This month’s Town Meeting was memorable for many reasons, from the heated yet mostly civil debate over the MBTA Communities Act to votes on repairing a leaky high school roof (it passed) and new recall bylaw for elected officials (defeated, at least in current form).
Calling the meetings consequential would be a serious understatement.
Yet in our view the most impressive number was voter turnout. Marblehead has 16,571 registered voters, with only 300 required for a Town Meeting quorum. When an estimated 2,000 showed up for the opening session, capacity laws forced its postponement and relocation to a larger venue, the high school fieldhouse. Dripping ceiling and all.
True, attendance waned as the week progressed. Yet we were struck by how motivated voters can be when faced with pocketbook issues like a debt exclusion override or controversial measures like a state-mandated zoning law change.
If yard signs and standing-room-only candidate forums are any indication, the upcoming town elections should attract plenty of voters, too, giving them another chance to shape the future of town governance: in short, the essence of grassroots democracy at work.
Friday, May 30, is the last day to register for the June 10 election. We urge all eligible voters to meet the moment with the same sense of civic engagement they showed earlier this spring.
In the meantime, Marblehead’s Board of Registrars has approved in-person early voting for both the June 10 municipal election and, on July 8, a special referendum on the MBTA zoning act. This marks the first time the town will offer early voting for local elections, making it easier for everyone to participate.
Elections have consequences, as we’re often reminded by D.C. lawmakers and political pundits. That goes for local elections as well. For proof, look no farther than the sharp questioning town officials faced recently about decisions impacting Marbleheaders’ families and wallets.
This year’s ballot features several races that will help shape how town affairs are managed going forward. Also, how civil our public debates will be, not always a given these days. Do not assume, either, that these policy decisions are best left to others, i.e. your neighbors who actually show up to vote.
Five candidates are competing for two seats on the School Committee — the same body that’s had to deal with a bitter teacher strike, multiple lawsuits, attempts to draft a school flag policy and other major challenges. Whoever fills those slots will be tasked with repairing the reputational damage our public schools have been incurring, unfortunately.
Two more hopefuls are bidding for a seat on the Select Board, the first such election under the new staggered-term model, while three others are contending for the town clerk job and two for a seat on the Board of Health. The latter race coincides with US health policy generating headlines on a regular basis, not all of them very comforting.
As a nonprofit, the Current and its Editorial Board cannot legally endorse individual candidates. What we can do, and have been committed to doing, is give you detailed information on where the candidates stand and why each feels best qualified for the job.
Will voters respond by making themselves heard? Based on recent history and the Town Meeting turnout, we are optimistic they will.
According to town records, voter registration has increased by 8.4% over the past 17 years, going from 15,044 in 2006 to 16,315 in 2023. That year, an impressive 40.5% of registered voters participated: the highest turnout in over a decade.
Last year, 3,337 votes were cast, down from the average voter turnout in June special elections (4,149) between 2006-19, but still a robust number. We hope, and expect, even more this year.
Now it’s time to do your part.
The Current Editorial Board
The members of the Current’seditorial board are Bob Peck, chairman of the Current; Virginia Buckingham, president of the Current's board of directors; board member Brian Birke, Current editorial staff member Kris Olson, and Joseph P. Kahn, a retired Boston Globe journalist.
