522-522 tie vote (!)

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522-522 tie vote (!)

Postby wordspeak2 » Thu Jan 26, 2012 7:02 am

I had to post this here, because I can't get over it. Don't let anyone tell your vote doesn't count (especially if you're *not* in an electronic-voting region, ahem).

I live in a tiny little left-leaning country town, mixed income, ranging from lower-middle-class to upper. For the past year or so the town has been bitterly torn over whether to earmark just over a million bucks for our new library. Our current library is the tiniest thing you've ever seen, a little hole in the wall with no running water, and it's a 10-20 minute drive to another town with a real library. I've supported the new library, though not actively. Plenty of people, though, just vehemently don't want their taxes to go up, even ten bucks a month, which is about what it would be. Well, we've now had two votes on this. We have this "override" process wherein you can keep re-vote on things if the Town Council agrees on it (I think that's how it goes). The latest vote was two weeks ago, and it ended in a 522-522 tie. Incredible. Then a "provisional vote" was counted after the fact, and my side went up by one. Then there was a re-count, and it's tied again, and a tie vote loses. So as of now no new library, though the decision is going to be challenged in court. The contentious issues are around questionable statuses of specific people who have dual residencies or are in the process of moving.

Pretty wild. As I see it libraries are an amazing anomaly in the capitalist landscape. A place where you can get books and DVD's for *free*?? They're also great meeting spaces- neutral, intellectual, innocent- I've loved them since I was a little child. But some people don't think they have an extra $125 a year to spend, and these days I can *almost* understand that.


http://www.gazettenet.com/2012/01/26/on ... shutesbury

Once again, tie vote defeats new library in Shutesbury
By BEN STORROW
Staff Writer

Thursday, January 26, 2012
SHUTESBURY - The vote over a new Shutesbury library is tied - again.

A recount Wednesday of the Jan. 10 vote over whether residents would approve $1.4 million in funding for a $3.5 million library project saw the town Board of Registrars throw out one vote in favor of the library, leaving the final vote tally at 522-522. The tie means the question fails.

But even that does not appear final because supporters of the project signaled that they intend to challenge the board's decision in court.

"While I appreciate the efforts of the citizens that serve, the Board of Registrars' inconsistency in considering several residents' right to vote and clear factual evidence may mean that professionals with expertise in election law may be needed to evaluate the situation accurately," said supporter Michael DeChiara, reading from a statement in an interview following the recount.

However, it is unclear whether supporters will be able to file and resolve a lawsuit before state money for the project expires. The town has until Jan. 31 to accept the $2.1 million library construction grant it received last year from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners to help fund the project.

Karen Traub, chairwoman of the library trustees, said supporters would go to the state board's Feb. 2 meeting to ask for an extension.

Opponents of a new library, meanwhile, expressed thanks for the result and said they hope the matter had finally been settled.

"It's not jubilation, but gratification," said Robert Groves, a leading opponent of the measure, describing his feelings about the outcome. "This is what we wanted, this is what we worked for."

He added about the possibility of a court case brought by supporters, "If they do that, it's really unfortunate for them to just push, push, push."

Wednesday's recount was the twist in a long debate over whether to build a new library here. Voters first approved the project by the exact two-thirds margin needed at an Oct. 25 special Town Meeting. But a week later, voters rejected a Proposition 2½ debt exclusion override by a 423-382 ballot vote. The Select Board then called for a revote.

When voters went back to the polls Jan. 10, the vote ended in a 522-522 deadlock.

That tally also did not stand. A provisional ballot not included in the initial result was ultimately ruled eligible and counted, which meant the library was approved 523-522. That decision prompted opponents to petition for Wednesday's recount at the elementary school.

Challenged ballots

The issue going into the night largely centered around seven challenged ballots, each of which was reviewed by the Board of Registrars to determine if it should be counted. All seven challenges related to voters' residency status.

Attorneys from both sides presented their case for or against each ballot to the Board of Registrars, arguing over factors such as an individual's voting registration, their residency and the location of their employment. The board confided privately before announcing their decision to either count or throw out each challenged ballot.

Residents watched in silence while a separate group of election officials worked to recount the other votes.

Ultimately, six of the votes were upheld while one was thrown out. It was a vote in favor of the library and belonged to Christopher Buck, who had been registered as living at 5 Montague Road. The Board of Registrars unanimously voted to throw out his vote after determining Buck had registered to vote in Kentucky in December.

