Town Meeting met for the first two sessions of its annual meeting this week.
The body passed two citizen petitions — one that allows the Select Board to ask the state to grant green card holders the right to vote in local elections, and another that allows the Board to ask the state to prohibit the use of a type of rodenticide in town. It did not, however, pass Article 27, which would have allowed the Board to petition the state to lower the voting age to 16 in local elections.
Town Meeting also passed several motions that call for amending the zoning bylaw and one that calls for amending the Town Meeting bylaw, among other articles.
Here is a breakdown of every motion discussed, passed, and failed in Town Meeting this week:
Article 26 — Voting rights for green card holders in local elections
Town Meeting passed a motion known as Article 26, which is based on a citizen petition created by Lexington resident Nathalie Huitema, with approximately 52 percent support.
The motion asks the town to authorize the Select Board to petition Massachusetts General Court to enact legislation that would give Lexington the authority to grant voting rights to green card holders in town elections. It also asks for green card holders to be able to vote on general election ballot questions that concern the town.
A green card holder is a permanent resident who’s authorized to live and work in the United States on a permanent basis. Green card holders are not US citizens.
“I would be so happy if we could be that rallying cry and apply the same principle of no taxation without representation 250 years later,” Huitema, who is a green card holder, told LexObserver ahead of Town Meeting.
Huitema said expanding voting rights to green card holders in Lexington could cost the town approximately $3,000 based on estimates from Mary De Alderete, the Town Clerk. But Eric Michelson, a member of the Appropriations Committee, worried that estimate was low.
Letitia Hom, a Town Meeting member from Precinct 7, argued the motion should not pass because voting is a privilege reserved for citizens. The motion is a “misuse of the system,” Sudhir Ranjan, a Town Meeting member from Precinct 8, argued.
But Mark Andersen, a Town Meeting member from Precinct 9, said he was embarrassed by other members’ reasoning for why they would vote “no” on the motion.
“Can you imagine if we worried about cost when we were talking about a woman’s right to vote?” he said.
Other members argued the motion is a great way for Lexington to show its support at a time when the US has a leader who marginalizes immigrants “with such cruelty,” in the words of Albert Zabin, a Town Meeting member from Precinct 1.
“We need to stand up,” he said.
Article 27 — Lowering the voting age in local elections
Town Meeting voted against a similar motion, known as Article 27, which is based on a citizen petition created by Town Meeting member Kunal Botla, who represents Precinct 4. The motion narrowly failed with approximately 46 percent support.
Botla’s motion asks the town to authorize the Select Board to petition Massachusetts General Court to enact legislation that would allow Lexington to let residents aged 16 and older vote in local elections.
Botla told LexObserver ahead of Town Meeting that he believes passing this motion is important because 16 and 17 year olds are a core part of the local economy, some — like Botla has since he was 15 — contribute to town government, and those ages are a good time in a person’s life to form the habit of being politically involved.
“There’s a lot of academia and research that says if you start voting at 16, you’re more likely to stay a voter throughout your life,” he told LexObserver. “But when you’re 18, you might be at college, you might have moved out of your hometown, you might be joining the military, working for the first time, or in a major transitional period of your life.”
This was the second time Botla brought his petition before Town Meeting. Last year, it failed with approximately 49 percent support. That was largely because members were worried about the operational obstacle that would come with implementing voting for a new demographic, Botla said.
This year, some Town Meeting members who were opposed to the motion worried 16 and 17 year olds do not have the adequate life experiences, like having to pay taxes, that are necessary prerequisites to vote.
Article 30 — Calculating affordable housing requirements
Town Meeting passed a motion known as Article 30 with approximately 77 percent support. The motion, which was presented by Planning Board member Charles Hornig, calls for the town to adjust how affordable housing is calculated in the zoning bylaw.
As the zoning bylaw is currently written, the amount of affordable housing in a Special Residential Development must be equal to at least 15 percent of the market-rate housing that could be built on the given property. That rule creates an incentive for developers to build larger developments.
The motion calls for the town to change the language so that at least 15 percent of the market-rate dwellings proposed shall be incorporated into inclusionary dwellings, Hornig said in his presentation.
