I take notes during Town Meeting. They are not official in any way. As I listen to people speak, I type notes. I’m sure that, at times, I mishear or misunderstand the speaker, but my notes represent what I hear at the time. I try to publish the notes every night after the meeting. I do go back and make a few edits as errors are pointed out to me.  Sometimes I relay a quote from a specific speaker. Sometimes I only summarize the discussion. At points I give a purely personal opinion; those are clearly labeled like this: Personal note.

The Special Town Meeting was called to order.

Rieko Tanaka played the National Anthem on the piano.

We did a test vote on the clicker about “E Pluribus Unum.” 87-71-7 I think it was a trick question!

Anouncements

• Bill Hayner made a couple announcements that I didn’t get written down fast enough.
• Brendan Sullivan – DCF foster care. If you want to get involved, he passed a pamphlet.
• Naomi Greenfield gave statement from Arlington Human Rights Commission gave a statement about a hate incident of Arlington High School.
• Anna Watson gave the report of the Rainbow Coalition. I’m the Select Board liaison to the Rainbow Coalition, and I’m very excited about the start.

Article 1 Reports

• Selectmen report received
• Arlington Redevelopment report received
• Adam Chapdelaine gave a report on the High School Building Comittee

The Moderator put the Special Town Meeting in recess, and we returned to the Annual Town Meeting.

Article 19 – Budgets

Recreation – Question about changes in revolving to enterprise fund.

Ed Burns Arena – There was a question about a line item that went up by $13,455. I’d argue that this question could have been asked before the meeting.

Budgets approved 197-1-1

Article 35 – Committees and Commissions. There was a question about the culture budget increase. John Leonard moved an amendment to strike the sentence about consultants managed by the Town Manager. Town Manager Adam Chapdelaine and Vice Chair of Finance Committee Charlie Foskett explained that consultants are generally supervised by the Town Manager, but this article was a pooling of all the relevant funds. The amendment failed 15-187-1. The budget was approved 195-6.

Article 42 – Other Post Employment Benefits (OPEB). Annie LaCourt asked for a lesson about what OPEB is. Town Manager Adam Chapdelaine explained that this is for retiree health care. We have $201 million liability and $8.9 assets. There was a question about the funding mechanism. 202-0

Article 45 – Free Cash (Undesignated Funds). Mr. Chapdelaine explained this is the previous year’s unexpended funds.

Article 46 – Long Term Stabilization. 201-1

Article 47 – Fiscal Stability Stabilization Fund. FinComm Vice Chair Charlie Foskett updated the number to be voted. 204-0

Article 27 Collective Bargaining was taken from the table. Collective Bargaining. Adam Chapdelaine said that some unions have settled, and some have not. This funds the settled ones and other funds are set aside. 202-0

Article 3 was taken from the table.

The regular Town Meeting was dissolved. Unprecedented speed in an Annual Town Meeting!

We returned to the Special Town Meeting

Article 2 – Recreational Marijuana Moratorium. Arlington Redevelopment Board Chair Andrew Bunnell explained that the recreational marijuana regulations are very new and we need time to properly zone and regulate recreational marijuana in Arlington. Patricia Worden spoke in favor of the moratorium and against the use of marijuana. This was a reprise of her famous “Reefer Madness” speech of 2017.  There was a question about if we’ll be ready for fall with regulations. There was an opponent of the moratorium. It was asked what happens if we don’t have a moratorium – the answer is that the store can be in town, relatively unconstrained by zoning. John Deyst moved to terminate debate. The moratorium was approved 157-47.

Article 3 – Residential Tear Down – As Chair of the Select Board, I reported again on how some tear downs are good, some are bad, and they are hard to tell apart. Several speakers were in favor, but several were frustrated with the pace of the solution. There were discussion about whether or not teardowns were an issue (everyone appeared to say yes). Schlichtman moved to terminate debate. Debate was terminated 157-35-1. 192-9 it was referred to committee.

Article 4 – Tax Relief I talked about the importance of the coming override and the various strategies. Speaker in favor, and a question.  Mr. McCabe terminated debate, approved 191-2-1

Article 5 – No action

Article 6 – Package Stores – It would most likely be in Arlington Heights. Several speakers were opposed, and a few questions were asked. 126-67-2 approved.  The two most controversial articles this year were pot and alcohol.  I think there is going to be an interesting Venn diagram of voters on these voter sets.

Article 7 – Gender Neutral – This finishes the change from Select Board to apply to all other boards and bylaws. There was a speaker against, who thinks it is too risky. There were speakers in favor. 182-8-3 approved.

Special Town Meeting was dissolved.

