WHITMAN – The Select Board spent time taking stock of the events at Town Meeting the night before at its Tuesday, May 7 meeting and what lies ahead in reaching consensus on a fiscal 2025 school budget.
Select Board member Shawn Kain said he had done some reflecting after the Monday, May 6 annual Town Meeting.
“I was up late thinking, and I think the thing that is throwing me off and had me worried was, when they last had the April 8 School Committee meeting, there was some good discussion that was had,” he said, noting Chair Beth Stafford’s reference to the meeting school and select board representatives had together. “You had a good discussion, you talked about the override, you talked about the need for a smaller override, and it sounded like … there was a plan that was kind of made, and that’s kind of what she presented to the School Committee.”
During that School Committee meeting there was also discussion about how the school assessment would be split between budgets and the override.
“When I left the meeting, after everyone voted in favor for it, I thought, going into last night’s meeting, that the School Committee was going to support the small override,” Kain said. “So, I was a little bit thrown off when they didn’t.”
He said it occurred to him about halfway through the Town Meeting that it wasn’t going to work as a result of the division.
“I definitely felt some tension,” he said.
He said when the intent was for the towns and school district to step forward together to actively support getting the override to the ballot, when School Committee members not only acted counter to that, but also actively spoke out against it and school district officials were “very quiet about it” he found himself wondering how the plan could be implemented. Hanson did not pass the override for the same reason.
There was, in fact, no debate over the override in Hanson outside of School Committee member Hillary Kniffen explaining a procedural point.
“The best chance we had to increase educational funding was through an override,” Kain said. “Hanson’s in a much worse financial situation than we are, so for people in our community to be undermining the override … is worrisome for me. … What happens next?”
While healthy debate is good for the town, he said, and lauded the “impressive political move” the Finance Committee made, which changed the direction of the way things went. But he also expressed concern that, since they were able to do that, “it really undermined our ability to increase educational funding, which was ultimately the goal.”
Kowalski said the School Committee had made it clear they were not voting for an override so much as a change in the assessment.
“But it was clear, also that the plan was to cover that drop in assessment with a small override,” Kowalski said. “That was clear. But it shouldn’t be construed that they voted for it. … We’re the ones that have to put an override on the warrant – and we did.”
Other than that one correction, Kowalski said he agreed with everything Kain had to say.
“What I liked about the plan that had a small override in it was that it … lifts our floor for every year to come in a small way,” he said. “It’s going to be stressful.”
Select Board member also Laura Howe agreed with Kain’s concerns.
“I found it very disheartening, how divided we became,” she said. “Not of our own free will, but suddenly, I felt we were all outcasts, and a town cannot run divided.”
Discussing the news and information bubbles into which people sort themselves, Howe said that situation creates fear.
“When people get afraid, they lash out,” she said. “So I didn’t so much mind that they thought we were distrustful … I hope people will reach out [to town leaders]. Everyone is approachable. … There is no good or bad guy, there’s no winner or loser. This is our community.”
She said she felt town officials could bridge that division because they are “all strong leaders that love this town.”
Both Howe and Kowalski also lauded Select Board member Justin Evans for hissocial media posts in an effort to keep residents informed leading up to Town Meeting.
In other business, the Select Board voted to accept the sale of the town’s up to $20 million principal amount of general obligation building bonds and to execute the necessary documents.
“There are a number of votes to take,” said Chair Dr. Carl Kowalski, who read what the votes were before a single vote was taken at the end covering all of them:
- $19,070,000 general obligation building bonds to TD Securities USA, LLC at the price of $20,123,010.85 and accrued interest, if any. Bonds are payable annually on May 15 beginning in 2025 in the principal and bear interest rates for each year, changing as the years go on;
- Marketing and sale of the bonds, the prepaparation and and distribution of notice and sale and preliminary official statement;
- The bond is subject to redemption at the option of the town upon terms and conditions within the official statement;
- Town Treasurer and Select Board will be and are authorized to execute and deliver a continuing disclosure undertaking and compliance with SEC rules in a form approved by town counsel;
- Authorizing and directing the treasurer to establish post-issuance federal tax compliance and continuing disclosure procedures in the forms deemed sufficient by the treasurer and bond counsel and to review those procedures if they are already in place in order to monitor and maintain the tax-exempt status of the bonds;
- Any certificates or documents related to the bonds may be executed in several counterparts each regarded as an original (this vote also approved signing and mailing procedures);
- Electronic siguatures will be deemed original signatures; and
- Authorizes the each member of the Select Board, Town Clerk and town treasurer to take any and all actions to exercise and deliver certificates, receipts or other documents determined necessary to carry into effect the provisions of the votes.