HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-11-01 Bylaw Committee Minutes0� OFR�O
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Meeting Minutes TOWN CLERK
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Board - committee - commission - Council: 2022 APR 13 PM 3: 08
Bylaw Committee
Date: 2021-11-01 Time: 7:30 PM
Building:
Reading Town Hall
Address:
16 Lowell Street
Purpose:
Attendees:
Members - Present:
Jeff Struble
Jason Clarke
Jesse Arnold
Liz Sullivan
Members - Not Present:
Kern Perry
Location:
Session: Open Session
Version:
Others Present:
Matt Kraunelis, Alan Foulds, Laura Gemme, Cadence Thomases, Alicia
Williams, Kimberly Moreau
Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Jesse Arnold
Topics of Discussion:
Electronic Voting
Jeff Struble presented the current rules and bylaws governing voting.
A discussion was had about the goals of exploring electronic voting:
• The Rules Committee was unanimous in asking the bylaws committee to look at
possibilities for electronic voting.
The Bylaws Committee explored the outstanding questions about a switch to electronic
voting, such as:
• What votes need to be retained for the permanent record
• What votes need to be displayed contemporaneously at Town Meeting
• Does the current hardware that the town possesses have the ability to record
discrete votes?
• Should all procedural votes have electronic records?
o Alan Foulds weighed in that it is important to have exceptions to any future
bylaws or rules regarding electronic voting.
• Roll Call Votes
o Does an electronic vote that records individual votes allow us to retain the
roll call vote as it currently exists, or does it get rid of the need for a roll
call vote?
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• Liz Sullivan pointed out that a lot of the genesis for electronic voting
seems to be a desire for more transparency between Town Meeting
members and their constituents.
o One method could be that all votes are recorded, but one has to go to the
Clerk's Office to access the records.
o There was a general consensus that there is a difference in psychology of
roll call votes, so is there is benefit to preserving the roll call vote as it
exists now and create a new way to do electronic voting where votes are
recorded in both instances, but differently.
• The committee discussed the need to make sure that any new bylaws allow for
electronic and non electronic voting in case of technical difficulties.
o Should there be exceptions for procedural motions such as motions to
adjourn, calling the question, etc.?
• Maybe there can be a caveat that in some instances the tally of the
votes is recorded, but not the individual votes.
• We could consider something like using a show of hands on a
motion to use electronic voting.
• Laura Gemme pointed out that we need to keep in mind that any type of
electronic record becomes public record for recording purposes.
• The Bylaws Committee discussed that being on Zoom for these two years could
have made Town Meeting members aware of the fact that although we have very
little accountability over Zoom, we could be holding in person Town Meetings
differently which would create more accountability.
• Cadence Thomases asked for clarity of what current technology the own
possesses for electronic voting, and whether it can be used now.
o Laura Gemme said that we currently have 250 clickers, which cost just
under $12,000 and were purchased 6 or 7 years ago. She explained that
what we have is a manual process — the Clerk's Office can track who has
what clicker and how that clicker votes, but it can't be displayed
contemporaneously and has to be figured out later.
• The Committee discussed an interest to investigate technology that would
hopefully have a somewhat long shelf life with regards to technology so we aren't
having to spend capital regularly replacing devices.
• The Committee asked if Town Counsel could advise whether a roll call vote is
dictated by Massachusetts Law.
Jason Clarke made a motion to adopt the minutes from February 17, 2021 which was
seconded by Jeff Struble. Jesse Arnold, Jeff Struble and Jason Clarke all voted to
accept the minutes as written. Liz Sullivan abstained having not been on the Bylaws
Committee at that time.
Jason Clarke made a motion to adopt the minutes from March 10, 2021 which was
seconded by Jeff Struble. Jesse Arnold, Jeff Struble and Jason Clarke all voted to
accept the minutes as written. Liz Sullivan abstained having not been on the Bylaws
Committee at that time.
New Business:
The Committee reviewed a proposed bylaw amendment that had been submitted for
Subsequent Town Meeting by Bill Brown which would amend Article 8, Section 2.1.3
and require all Town Meeting members to share their phone numbers for publication.
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• Because the proposed bylaw was not submitted to the Bylaw Committee for
review the committee does not take a position on this proposed amendment to
the bylaws.
• Cadence Thomases thanked the Bylaw Committee for their attention to the
investigation of electronic voting and the dedication to advancing transparency in
the proceedings of Town Meeting.
Jason Clarke made a motion to adjourn, which was seconded by Liz Sullivan. There
was a unanimous vote to adjourn and the meeting adjourned at 9:40.
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