Third time's the charm. Canton's Annual Town Meeting officially closed last night at around 8:00 p.m. The three-night affair created debates, heated discussions and attracted record numbers. Last Wednesday, a motion to reconsider Article 34 was approved. Article 34, the Local Meals Excise Tax article, had previously failed at Town Meeting due to a tie vote. Therefore, night three of Town Meeting took place last night at 7:00 p.m. One-hundred and thirty residents came back for the third installment of ATM. However, the motion to reconsider and reopen Article 34 failed last night, since it did…
Maybe the third time's the charm for Canton's Annual Town Meeting. Mark your calendars because Monday night at 7:00 p.m. will be the third installment of ATM. On the agenda for Monday night: a motion to reconsider Article 34, the Local Option Meals Excise Tax article. If the motion to reconsider receives a 2/3 majority vote, according to the Town Moderator, then discussions will continue. The article received a tied vote on Wednesday night, 133 to 133, and therefore failed. (A 2/3 majority vote was needed for the article to be approved.) Article 34 would put an extra tax on your dining-out …
If you did not believe me that Town Meeting can be interesting and did not attend Wednesday’s session of Town Meeting, you missed out on one of the more interesting discussions. At Monday’s Town Meeting session, the last article that was voted on was whether or not Canton should adopt a Local Meals Tax as authorized by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. After a lengthy debate, the vote ended in a tie. Since a majority vote was needed to pass the article, the motion failed. I had wondered myself if a tie should result in an automatic re-count. Furthermore, the vote counting was a little …
Town Meeting, take two. Tonight Canton's Annual Town Meeting will continue at 7:00 p.m. at Canton High School. There are still several big-issue Town Warrant Articles left for residents to discuss and vote on, including the school district budget, Reservoir Pond and the town budget. On Monday night, Town Meeting voted on half of the 44 Town Warrant Articles. To view the Town Meeting Warrant Articles, click here. Here is a look at what Town Meeting voted on Monday night: Article 1: Approved Article 2: Approved Article 3: Approved Article 4: Approved Article 7: Approved Article 9: Approved …
The line was out the door of Canton High School and the parking lot was more than full. Was Justin Bieber signing autographs? A showing of the latest Harry Potter flick, maybe? Actually, it was the line to check into Canton's Annual Town Meeting. A "modern record" for attendance, 417 Canton residents filled the Canton High School auditorium, and let their voices be heard on several of the 44 Warrant Articles. The first night of Annual Town Meeting kicked off just after 7:30 p.m. and lasted until just past 11:00 p.m. The two articles, picked by lottery last night, that took up about an hour of…
I am an Annual Town Meeting junkie. I am not sure if there is a 12-step program for that or not. I have lived in Canton for just over 17 years and estimate that I have attended town meeting for the past 12-15 years. I grew up in Milton, which has a representative Town Meeting, meaning they elect Town Meeting members who are the ones who vote at Town Meeting; so it took me a few years to realize that Canton has an open town meeting – meaning all registered voters in Canton can attend and vote at town meeting. If that is not democracy then I don’t know what is! For those who may not regularly…
Just over 400 residents came out to attend the first night of Canton's Annual Town Meeting. The four-hour night meeting, held at Canton High, featured much debate around Warrant Article 34, the local meals tax, and Article 17, the rezoning article that would allow the old Plymouth Rubber site to be developed into apartments and shops. Here is a view of Town Meeting through our Patch snapshots. Stay tuned to read up on Town Meeting and watch the debates on video!
Tonight is Canton's Annual Town Meeting and all Canton residents are welcome to attend the 7:30 p.m. public meeting. Tonight's meeting will be held in the Canton High School auditorium. The Canton Board of Selectmen is having its final meeting prior to Town Meeting at 7:00 p.m. Several issues will be discussed at Town Meeting, including the Canton Public School District's budget, the town budget, the state of Reservoir Pond and many other articles on the Town Warrant. The 44 Warrant Articles are available for residents to review online by clicking here. Some of the debated articles include: …
There is less than one week to go before Canton's Annual Town Meeting and the Board of Selectmen wrapped up final warrant business last night. The Board of Selectmen has been discussing the 44 warrant articles over the past several months, and gave their final recommendations at last night's meeting on the remaining articles. In a 3-2 vote, the board voted to support Article 34, the local option meals tax article. This tax would add a .75 % tax on meals in Canton. If you spend $100 on a meal, you would pay an extra 75 cents on your bill if this article were passed at Town Meeting. This …
There are no contested races in this year’s Town Election, but residents are still able to meet the candidates at Candidates Night tonight at the Canton Public Library. The 6:30 p.m meet and greet is sponsored by the Blue Hills Civic Association. The town is not expecting a large voter turnout for the April 5 Annual Town Election. Last year’s Annual Town Election “generated an anemic four percent voter turnout,” Town Clerk Tracy Kenney said. “We expect to see more of the same this year, having no contested races on the ballot that might encourage greater voter participation.” For the Board of…
