Should Wayland Town Meeting Be Held Later in the Spring?

WAYLAND, MA -Are you feeling uninformed and confused about the upcoming annual town meeting? Don't worry, you're not alone.

Petitioners will bring an article before the annual town meeting on April 7 in hopes of pushing next year's meeting to later in the spring.

Citizens are arguing the short window from Jan. 1 to early April is not enough time to hear all of the articles that will be brought before the meeting.

"No one, citizens nor officials can attend multiple, often overlapping meetings to hear and shape issues during that short window. We get too much incomplete and even misleading information about finances and projects," resident Alice Boelter wrote in a letter to Wicked Local.

The current wording of the code states that the Board of Selectmen must set a date between April 1 and May 15. The new wording proposed by petitioners would shift to a start date no earlier than after the fourth Thursday in April, according to the warrant for the town meeting.

Boelter argued in her letter that the majority of towns start their meetings after May 1.

"They realize farmers' spring planting should no longer decide [annual town meeting] timing! In 2016 with citizens' priorities more diverse, we need more discussion of proposals before [annual town meeting] especially when our budget approaches $80 million!" Boelter wrote in the letter to Wicked Local.

The finance committee doesn't believe changing the date of the meeting will make much of a difference in the overall outcome.

"According to the Finance Director, it is unlikely that the additional time will result in significantly different financial information upon which to base decisions," the committee wrote in their commentary, published in the warrant.

The committee argued the meeting is closely linked to town elections and a later start date could influence election dates.

The committee also argued that holding the meeting after April school vacation week could "lead to conflicts with school and sports activities, including concerns about AP exams and other demands for the High School Field House, which is the usual location for annual town meeting,"the committee wrote.

Do you think the town meeting needs to be later in the spring? Let us know in the comments below.