Town of West Boylston, MA - A Voters Guide to Town Meeting

A key feature of town government in Massachusetts is the town meeting, which is the town's legislative body. This New England tradition has been praised in almost every book written on government in America. The town meeting is at the very foundation of the democratic tradition, providing an equal opportunity for all citizens to participate in the decision-making process. This is self government in action. Decisions made of these meetings are not imposed upon us by others, but agreed upon by those who are to be affected. Our actions at these meetings shape our town by allocating how our tax dollars are spent, adopt Zoning and General By-laws, organize our government agencies, and establish town policies. Direct control over the budget allows the town meeting to influence actions by town official and departments.

Every town in the state must hold at least one town meeting each year. West Boylston has at least two. The Semi-Annual Town Meetings are convened on the 3rd Monday in May and October as defined in Article 1 Section 1- Town Meetings and Elections, Town of West Boylston General Bylaws.

In summary, there is very little that goes on in Town government that is not affected by the actions of the Open Town Meeting. It should rank in importance second only to your vote at the annual Town election where you choose the people who handle the responsibilities given them by Town Meeting vote.

As you face the front of the hall at Town Meeting, you will see a dozen or more people sealed across the front facing you. There are the people chosen (many elected) to help you decide how to spend your tax money. All are intimately familiar with the issues before you and have studied every article.

This is an appointed committee as defined in Article VI Finance Committee of the West Boylston General By-laws. The Finance Committee is appointed by the Selectmen. It consists of nine voters of the town who do not hold elective office, who are chosen for their interest in Town Government and who possess a certain level of financial expertise. It is the responsibility of the Finance Committee to review all budget requests and to interview all department heads requiring them to justify each line-item in their budget. The Finance Committee then develops a financial report prior to Town Meeting that either recommends or rejects the requests for various articles. You are not bound by their recommendation. You may move to amend, up or down (within reason) the dollar value requested. The Finance Committee also has control of the Reserve Fund used for emergency expenditures.

To the right of the Finance Committee on the stage is the Town Clerk. It is her responsibility to record the proceedings of the Town Meeting. This record becomes the only true and legal copy of events. From that point on, her function is that of record keeper. The Town Clerk can also be very useful (with a discrete nudge) in keeping the Moderator from forgetting a critical point or losing his place.

This is the person behind the lectern on the stage. It is the responsibility of the Moderator to "run" the meeting. He or she presents each article to the voters in turn and accepts a motion and second to bring it to the floor for discussion.

The Moderator controls the discussion, and all who speak must first be recognized by the Moderator. Within very broad limits, the Moderator makes the rules by which the meeting is conducted. It is therefore critical that the Moderator be neutral and unbiased on all issues before the meeting. It is his responsibility to see that all who wish to express an opinion or have a question on an article have the opportunity to speak, at the same time balancing this with limiting repetitive rhetoric and frivolous comment. It is also critical that he limit the discussion to that which deals directly with the article at hand and not the subject in general. The Moderator then calls for a vote on the article and relays the results of the vote to the Town Clerk.

The Board of Selectmen (or Select board as is more politically correct) sits in front of the Moderator. This five person elected board constitutes the highest level of responsibility in the town and is charged with the "day-to-day" operation of the Town. All the articles on the Town Meeting Warrant have been previously reviewed by the Select board, and, except those brought by initiative petition, have been approved by the Board. They may or may not approve of the article as requested, but have voted to bring the issue to the decision process of Town Meeting.

Toward the end, next to the Select board, sits the Town Administrator. this person is employed by the Board to assist in the day -to-day running of the town. Because we have a "part-time" Select board, all of whom have other responsibilities, it is helpful to have a full-time employee in the Town Hall who is aware of policy and Board decisions, and who can assist in their implementation.

At Town Meeting, the Town Administrator is a resource for the Board to help answer complicated questions of finance and how State rules impact on town operation. He will contribute only when directed to do so by the board.

Seated next to the Town Administrator, he will be keeping a running account of money spent as the meeting progresses to insure that all is legal and that we have not exceeded our 2 1/2 % tax cap. He will answer financial questions upon the direction of the Select board or Moderator.

Seated next to the Town Administrator, she will act as the legal advisor and counselor of the Town. It is her duty to fully protect the interest of the Town in all matters of law, and will comment on the individual warrant articles upon request.

Article 1 Section 3 Town Meetings and Elections states that one hundred legal voters, including the presiding officer and the clerk, shall constitute a quorum, provided that a number less than a quorum may vote an adjournment; and that not more than seventy-five shall be required to maintain a quorum once the meeting has been called to order by the Moderator and that a quorum of seventy-five be required to reconvene any adjourned session of any such meeting.

After the meeting has been called to order by the Moderator the articles of the Warrant are considered in order. Mid-way in the annual meeting, comes the Omnibus Budget article. This article is for consideration of the budgets (less special articles) of all town departments. The normal procedure is to go through this article, one budget at a time, asking if anyone has a question on anything that deals with that department. If there is, the voter is free to ask question on the budget item or to offer a new dollar value by w3ay of an amendment. If the amendment is seconded, it is then voted on. More than one amendment can be considered, but the largest dollar value or shortest time will be voted first. It a budget is amended, then the new budget must be voted "as amended".

As each article is presented, any register voter (and special guests with permission of the Moderator) may rise to speak to the subject. All speakers must use a microphone and identity themselves the first time they speak. The Moderator has the right to ignore someone who is not at a microphone. Care should be taken that all question and comments deal directly with the article under consideration, all question will be addressed through the Moderator, and one will speak only when recognized by the Moderator. All voters are encouraged to ask relevant questions to their satisfaction, and need not fear being ridiculed or heckled by the audience. There are no stupid questions.

