HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-05-29 Select Board Minutes Town of Reading RECEIVED
Meeting Minutes T0YVN CL E R K
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Select Board
Date: 2020-05-29 Time: 4:00 PM
Building: Location:
Address: Session: Joint Meeting
Purpose: General Business Version: Final
Attendees: Members - Present:
Mark Dockser, Carlo Bacci, Karen Herrick, Anne Landry, Vanessa Alvarado
Members - Not Present:
Others Present:
Town Manager Bob LeLacheur, Board of Health members Kevin Sexton,
Emmy Dove, Eleanor Tate, Lara Romanowski, Health Agent Laura Vlasuk,
Assistant Town Manager Jean Delios, Town Counsel Ray Miyares
Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Bob LeLacheur
Topics of Discussion:
This meeting was held remotely on Zoom.
Chair Mark Dockser called the Select Board to order at 4:03pm, with Anne Landry, Carlo
Bacci, Vanessa Alvarado and Karen Herrick also in attendance. Board of Health Chair Emmy
Dove then called the Board of Health to order, which included members Eleanor Tate
Shonkoff, Kevin Sexton, Associate member Lara Romanowski attending remotely. Also
present were Town Manager Bob LeLacheur, Assistant Town Manager Jean Delos, Health
Agent Laura Vlasuk, Town Clerk Laura Gemme, and Town Counsel Ray Miyares, all
attending remotely.
Chair Dockser began by stating that they would review Elections Safety. Select Board
member Alvarado stated that she would recuse herself from the meeting.
Dockser then provided a legislative review and update - which was not much news since the
Select Board met on Wednesday night. He said Senator Lewis had indicated that he was
working to allow expanded absentee balloting to be available beyond August 1. Chair
Dockser then asked the Board of Health what they thought about the topic on hand, citing
the fact that they had met on Thursday, as had the Board of Registrars (BOR).
Town Clerk Gemme updated the meeting with information about the BOR meeting held the
day before. They agreed to a set of Rules and Procedures, which would be sent out to
Alvarado's legal counsel. They agreed to set a hearing date of June 29th, and would meet
from 4-7pm daily (Monday-Thursday) until the matter was resolved, subject to member
availability. She added that the Board of Registrars is not involved in election logistics or
details.
Select Board member Herrick said that she had joined the BOR meeting. Vice Chair Landry
asked if any objections could be brought forth at the hearing. Counsel Miyares confirmed
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that was the case. Member Bacci asked if 912 residents were going to need to join the BOR
Hearing. Gemme noted that the 912 figure contains several voters that are double counted
in two or more categories of objections. She said that every voter will have an opportunity
to give testimony or proof. Miyares added that on the one hand was Alvarado's counsel and
on the other was Dan Ensminger, who had been designated by members of the petitioners
as a point person. He added that any interested party could give testimony, for example a
voter not wishing to be represented by Ensminger. He said the goal was not to hear
individual testimony at the Hearing, but for it to come in ahead of time, with deadlines of
June 15th and June 22nd for various submissions. By June 29th, all information should be
on the record and no live testimony would be needed. Then, the BOR may study groups of
signatures by category - but none of this will be certain until the submissions are received
by June 22nd. Bacci asked if for example John Doe wished to say this is my signature, was
that allowed? Miyares replied that the burden of proof to the contrary was on Alvarado.
Dockser then asked the Board of Health for their views on elections safety in light of the
pandemic. He explained that currently a bill passed by the House extended no-fault
absentee voting currently in place through August 1st; It is unclear what the Senate might
do. Today would be the deadline for the Select Board to call for an election If meeting the
August 1st date were an objective. Landry asked if they could let Town Counsel leave to be
mindful of his time, if there were no outstanding legal questions, but it was agreed that he
would stay on further as may be needed, should anyone have any legal questions.
Chair Dove started the BOH comments by summarizing the decision of deciding a stand-
alone Special Election compared to a combined one with another election was a choice
between the risks of one election versus two elections against the risk of doubling the
amount of poll workers present. She said the BOH discussed this yesterday but did not
come to consensus and agree to do that today. She stated that she was a bit frustrated at
the view of these risks by participants, when it is clear to her that the right answer is to
hold one combined election. She said that two elections would nearly pose double the total
public health risk. She was confident that Gemme and Command will minimize the risk
inside the polling location. She wondered if additional election space could be considered
outside the Field House, and Gemme thought that it could not be. Dove stated that Chief
Dave Clark had said that police could not enforce social distancing outside of the polling
location. Dove thought it would be best to add a second polling location to further reduce
the risk and she knew that under Massachusetts General Law the Select Board had the
authority to split into two locations. She asked some colleagues and all concurred with her
decision that, based on what was known now, one combined election was better.
Gemme said that for a regular election 20 days' notice was needed to voters, but only 10
days' notice for a Special Election. Every registered voter in town would need to receive
such notification through the US Mall. She noted that two locations would be very complex,
and that many voters do not know what precinct they are in, so the result would be a large
number of voters going first to the Field House to then learn another location was being
used for their precinct.
