filed, the agenda should have passed quickly.  The Moderator still needed to give an opportunity for members to identify articles to be discussed if there was anything to discuss, which there wasn't.  Someone opted to hold on the first article.  They had no substitute motion, and seemingly no reason for holding.  The Moderator explained again why there was nothing to discuss, and the hold was withdrawn.  We then kept all the articles on the consent agenda, and approved the recommended votes.

We then skipped ahead to Art. 50, the Community Development Block Grant, a federal program under HUD.  It was accepted without debate.  We then had Dr. Bouquillon present the Minuteman budget.  It sounds like they are a little bit of a victim of their own success.  Assessments to the member communities are up because in-district enrollment is up, limiting out-of district funding.  There were several questions that were covered in the submitted report.  Please do your reading!!  The budget was approved.

There were only a few items on the Town Budget that members wanted to discuss.  There was a clarification sought on the difference between "Signal Maintenance" under the Town Budget (operational maintenance, like painting) and "Signal Maintenance" under the Capital Budget (long-term investments, like replacements).  There was a question on the amount of the reduction in funding under the school budget (10% reduction on the proposed increase, like all departments, as in the reading), answered by the new School CFO, Mr. Mason.  This was followed by Mr. Leonard's timely question about security at the AHS work site.  There was a theft reported last week, but the budget doesn't include funding for security.  Dr. Bodie reported that she had a discussion earlier in the day with various parties, and new high-resolution cameras were being installed around the site to supplement the existing building cameras.  There would also be better procedures for the storage of keys and locking the site.  Ms. Friedman had a question about the budget for the Ed Burns Arena, since it has been closed.  Mr. Pooler noted that there had been some layoffs of temporary staff, but there was every reason to believe that the rink could be reopened in the fall.

The really interesting discussion was over the police budget.  Mr. Weinstein raised an interesting question about the raises among the leadership in the police department.  All the upper level officers received 5-8% raises, while the patrolmen only received a 1.25% raise.  The answer, according to Mr. Pooler was that the larger raises actually reflected a two-year increase; year one was in collective bargaining article from 2019.  Meanwhile, the patrolman's union was operating without a contract for several years, and had now entered arbitration with the Town.  The conclusion is expected in the fall.  There was a further question about whether Town Meeting could discuss specific line items in a budget.  The Moderator said no; we could amend the budget for the department, but not for a specific item in the budget.  There was then an impromptu attempt to defund the police.  Mr. Weinstein sought to reduce the police budget by an unspecified amount.  It was unspecified, because the Moderator cut him off there, and indicated the request needed to be in writing.  He gave Mr. Weinstein an opportunity to write his request, indicating his displeasure at not receiving the request before the Friday morning deadline.  The Moderator seemed to talk himself out of granting the opportunity, decided that it was too late, and decided the request was out of order.  We never got to hear the final proposal.  As the sun set behind the DPW, and the field grew noticeably cooler, the Town Budget was approved.

The Capital Budget was presented by Mr. Yontar, new Chairman of the committee.  He replaces Mr. Foskett after 30 years of service.  As a town, we are indebted (really more like not in debt) because of his steadfast and reasoned leadership.  The Capital Budget is the only budget not reduced from earlier this year.  The decision was made, because delaying the expenditures only means making the same purchases later, possibly at a higher cost.  Mr. Weinstein noted that the police budget is the largest budget under the Town Manager, and asked about how the funding level for new police vehicles was reached, and whether a reduction was considered.  It was presented that the town typically purchases three vehicles every year with those funds, a marked vehicle, an unmarked vehicle, and motorcycle.  Ms. Dray asked about the longevity of the vehicles, and received a different answer from Chief Flaherty.  She indicated they tend to purchase two marked cars and one unmarked car every year, with a motorcycle purchased every four years.  The vehicles tend to last 3-4 years; longer in the Heights than in the East due to miles driven.  The parking division has two employees and one vehicle.  They are looking to replace that vehicle and add a second in the coming years.  The animal control van is five years old, and it too will need replacement in the coming years.

Mr. Jamieson noted that the police budget wasn't the largest, as water and sewer was more than three times as large.  He also extolled the 5% plan, where by the capital budget is set at 5% of the overall budget every year.  This has kept us on an even keep for decades.  Ms. Lacourt Noted that the DPW budget is even larger.  She wondered if the 5% could be lowered in times of crisis.  Mr. Yontak agreed it could, but doing so could lead to deferred maintenance and a larger capital expenditure in the future.  Mr Deyst asked about the possibility of electric police vehicles.  A large portion of an officer's time is spent in the car with the engine at idle, using the electronics to perform their duties.  The efficiency of using power that way was presented as 5%.  An electric car would be much more efficient.  The Town Manager noted that Ford has an all-electric "pursuit-rated" vehicle, but it is still a couple of years from being practical.

We quickly discussed the sewer and water mains enterprise funds, then voted them along with the capital budget.   Since all three votes required a 2/3 majority for bonding, they were held together, they were approved unanimously.  We did community development in there somewhere, and it was unanimously approved as well.  We then voted the second consent agenda for funding items needing only a simple majority vote, and that were uncontroversial.  That was approved.  This left only the Fiscal Stability Stabilization Fund, which was approved as well.  Mr. Tosti rose to take Article 3 off the table to close the meeting.  Before doing so, he noted that he was stepping down after decades at the helm of the finance committee.  He thanked all those who had served on that committee and those who serve on Town Meeting.  He then called to dissolve the meeting for the last time.  He will be sorely missed.

With the meeting over, we couldn't just leave.  To maintain social distance, we were dismissed by rows, so we wouldn't bunch up on the way out.  Since it was only 8:30, there was still some time spent socializing and discussing the state of the town, the virus, the isolation, and what comes next.  Whatever it is, I hope it will be safe enough to do it a little more socially.

Best, and good health,

Christian