Profile: 69d8266b...
Did you know? For many years, Venezuela was the only democracy in South America. Then they elected a convicted felon who tried to overthrow the government.
The total number of people here has fallen by about 650 people. #townmeeting #newengland #massachusetts
A lot fewer people here for the afternoon session. #townmeeting #newengland #massachusetts
Battery ran out on microphone that's gotten a lot of use. #townmeeting #newengland #massachusetts
Woman claims her taxes went up 73%
Not sure how that happened, but maybe property taxes are a shitty way to fund things? #townmeeting #newengland #massachusetts
Big applause for schools superintendent who said she wouldn't want to cut more money out of expense of other departments. Amendment would cut her budget by $400K and move it to cops, fire and dpw. #townmeeting #massachusetts #newengland
They're going to vote two versions of the budget. One that spends the money they know they have, then one with the extra spending. #townmeeting #newengland #massachusetts
The Moderator, who runs the meeting, is not seeking reelection. He is being honored with a resolution from the Select board. #townmeeting #massachusetts #newengland
444 voters are here. I expect it to go up as we get closer to the big votes. People often don't show up until the articles they're interested in are coming up. #townmeeting #newengland #massachusetts
Attendance is definitely higher than usual, which isn't surprising given what's at stake. #townmeeting #massachusetts #newengland
And yes, annual Town Meeting is when voters meet for the day to do all the things a city or town council does. Most of it involves money, but they can also pass bylaws or zoning changes.
Step one, though, is that voters have to approve the higher budget at Town Meeting. #townmeeting #newengland #massachusetts
We have a law here called Proposition 2 1/2 that limits the amount property taxes can go up by only allowing the total value of property to go up by 2.5 percent annually (plus "new growth.") But towns can ask voters to increase the amount at the town election. #townmeeting #newengland #massachusetts