Spring 2010 Town Meeting report
On this page I will have:
- An “outline” transcript of each of the 5 sessions of TM
- Some analysis of TMRs’ participation
Spring 2010 TM Summary “Scorecard”
Total nights: 5
Total time: 732 minutes (12.2 hours)
| Article | Purpose | Value | Funding Source | Submitted by | Session | Amend- ments | Time elapsed | Speak- ers | Vote |
| 1 | Compensation of elected officials | FC | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | U | ||
| 2 | Hear reports | mgr | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | U | ||
| 3 | Transfer funds | $391,800 | Current appropiations | mgr | 1 | 0 | 21 | 4 | 130-40 |
| 4-20 | Collective bargaining | 1 | 1 | Dismissed | |||||
| 21 | Budget: Hold lines | $123,631,237 | Raise and Appropiate/ Available Funds | BOS, mgr, FC | 1 | 0 | 64 | 41 | N/A |
| 21 | Budget: Town side | BOS, mgr, FC | 2 and 3 | 1 | 169 | 46 | * | ||
| 21 | Budget: School side | BOS, mgr, FC | 3 | 0 | 32 | 5 | U | ||
| 22 | Allow mgr and FC to transfer funds | FC | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | U | ||
| 23 | Authorize revolving funds | Revolving funds | mgr | 4 | 0 | 14 | 7 | M | |
| 24 | Overlay Surplus Funds | $481,000 | Overlay surplus | mgr | 4 | 2 | 61 | 26 | 2/3 |
| 25 | Inflow/Infiltration Fund (I/I) | $400,000 | Inflow and Infiltration Fund | mgr | 4 | 0 | 25 | 6 | M |
| 26 | Fox Hill Cemetery design | $110,000 | Overlay surplus | mgr | 4 | 0 | 19 | 5 | M |
| 27 | Water meter replacement program | $6,000,000 | Borrowing | mgr | 5 | 1 | 74 | 23 | (92-67) |
| 28 | Approve a certified project (Pharmalucence) | mgr | 4 | 0 | 14 | 3 | U | ||
| 29 | Transfer old Ditson from school to town | mgr | 4 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 134-12 | ||
| 30 | Create cemetery on Rangeway Rd. | Aty. Steve Lentine | 3 | 0 | 28 | 5 | U | ||
| 31 | Sell 5 acres of Cabot land to Housing Authority | Ronald DiOrio (#10) | 1 | 1 | Dismissed | ||||
| 32 | Revise composition of Parker School Building Committee | Parker School Building Committee | 4 | 0 | 10 | 3 | U | ||
| 33 | Establish a by-law review committee | RC | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | U | ||
| 34 | Establish a zoning by-law review committee | RC | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | U | ||
| 35 | Nepotism on FC | Al Ramos (#2) | 3 | 1 | 49 | 20 | (49-121) | ||
| 36 | Distribution of plans | PB | 3 | 1 | Dismissed | ||||
| 37 | Dirt bikes | Marc Lombardo (S) | 1 | 1 | Dismissed | ||||
| 38 | Hunters notify abuttors | Bob Correnti (S) | 3 | 1 | Dismissed | ||||
| 39 | Vacant buildings | Bob Correnti (S) | 5 | 3 | 55 | 13 | 106-44 | ||
| * | Each line is voted separately. All passed. | ||||||||
| Key to Abbeviations | |||||||||
| U – Unanimous voice vote | |||||||||
| M – Majority voice vote passed | |||||||||
| m – Majority voice vote failed | |||||||||
| 2/3 – Two-thirds voice vote passed | |||||||||
| (2/3) – Two-thirds voice vote failed | |||||||||
| XX-xx – Standing vote passed | |||||||||
| (XX-xx) – Standing vote failed | |||||||||
| BOS – Board of Selectmen | |||||||||
| mgr – Town Manager | |||||||||
| FC – Finance Committee | |||||||||
| PB – Planning Board | |||||||||
| S – Selectmen | |||||||||
| #X – TMR precint number | |||||||||
| RC – Rules Committee | |||||||||
Analysis
Here is a close look at how much participation there was in TM. An act of participation has been defined by Frank Bryan, who has spent his career studying TMs in Vermont. (His book is Real Democracy.) An act of participation is when a TMR speaks at the microphone to ask a question, make a comment, move a question, make a motion or amendment, etc.
Participation by Precinct
| Precinct | Participations |
| 11 | 32 |
| 7 | 30 |
| 8 | 29 |
| 5 | 23 |
| 6 | 20 |
| 9 | 14 |
| 4 | 11 |
| 10 | 10 |
| S | 8 |
| 2 | 7 |
| 1 | 5 |
| 3 | 3 |
| Total: | 192 |
Note: “S” is a Selectman
Very poor showing from precincts 2, 1, and 3 (which had 9 open seats after the election).
Participation by Gender
| Speakers | Participations | |
| Women | 16 | 52 |
| Men | 52 | 138 |
| Total | 68 | 190 |
Only 16 different women spoke at TM and had just 27% of the total participations.
