State law requires a Town Meeting before July 1. But how do you balance social distancing with democracy?
Grafton has already moved its Town Meeting to June 20 and Town Election to June 23.
With the COVID-19 pandemic still raging, the town may still be unable to gather together a large crowd at Grafton High School for Town Meeting — but by Massachusetts law, that meeting must be held before July 1, the start of the next fiscal year.
There’s a town budget that needs to be set. Payments to continue town services. Capital requests for much-needed equipment. On the other hand, no one on the Select Board wants to risk voters’ lives for the sake of democracy.
“At this point, I think we’re looking for a slow re-open (from the pandemic) and, at this point, I don’t think June 20 is going to be an option,” Select Board member Doreen DeFazio said.
Town Meeting has been moved to a Saturday, specifically to open it up to senior citizens and parents of small children who shy away from weekday evening events.
“Personally, I just want to make sure that everyone who wants to participate gets to participate,” Select Board Chairperson Jennifer Thomas said.
But how do you social distance Town Meeting? Several ideas were mused — bringing it outside to the football field, using high school classrooms with their interactive white boards in addition to the auditorium.
“There’s really nothing but bad options, but we have to pick the best bad option right now,” Prisby said.
As for the Town Election, the board agreed to ask Town Clerk Kandy Lavallee for the current options available. Lavallee told the board at a previous meeting the state is allowing anyone to request a ballot for COVID-19 reasons, and the town is also allowing early voting by mail.
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