Seems like a few items in the original message are not correct.
First, the budget is not by "machine vote on Tuesday"....it is only open for discussion and vote at Town Meeting on Saturday. Tuesday is for election of officials and zoning articles. However, people should come Saturday to express their opinions on the budget, including the long term impacts of added positions. Expansion of local government can be a problem long term when efforts to solve work volumes are not undertaken by looking for improved processes, etc. rather than just adding people. Hard to identify ANY activity by the BOS or town government to improve efficiency. These excess costs will hurt many people who are struggling to find money for food or energy in this inflationary period and there are other ways to solve problems rather than hire new full time employees. The BOS needs to exercise real leadership and seek other solutions rather than adding more burdens to the taxpayers. Spending less time approving fishing tournaments and raffles and working on real issues might be a step in the right direction.
Second, other warrant articles are not decided by "Roll Call hand vote" on Saturday. There is a difference between a "roll call" vote and a hand count vote. They are different. All warrant articles are approved or rejected based on a show of hands, unless a secret ballot is requested. A "roll call" vote is when each person is "polled" for their specific vote in public and is usually not part of town meeting.
Third, there is no planned vote on any new "Community Center" to be presented at Town Meeting. The only vote with some tie to a potential "NEW" community center is Article #8, where there is a proposal to set aside $750,000 of unassigned funds to a capital reserve account for a potential "new" community center that will be discussed at the 2023 Town Meeting. The writer should have noted that the $750,000 was just to encourage folks to donate money towards a potential new community center and should normally be returned to taxpayers by the BOS as a reduction in property taxes. Interesting that the BOS voted 2 in favor, 3 against this $750,000 request. It should be noted that the BOS has NEVER voted one way or another on any proposed "New Community Center", yet some wanted to set money aside anyway. And the "advisory" ABC voted 4-1 to support the move. Strange unexplained things do happen!
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