Individual Participations
Here is a look at every TMR that took at least 1 turn at the microphone. Note that some names are incomplete — these people did not clearly state their name and precinct before speaking.
| Precinct | Participations | |
| David Johnson | 8 | 13 |
| Mary-Anne Wolf | 11 | 13 |
| Vrittamani Ramapriya | 11 | 13 |
| Bernie Duggan | 5 | 11 |
| Fred Libatore | 6 | 9 |
| Marti Mahoney | 7 | 9 |
| Steve Wetzel | 7 | 8 |
| Anthony Ventresca | 9 | 6 |
| Thomas Mandile | 8 | 6 |
| Britney Howe | 9 | 5 |
| Ed Hurd | 10 | 5 |
| Madeline Sargent | 5 | 5 |
| Mary Pasho | 5 | 5 |
| Jim Mollison | 7 | 4 |
| Marc Lombardo | S | 3 |
| Mike Rosa | S | 3 |
| Ralph McKenna | 7 | 3 |
| Rome Copobianco | 4 | 3 |
| Wallace Lafayette | 6 | 3 |
| Barbara Morrissey | 8 | 2 |
| Bob Hamilton | 10 | 2 |
| Charlene McCarthy | 8 | 2 |
| Chester Puffer | 8 | 2 |
| Cosmo Cavicchio | 6 | 2 |
| Dan Burns | 11 | 2 |
| Don Gadbois | 2 | 2 |
| Frank | 7 | 2 |
| Jan Wetzel | 7 | 2 |
| Jeanne Landers | 7 | 2 |
| John Gagliardi | 1 | 2 |
| Mike Moore | 4 | 2 |
| Vince Amato | 7 | 2 |
| William King | 11 | 2 |
| Al Ramos | 2 | 1 |
| Andrew Bowen | 10 | 1 |
| Andrew Deslaurier | S | 1 |
| Bob Correnti | S | 1 |
| Bob Stanton | 2 | 1 |
| Carol Reardon | 3 | 1 |
| Cheryl Lally | 9 | 1 |
| Dan Flett | 9 | 1 |
| Dick Tracey | 6 | 1 |
| Don McDonald | 6 | 1 |
| Dorothy Callihan | 6 | 1 |
| Doug Fogerty | 4 | 1 |
| Ed Bunker | 11 | 1 |
| Ed Reiner | 1 | 1 |
| Ellen Rawlings | 2 | 1 |
| Frank Busalacchi | 7 | 1 |
| Frank DeWitt | 8 | 1 |
| George | 4 | 1 |
| Jeff Parenti | 5 | 1 |
| Jim Stevens | 3 | 1 |
| John Bartlett | 7 | 1 |
| John Martell | 10 | 1 |
| John Parker | 1 | 1 |
| Karen Miller | 11 | 1 |
| Kevin Lagana | 10 | 1 |
| Maryanne Durant | 6 | 1 |
| Michael Moore | 2 | 1 |
| Oliver | 8 | 1 |
| Pauline Browne | 6 | 1 |
| Robert Casey | 1 | 1 |
| Sal Poli | 7 | 1 |
| Seth Alber | 8 | 1 |
| Seth Oliver | 8 | 1 |
| Steve Wanamaker | 2 | 1 |
| Thomas Aquavella | 5 | 1 |
| Tracey | 6 | 1 |
The Alderman Model
Suppose Billerica replaced its representative TM (240 seats, many of which are often empty) with a 24-member board of aldermen. If we kept the 11 precincts, there would be 13 at-large aldermen. They would all be elected, of course, but let’s say we populate the imaginary board of aldermen by their participations in the May 2010 TM. (I included all 5 selectmen although their participation level wasn’t that great either.)
Would this group, meeting frequently, do a better job than the current 240-member body that meets twice a year? I think so.
| Precinct | Precinct | Participations | |
| 1 | Robert Casey | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Don Gadbois | 2 | 2 |
| 3 | Carol Reardon | 3 | 1 |
| 4 | Rome Copobianco | 4 | 3 |
| 5 | Bernie Duggan | 5 | 11 |
| 6 | Fred Libatore | 6 | 9 |
| 7 | Marti Mahoney | 7 | 9 |
| 8 | David Johnson | 8 | 13 |
| 9 | Anthony Ventresca | 9 | 6 |
| 10 | Ed Hurd | 10 | 5 |
| 11 | Mary-Anne Wolf | 11 | 13 |
| at large | Andrew Deslaurier | 11 | 1 |
| at large | Mike Rosa | 5 | 3 |
| at large | Bob Correnti | 4 | 1 |
| at large | Marc Lombardo | 11 | 3 |
| at large | Bob Accomando | 11 | 0 |
| at large | Vrittamani Ramapriya | 11 | 13 |
| at large | Steve Wetzel | 7 | 8 |
| at large | Thomas Mandile | 8 | 6 |
| at large | Britney Howe | 9 | 5 |
| at large | Madeline Sargent | 5 | 5 |
| at large | Mary Pasho | 5 | 5 |
| at large | Jim Mollison | 7 | 4 |
| at large | Ralph McKenna | 7 | 3 |