Buck has not sold his family's home and instead leasing is it while away, DeChiara said, saying that Buck and his wife, along with their three children, intend to return to Shutesbury.

Attorney Alan Seewald, who represents library opponents, said that did not matter. Buck had registered to vote in Kentucky as a resident of that state under the penalties of perjury, Seewald said.

"Mr. Buck's recent conversion back to believing in his Shutesbury residency is coincidental to this hearing," Seewald said, noting that Buck has maintained a full-time job in Kentucky for at least two years.

Speaking of Buck's decision to register in Kentucky, Seewald added, "This is what he signed. This isn't a credit card application, there is no fine print here. On Jan. 10 when this vote took place, this is the declaration Mr. Buck had made."

Supporters of the library said the board had been inconsistent in throwing out Buck's ballot and not disqualifying that of Joan Paczkowski, who voted against the library. Paczkowski and her husband, Richard, are longtime residents of Shutesbury who winter in Florida and had consistently voted there for the last 10 years, said Michael Pill, a Shutesbury attorney representing library supporters.

When Town Clerk Leslie Bracebridge announced that the vote was tied again, there was silence in the room. Bracebridge then pleaded for residents to come together after four months of campaigning that has left the town sharply divided over the library.

"This is about community tonight," Bracebridge said. "I don't know where we go from here. I dread the lawsuits and challenges in court. That isn't about community.

"They say a tie vote fails, but we came out even on this," she continued, concluding, "I thank everyone who has come out."

The crowd then gave her a round of applause.
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Re: 522-522 tie vote (!)

Postby IanEye » Thu Jan 26, 2012 3:55 pm

Let me guess, the folks who don't want the new library probably say to those that do, "why don't you just go to Amherst?"...

I know some people that live in Shutesbury, they are wicked into Morris dancing. Every Christmas they dress up like Pagan smurfs and make a nuisance of themselves, it's awesome!

I grew up in Warwick and I always loved the library there. The librarian was a cool old lady who wouldn't let me check out the "Helter-Skelter" book, but she would let me sit at the big main table and read it there. She did let me check out "Wifey" by Judy Blume, but I don't think she was aware that it wasn't aimed at adolescents...
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Re: 522-522 tie vote (!)

Postby justdrew » Thu Jan 26, 2012 4:27 pm

maybe make it a community center/library. Are you building from scratch? Maybe include in the building a few retail spaces that could be rented out. Donations could offset the costs a bit too.

and would create a new venue for Morris Dancers
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Re: 522-522 tie vote (!)

Postby wordspeak2 » Thu Jan 26, 2012 8:14 pm

Ianeye, you know people out here? That's wild. I love the people out here in the hilltowns. Tons of pagans, yeah, pagans galore; I love it. And our police chief smokes weed, not to mention my last three landlords- all the absolute chillest people. I just wish more than exactly half of folks had voted for a library. I'm trying to think of where Warwick is, btw. Up the Mass Pike a bit?

Justdrew, it would certainly be a community center, too, and the state has offered to pay for about two-third of it, and of the remaining third a significant chunk of that has been chipped away at, as well, by donations. We would be building from scratch, but retail spaces are not realistic, because it's just too small of a thing. We're only talking a couple thousand people, but there are a lot in that couple thousand who would love to have a community space for political events, concerts, childrens' events, etc. etc. But at this point it looks like our only hope is a court changing the decision based on one of these ballots with the people who live half here and half in Kentucky or Florida. This is like a triple overtime sporting event, but in the end all that matters is who wins. Ten fucking bucks a month people don't want to spend, and some of them were willing to go way out of their way organizing a vote no campaign just for that end....
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Re: 522-522 tie vote (!)

Postby IanEye » Thu Jan 26, 2012 9:03 pm

Warwick is on the other side of Wendell to the north. Right on the border with Winchester, NH. It is also part of Franklin county.
Most of the town is State forest, it is beautiful and Lovecraftian simultaneously.

Oftentimes people are encouraged not to vote here at RI, i get certain aspects of that argument. But I don't think they can relate to living in as rural a place as we do, where as you have shown, it really does make a difference.
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Re: 522-522 tie vote (!)

Postby wordspeak2 » Sun Jan 29, 2012 7:34 pm

Yeah, that's for sure. I can understand not voting for president, though I would rather go third party, but not ever voting, on principle, is asinine.