If the article under consideration is not worded to the satisfaction of a voter, the voter may be recognized to offer an amendment. If the amendment is seconded, and submitted to the Town Clerk in writing shortly thereafter, discussion and a vote will be held on the amendment as offered. If the amendment passes, discussion will return to the amended motion and finally to a vote. If it fails, other amendments may be considered, or discussion and a vote on the original motion will follow.

Once in a while, when discussion seems to be repetitive or going nowhere, you will hear a call to "move the question". If this is made from a seated voter, it will be ignored, but it is usually a clue to the Moderator that it is time to "wrap it up" on this article. If it is made by a voter at a microphone and then seconded, it can not be ignored because it is a legal call to terminate debate. A motion to eliminate debate requires a 2/3 rds recognized or counted vote and can be made at any time. The motion is not debatable and must be acted upon immediately. Most fair and just Moderators will not recognize a motion to "move the question" when there are voters waiting at the microphone to speak. In the same vein, the maker of the motion can usually be persuaded to allow those already standing to say their piece if assured that the vote on the motion is forthcoming. Treating each other in a civil manner is paramount in Town Meeting procedure.

Once or twice during every Town Meeting the Moderator's reading of an article will be greeted by a "Motion to Pass Over" usually from the Select board. This is often an indication that the maker of the original request for the article no longer deems it necessary to make the request. It may be that the conditions have changed or the presenter is not ready to make his case for the request. The Moderator usually allows a brief explanation of the circumstances before calling for the vote.

Although this is legal motion, it is rarely heard due to the fact that it can only be used in town government to postpone action to a time certain (example: after consideration of article 26). It may not be used to "kill" an article as is often

done in State Government. On rare occasions articles may be "linked" , in that there is only so much money and passing of one article may depend on defeat of another. In this case, the voters may elect to table the vote on one article in order to determine the outcome of another.

Once in a while (although never in West Boylston) the Moderator may do something that a voter considers to be illegal or at the very least deserves explaining. In this case, the voter may "Rise to a Point of Order", this requires immediate service by the Moderator and the voter is offered an opportunity to explain what it is that is bothering him.

The Moderator must then respond by defending or explaining his action or decision. The voter is not allowed to debate the point but is faced with a choice of accepting the Moderator's position or calling for a vote of the whole body to overturn the action, this is one of those times when Town Counsel can be of service.

A "Motion to Reconsider" an article that has been previously accepted requires a 2.3 rds majority vote. The Motion to Reconsider can be a valuable tool in the event that someone discovers at a later time in the meeting and error in procedure that may make an article invalid.

After discussion has been terminated, the Moderator may repeat the article to be voted upon and then ask "that all who are in favor indicate by saying "AYE", and then "those who are opposed indicate by saying "NAY", " It then becomes a judgment call on the part of the Moderator as to which side prevailed. If, in the opinion of the Moderator, it was "too close to call" he may ask the tellers to conduct a hand counted vote.

A voter who disagrees with the decision of the Moderator may also ask for a counted vote. He need only to stand and say "I question the vote". The Moderator will then ask if there are 7 other voters who will stand in support of the question. If 7 or more voters stand in support, then the Moderator will call the counters forward and a standing counted vote will be taken.

At every Town Meeting, there are people selected from the group at large by the Town Clerk to act as "tellers" In the event that the voice vote on an article is "too close to call" or the request for a counted vote by a voter prevails, the tellers are called forward and assigned areas of the hall to record the vote. These tellers work in pairs and must agree on the vote for their assigned section. Certain articles, if not unanimous, require a counted vote. These include the following examples of articles; bonded debt, Stabilization Fund articles and paying of old bills.

On rare occasions, the necessity of a paper vote or secret vote is requested. this may be determined by the Select board, the Moderator, or may be called for from the floor by a voter who is again supported by seven other voters. This requires all voters to come forward as directed by the tellers and in turn cast a YES or NO paper ballot vote for the issue at hand. The tellers then tally the results and report it to the Town Clerk. this is a time consuming process; however, to avoid the intimidation of a public vote, many voters seem to prefer it.

Citizen groups may submit an article for consideration at Town Meeting by drafting an article and collecting 10 valid signatures (or for a Special Town Meeting, 100 signatures or 10% of the voters), on a petition form available from the Town Clerk. This must be done before the Select board closes the warrant for any given Town Meeting.

The operative word for Town Meeting is "OPEN". It is the desire of all Town Officials that as many voters attend Town Meeting as possible. Every effort will be made to allow your opinions to be heard and your questions to be answered. Rude and intimidating questions will not be permitted, and personal attack are a cause for a voter to be ejected. Every year we spend in excess of 17 million dollars at Town Meetings. All Town Meetings are posted in advance of the meeting as well as on the West Boylston web-site, www.westboylston.com

One would hope that each of you would wish to have an input and vote on how this money is spent. May I humbly suggest that you plan your schedule to permit your attendance at Town Meeting. After all, it's your money we are spending, and if you choose not to attend, then more power (literally and figuratively) to those who do.

The warrant must be signed by the Selectmen, signed and certified by the Town Clerk, and posted in accordance with Massachusetts General Law. At least 7 days before an Annual Town Meeting, and at least 14 days prior to a Special Town Meeting.

The State Attorney General will review the actions taken on Bylaw changes at Town Meetings to ensure all the proper procedures were followed. The Town Clerk submits certified copies of these votes and procedures to the Attorney General. He can invalidate any articles that he finds were not properly amended.