Stay with the Marblehead Current for up-to-the-minute coverage of Town Meeting with our live blog right here and with our vote tracker HERE. Check out our social feeds, too, for updates at @MHDCurrent. For comprehensive coverage of budget, override and other Town Meeting business, visit our Town Meeting Guide HERE.
Doors open at Marblehead High School at 5:45 pm. and Town Meeting kicks off at 7 p.m. See you there!
Monday, 10:45 p.m. Town Meeting adjourns.
Monday, 10:37 p.m. We have reached the last article, which Moderator Jack Attridge explains is an advisory article, which would reaffirm the town’s commitment to the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution. “We have the ghost of George Washington with us tonight,” says co-sponsor Kate Borten. She and co-sponsor Lynn Nadeau are dressed in Revolutionary garb. Walter Haug would like to amend the article to send a more pointed message to President Trump: “Hands off our constitutional rights!” Haug’s amendment would also express support for any attempt to remove Trump. Haug’s amendment has drawn a couple of critics who do not want to see partisan politics to play such a big part in Town Meeting. Haug’s amendment fails; the main article is approved, and that’s a wrap.
Monday, 10:31 p.m. Police Chief Dennis King urges approval of a ban on so-called “Bitcoin ATMs,” which he said have become a preferred tool for fraud schemes, under Article 33. Given the later hour, he cuts his remarks short. Town Meeting rewards him with an affirmative vote.
Monday, 10:20 p.m. Article 21 allows resident Mark Strout, who chairs the Essex North Shore Agricultural and Technical School District board, to brag about the school, which is currently serving 35 students from Marblehead. He invites residents to campus to take advantage of the services students offer, everything from manicures to oil changes.
Monday, 10:17 p.m. Under Article 19, Town Administrator Thatcher Kezer explains the new collective bargaining agreement for the town’s firefighters union, which includes raises of 3%, 3% and 3.5% over the next three fiscal years.
Monday, 10:06 p.m. Whizzing through the articles now. Color commentary is likely to be minimal, as some of these articles are standard, recurring items. Votes are being taken by hand count rather than the clickers, so we won’t have exact tallies.
Monday, 10:01 p.m. Article 5, updating the town’s ADU bylaw, has passed with little discussion. Moderator Jack Attridge announces that he plans to forge ahead and try to complete Town Meeting tonight, unless someone moves to adjourn.
Monday, 9:56 p.m. Marblehead Town Meeting has voted overwhelming to approve the town’s plan to comply with the MBTA Communities Act, 881-82. Resident John DiPiano, who led opposition to the the previous compliance plan, did not speak during the debate. DiPiano previously told the Current that he was unlikely to seek another referendum, if Town Meeting approved Article 4, which it now has.
Monday, 9:46 p.m. Resident Nick Ward criticizes the MBTA Communities Act compliance plan, calling it a “gimmick.” He noted that creating a plan that all but ensures no additional development takes off the table one of the main ways to increase the town’s tax base.
Monday, 9:40 p.m. Resident Walter Casey asks some clarifying questions about whether Tedesco Country Club had to give its blessing to being included in the town’s compliance plan. Planning Board member Mark Liebman assured him that the club was OK with it and, perhaps more importantly, that if the club never sold the property, nothing would happen.
Monday, 9:33 p.m. We are now back to taking articles in numerical order. Article 3, on consent articles, is passed quickly. But now it is on to Article 4, on the town’s plan to comply with the MBTA Communities Act. A hot-button issue at the past two Town Meetings, discussion about the MBTA Communities Act has been far more muted this time around, with the town’s budget challenges taking center stage.
Monday, 9:30 p.m. Voting begins on Article 29. It is approved by a wide margin, 1,227 in favor, 159 opposed. The overrides are on to the ballot.
Monday, 9:25 p.m. Carl Goodman, a former member of the Select Board and the Board of Health, expresses some concern about the structure of the override. Dan Fox replies that there are “guardrails” beyond the memorandum of understanding town leaders plan to sign, pledging not to return for another override ask until fiscal year 2030. The biggest guardrail, he said, is “this right here,” noting that voters could reject future budgets if they do not believe the town’s tax dollars have not been managed well.
Monday, 9:19 p.m. Bonnie Carey speaks about the potential loss of her husband’s job, as well as the loss of recreation programs and services for seniors, if the override does not pass.
Monday, 9:15 p.m. Bit Coppola is the first resident to speak, urging voters to let the town as a whole to weigh in by advancing the override to the ballot.
