Skip to main content

In other news... (With correction about the Special Election)

 If you voted yesterday in the State primaries... you might have been surprised like me - I thought I would also be casting a vote for the Natick Select Board seat that sits open... 

But, because of laws beyond anyone's control - Natick has to hold another election next week for an uncontested race on Tuesday September 13th.  Voting information here.

I'm told that years ago Natick had to hold PRIMARIES because there were often so many people who wanted to run in the elections.  Sigh. I'm always grateful to anyone who will run and am happy to cast a vote next Tuesday - but I'd like to hope we have some contested races in March. 

photo credit: hitc.com

Correction: After publishing the blog, thanks to my readers, I learned that the above is incorrect:  

  • The Select Board, by town charter, can have a vacancy until the next election (March 2023), they may call for a special election themselves or be required to call for a special election if 200 people sign a petition calling for one. 
  • The special election could have happened on the same day as the state primary election but would have required separate ballots. 
  • Running 2 elections in 1 day would have required voters to check in once for the state election and a 2nd time at a 2nd table for the local election. 
  • In this memo from the Town Clerk to the select board, they received a recommendation that it would not be easy to run both elections on the same day. She explained her memo in the meeting on April 20th. 
  • See the discussion by the Select Board during the April 20th meeting here at minute 1:04 the Town Clerk explains that it is possible to run the elections at the same time and describes that there would need to be two check ins.  
  • She cautioned that the State primaries are partisan elections and our local elections are not and that the people who vote in that election tend to be vested in one party or the other.
  • Holding the special election with the November State election would put the election very close to the time to pick up papers for the March election and the Select board was concerned about the vacancy being open for so long.  
  • In the discussion, the consensus was to fill the vacancy sooner than later while avoiding the summer.
  • Additionally, early voting and vote by mail would need to be offered which increases the difficulty in terms of labor.  
  • There was a discussion about the difficulty of timing if a preliminary election being needed, in this case if 3 people entered the race. 
  • The Clerk estimated the cost of the a special election - in very rough numbers - between 40 and 50K assuming it was not held at the same time as another election. (around minute 1:15) Cost includes, poll workers, police detail, early voting, mail ins, ballot printing and programming our voting machines.  

The Board voted 4-0-0 to hold the election on Tuesday, September 13th. Minutes to the meeting are here.


And... what's going on with the South Natick Dam?  There's a meeting tonight! 5-7 p.m. 

Popular posts from this blog

CPA, Library, Capital

The Community Preservation Act Article 21 passed Town Meeting by a 104 to 16 vote.  This means the town will VOTE on it at the Fall election in November, 2022. For the details of the debate from tonight on the CPA  and some of the other topics, please see these notes. This is not official nor is it complete. This is simply a best effort to capture what was said.  The Morse Institute, Bacon Free Library passed easily. " The library is the essence of democracy in that people can educate themselves freely."   - heard in debate tonight.  Capital Plan, passed after questions about:  Changing our police vehicles to hybrid and/or electric when available Why we change 20% of our cruiser fleet every year (hard use of vehicles)  The Stand Up Gas powered Blower had a few moments in the spot light - it was identified that while it is noisy, Natick has no Noise ordinance and while electric models are available, the batteries do not last enough.  Ladder truck...
Read more

June Meetings

ALMOST :) The Natick School Committee meets tonight, Tuesday June 7th and again next Monday, June 13th in preparation for the Evaluation Retreat meetings that we hold in person on June 22nd, 27th and 29th.   As always , you can join us in person on the 3rd floor of Town Hall and to most of our meetings, virtually. (Retreat style meetings are not on zoom or pegasus.)  The Zoom Link, Agenda and materials are here . We have the aim of starting the public session at 7:00 p.m. tonight (Executive session first.)   School Committee Items On Tap: Discussion of the Vaccination Policy for Staff, Vendors, Contractors and Volunteers Anti-Discrimination Policy recommendation from the Policy Sub Committee to the full Committee.  Strategic Plan Update & End of Year Superintendent Evaluation Dyslexia Update  3rd Quarter and End of Year Financials Update Enrollment Update   Strategic Plan of the district . On the Anti Discrimination Policy, we worked for nearl...
Read more

Town Meeting Begins!

Spring Town Meeting - a series of evenings - begins tonight! Swearing in of the New Town Meeting Members  Review of the procedures of the meeting Warrant (agenda) of the meeting Several motions moved to future nights for various reasons Full  Natick Net Zero Update was given Transportation Advisory Committee  (Note there is a vacancy)  Full Report here . Related item to the schools:  Mr. Errickson gave a State of the Town  Naming this body as immensely productive by investing in: the first Town Master plan  Updated Cannabis requirements  Invested in major roadway projects - for example Rt. 27 from Sherborn to Wayland Rail Trail 2 parks Kennedy Middle School Absorbed enrollment  Sustainability model  PFAS  & have mitigated a global pandemic with an excellent staff This town comes together with action when there is a need.  In FY23, we are still relying on one time funds - a trend we need to address  - free cash and st...
Read more