When I heard that the current budget crisis might result in decertifying the library, I knew I had to get involved somehow, but everything I had heard about the override with its “three tiers” had only left me more confused.
I’ve read and listened as the Current, the Finance Committee and the Select Board have valiantly tried to explain these complicated concepts, and I’ve finally been able to clear up one confusion — the three tiers are not three separate appropriations overrides – they are inclusive. The second tier includes the appropriations for the first tier, plus more, and the third tier includes the appropriations for the two lower tiers, plus more.
And I had another big breakthrough thanks to a Zoom Q&A with the group For Marblehead. We won’t be voting for any specific tier at Town Meeting on May 4. We’ll simply be asked to vote “yes” or “no” on whether to send this override proposal with its three tiers, to the ballot for town-wide voting on June 9 — a simple, black-and-white, easy to understand article. Surely Town Meeting participants, a tiny subset of the registered voters in town, would agree that the democratic thing to do is to bring these important questions to the full town for a vote.
That leaves those who can be counted on at Town Meeting to claim “waste, mismanagement, unnecessary spending.” I certainly hope those protesters will investigate the very impressive system for transparency which has been implemented by Marblehead for budget management and financial decisions, replacing outdated, fragmented and manual financial systems. The ClearGov user portal allows anyone to see at a glance the financial workings of any department in town. Go to marblehead.org/select-board, and click on ClearGov in the right-hand column.
I fail to see how anyone could look at the data itself and not see the issue staring us in the face. And I would certainly expect gratitude for the tremendous amount of work which all the department heads and town boards have contributed in trying to solve this painful budget crisis.
Numbers are not yet finalized, and explanations for the items within the tiers, assuming the override reaches the town-wide ballot in June, can be saved for another day. The choice before us at Town Meeting is simple: do we agree that we have a problem that our town budget, despite years of cuts across the board, can no longer solve? Will we be willing to provide voters with the opportunity to consider tax overrides in our June general election? I hope we can all agree on those simple points, knowing that a fair and free election is still the best tool we have for decision-making.
Ruth Sigler
Front Street