I take notes during Town Meeting. They are not official in any way. As I listen to people speak, I type notes. I’m sure that, at times, I mishear or misunderstand the speaker, but my notes represent what I hear at the time. I try to publish the notes every night after the meeting. I do go back and make a few edits as errors are pointed out to me.  Sometimes I relay a quote from a specific speaker. Sometimes I only summarize the discussion. At points I give a purely personal opinion; those are clearly labeled like this: Personal note.

We had been moving at a decent pace through Town Meeting so far, but tonight we slowed down quite a bit in the budgets.

Eric Helmuth played the National Anthem on the piano and the meeting sang along.

As Chairperson of the Select Board, I welcomed the visitors from Nagaokakyo.  We have been sister cities since 1984 with some 75 exchanges over the years.  We heard remarks from their teacher, Connor Boyle.  In my remarks I forgot to thank the families in town who host the visitors, and I forgot to thank Sue Sheffler for her hard work on the program.

Announcements and Reports

• Moderator John Leone reminded everyone that clapping for individual speakers is not appropriate and is a form of intimidation.
• I announced that the Symmes fund financial report was available in the back of the room.
• Jane Howard announced the Spy Pond cleanup.
• I didn’t get all the announcements recorded – I had too much going on to catch them all. 
• The school committee report was received from Kirsi Allison-Ampe
• The Recycling Committee report was presented by Larry Slotnick and and Priya Sakalia.
• John Ellis reported on the tree inventory.

Article 34 Minuteman. Fin Comm Member Stephen DeCourcey requested 10 minutes. He noted that Minuteman’s budget includes the capital costs along with the operating budget. Assistant Superintendent Kevin Mahoney gave the presentation. He relayed the changes in the budget and the new building progress. He answered questions, in particular about revenue opportunities for the old property. Minuteman was approved 212-1.

Budgets - Al Tosti had a substantive increase to the education budget, and a number of administrative changes related

Board of Selectmen – Questions on elections and increased staffing in the department.

Information Technology – There was a question about Request/Answer upgrades. There was a question on our preparedness for a cyber threat.

Treasurer/Collector – There were questions on what out-of-grade pay was and the balance on the Symmes debt.

Assessor – Many questions about how the department does it’s work. There was a question about creating a differential for commercial tax rates v residential rates.

We took a break.

Planning – John Maher thinks the Planning Director is underpaid. Questions on traffic hiring and MBTA.

Public Works – There were discussions of road salt and drinking fountains. Or, as I term it, we chatted about salt and water. There were questions about traffic signal maintenance as well. There was a question about how often trucks are washed.  Schlichtman moved to terminate debate. I confess at this point I was hoping the debate would move along more quickly. The questions could have been asked beforehand, and could have been delivered with more precision.

Facilities – There was a question about a budget change, and it was answered that there was a change between consulting and personnel. The FinCom budget document gives a lot of information, but it is only a summary of the budget. The next deepest layer is the Town Manager’s report. Many of the questions in town meeting are answered in that document.  It’s possible to dig even deeper if you want – FinComm members get a budget every year, hundreds of pages, that breaks it down line-by-line.  But I find the Town Manager’s report to be the best level of narrative and detail.

Police – There were several questions on position changes and staffing.

Education – There were questions on Gibbs cost increases, Gibbs library funding. There was discussion on PTO spending and how they were funding more “must haves” not just “nice to have.” There were compliments on the quality and cost effectiveness of the Arlington education system. There was a question about how the school checks residency. Someone in the meeting shouted “scope.” The question was absolutely in scope – even if I wish the questioner was asking in a more efficient venue, not in full town meeting. The speaker was clearly rattled. However, the only person who can determine if something is or isn’t in scope is the moderator – it’s not determined by the peanut gallery. My advice to the speaker: ignore the people shouting at you – the only person who can stop you is the moderator. If the disruptions become too much you should appeal to the moderator for help, not engage with the shouters. There was a question about bullying.  We finished the discussion of education.

The meeting adjourned.  Wednesday is the special town meeting and maybe? hopefully? the rest of the regular town meeting.

I take notes during Town Meeting. They are not official in any way. As I listen to people speak, I type notes. I’m sure that, at times, I mishear or misunderstand the speaker, but my notes represent what I hear at the time. I try to publish the notes every night after the meeting. I do go back and make a few edits as errors are pointed out to me.  Sometimes I relay a quote from a specific speaker. Sometimes I only summarize the discussion. At points I give a purely personal opinion; those are clearly labeled like this: Personal note.

Kevin Greeley played the National Anthem on the piano, and the meeting sang along.

Moderator John Leone gave a question to test the voting clickers, “Was Steamboat Willie a silent film?” The vote was 85-70-16, and the actual answer was no – it had soundtrack.

