Westwood Community Access Television (WestCAT), the town's non-profit public access television corporation, long in the planning stages had its first opportunity last night to provide live gavel-to-gavel coverage of a town meeting. An overflow crowd in the high school auditorium for a Special Town Meeting, viewed a presentation on the need for a new library, participated in heated discussion and overwhelmingly voted to approve the $13-million in construction costs. WestCAT recently hired an Executive Director and purchased equipment to launch a public access channel that will covering town meetings, events and provide an opportunity for local residents to showcase programming endeavors. WestCAT's state-of-the-art equipment was employed in the coverage. ED Greg Moberg manned the camera which provided a live feed set up by WestCAT board member, Dave Atkins, that could be seen 'live streaming' on WestCAT's website. With the high school auditorium filled to capacity, WestCAT's live internet feed was piped to the small auditorium for the benefit of the overflow crowd. Those who watched seemed very impressed with WestCAT's first effort at town coverage.
"We're extremely excited that we were able to provide coverage of our first Town Meeting and doubly so because our live streaming experiment actually solved a potential problem for meeting organizers", said WestCAT's President, John Craine.
Still in the formative stages, WestCAT's short range goal is to provide coverage of Selectmen, School Committee and other town meetings. The group is also working with Comcast and Verizon to get the programming on the local cable channels. In the meantime, video from town events will soon be available on WestCAT's website www.westwoodtv.org.
Part of the funding now depends on Cabot, Cabot, and Forbes pursuing I-Cubed financing--which will require authorization from Town Meeting. The meeting warrant was closed on January 4, but the Board of Selectmen placed several "placeholder" articles in the warrant to allow for possible future Westwood Station-related issues. These will likely be updated to include whatever is necessary.
Last night's Finance Commission meeting began to consider annual town meeting warrant articles, but tonight, in addition to a Library presentation, the Commission will hear an update on Westwood Station. Future meetings will provide an opportunity to more fully discuss whatever measures come foward. At this point, CC&F must still re-apply for the funding, so discussion remains speculative at best...
Residents will likely be asked to approve a debt exclusion override at the Special Town Meeting to be held on March 8, 2010, for the purposes of funding the construction of a new/replacement Main Library. The latest news and updates can be found on the Library web site and project blog.
The Westwood-Walpole League of Woman Voters will host a town-wide presentation on the new library project at the First Parish Meeting Hall on Sunday, February 7, 2010 at 2:00pm.
Public input and discussion begins this week and continues through February...
There are no shortage of potential topics to discuss in this town. Ideally, each one would start as its own post, but I just wanted to list out some of the things I'm wondering about that are not being covered by the press extensively and/or are not in a finalized state where the town would have published anything.
Last night, the Economic Development Advisory Board met after being completely re-organized. Regardless of what is going on or not going on with Westwood Station, what is the purpose of that? What is the town doing to promote business development--both small and large? A few years ago, an economic development director was hired; then she left and went to Needham. Is there any kind of association of Westwood small business owners I could join? Or start?
The Pedestran and Bicycle Safety Committee is meeting tonight. I posted it officially at town hall as required by law and on the town website, but haven't even posted it here on my blog. We have a lot going on and I'm happy to respond to questions.
FinComm met on Tuesday night. Was that about the Library...or the budget in general...or prep for discussing the warrants for the town meetings coming up? There is a lot of specualtion but I would suspect the majority of residents are not paying attention yet--until the override campaigns start. There is a blog about the Library project and plenty of information and meetings going on, but it would be great to hear what people are thinking and start the discussion earlier before it turns into a campaign.
The challenge of municipal finance in general is a complex topic that could stand some reasonable discussion that is not framed in crisis. It sounds like the dire circumstances predicted at the last Board of Selectmen meeting I attended are less dire now, but I don't know.
The meeting warrants are open for two Town meetings. Last year I was criticized for observing that the warrant had closed in January and so no one could get anything on the agenda for the May meeting. So if you have anything for next year...you have a few weeks now to either convince the Selectmen to include it or gather petition signatures. I'm not looking to re-open a debate on the process of Town Meeting, but now is the time to prepare so if you have something, it can be proposed, discussed, etc.
There is an active Government and Charter Study Task force meeting twice a month to consider improvements to town governance. So, for those who felt their efforts last year went down in flames...it's worth a look to see the work that is actually being done now.
