TOWNSHEND — In the upcoming general election on Nov. 6, voters in Brookline, Jamaica, Newfane, Townshend, and Windham will be handed an additional ballot. The purpose of this ballot is to change certain sections of the articles of agreement of the West River Modified Unified Education District.
The ballot will be confusing, so I want to clarify things for general public a bit concerning what the articles will change if they pass.
Article One deals with the method in which all representatives to the board will be elected. A vote in favor of this will allow the residents of all the involved towns to nominate and vote for town-specific representatives in the same manner that those towns vote for other public officials.
In Newfane, this would not change anything. In the other four towns, it would allow us to nominate and vote from the floor as we do with all other elections on the annual warning.
If, in the future, any of the towns wanted to elect those representatives by Australian ballot, each town could chose to do so without having to amend the articles of agreement for the WRMUED.
The at-large representatives would still be elected by Australian ballot, and those ballots would still be commingled. However, this would not happen on Town Meeting Day but at the same time as the vote for the annual budget.
Article Two deals with an oversight. As of right now, there is no official date for the annual meeting of the district. The fourth Tuesday of March has been chosen for many reasons, not the least of which is to get the meeting positioned at a time of the year when the weather is not as likely to impact attendance or the subsequent vote on the budget.
As I mentioned, the election of the at-large representatives, should there be one in a particular year, would also be combined with the budget vote.
This would be far more efficient and cost effective than the way the elections are supposed to be held based on the current requirements in the articles of agreement.
I would encourage everyone to vote in favor of both these articles.