Select Board packet for July 28th
Select Board packet – received Friday, July 25th for Monday, July 28th meeting:
• A DVD of ACTV’s broadcast of the 7/17 meeting with Governor Patrick
• A lapel pin with the Town seal
• The agenda for Monday’s meeting: 6:30 – Public Comment; 6:45 – Pole Hearing - WMECO; 6:55 – New Taxi Company License; 7:00 – Update on Master Plan Process; 7:20 – Special Town Election – Date Setting - December 2, 2008; 7:35 – Town Manger’s Report: Web Site update, Fourth of July Parade, Civil War Tablets, Capital Improvement/CPAC; 8:00 – PVTA rep to replace Ms. Awad; and the usual untimed items
• The motion sheet for Monday’s meeting
• Information related to the pole hearing for
three new utility poles on
• Information related to the election date discussion: a proposed timeline for a December 2 election; a memo from the Town Clerk to the Select Board Chair and Town Manager, explaining her reasons for preferring that the election be on the September primary date rather than the November general election date; a copy of a memo and cost spreadsheet from the Town Clerk from March 2007, (Ed note: that date doesn’t seem right – I think it was from the fall of 2007) regarding the Select Board contemplating holding the 2008 Annual Town Election in early March, on what was to be the Presidential Primary election date; an e-mail that I had requested be included in the packet, in which I copied this section of the Select Board meeting recap from last December, when the Student Government Association requested dissolution of the campus precincts; a letter from a long-time Amherst resident requesting that the election remain on the September date
• An application for a taxi business license
• An application for a special liquor license for a UMass event in September at the Fine Arts Center
• Applications to serve on the Design Review Board
• A letter to municipal officials from the Governor, providing information about the Commonwealth Capital program and an application for funding
• The summer edition of the Massachusetts
Municipal Association (MMA) newsletter, The
Beacon
• A copy of the MMA’s magazine, Municipal Advocate
Changing the special election date from September 16 to December 2nd would be a blow to democracy and the state of local government in this town.
This would mean that the Select Board would be one member short for three months, this would include the planning of the Fall Town Meeting Warrant, the beginning of the Select Boards work on the next budget, and, oh yeah, Fall Town Meeting.
They say that this delay is to prevent disenfranchisment of the students. What about the rest of us, do we deserve to have our 20% of our representation taken away? In the 2007 Town Election the special precincts at UMASS recorded a total of 17 votes. In the 2006 Town Election they recorded a total of 26 votes. However, in the 2006 State Primary a total of 46 voted in the special precincts. This is the highest voting total for any year they had special precincts.
Turnout of all registered voters is also higher for a state primary.
The following are the precentage of registered voters who voted in the town elections in 2006, 2007 and 2008
2006 - 15.8%
2007 - 21.1%
2008 - 22.65%
In the state primary in 2006 - 23.31% of registered voters participated. Having the special election on the primary day will actually result in GREATER participation in the special election.
The people of Amherst deserve to have a fully staffed Select Board to handle the business of the town. Leaving a seat on the Select Board takes away 20% of the representation for the voters of Amherst. Can you imagine the outcry if we were told that 20% of the U.S. Congress had resigned and the rest of Congress and the President had decided to keep the 20% of the seats vacant for three months while they kept conducting business? People would take to the streets in protest.
I urge everyone to contact the Select Board by emailing them at selectboard@amherstma.gov
Even better, show up to the meeting on Monday July 28 in the Town Room at Town Hall to voice your opposition to this proposal. Debate on this item is scheduled to begin at 7:20pm.
In addition to the comments by Robert Phillips, above, and similar comments by Stephanie at the July 21 Select Board meeting, it should also be mentioned that a special election on December 2 would cost the town an additional $8000, approximately.
The Select Board should be guided by town counsel about the need to change the September 16 date.