In December, the Town will hold an "ascertainment hearing" to hear from residents what their needs are vis-a-vs the Comcast and Verizon television contracts. The hearing will concern, among other things, the amount of operational budget available for community access tv programming. The nonprofit WestCAT was formed almost two years ago (I'm on the board) and we have now hired a person to build out a station here in Westwood...
First of all, I intend to provide live video updates to tonight's town meeting. I am not promising 100% coverage, but I will be able to post short video clips from my phone during the meeting, so residents can check back here on the blog to see whether they should leap into their cars and drive down to the High School...
As Abby noted in the Hometown Weekly last week, tonight's town meeting is devoid of what had become a famiiar refrain of Westwood-station related crisis legislation. Instead, we have have a number of funding issues and the uncertain fate of some attempts to modify the town charter through petition articles.
Article 10 concerns authorizing money to construct a cemetery barn--using funds restricted to cemetery uses.
Article 11 authorizes $60,000 to be spent on design and planning of a new Library.
Articles 17, 18, and 19 are the Petition articles discussed and opposed by FinCom.
Cemetery and Library
The principal concern of opponents to these issues seems to be timing. An alternative view is that difficult economic times are the best time to make investments in the future.
I believe the proposal to expand the Board of Selectmen has much merit and should be discussed. It could be pushed off to a Charter commission, but why is it so difficult to discuss the pros and cons of increasing the size of the Board at a public forum where, hopefully, hundreds of residents will turn out? As a petition article related to fundamental rights of civic participation, the opinion of FinCom is certainly relevent because members of FinCom have more insight into active participation in Town affairs than most residents. But Town meeting is most residents' only opportunity for participation, and the only forum where those who are not already connected but have the wherewithall to show up in person on a weeknight for 3 hours can have a say.
One argument against discussing the articles is that they fail to follow proper procedure. This could be remedied by a motion to amend and insert the words "That the town should petition the legislature to grant a change in the Town Charter to effect the following:" before each article.
The other objections go to the substance of the articles and should be discussed so that if the articles have some merit but need reforming, there can be a public discussion now. Ultimately, it is up to the Moderator to rule on whether amendments are germane...but we will not hear any arguments unless the motion is allowed to be considered at all.
The Override Next Year
Finally, in case you did not notice how this topic has evolved, I quote from the Annual Report:
...the Finance Commission anticipates that the budgeting process next year will be extremely difficult and virtually impossible to sustain services in another year without growth in revenues. As a result, it is quite likely that an operational override will be considered and eventually proposed to voters.
So next year's Town Election will probably draw more than 15% turnout...
The three petition articles relating to term limits, increasing the size of the Board of Selectmen, and Saturday voting for Town Election were voted down by the Finance Commission. The Finance Commission voted to recommend indefinite postponement. Prior to Town Meeting, there will be a report issued with the reason for the opinion of the Finance Commission, but I wanted to clarify and discuss the procedure here as there has been some confusion about the "power" of the Finance Commission to "control" Town Meeting.
According to the Town Bylaws:
SECTION 9. Motions under the Article; Negative and Affirmative Motions. a) The recommendation of the finance commission shall be the first motion under an article of the warrant and shall be considered the main motion. b) A motion for indefinite postponement shall be equivalent to a motion that no action be taken under the article and such motion may not be amended. c) If the vote of the town shall defeat the motion of indefinite postponement, favorable action on the subject matter of the article shall require a motion to that effect. d) Any motion shall be reduced to writing if the moderator so requests.
and
SECTION 6. Majority Vote. Unless otherwise provided by law or bylaw, all motions shall require a majority vote of the voters present and voting. A motion may be withdrawn by the mover if no objection is made.
This means for those who wish the opportunity for the town to vote up or down, all that is required is a majority vote to first reject the recommendation of the Finance Commission.
Perhaps it seems a distinction without a difference, but I will vote to reject indefinite postponement because these articles are issues of fundamental democracy and civic participation. They deserve an up or down vote. If they are bad ideas, let them go down in flames and we will learn the true will of the people.
Even more importantly, the impression, right or wrong, that reform ideas were killed by an unelected body of town insiders with a vested interest in preserving the status quo just adds fuel to the fire of those who see conspiracy and cronyism at work. I'm not saying FinComm should have acted differently. But I think these articles are worth an up or down vote and hope Town Meeting will agree to at least debate them.
