HUDSON – Hudson’s Town Meeting quorum may be lowered from 150 to 75.
Town Clerk Joan Wordell brought a proposal before the Select Board on July 25 to see if they would put an article before Town Meeting to lower the Town Meeting quorum.
She noted several positives for lowering quorum, such as allowing Town Meeting to start earlier, run more efficiently and ensuring that Town Meeting would not be affected by people who attend for one article and then leave.
“Keeping the quorum at a greater number than 75 runs the risk of delaying the start of the meeting or adjourning to another date or time, hoping to acquire quorum,” Wordell said.
History of Hudson’s Town Meeting quorum
To hold a Town Meeting requires the moderator, Town Clerk and a quorum of voters. At the last Town Meeting on May 2, 169 residents attended.
According to Wordell, the quorum for Town Meeting was 100 in 1926 before it was increased to 200 in 1971. The quorum was then reduced to 150 in 1994.
With the COVID-19 pandemic, Wordell said that the town had been able to lower the quorum to 70.
The 2021 annual Town Meeting saw 166 attendees, and that number increased to 325 attendees during the special Town Meeting in November.
In her research, communities with a quorum requirement of zero had higher turnout.
Wordell said that lowering the quorum does not prevent people from attending Town Meeting.
“As per my years of experience, it’s what’s on the warrant that brings people out,” Wordell said.
Wordell said that November’s special Town Meeting, unless certain articles are on it, will not bring a crowd and could force them to adjourn to another night.
“The things on the article at the special Town Meeting may be very important to the departments that need that,” Wordell said.
Select Board weighs in
Wordell said she wanted to present the proposal about lowering the quorum to 75 to the Select Board to gauge their thoughts.
Select Board Chair Scott Duplisea said that when the board lowered the quorum during the pandemic, he had initially been concerned about the implications of a town of more than 20,000 people not being able to reach a quorum of 150.
However, he said that since lowering the quorum due to the pandemic, they had seen high turnout anyway.
“I don’t think lowering the quorum is going to get more people to go, but it may help us get our business done,” Duplisea said. “I don’t know how many times I’m calling my wife to grab my daughter, call the neighbor, bring the dog, trying to get everybody down there to get quorum.”
Duplisea said he would not immediately say 75 was the right number for the quorum, but he encouraged the Select Board to consider lowering the amount of people required for it.
Select Board members Judy Congdon and Shawn Sadowski also voiced their support.
“The numbers state for themselves that each time we’ve lowered it, we have kind of jarred people saying, ‘What do you mean I can’t go,’ and they show up in droves,” Sadowski said.
Wordell did not ask the Select Board to sponsor the article that evening.
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