Lucky you, from Warwick. Now that I think of it I know someone up there. Wonderfully beautiful. And Wendell I love.
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i can't seem to get to you through the US Mail

Postby IanEye » Sun Jan 29, 2012 9:19 pm

wordspeak2 wrote:
Lucky you, from Warwick.
.


oh wordspeak2, i do consider myself lucky.

we moved up to Warwick from Houston, Texas in the Fall of 1974. I arrived on Halloween night, and trick or treated dressed as Evel Knievel.

check this out:

Image

this picture represents grades 4,5 & 6 of Warwick Elementary School my 4th Grade year.
as I said before, Most of Warwick is State Forest, and back then State & Federal funding was such that I could wander around the woods of my town like it was the garden of Eden.

amazingly tended trails, beautiful parks.

My parents moved to get away from the insanity of George H.W. Bush's creeping influence on Houston, and meanwhile, my soon to be best friend Scott's parents moved from Boston to get away from the like of the brothers Bulger.

i think before when i spoke of a Lovecraftian feel, part of that is the remnants of that bygone era can still be found, but the trails are all overgrown.
while at the same time, parts of the forest have been crudely clear cut, and look awful.

some of those children in the above photo are now disciples of Ayn Rand, and it is always great to put them in their place, because they speak lovingly of their childhood in Warwick, but the current state of Mount Grace is what will happen nationwide if Rand Paul gets his way.

Sorry for the rant.

Image
& eye'm never goin' back
to my old school...



*
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Re: i can't seem to get to you through the US Mail

Postby Six Hits of Sunshine » Sun Jan 29, 2012 11:10 pm


& eye'm never goin' back
to my old school...




Soho has the boots. Noho's got the crack. New England has the foliage but I'm not going back.

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1977 - eye'm in love with Massachusetts

Postby IanEye » Mon Jan 30, 2012 1:00 am

Six Hits of Sunshine wrote:

New England has the foliage but I'm not going back.



1,2,3,4,5,6!



but again, this has little to do with libraries in Shutesbury...
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Re: 522-522 tie vote (!)

Postby wordspeak2 » Mon Jan 30, 2012 7:10 am

Ianeye, you're making me... what's the word? Like nostalgic for something I never even experienced, but know of. Fortunately, there's still a lot of forest in Wendell. Also on the other side of the Quabbin, in Petersham, where I lived for a while. It's not the same as the Pacific Northwest forest, but it's got its own appeal. I also love the Mass-Vermont border, towns like Colrain; have some friends up there. My dad is active in Audubon Society, and he says that land in western Mass. is considered threatened by development right now. I'm really hoping too much of it doesn't get destroyed by the Rand Pauls or the whomevers of the country. My rich landlord is a developer, but he does it in an eco-conscious way, and he's also bought up dozens or maybe even hundreds of acres and given them to Trustees of Reservations.

I actually love New England and plan to stay here. The winters can get a bit rough sometimes, but... my plan is to get really rich- that's the only part of the plan that's not totally clear- and buy some land in Costa Rica as a winter getaway for me and all my friends (includes RI folks- everyone's welcome). I have some connections, so I just gotta put a few bucks together, and I'm good to go.

Sorry about the fundamentalist capitalist religion afflicting all your old classmates. Funny, I come from a suburb outside Worcester, and I've been pleased to find since the Facebook days that old high school classmates are all liberal to progressive, often more so in certain ways than my college friends, and I went to a supposedly very progressive college. Not sure why, but I thought it interesting. What were your high school classmates like at the time? Were they likely Ayn Rand disciple candidates, or are you surprised? I have one high school friend who's an individualist prick, but he always was....
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a mirror is a negative space with a frame

Postby IanEye » Mon Jan 30, 2012 9:36 am

wordspeak2 wrote:Ianeye, you're making me... what's the word? Like nostalgic for something I never even experienced, but know of.


I believe the word is: hauntology.



my old friends just yearn for a simpler time and want a simple solution for how to get there. but it would be lame of me to judge them too harshly.
For them the best flavor of nostalgia is Ronald Reagan, and for me it is Jimmy Carter. it is somewhat silly to split hairs over four years difference i guess....
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Re: 522-522 tie vote (!)

Postby wordspeak2 » Tue Jan 31, 2012 6:33 pm

Hauntology? Is that a real word? I swear I saw it somewhere else very recently, but it's not coming up in the dictionary.

Nostalgia for Jimmy Carter, huh? Well, beats Obama. How about nostalgia for JFK, even if you were barely alive? There was a brief moment in U.S. history when a president decided to work for international peace and on the side of organized labor over corporate interests.... He was overthrown rapidly in a coup de'tat, but that's another story.
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