Tonight's marathon Finance Commission session wrapped up just shy of midnight after numerous presentations by the Board of Selectmen and discussion of the three petition articles to 1) increase Board of Selectmen membership from 3 to 5 members, 2) impose term limits on Selectmen, and 3) change the date of future Town Elections and Town Meetings.
Here is a 10-minute video of Michael Walsh presenting the proposal to increase the number of members on the Board of Selectmen. I lacked the memory/patience to record the entire meeting, so this is just the presentation.
The BOS have submitted Article 11 in response to I-Cubed and other state funding options for CC&F.
Article 11. Westwood Station state funding – possible support for an application by the developer for state infrastructure funding.
Excerpt of I-Cubed:
For example, a developer would pay the debt service on infrastructure improvements through a betterment on the property until such time that the new space is occupied. The state would pay the debt service for the remaining life of the bonds once the project is occupied consistent with the expectations provided in a feasibility study. And the host municipality would absorb any shortfall in the debt service payments if the developer fails to deliver the project, or the feasibility study expectations are not met.The local contribution may be enforced by the state by deducting the amount from that community’s share of local aid.
Cause for concern: Westwood could be in greater financial trouble if CC&F fails to deliver. WWS is on hold for 2009 as posted in an earlier thread and reported by the BBJ.
We need to attend the FinComm Public Hearing and ask the tough questions related to I-Cubed and other funding options that has an immediate impact on Westwood.
I felt a sense of frustration and failure when I learned yesterday that the Board of Selectmen were meeting last night to close the warrant for the annual town meeting. I don't know the outcome of that meeting, but it just seems ridiculous that anyone wanting to get an issue on the agenda for a meeting in May had to do so by last night.
Why I feel frustration and failure is that I hoped and believed this blog would provide a communication platform to get a discussion of issues out there in time to make a difference. I know there were a number of issues floating around including:
Whether to modify the composition of the Board of Selectmen and or the Finance Commission to create greater participation and representation by residents in all parts of town,
Whether to change the date of Town Meeting to a more accessible date and time,
Whether to consider term limits for Selectmen
I don't know if I support all these ideas, but I do support having a public discussion about them. Supporters of our current system will say there is now ample time for that, because if the warrant articles were approved--or if the supporters managed to gather 10 signatures last night--then this will proceed to Finance Commission hearings and on to Town Meeting. But that misses the point.
Residents who want to make a difference confront a system that is designed to limit change. But issues cannot be properly framed without discussion and open debate--not just about whether the particular idea is good, but what other ideas might be better. The Town Meeting process allows a limited discussion; the Moderator can rule amendments "not germane" and they will not be allowed. It is a tightly controlled process that affords no real opportunity for average citizen involvement. People who want change are repeatedly told: "you didn't come to the right meeting," "the deadline for that has passed; come back next year," and ultimately, "vote 'yes' now or we will have to close the schools and it will be the end of the world."
We are all busy and I guess, when something comes up that is directly relevant to us, then we make time for it. But usually, that's negative. I believe we need two things to make a positive difference here:
We need a more open and transparent process so that "casual participants" know what is going on in town and can be motivated to become active sooner on issues relevent to them.
We need elected and appointed officials who are not afraid to engage in a conversation with residents in a public forum.
The town of Westwood will grow dramatically in the next decade as hundreds of new residents move in to Westwood Station. There will continue to be a great deal of turnover as young people move here because of the great schools and start families. For all these people, as well as for the vast majority of town residents, the idea of joining boards and commissions, attending weeknight meetings, and trying to figure out what's going on by scouring the town website...it's just not going to happen. People have better things to do than follow town politics on the off chance that something relevant to them may come up.
I think our town leaders and the many, many volunteers who do participate on boards and commissions as well as service organizations are all well-intentioned. I don't believe there is a vast conspiracy of insiders; I think it's just that once you have invested the time to get heavily involved, the thought of casual, opportunistic, ill-informed people showing up and messing with things is upsetting. But there should be no dues-paying requirement for civic participation. Good ideas and bad will be tested in public debate. But the debate must have a possibility of relevance...otherwise it is just a venting exercise that gives the illusion of democracy.
Gay Street is named for early settlers of the Gay family. The Lusher Gay house, c. 1792, still stands. The old Gay farm is now the home of Xavarian High School, founded in 1957.
