No public discussion at day two of Town Meeting 10 articles, $950,025 passes
Published on May 10th, 2000
STONEHAM, MA - Eighty-four people had nothing to say.
Less than one percent of the registered voters in Stoneham stopped by Town Hall to hear the sounds of the silent majority at the second session of the Annual Town Meeting on May 4.
After the echo of the organ faded, nine articles passed unanimously (one postponed per selectmen request) and everybody went home. The clock read 8:10 p.m.
"Jeff told me I'd get a raise if we finished before 8:30," Moderator Michael Rotondi joked to the crowd... erh small gathering.
Ten times after hearing the presentation of the selectmen or School Committee and Finance Board recommendations, Rotondi asked for public discussion, "And seeing none...," called for a vote.
In 40 minutes folks agreed to spend $950,025:
Article 16 - $25,000 for Lindenwood Cemetery upkeep.
Article 17 - $300,000 for water system maintenance and replacement.
Article 18 - $250,000 for sewerage system maintenance and replacement.
Article 19 - Indefinitely postponed: no money will be appropriated for the Beautification Committee until after the committee meets and makes a recommendation.
Article 20 - $60,275 for a Zamboni for the Stoneham Arena.
Article 21 - $125,000 for a onetime technology upgrade for the schools (computers in classrooms with Internet access).
Article 22 - $130,500 for textbooks and accessories, e.g. lab kits, for MCAS and new state framework curricula.
Article 23 - $20,000 for a renovation feasibility study of the Middle School.
Article 24 - $39,250 for new voting equipment.
(After the meeting Town Clerk John Hanright said that the new voting machines will be on display with sample ballots in his office as soon as they arrive.
He will also show off the new equipment at a Town Day booth on Sept. 16, a week before the new system's debut in the State Primary.)
Article 25 - The rest of Hall Road was accepted as a public way, at negligible cost.
Some people are giving credit for the speedy session to citizen apathy. But several of the articles were recurring, annual articles, and the School Committee articles were heard in the context of a vigorous rebuilding process and the common knowledge of the new responsibilities of Education Reform.
Items such as cemetery landscaping and trading in a Zamboni for a new model are not not-in-my-back-yard issues or controversies of political philosophy.
Maybe there wasn't much to say.
Anyway, all is said and done until the June Special Town Meeting, where more than even odds say the code of silence will be shattered.
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