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February 25th, 2004 Special Town Meeting

I take notes during Town Meeting. They are not official in any way. As I listen to people speak, I scribble notes. I'm sure that, at times, I mishear or misunderstand the speaker, but my notes represent what I hear at the time. I then publish the notes every night after the meeting. Sometimes I go back and make a few edits as errors are pointed out to me.

I did not try to reproduce my entire notepad for this online version. Sometimes I relay a quote from a specific speaker. Most of the time I only summarize the discussion. At points I give a purely personal opinion; those are clearly labeled like this: Personal note.

Special Town Meeting Notes

The meeting was called to order at 8PM. I was in the hall and missed the prayer, the pledge, and any opening remarks.

Moderator John Worden gave a description of the Assistant Moderator position that will start with the regular Town Meeting in April. The first meeting will accept nominations. The second meeting will have a secret ballot.

Selectman Greeley introduced the new Town Manager, Brian Sullivan. Mr. Sullivan gave some remarks about his experience and how he was looking forward to this year.

Selectman Greeley made a motion to permit town office-holders and employees to "sit on the floor" with the elected members. Town Clerk Rainville read the warrant. Mr. Greeley made a motion that the meeting should reconvene on Thursday at 8PM, if necessary.

Article 1 - Committee Reports
The Joint Report of Board of Selectmen and Finance Committee (PDF, 841KB, courtesy of Michael Quinn) was submitted by Selectman Greeley. The article was tabled.

Article 2 - Peirce Field

Mr. Greeley requested one hour for the presentation, but said it was expected to be 45 minutes. There was an objection by Mr. Lyman Judd to the extension that took a few minutes. The objection was withdrawn. This was about keeping the presentation to 5 minutes because everyone had already made up their mind. This objection was not done properly, and was a waste of time in and of itself! Town Counsel Maher introduced the "Industrial Parties" and the town's negotiating team. Superintendent Donovan "respectfully asked for approval" on the proposal. She started the presentation, giving details about timeline of construction, major construction elements, likely side-effects, and communication plans about the side-effects. She also showed a picture of the site in 1913. The picture, when projected on the screen, was so bleak, dark, and smoky that it was almost a caricature. I had to chuckle about the theatrical value. Chuck Wayelle (sp?), the site engineer hired by the town and the companies, talked for several minutes about the remediations that would be made and their effect. Mr. Maher went through the several elements of the amendment to the agreement, including delaying the determination of who actually has to pay, the addition of the replacement of the culvert under the field, and recreational improvements that would be purchased.

Questions started. The details of the replacement running track were reviewed. It was asked, and answered, that construction would be permitted outside normal hours (including Saturdays), at the discretion of the Town Manager. The effects of chromium were discussed, and the history of the site. It was asked what the industrial parties get out of this agreement: the answer was, mostly, good public image. I had been pondering a similar question. I mean, the corporations are forking over millions, and the town very little. Why are they doing something that seems so one-sided? I guess I think that the corporations believe that if it went to litigation, that they would be found largely responsible. The million or two that they throw in to make Arlington happy is cheaper than the cost of a lawsuit and its resulting bad PR. Of course, this is beyond my personal skills to evaluate. In this case, I have to trust the experts. I just hope that 30 years from now, they don't roll their eyes when they talk about the 2004 Special Town Meeting. There were questions about the effects on students, traffic on summer street, and the practice soccer field. We had a 10-minute recess.

After the recess, there were questions about some details and typos, including an order to table that failed. The Parks Commission reported 4-1 in favor, and the question was called. It passed unanimously. School Committee Chair Suzanne Owayda thanked everyone involved.

Article 3 - Robbins Library. The $100,000 transfer for water damage was approved unanimously.

Article 4 - Appropriation for Peirce Field. There was a single question about future costs; it was answered that this does not rule out future costs from the project; this is only what we know of so far. Passed unanimously (required 2/3).

Article 5 - Collective Bargaining with Ranking Police Officers. Mr. Maher explained that this was the last unfinished contract from 2003. It included a 3% raise, in line with other unions. Mr. Gee gave a well-written plea to vote no because we couldn't afford it, and called for a new Proposition 2 1/2 override. I asked if the contract included any concessions on health care costs. Mr. Maher, in a longish answer, said that it did not. Debate was terminated, and the article passed. I was one of the very few to vote no. I know I make enemies with these votes, but it's not because I have anything against the police or their ranking officers. In fact, I think that police and fire are our town's core functions, and we should really work to do them well. However, this raise, without any concessions on health care, is more business-as-usual. I voted no for the same reason that I did so many times before. Our spending is out of sync with our revenue, and until we come up with a broad plan to correct that, we shouldn't be spending with such freedom. We need to set our priorities and stick to them. We should not be giving raises simply because it's the way we did it before. Put another way: Give me a budget with this raise that doesn't have a $4M deficit forecast for the next year, and I'll vote for it in an instant. As-is, without any changes or plans for changes, I am going to say no every time. It's clearly not the popular move, but I think it the correct one.

Article 6 - Internet Information Officer. Mr. Cleinman proposed a resolution asking the Selectmen to improve the website. After a quick question, it was approved.

Article 1 was taken from the table. The meeting was dissolved.