Petition Article Looks to Removing Recommendations from Warrants

One of the agenda items during the most recent Hudson Board of Selectmen meeting, was in regards to a petition warrant article, to eliminate vote tallies on warrant articles moving forward.
“Attached please find a Petition Warrant Article to stop showing the total number of votes from Town boards i.e. Board of Selectmen, Budget Committee, next to questions on the ballot,” Hudson Acting Town Administrator Steve Malizia wrote in a memo to the Board of Selectmen. “As this is a valid petition, the Board of Selectmen is required to forward the article to the warrant.”
It was explained by Malizia, that currently, when the board and the Budget Committee vote on recommending warrant articles, it is tallied on the warrant articles that voters see when they vote.
“This article would direct that the tally wouldn’t go on that warrant,” Malizia said.
The petition warrant article states:
“Should the Town of Hudson stop showing the total number of votes from town boards (like the Selectmen or Budget committee) next to questions on the ballot?
Instead, this change will:

  1. List how each board member voted, by name, for every question or article.
  2. Make sure boards share clear and honest information about ballot questions at least three weeks before the election.
  3. Get this information out to everyone in ways that are easy to find, like:
  • Posting on the town’s website.
  • Sharing in local newspapers.
  • Sending emails to people who sign up for town news.
  • Posting on the town’s official social media pages.
  • Printing copies for Town Hall, the library, and other public places.”

One note made by Malizia is that even if the warrant article was approved, it would still be an advisory warrant article, meaning that the Board could still have the tallies on the warrant articles.
“You as a board could still put it on,” Malizia said.
Board of Selectmen Vice Chair Dillon Dumont said he thinks people in the community look to the elected officials when it comes to what they recommend.
“That’s why they elect you in the first place,” he said.
Board of Selectmen Chair Bob Guessferd said when he first moved to Town, he would look at what the elected officials recommended for warrant articles.
Malizia also noted during the meeting, that everything is done in public in terms of discussions about different warrant articles which members of the community can watch, or could attend meetings, or look at the minutes from the meeting.
Ultimately Dumont said he thought it made sense to keep the vote tallies on the warrant articles moving forward.
“I think it’s important for people to know where we stand,” Dumont said.

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