Public Feedback Sought On 2 Precinct Maps By Tuesday

Arlington MA

12 November, 2021

10:55 AM

Description

Your Arlington Last Updated: 10 November 2021 Written by Melanie Gilbert 'Change is hard.'-- Town Clerk Juli Brazile Town Clerk Juli Brazile presented the Reprecincting Working Group's (RWG) "Reprecincting: Fair Representation in Local Elections" report to the Select Board on Monday, Nov. 8, and the town seeks public feedback by Tuesday, Nov. 16. The RWG invites feedback on two maps. Feedback will be shared with the Select Board before the Nov. 22 vote, which is expected to select the new precinct map for the next 10 years. View the maps, timeline and directions for providing feedback here >>In addition, Envision Arlington's Civic Engagement Group invites you to a forum at 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 15, with Brazile to discuss the two 21-precinct options. There will be time for questions and answers. Learn more here >> "Reprecincting," said Brazile, "is the process that happens every 10 years. Communities must review precinct maps following the federal census. We rebalance population numbers [within precincts], and we look at communities of interest and local concerns in order to draw precinct lines that allow residents to elect representatives to Town Meeting that fairly represent housing type, neighborhood density and household incomes." The RWG is composed of Brazile; Jillian Harvey, director of diversity, equity and inclusion; Adam Kurowski, director of GIS/systems analyst; and Kelly Lynema, senior planner, Department of Planning and Community Development. Board Chair Steve DeCourcey said that the legislative district maps were approved by Gov. Baker, and the town's deadline to submit their maps is Dec. 4. Brazile concurred, suggesting that the final board vote take place Nov. 22, to allow enough time to submit the documents to the state for review, followed by a brief special board meeting to take a final vote on the state package and signatories for submission, "and get us to the finish line." The latest proposed two-map document reflects 2020 census data and extensive community feedback, including a community forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Arlington. Using this data, Brazile said some precincts were reimagined "so that they make more sense as a coherent whole." The RWG's recommended map uses major streets and school district boundaries "that we think provide a natural structure to the changes" and both maps respect the House district line, so "we don't have split precincts." Changes to precincts Five precincts – 5, 8, 15, 16, 17 - are out of numerical compliance in terms of population, requiring adjustments to the neighboring precincts of 7, 9, 10, 11, 18 and Precinct 13 in the recommended map. "Change is hard," Brazile said; "someone is always at the edge of a precinct or awkwardly distant from a polling location," but the bigger focus of the conversation is parity. She thanked resident Don Seltzer for contributing to the map discussion: "We want to acknowledge Don's work on this very complicated process." Brazile addressed the concept of "natural neighborhoods." Precincts that run from Mass. Ave. to a border with a neighboring municipality, tend to "include a wide range of housing types and incomes," even as Town Meeting members are not always well-represented through those precincts "raising questions of how well-represented all residents are in our local government." The biggest changes found on the recommended map is in the shape of precincts 8 and 10. Rather than have them run vertically as currently drawn, the RSG recommends running them horizontally, "this makes a more natural division," Brazile said, "and it respects Gray Street, which divides 12 and 14, and the neighborhood profiles follow." Precinct 8 resident Seltzer disagreed, saying that our "natural neighborhoods tend to run north-south from Mass. Ave. down to Route 2. Splitting it up horizontally does not represent a natural neighborhood for us." He said he and other residents had sent letters to the board noting these concerns. Precinct 9 member Jo Anne Preston echoed Seltzer, saying that she hoped her neighborhood could "stay together" and maintain its social identity. Town Meeting member impact Eleven precincts with the recommended map would need to elect all of their Town Meeting members, which, according to Brazile's historical research, is a lower impact than from the previous two decades of census reprecincting. "We believe that we've constructed precincts that are positioned well for the kinds of growth and discussions and housing development conversations that we want to have over the next few years." Board member Eric Helmuth suggested that despite the months-long reprecincting process, "a lot of people are going to be hitting this for the first time," and asked for ways to "draw out" continued public engagement in the last two weeks of review. Brazile said that in addition to the public emailing the Select Board and her office, the RWG would post a Google Form for input. Board member Len Diggins asked about "the potential impact on Fincom [the Finance Committee]." Brazile said "we need to map the location of each person," because it's possible there will be two current members from the same precinct." Seltzer stated that the impact on Fincom in the recommended map would be "six of our precincts will be without any Fincom members, three of them will have two members, and one precinct will have four members." Lynema said that the overall "charge that we were given, was to not only consider our demographics that