The moderator swore in one new member. Hi Amy! Welcome!

It was noted that the test vote review didn’t finish, and they ran through it again.  It’s the opportunity to verify that your vote is working

Announcements and Article 3 Reports of Committees

• John Maher announced the continuing availability of the Symmes non profit funds.
• Alan Reedy gave the report of the Permanent Town Building Committee. He drew applause for the announcement that the project to rebuild all of the elementary schools is done. He offered thanks to John Kohl for his years of service at chairman.
• Richard Greco gave an extended report of the Retirement Board.
• Charles Kalauskas and Joseph Barr, co-chairs of master plan implementation committee gave an extended report on their committee.

Article 3 was laid on the table

We took article 30 out of order to do the capital plan.

Article 30 Capital Budget – Charlie Foskett, chair of the Capital Planning Committee, ran through the plan for the capital budget. There were a series of questions on details of the budget. There was a question about the possible cost of the high school and operating override. Adam Chapdelaine explained that there are still many unknowns on the high school, like exactly what will be reimbursable by the state. One conservative scenario is a $300m high school with a 35% reimbursement rate, which would give an average tax increase of $700 on the average Arlington house ($650,000 value). For the operating override there are also many decisions still to be made including how long the override is intended to last. An override in 2019 (FY2020) that supports a 3 year balanced budget would cost $305 for the average house; 4 year budget would cost $530; and 5 years would cost $705. I didn’t expect this question to appear in this way, or in this article, but I am really happy with Adam’s answer.  We don’t know all the answers yet, but we know a range of possibilities, and Adam’s answer was remarkably clear despite the ambiguity that remains.  I am glad that Town Meeting has heard the scope of the override campaign that we need next year.  Debate was terminated debate by a vote of 170-28-2. The budget passed 207-1-2.

Article 39 – Eric Helmuth, chair of the Community Preservation Committee ran through the plan for the CPA spending. There were several questions about the spending.  We took our 9:30 break and then approved the budget 172-2-2.

Article 19 – Financial Department I apologized for the errors in the Selectmen’s report. This really has been tough, and I’m very sorry about it.  This year’s process was different than past years, partly because of changes in personnel.  We didn’t get it right.  I will make sure we get it right going forward.  I explained this article is putting the pieces together. 200-7

Article 20 – I gave an introduction and endorsement of changing the Selectmen to Select Board. I said that Selectmen is a cause of unconscious bias, and we need to remove it. Proponents Clarissa Rowe and Naomi Greenfield explained their support. Paul Schlichtman made a substitute motion to put the question of what the new name should be to a committee. Timur Yontar made a substitute motion to change the name to Town Council. Several speakers were in favor of the main motion, at least one in favor of Schlichtman’s motion. John Deyst moved to terminate debate, and it was terminated 169-36. By a vote of 23-183-1 Yontar’s motion failed. 21-185 Schlichtman’s failed. 195-6-5 approved.

Article 21 – Change Vision 2020 to Envision Arlington. Juli Brazile gave the history of Vision 2020 and the plan for the group going forward. Two speakers were in favor.

Article 22 – Local Option Taxes.  No action

Article 23 – Community Development Block Grants. I’ve been chest-deep in emails and worries about the errors in the Selectmen’s report, and when I couldn’t find my CDBG report, I was convinced we’d forgotten to include it.  I’m glad that we did include it, and embarrassed about (yet another) error.  I first moved to postpone, and then I was shown that the report was distributed, and I was happy to see the postponement shot down.  After one question it was endorsed.

Article 24 – Revolving funds – Approved.

Article 26 – Position Reclassifications. There was a question, then approved.

Article 27 – Tabled – there may be union contracts.

Article 28 – Parking Budget. Approved. 197-2-1

Adjourned.

I take notes during Town Meeting. They are not official in any way. As I listen to people speak, I type notes. I’m sure that, at times, I mishear or misunderstand the speaker, but my notes represent what I hear at the time. I try to publish the notes every night after the meeting. I do go back and make a few edits as errors are pointed out to me.  Sometimes I relay a quote from a specific speaker. Sometimes I only summarize the discussion. At points I give a purely personal opinion; those are clearly labeled like this: Personal note.

This year I’m the chairman of the Board of Selectmen, and I’m frequently introducing articles, answering questions, and directing traffic.  I’m not able to keep the notes that I usually keep.

Under Article 4, I delivered the State of the Town.  You can read my speech here.

Under Article 10, Animal Control Bylaws, Chief Ryan gave the winning reply of the night.  The question and answer had moved into policing philosophies, and Chief Ryan offered an answer to the question about “what would he have done at that Starbucks in Philadelphia.  His answer was: “I’d buy them a cup of coffee.”