Arlington Town Meeting

For 14 years, it’s been real. Bye now.

I’d like to thank everyone who voted for me for assistant moderator. I’ll do my best to perform the duties of the position. And feel free to ask me any questions.

I would like to thank my fellow Town Meeting Members for tonight electing me as their Assistant Moderator.

Thank you!

I’m putting my notes on hiatus. First, for family and work reasons, I don’t have the energy to stay up until 02:00 or 03:00 to type them up. Second, no one’s been asking about the delay or lack of notes, so I imagine there’s not much interest in them. Finally, one of the main reasons I did the notes was in the hope of prompting discussion about Town Meeting’s actions. That’s never happened, which is disappointing.

I’ll still post the occasional entry about this or that. And when next year rolls around, I’ll revisit the notes decision.

One of my campaign points (see the Q&A in the Advocate) was that if elected, I would like to see final votes on articles, and lists of postponed/tabled articles and notices of reconsideration posted on the Town website and in the hall.

Whether coincidence or not, the Town website is now posting those very things.

I’d still like to see those (especially the tabled/postponed/notices lists) posted in the hall as well. I’m sure many TMMs aren’t online.

We started at 22:33.

The BoS recommended a vote to authorize it to file home rule legislation to allow it to put on the ballot a questions asking voters if all-alcohol licenses may be given to restaurants with at least 50 seats (down from the current 99). She introduced the president of the Chamber of Commerce who said a main proponent is Scutra and that it would be of benefit to other small restaurants in town.

Mr. Daly moved the previous question, which failed.

Mr. Loreti asked what a “function room” was. Town Counsel said he was merely copying verbatim the language used when all-alcohol licenses were voted on some years ago. Mr. Loreti moved to strike “function rooms” and to disallow applicants from having bars.

Mr. Tully asked why a number is specified. Ms. LaCourt said the BoS was worried about de facto allowing bars if the number was too small. Town Counsel said the Legislature would ignore the petition if it did not have a substantial minimum seating requirement.

Ms. Fiore asked if this would create additional all-alcohol licenses and was told it would not. She said she was against liquor and opposed the recommended vote.

Mr. Bernacchi asked if the BoS had told the Scutra owners that this article was unlikely to come up tonight. Ms. LaCourt said the BoS had.

Mr. Burke said he was against the proposed vote and that reducing the seat requirement would open a can of worms. He said it would turn Arlington into Cambridge and Somerville and that voting for the recommendation would help “ruin Arlington.”

We adjourned at 23:02, racking up 29 minutes of debate on this article.

In light of the failed ballot question, the BoS recommended no action, which carried unanimously.

BoS recommended a vote to authorize the filing of home rule legislation to waive the age requirement for the gentlemen. Ms. LaCourt moved to postpone both articles to 2 May since neither man was present, Mr. Wesinger being on maneuvers. Mr. Quinn objected to another postponement and asked were Mr. Gormley was. Ms. LaCourt said the BoS office had told Mr. Gormley the article was unlikely to come up tonight. The motion to postpone carried.

The BoS recommended no action, which carried.

We started at 21:17.

The BoS recommended a vote to impose a $20/day fine on people violating the DPW’s rules and regulations on what can be put in the trash. Ms. LaCourt said enforcement would be “gentle, not punitive”.

Mr. Jamieson thanked Town Counsel for suggesting the rules and regulations be incorporated by reference instead of being set in the by-law. He said that if trash were cut by one pound per person per day, the Town would save $500,000 in tip fees.

Mr. Foskett said that while he supported recycling, the incorporation by reference prevents people from knowing what is disallowed and attacks the authority of Town Meeting.

Mr. Judd agreed with Mr. Foskett and said he did not like the “trash police” he believed this would create. He also wanted a Town Meeting “override” provision in the proposal and moved to postpone to 7 May.

Mr. Lavalle asked if there’s currently a fine for the violation. Town Counsel said there was, due to a catch-all clause in the by-laws providing a $20 fine for any violation that doesn’t have an explicit fine. Mr. Lavalle asked who the DPW enforcer would be. Town Counsel said it could be any DPW employee. Mr. Lavalle asked if this would create a new position. Ms. LaCourt said the Town will be hiring the recycling manager regardless of the outcome of this article.

Mr. Deyst had Mr. Jamieson say the recycling manager’s position is already funded (from the white goods disposal fees).

Mid-session break was from 21:37 to 21:49.

Mr. Kaplan said the proposal has a good intent but doesn’t want Town employees rifling through our trash.

Ms. King said this is needed to make sure our recycling efforts aren’t in vain.

Mr. McCabe asked if the fine was in the scope of the article. The Acting Moderator ruled it was. Mr. McCabe disagreed with incorporating the rules by reference. Town Counsel said legislative bodies often do that.

Mr. Carreiro asked if other parts of the by-laws incorporate by reference the regulations of another Town body. Town Counsel said there are, giving ConComm as an example. Mr. Carreiro said an override provision was not needed since Town Meeting could change the by-law in a future session and therefore postponement to add override language was not needed.

Mr. Schlichtman asked who the Board of Public Works was and was told by the Actiing Moderator it was the BoS. Mr. Schlichtman said that if people didn’t like the regulations and any lack of notices, they could take it out on the BoS, so there was no need to postpone. He said the Town does not manage to enforce anything strictly and so wouldn’t enforce this strictly, either.

Mr. Leonard asked if this only applies to WMI. The Town Manager said it applies to all haulers. Mr. Leonard then got confused between the article and the proposed vote, attempting to amend the article. The Acting Moderator explained the difference between the articles and the proposed votes again.

Mr. Bloom said that despite the statements of the proponents, the proposal was about punishment, not education.

Mr. May moved to strike the fine, since the catch-all provision already covers it.

Mr. Daly moved the previous question, which carried.

The Judd motion to postpone was defeated on a voice vote. The May amendment was defeated 43-102. The BoS recommendation carried 95-45.

The article was dispatched at 22:29, for a total of 60 minutes.

Ms. LaCourt moved to postpone to 7 May, which carried.

Ms. LaCourt moved to postpone to 14 May, which carried.

BoS recommended giving non-union personnel Christmas Eve day off. The Town Manager said that with only non-union people working that day, it was hard to properly staff things and for that reason and for parity with union people, they should be given the day off. The BoS recommendation was approved on a voice vote.

The BoS recommended adopting a resolution that Town Meeting endorse the currently-existing state statute concerning the right of speakers to be heard and the power of the Moderator to preserve order.

Mr. Auster, the lead proponent, recapped the heckling incident at the end of last year’s meeting and how he felt it impinged on Town Meeting’s rights.

Ms. Fiore discussed how police used to man every door in the hall, sometimes being used by the then-Moderator to prevent people from leaving early. She recounted how Mr. McCabe and the Acting Moderator attempted to throw each other out of the hall when they were each Moderator.

Mr. Lavalle asked why the Acting Moderator (who was Moderator last year) didn’t throw the heckler out. The Acting Moderator replied that he was hoping the heckler would cease after being admonished. Mr. Lavalle says the Moderator needs to be stricter.

Mr. Tully got confused between the warrant article (which is captioned as a bylaw amendment) and the actual proposed vote of the BoS, which was a resolution. The Acting Moderator pointed this distinction out and reminded the Meeting we vote on motions, not on articles.

Mr. Berkowitz moved the previous question, which carried.

The BoS recommendation was approved on a voice vote.