Monday, 9:10 p.m. Fox and Clucas give a quick overview of what Tiers 2 and 3 would restore. The reason the override phases in over three years is so that families can plan for it, Clucas explains. Fox gives an overview of what the ballot would look like and how it would work, with the highest tier that gets at least 50% of the vote being the one that gets implemented. “A no vote here tonight means that the cuts we outlined here tonight will go into effect July 1,” Fox says. “This vote is about deciding what Marblehead we want,” he adds.
Monday, 9:07 p.m. School Committee member Melissa Clucas explains that the superintendent is not recommending the restoration of 18.25 full-time-equivalent positions being cut from the balanced budget, knowing that the town’s schools have seen declining enrollment and that a $4 million projected deficit is looming in FY28, which if not addressed would lead to dozens of additional layoffs.
Monday, 9:04 p.m. Fox starts an explanation of what each of the three override tiers would include. Tier 1 is a “partial restore,” which does not include everything that was cut to balance the budget.
Monday, 8:59 p.m. Regardless of what happens tonight, the Select Board will be putting the override that would pay for the cost of trash collection on the ballot June 9, Select Board Chairman Dan Fox explained. The budget passed as part of Article 23 includes a fee to pay for trash collection instituted by the Health Department, he noted.
Monday, 8:57 p.m. A resident takes strong issue with Attridge’s use of the hand count for the budget. “Why the hell do we have these stupid clickers then, Jack?” he asked. He charged Attridge and other town officials with “usurping” the process.
Monday, 8:52 p.m. With the balanced budget passed under Article 23, we are now onto the “main event,” discussion of the proposed Proposition 2 1/2 override under Article 29.
Monday, 8:48 p.m. A brief delay as resident John DiPiano asked why the clickers were not being used to vote on the budget. Moderator Jack Attridge explained that the town bylaws give him the discretion to choose when to vote by a show of hands. He later added that he was handling the 11 separate votes on sections of the budget by hand “in the interest of time.”
Monday, 8:40 p.m. A resident asked Town Administrator Thatcher Kezer about whether the town would expect to lose out on any grant money as a result of the loss of a grants coordinator position in the balanced budget being considered under Article 23. In response to a question from resident Cindy Tower-Loewen, Brendan Callahan, director of community planning and development, explained that the position has brought in $1.7 million more than the cost of the salaries paid.
Monday, 8:36 p.m. Resident Albert Jordan said he wants to leave the cost of trash collection on the tax rate. “I don’t want a separate bill coming in and hiring more employees,” he said.
Monday, 8:30 p.m. Resident Jon Prindiville has made a motion to increase the town’s waste collection budget by $1.5 million with money from the town’s stabilization fund. He is putting his motion in writing. It was determined to be out of order.
Monday, 8:23 p.m. Jack Buba asks about the bids that came in lower than expected for the MHS roof project. Assistant Superintendent Mike Pfifferling said it is too early in the project to say whether the project would, in fact, come in $2.6 million under budget. The town authorized $13.8 million in borrowing, Pfifferling explained. Buba claimed there was already a line item in the budget on which the override proposal was based that accounted for contingencies that may arise in the project. He demanded the return of $2 million savings that “belongs to us.” “The fact that you found something else to spend it on is none of my concern,” Buba said. Pfifferling said his intent is for the project to come in as far under budget as possible. “That’s not the same thing,” Buba said.
Monday, 8:14 p.m. Moderator Jack Attridge has now begun going through the line items in the town budget, asking if anyone wishes to place a “hold” on any of them. Any “holds” would then be discussed and voted on. Holds include on the school budget, curbside collection and health department.
Monday, 8:12 p.m. Finance Director Aleesha Benjamin gives an overview of the town’s debt service obligations, including when various projects previously approved by Town Meeting will fall off the tax rolls.
Monday, 8:05 p.m. “What we are facing in Marblehead is a recurring structural deficit,” Goolsby said, wrapping up his presentation, noting that the town is “out of options” this year after finding creative ways to balance the budget in recent years.
Monday, 8:02 p.m. Goolsby explained the decision to move the cost of trash collection outside of the budget. Had the decision not been made, the town was facing layoffs of 25% of its workforce, Goolsby said.
