Protecting Weston’s Democratic Process
Last week’s Annual Town Meeting was a wonderful demonstration of our democratic process in action. More than 500 Weston voters attended and, in a series of votes on the several Articles or agenda items, some passed and some were rejected. One could argue that more residents should have attended to vote, or that one or another Article should have gone the other way. But that’s democracy. Now, we leave it to our elected and appointed Town leaders to execute our expressed will faithfully and responsibly.
A Troubling Issue
At the same time, many Weston residents have inquired about last year’s Town Meeting super-majority vote to increase the size of the Select Board from three to five members. That was the voters’ answer last May to Article #24, which was based upon a 2022 Citizens’ Petition. Article #24 passed with 72% voter approval at last year’s Annual Town Meeting. Normally, the process would be for the Select Board to sponsor a bill that is presented to the Massachusetts House committees and approved by the General Court. Instead, for the entire last year, the Select Board has refused to move forward on this proposal, claiming no legal requirement to do so.
Searching for Responsive and Responsible Leadership
It is worth noting that our issue here is not the size of the Select Board. Our issue is the current Select Board’s disregard for the expressed will of Weston’s voters, and the process by which the Town voters’ interests are supposed to be protected. Essentially, the voters asked the Select Board to proceed to expand the size of the Board, and the Board ignored the result of the vote at last year’s Town Meeting, effectively responding with a “pocket veto”.
Last week Sue Zacharias – a 45-year resident of Weston, a 17-year member of the Planning Board, and the original sponsor of the 2022 Citizens’ Petition – reached out directly to State Representative Alice Peisch. After hearing about the Select Board’s circumvention of our democratic process, Representative Peisch offered to guide this initiative through the governmental processes that is required for a legally binding Town vote in 2024. The first step in this new process involves a follow-on petition. Last week, Sue Zacharias published such a petition via Change.Org. In order to get to the next steps, she is looking to get a minimum of 500 signatures from registered Town voters, and they already have well over 200. We urge you to review and sign that petition.
Article 24’s Next Steps From Here
State Representative Peisch assigns the bill to committee.
A final bill is written and is presented to the Massachusetts General Court, and they pass the bill. (It is expected to pass easily as many towns have already increased to a Select Board of five.)
Weston puts the question on the May 2024 Town election ballot for an all-town vote.
If the town votes yes, the Select Board will be compelled to increase the size of the Select Board from three members to five members.
We recognize there are different views on this proposal to increase the Select Board to five members. Many believe the Select Board will benefit by having additional experienced members with complementary management skills, a more evenly distributed workload, and the ability for increased collaboration under Open Meeting Laws.
What You Can Do – Sign Sue’s Petition
Massachusetts boasts that its Town Meeting tradition is the purest form of democracy and preserves self-government – citizens speak for themselves. We ask you to review and sign Sue Zacharias’ petition so Weston can put the question of the size of the Select Board in front of the voters for a definitive all-town vote next May.
Link to Sue Zacharias’ Petition: https://www.change.org/WestonMApetition_IncreaseSelectBoard