March 19, 2019 by Carol Britton Meyer
In response to an item on tonight's (March 19) Selectmen's agenda calling for a possible vote "to request the Advisory Committee recommend a paper ballot vote by town meeting participants relative to Article MM (Water Company Acquisition)," Town Moderator Michael Puzo wrote the following letter to the Selectmen, dated March 18, in which he requests that the letter be read aloud at tonight's meeting and included in the public record.
There are four warrant articles on the April 22 Town Meeting agenda relating to the proposed acquisition by the Town of Hingham of the portion of the Aquarion water system serving Hingham, Hull, and part of Cohasset. They relate to the acquisition itself, appointing the Hingham Selectmen as water commissioners, establishing a (self-supporting) water system enterprise fund, and appropriating money to cover transition costs if the proposed acquisition wins voter approval.
Tonight's Selectmen's meeting starts at 7 p.m.
Hingham Board of Selectmen
Town Hall
210 Central Street
Hingham, MA 02430
Dear Members of the Board of Selectmen:
Having fielded some questions of late on voting at town meeting and seeing that a matter concerning voting is on your agenda for tomorrow's selectmen's meeting, please allow me to make a few observations on the issue.
Under our local by-law, all votes at town meeting are taken in the first instance as voice votes and the outcome is called by the moderator. That works well for most actions of the meeting and also moves things along.
So, when do we have a counted vote and how is that vote taken? Well, if after the voice vote, the moderator is in doubt as to the result, or if seven voters rise and express doubt as to the moderator’s call, then we move to a counted vote. Typically, that counted vote is taken as a standing vote, except we will conduct a ballot vote (instead of a standing vote) if either the Advisory Committee or 50 voters “promptly call” for a ballot vote.
Given how long a ballot vote takes, our practice in the case of a counted vote has been not to request a ballot vote absent compelling reasons to do so. That said, if we are going to have a counted vote after a voice vote, and either the Advisory Committee or 50 voters call for a ballot vote, seeing compelling reasons to do so, then a ballot vote will be taken, instead of a standing vote.
Thank you for reading this aloud at your meeting and including it in the public record.
Very truly yours,
Hingham Town Moderator