Updated 10.31.13 @ 10:57

by Frank Schroth

One of the articles that recently passed Town Meeting amended a bylaw to have the Town Clerk promote the importance of town meeting and step up efforts to take advantage of media outlets to educate residents on the importance of town meeting membership and the process for becoming a town meeting member. Attendance was also an issue on Tuesday.

There are 279 Town Meeting Members. In additions there are ex officio members who are members due to elected office (e.g. Senator Joyce, Chairman Whiteside of Planning Board). On Monday night 248 members signed into town meeting including ex-officio members, according to numbers received from the Town Clerk’s office. Article 2 had an amendment which required a standing vote. That standing vote total was 202. Therefore, 46 members who had  signed in either left the hall or abstained from the vote.

On Tuesday only 191 members or ~68% signed in.  The Town Moderator had stepped out of the hall to round up members milling about in the foyer of the school to get enough members in the hall for a quorum to open town meeting.

There are eleven town meeting members who have not signed into a town meeting session for the last  twelve months (i.e. this past town meeting or previous Annual Town Meeting). They are: Linda Craven, Robert Rota, Jay Lowney, Jeanne O’Brien, Joseph Grogan, Peter Arens, Willam Bulger, Daniel Joyce, Diane Colligan, John Davis, and David Shea.

Records of Town Meeting attendance  for May 2013 can be found on the Town Clerk’s web site.