Monday, 7:50 p.m. Finance Committee Chairman Alec Goolsby is now presenting on Article 23 on the town’s budget, explaining where the $7.7 million deficit in the town’s level-services budget is coming from, including the significant “headwind” from a reduction in available free cash to help balance the budget. “Rising healthcare costs are not a Marblehead-specific challenge,” Goolsby noted, highlighting that the rise in Marblehead’s healthcare costs is contributing $1.7 million to the $7.7 million deficit. Goolsby also described the new methodology of attributing benefits-related costs for school employees to the School Department rather than leaving them on the town side of the budget, as had been the past practice. Using that new split, it was determined that the town would be responsible for finding $4 million worth of cuts, while the schools would need to find the remaining $3.7 million.
Monday, 7:40 p.m. Charter Committee member Amy Drinker pays tribute to Sean Casey, calling him “our Thomas Jefferson.” Casey died on Dec. 4 at the age of 68 after a battle with cancer.
Monday, 7:36 p.m. State Rep. Jenny Armini reports that three articles passed by last year’s Town Meeting were signed into law by Gov. Maura Healey as home rule petitions, including most recently a tax relief measure for seniors. Another home rule petition that became law will see the town’s Board of Health expand from three to five members.
Monday, 7:29 p.m. Within Article 2, Marblehead Public Schools Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations Mike Pfifferling said that the estimate for the MHS roof came in $2 million lower than expected. Pfifferling also said the project was on budget. Resident Jack Buba interjected to ask, “Will it be done for $2 million less?” Moderator Jack Attridge suggested he direct that question to the School Committee.
Monday, 7:23 p.m. The motion to take articles out of order passes, by a margin of about four to one. The main motion passes 1,023 to 225. That means Town Meeting will next take up Article 2 (reports of town officers), but then jump to Article 22.
Monday, 7:18 p.m. As expected, Nanepashemet Street resident Matthew Hooks is making a motion to take the articles out of order so that the articles pertaining to the budget and the override are taken up first, while the room is full. Resident Peter Barnet voices opposition, worrying that the quorum might fail if the “big business” of the night is taken up first. Former School Committee member Sarah Fox said she agrees with Barnet. “They’re not all exciting, folks, but they are all super, super necessary,” she said of the articles. Rebecca Whitehill said she supports the motion, expressing concern for those who need to relieve babysitters and so forth. “I will stay until the bitter end to make sure we have a quorum,” she pledged.
Monday, 7:13 p.m. Attridge tests clickers for electronic voting with the question, “Will Marblehead beat Swampscott in the Thanksgiving Day game this year?” (In the past, he has asked about the prospects of the Bruins or Celtics, but that was not an option this year.) Marblehead wins the vote, 1,127 to 93 (always one — or 93 — in a crowd). A similar question on the Powder Puff game garners even more support for the Big Blue: 173 votes.
Monday, 7:08 p.m. Town Moderator Jack Attridge announces the night’s attendance figure, 1,200, and goes over the ground rules for the 377th Marblehead Town Meeting.
Monday, 7:05 p.m. Joe Whipple reads a statement on behalf of the town’s Task Force Against Discrimination, noting that we are two months away from celebrating the 250th “birthday” of America. Whipple continue to described the task force’s origin, which dates to 1989 and urge the reporting of hate crimes. He invited everyone to the talk to be given by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Shribman at 7 p.m. Wednesday night at the MHS auditorium.
Monday, 7:02 p.m. Moderator Jack Attridge has asked everyone to find their seats and called the meeting to order with four taps of his gavel.
Monday, 6:47 p.m. As the crowd begins to filter into the Marblehead High School field house, one specter hovering over the proceedings is a potential special town meeting that the group the Marblehead Liberty Foundation has said it plans to require the Select Board to call by gathering 200 signatures. The Select Board would then have 45 days to schedule such a meeting. The group wants to pitch the town on a small, one-year override to buy time for officials to overhaul the budget process in search of “efficiencies” and other ways to save money. Select Board member Erin Noonan objected, calling tonight’s meeting “the appropriate and transparent forum for residents to debate, amend and vote on the proposed budget and override plan.” Whether former Finance Committee member Jack Buba or anyone else associated with the Liberty Foundation steps up to the microphone tonight to pitch the special town meeting remains to be seen.
Monday, 10:20 a.m. Resident Matt Hooks, co-chair of the citizens group For Marblehead, is expected to make a motion at the beginning of Town Meeting to move Article 23 (the fiscal 2027 budget) and Article 29 (both overrides) to the top of the agenda. For more information, read this letter to the editor.
Monday, 10 a.m. – Select Board Chair Dan Fox sends the Current the finalized language for Article 29, the three-year, three-tiered override. The language represents the highest tier that might be approved at the June election ($15M) and the amount appropriated the first year.
