Petitions call for ballot changes
Toolbox
By David Delcore Times Argus Staff - Published: December 4, 2008
BERLIN – Twin petitions are now circulating in this mid-sized central Vermont community that could forever alter the complexion of Berlin's traditional town meeting.
Following an aborted attempt to force a vote on whether future school budgets should be considered using the day-long voting system that is used to settle local elections, support for the Australian ballot has both revived and multiplied.
Stung by the fact that "procedural deficiencies" involving an earlier petition derailed the vote they were poised to cast at a special town meeting last month, organizers of the earlier petition drive have modified the language and drafted two more petitions. One renews their call for voters to be given the chance to decide whether school budgets should be voted up or down using the Australian ballot. The other would essentially pose the same question involving the municipal budget.
Neither petition has yet been filed with Town Clerk Rosemary Morse, but their mere existence has gotten the attention of selectboard members and school directors alike.
Earlier this week the selectboard agreed to warn a special town meeting to consider the question posed by petitioners on Jan. 12.
Although that decision is contingent on the school board voting to do the same, Chairwoman Patricia McDonald said it was consistent with the will of the 95 registered voters who signed the earlier petition. Many of those voters turned out to cast their ballots on how future school budgets should be adopted only to learn that action could raise thorny legal questions because the special meeting was warned by the selectboard and not the school board.
Some of those unhappy with the outcome drafted new petitions and McDonald said there was no point denying their existence.
"They're out there," she said of the petitions. "They're being signed and I'm assuming we will be getting them."
However, McDonald said time is growing short and if voters are of a mind to change the way budgets are adopted in Berlin next March, that decision needs to be made next month.
"I don't know what the right answer is I just know it's up to the voters to make the decision," McDonald said, defending her board's decision to expedite the process by unilaterally warning a special town meeting.
Absent the petitions being filed, McDonald said she is hoping the school board will do the same.
"If they (school directors) don't, I'm not sure what we will do in response," she said, holding out the possibility that the special town meeting that has tentatively been scheduled for 7 p.m. on Jan. 12 at the Berlin Elementary School could be cancelled.
"We haven't signed the warning yet," she said.
Although school directors met Tuesday, they were unable to act on the proposal because it was not warned as part of their agenda. They have called a special school board meeting next Thursday to consider the question.
School Board Chairwoman Linda Beaupre said members would likely agree to warn a special school district meeting in conjunction with the meeting already planned by the selectboard.
However, it is somewhat less clear whether the warning for that special meeting would focus on the narrow question posed by petitioners: whether the annual budget for the local elementary school should be adopted by Australian ballot.
According to Beaupre, board members remain open to other alternatives that could potentially boost participation at town meeting. Options range from arranging transportation for elderly residents to holding the meeting in the evening or at night to accommodate voters who don't have Town Meeting Day off.
The board plans to hold a meeting on Dec. 15 to discuss those and other voting alternatives. Beaupre was clearly uneasy about the potential shift to Australian ballot, particularly in a year when Berlin voters could very likely be facing a confusing set of questions involving school spending.
Berlin is one of dozens of Vermont communities that could be required to warn two budget articles this year based on a new law – Act 82 – that passed in the final hours of the last legislative session.
Although it is not yet clear whether Berlin's per-pupil expenses will require the board to use the two-step process, if that is the case voters would face one article requesting approval for what purports to be the "total school budget" and a second requesting "additional school spending."
"This is a perfect example of something that needs to be explained to people at town meeting," Beaupre said Tuesday. "This is going to be a hard sell this year even if we have a floor vote … This is hard for us to understand."
13