This change makes it so affordable housing can be calculated based on a proposed development and not a property’s maximum capacity for market-rate dwellings. This switch could allow developers to build smaller developments, which is something many residents have been asking for at Planning Board meetings.
Article 25 — Town Meeting bylaw updates
Town Meeting passed a motion known as Article 25, which was presented by Bridger McGaw, a chair of the Town Meeting Members’ Association, with the incorporation of an amendment presented by Robert Avallone, a Town Meeting member from Precinct 8. The final motion garnered approximately 62 percent support.
The motion calls for amending the Town Meeting bylaw by: (1) modernizing some language, (2) making it so ending debate during Town Meeting requires a two-thirds vote, and (3) writing into the law that Town Meeting is governed by the Massachusetts Moderators Association. Parts one and three swiftly passed with 100 percent support.
Avallone offered an amendment to the second part of McGaw’s motion. He asked the town to add that if a call to question fails, debate should continue for 30 minutes and a subsequent call to question would only require a majority vote to pass. Town Meeting passed Avallone’s amendment with approximately 54 percent support.
Article 24 — Prohibiting a type of rodenticide
Town Meeting passed a motion known as Article 24, which is based on a citizen petition originated by Lexington resident Marci Cemenska. The motion passed with approximately 98 percent support.
The motion asks the town to petition Massachusetts General Court to allow Lexington to prohibit use of second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides in town, including by private entities.
Second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides are a type of rodenticide that are designed to kill rodents with a single feeding. The product is currently unavailable on the consumer market but can be bought online in large amounts.
Cemenska said municipalities such as Arlington, Newbury, and Newton have all passed similar motions. In Lexington, this type of rodenticide has killed four hawks, a fisher cat, and a weasel in the past year, she noted in her presentation. The chemicals can also pose danger to people, residential pets, and the environment by contaminating water sources, Cemenska argued.
Article 31 — Updating zoning map to comply with FEMA’s Flood Insurance Rate Maps
Town Meeting passed a motion known as Article 31 with 100 percent support. The motion calls for the town to update its zoning map to comply with the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s updated Flood Insurance Rate Maps so the town can have access to flood insurance.
Jeffrey Howry, a Town Meeting member representing Precinct 2, asked whether updating the zoning map would affect construction of the new Lexington High School. Abby McCabe, director of the Planning Board, said the town’s consultant will have to do a base flood elevation study, or BFE, to determine the answer to that question. A BFE aims to discover how high floodwaters could get in a certain area so developers can know where it’s safe to build. After the BFE is completed, the town would then recommend the team constructing the new high school proceed with appropriate construction methods that will minimize flooding in the school’s zone.
Article 33 — Zoning enforcement change
Town Meeting passed a motion known as Article 33 with 97 percent support. The motion asks the town to revise the zoning bylaw so responsibilities can be redistributed when it comes to enforcing permitting or zoning.
As it stands, the zoning bylaw requires bodies such as the Board of Appeals or the Planning Board to enforce all town laws and bylaws when enforcing permitting and zoning. This motion calls for the town to remove that responsibility from those specialized boards because members of those bodies don’t always have the expertise to evaluate what is or isn’t permitted by other bylaws. With this change, the responsibility of enforcing those certain bylaws will land on the proper parties that have the specialized knowledge to do so correctly.
Article 3 — Cary Lecture Series committee
Town Meeting passed Article 3, which describes a motion that asks the town to appoint a committee of four people to have the charge of the Cary Lecture Series for the current year. It passed with 100 percent support.
The lecture series is funded by the wills of sisters and Lexington residents, Eliza Cary Farnham and Suzanna E. Cary.
One more speaker is on the schedule as a part of the 2024-2025 Speaker Series. On May 3, retired United States supreme court justice, Stephen Breyer, will come to Cary Hall for his lecture about his new book, “Reading the Constitution: Why I Chose Pragmatism, Not Textualism.”
All other articles
Town Meeting also approved Article 2, which asked the town to name Thomas Diaz Deputy Moderator and Article 32, which suggested the town make technical corrections to the zoning bylaw and map.
Town Meeting did not get to hear Article 28 on Wednesday night as planned. It will address that motion in a future session in the coming weeks.
Town Meeting’s next session is on Wednesday, April 2 at 7:30 PM in Cary Hall.
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