Vice Chair Eleanor Tate Shonkoff said that she trusted Emmy's ability to get the facts right,
and would therefore agree to support one election. Whatever the choice, the goal was to
keep people apart - voting by mail would yield the safest results. A target of 75% absentee
voting or above is desirable, and she asked the Board to encourage absentee voting.
Member Kevin Sexton said that he also respected Emmy's words today, and appreciated
how firm she was in her views. He asked about the separation of voters outside of the
polling location.
Town Manager LeLacheur said that after Chief Clark's comments, he suggested that voters
be kept in their cars and allowed to park only when they would be allowed to enter the Field
House with minimal lines or waiting. The Police agreed that under that condition, the could
control the proximity of arriving voters.
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Bacci asked it the hours for voting on September 1st were set as 7am-8pm, and Gemme
replied that it was and that would not change. She said that a stand-alone local election
could be for shorter hours, and that on August 1st she suggested six hours total. She added
that absentee ballots were processed by staff during the day.
Select Board member Herrick asked about early voting. Gemme confirmed that there would
be early voting for the November election, and that there was pending legislation to
increase that from two to three weeks, and add two weeks before the September election.
She stated that the current process of using Town Hall would have to change once
legislation allowed that. She said that the Town's Command staff would work on that
logistics. Herrick praised Dove and the Board of Health for their work.
Landry said that yesterday she would have said that August 1st was the best choice, and to
hold two elections, given the pushback in the House to extending expanded absentee
balloting beyond August 1 and given her concems about poll workers'exposure. Now given
the BOH advice and the evolving news from the legislature she clearly agrees that one
election is best, and while there is a great deal of legislative uncertainty the Town needs to
advocate for safe election conditions. She likes to use a Brown University framework for
viewing risk under Covid-19 for personal and professional decisions, and this decision was
not a no-brainer and she has wrestled with it.
Dockser agreed that there was lots of uncertainty, and that holding one election makes
sense. He said they would need to pressure the legislative delegation to add safety
precautions to all local elections, including a combined one on September 1st.
Bacci said that his biggest take-away in these discussions was the risk to the poll workers,
who would be exposed for the longest periods of time. He thought double the lections staff
at a combined election was too great of a risk, though he greatly respected the comments
by BOH members. He thought the best solution was to hold a local election with minimal
hours - for example six would allow only one shift of poll workers. He understood the
uncertainty of the legislative process and of future public health, but he preferred to rely on
Gemme for guidance. He wants the voters in and out quickly on August 1st.
Dockser said he had a focus on voters as well as election workers. In terms of timing to
make this decision (as some residents have expressed concerns with the delay'), he said
the Board has been waiting for better information In order to determine a safe path forward.
He said the August 1st date is uncertain with imperfect information, and picking that date
could put us in jeopardy if legislation fell through. He wants to help residents with
alternative voting methods.
Landry said that Bacci did reflect her deepest concerns about exposure for the poll workers.
Dove stated that if it were possible to have two distinct sets of poll workers at the two
elections, that would be far less risk. Landry is concerned about the overlap of election
workers at two events, and asked a blostatistician who lives in Reading who agreed the
combined election was safer. The biostatistician urged a reconfiguration of the space to
allow social distancing, with proper face shields and ventilation systems.
Gemme said that she is focused on both poll workers and the voters in terms of safety.
LeLacheur noted that the objective was to keep the Field House as empty as possible during
the voting day. Sexton asked Gemme about PPE supplies, and she stated they were
prepared. He asked if we could test poll for Covid-19 workers in advance? Tate Shonkoff
said that was a great idea, and asked if drive-by voting was possible. Gemme stated that in
Massachusetts it was not allowed. There was a brief discussion about traffic patterns, and
LeLacheur said that Command would work on maximizing safety with a traffic plan.
Bacci asked when was the right time to vote for a combined election, since that was what
the Board seemed to prefer. Gemme brought up the slight possibility that a small group was
seeking the cancellation of the September state election. Miyares said that another possible
wrench might be that combined elections had to be run under two different sets of rules.
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The Board discussed voting on June 3rd to set the September 1st date. On the one hand,
legislation may not yet be passed; on the other, the certainty of setting a date might help
pressure the legislature to act to protect local elections. Miyares reminded the Board of the
64 to 90-day window to set the election dates, and how that moved forward after June 3rd.
The Board agreed to set this as an agenda item for June 3rd.
Bacci asked the Board if they should vote the August 1st date to put it on the
record. After some discussion, he moved to set the recall election on August 1st,
seconded by Landry. Dockser recorded by roll call the following votes: Bacci-yes;
Landry-no; Herrick-no; Dockser-no.
Bacci moved to adjourn the Select Board at 5:47pm, seconded by Landry. Dcckser
recorded by roll call the following votes: Bacci-yes; Landry-yes; Herrick-yes;
Dockser-yes.
Sexton moved to adjourn the Board of Health at 5:47pm, seconded by Dove, and
approved by roll call Tate Shonkoff-yes; Sexton-yes; Dove-yes.
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