we have right now, but anticipate growth and change over the next ten years." Town attorney Doug Heim noted that any change in precincts is "ultimately approved by the board . . . it ultimately rests in the board's authority." Board member Diane Mahon moved receipt of the reprecincting report, and was unanimously passed. Fiscal '22 expenses, revenues on track Town Comptroller Ida Cody opened the Select Board's agenda-packed meeting -- with as many as 34 people attending -- with a report on the year-to-date budget for FY 2022, covering July 1 through Sept. 30. Traditionally, Sandy Pooler deputy town manager and finance director, has updated the board, but Mahon previously requested that Cody present the financials. "I don't know if I have Sandy's presentation skills, but I can assure you that I will have the same numbers for you tonight," joked Cody, before launching into a lively explanation of the expenditures and revenues for the nearly $42 million general fund and $27 million enterprise funds categories. She offered the viewing public (the meeting was simultaneously broadcast on ACMi), a quick budget tutorial on the structure, process and findings of the report, saying that the budget narrative and the "high-level summary [report] makes it easier for you to follow." Cody also noted that the Munis-generated (an accounting system for municipalities) "line-item" report offers a more detailed view. The estimated and actual expenses and revenue collections for each department are in line with the 25-percent "burn rate" targets for the two-month period, Cody said. Variances were attributed to up-front rental costs, contracts and license fees that pay out at the beginning of the fiscal year in July. Departments "running hot," she said – the Ed Burns Rink and Recreation Fund under the enterprise funds category – are due to seasonal fluctuations that will be recaptured going forward. "We still have Covid expenses in the general fund," Cody said, but "we did get the approval letter last week" from the state, and "once we get the cash, we'll reclassify these expenses out of the general fund which will bring the budgets more in line with what they are supposed to be." The approved American Recovery Plan Act and other funding sources will be added to the budget later because "those expenditures are above and beyond what is listed in this report," noted Pooler. 'People want to be happy' A highlight of Cody's report was the unexpected revenue gains in the marijuana tax and area of licensing and permits. Marijuana revenue collections are a "good revenue source," said Cody. "People want to be happy, and we're strong in this area." A Special Town Meeting in December 2018, supported recreational-marijuana stores in Arlington, and the town's first such store opened in the Heights in 2020. Apothca opened a medical marijuana store on Water Street in 2018. The general fund licenses and permits category showed revenues running at 48 percent – well above the 25-percent target. "We had strong revenues from building permits," Cody said, and "it's worth mentioning that the inspection's director [Mike Ciampa] is asking contractors to sign an affidavit to attest the true value of the work they're doing, which is only helping us by collecting more money." Long-range planning, state funding Mahon expressed concern with about future spending on both the town and school side of the budget, as well as not being able to access some federal and state funding because of debt exclusions that Arlington "is carrying that on the books." DeCourcey explained that the "baseline for calculating lost revenue under ARPA is calendar 2019. We had our debt exclusion and override in 2019, that pushed up the revenue. So, when you compare subsequent revenue from calendar years 2020-2022, against that inflated number, it's very difficult to show lost revenue given the criteria that's been set out. There's a movement to get a waiver on that." Town Manager Adam Chapdelaine said that the town is advocating for a "guidance change at Treasury that would allow us to benefit from that revenue-replacement portion of ARPA spending," which would give general fund benefit. Regarding long-range planning, Pooler said "those [are] very important conversations. We continue to have them amongst ourselves and with Mr. Foskett." Charles Foskett is chair of the Finance Committee, a standing 21-member committee (representing each of the town's precincts), which recommends a vote to Town Meeting on the town budget and all articles that require an appropriation. The general budget was passed by Town Meeting last spring. But Pooler noted that "those conversations were outside the simple things that this document is trying to cover" relating to fiscal 2022. Future spending concerns about "the long-range plan, that probably [need to be] taken up in a different context." Chapdelaine added that "Town Meeting appropriates a town operating budget at 3.25 percent or lower. As long as we are able to report that we are on track with the budget, it also simultaneously means we are on track with the restrictions or requirements of long-range planning." Mahon moved to receive the budget update which the board unanimously passed. The rest of the Nov. 8 board meeting -- including consent agenda items, appointments, requests for licenses and permits and traffic updates -- will be covered in a subsequent report. YourArlington.com has provided news and opinion about Arlington, Mass., since 2006. Publisher Bob Sprague is a former editor at The Boston Globe, Boston Herald and Arlington Advocate. Read more at https://www.yourarlington.com/about.