WESTBOROUGH – The 14 citizens’ petitions — ranging from an Afro-Caribbean festival to establishing a “Townie Baby” award — are staying on the annual Town Meeting Warrant.
During the Select Board meeting on Feb. 27, Town Counsel Brian Riley called in via Zoom to offer his opinions.
While he considers most of the petitions as “social commentary” rather than requests that maintain municipal operations, he said the petitions must remain on the warrant.
Riley said the petitions were added onto the warrant per Massachusetts general laws covering town meetings; nearly all the petitions are nonbinding; and only one — the Afro-Caribbean festival — is requesting funds.
Some Select Board members expressed their displeasure with these petitions. Select Board member Shelby Marshall called it a “mockery” of Town Meeting.
“It’s disrespectful to the residents and town,” said Marshall.
“People will not put up with this” if future Town Meetings have a similar run of such petitions, said member Patrick Welch.
The citizens’ petitions were also part of the discussion on how Town Meeting will proceed. Town Moderator John Arnold is recommending a limit of 15 minutes per petition — including presentation and comments for and against the petition.
The Select Board discussed options such as a consent agenda, passing over the petition, or referring it to a committee or conference. Arnold said that overall it would be better to give Town Meeting attendees an opportunity for presentation and deliberation.
About the petitions
The festival request asks for the town to transfer $3,500 from Free Cash to help pay for police details, a DJ, electrical power and other expenses. The festival is slated to run at the end of August or beginning of September.
A nonbinding petition wishes to establish a “Townie Baby” award, funded by taxpayers, to encourage current residents who were born in Westborough to start families and have children in town.
The proposed award would be $1,000 per child.
“The intention and goal of the award is to encourage family creation by Westborough residents who were born here, with the overarching goal of keeping cultural longevity of the common shared values of the community,” according to the article. “Furthermore, this effort hopes to encourage local families to stay here, thus preserving the shared cultural and historic ‘memory’ of Westborough, its collective knowledge base and its heritage.”
The bulk of the petitions is requesting halts on projects either underway or in various stages of preparation. These include a repeal of the stormwater utility tax, which was approved by Town Meeting in 2023 and will go into effect on July 1.
There are also requests to approve nonbinding resolutions to leave alone the building at the Westborough Golf Club (currently recommended for demolition); the Westborough Public Library (seeking $1.6 million to create bid documents toward its repair project); and the senior center (move to the community center once the site is ready).
There are also requests to remove LGBTQ+ iconography from Westborough schools; to end antiracism initiatives; to ban gender-affirming care for minors; to end probable future mandates (vaccinations, masking, remote learning, etc.); to introduce an “opt-in” option for sex education; and to establish a “no bias” policy for School Department staff.
Other petition requests call for the town to distribute affordable housing units equally around town; and returning the Westborough Public Library’s fireplace room to community use (it is currently the teen area).
A citizens’ petition must receive a minimum of 10 signatures of registered Westborough voters, and the signatures must be certified by the Town Clerk’s office.
The Advisory Finance has recommended to defeat all but one of the petitions.
A decision on whether to provide $3,500 for an Afro-Caribbean festival has been set aside so that the AFC can receive more information.
Town Meeting convenes on Saturday, March 23, at 9 a.m. at the high school auditorium.
To view the entire warrant, visit www.westboroughma.gov.
