March 31, 2021 by Carol Britton Meyer
The new dates for this year's Town Meeting and town election have been finalized. Mail-in early voting will be an option.
Town Meeting will take place on the Hingham High School field Saturday, May 8, at 2 p.m., due to COVID-19, with a rain date of Saturday, May 15, or Sunday, May 16, at the same time as needed.
Although the day after a planned Town Meeting would ordinarily be the rain date if held outdoors, in this case May 9 is Mother's Day so the rain dates were moved to the following weekend.
Town Administrator Tom Mayo will be developing a set of Town Meeting guidelines that will be shared closer to the meeting. "They will include wearing sunscreen, hats, and flip flops," he quipped during Tuesday's Selectmen's meeting.
The Town Election will be held on Saturday, May 22, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. "There will continue to be three polling locations," Town Clerk Eileen McCracken said. Precincts 1 through 4 will vote at the high school and 5 and 6 at the Middle School. Plans have not yet been finalized for Linden Ponds.
Mail-in early voting is an option, along with the usual in-person voting on the day of the election. A registered voter may file for an early voting ballot or absentee. Any form of written communication may be used as long as it includes a signature. “We have forms available for early voting that we can send to a voter or they can download one at https://www.sec.state.ma.us/
In other business at the meeting, the Selectmen interviewed six candidates for the two open police sergeant positions following the recent promotions of Sgts. Steven Dearth and John Marquardt to lieutenant.
The sergeant candidates are: James Brady, Brian Fernandes, Katelin McGillicuddy, Ryan Ross, Jeremiah Sullivan, and Philip Tracey
"The Board of Selectmen acts as police commissioners, and we're responsible for the hiring and promotion of all patrol officers and also of the Hingham Police Department leadership team," Selectmen Chair Mary Power said.