STM No. 5 Backs Plea To Return Black Lives Matter Banner To Town Hall

Arlington MA

09 December, 2020

4:09 PM

Description

Your Arlington Last Updated: 08 December 2020 Written by Bob Sprague UPDATED, Dec. 8: The 2020 Special Town Meeting concluded Wednesday, Dec. 2, with session five, as the meeting voted to support a motion that expects to lead to a request to the Select Board to return the Black Lives Matter banner to Town Hall. The vote for the amended article was 166-34-38. The number of abstentions could reflect some members' objections to a lack of an extended discussion about the issue, but Moderator John Leone explained that he would allow one proponent and opponent to present and then vote. Here is a full summary of the discussion of articles and votes Dec. 2: Periodic interruptions of ACMi audio and picture as well as device streaming, part of all five sessions, continued. [This reporter watches on Verizon. Other viewers reported issues. For me, the worst came at 8:53 p.m., when ACMi went black without sound for 10 minutes on TV as well as streaming.] At the outset Dec. 2, after Larry Slotnick (7), cochair of the Zero-Waste Committed submitted its report, a Mystic River Watershed Association promo turned up unexpectedly. Moderator John Leone said more members have been in attendance at this Town Meeting than any since he started, in 1994. First at 238 members Dec. 2, that grew to 246. Article 17 (zoning, demolition notice): After Leone explained to Elaine Crowder (19) what a point of order is, Michael Byrne (13), director of inspectional services, tried to reassure the public about compliance with the Good Neighbor Agreement, aimed at alerting the public to noisy work, but he was hard to hear. Ed Trembly (19) said he sounded as if he were in in a tunnel, and Leone asked Byrne to repeat. Byrne said his department had reviewed two years of records and found no cases of ignoring the agreement. He added that including the cross-link in the zoning bylaw will change how appeals are handled and lead to significant delays for developers and home owners. Lori Leahy (21) asked about the order of speakers called on. Leone said he has a different screen than members do, sorted by order of entry. He added the order is his prerogative. Mark McCabe (2) asked to end debate. The vote, which needed to be two-thirds, passed, 167-65-5. The vote on Michael Ruderman's substitute motion, calling for cross-links in the zoning bylaw, was adopted, 151-84-8. This amended proposal became the main motion passed, 164-75-3. Article 18 (Ending single-family zoning) and Article 19 (Zoning, accessory dwelling units) Both had recommended votes of no action and no substitute motions. Thus, the moderator had them voted as one. Timur Yontar (7) asked what a no vote on a recommendation of no action might mean. "Nothing," Leone said. "We need to dispose of all articles, so we have to keep voting." [It reminded one Sartre's "Being and Nothingness."] They were closed, 233-7-7. Article 20 (Zoning, parking reductions in B3, B5 districts) Rachel Szembery, Redevelopment Board chair, introduced an explanatory video, which you can see here >> The measure aims to reduce parking requirements for business districts to as low as zero depending on site conditions. In B3 and B5, many buildings have no land available for parking. This lack of parking capacity required a variance from the zoning board. At 8:53, cable and streaming went black for 10 minutes as Szembery spoke. Christian Klein's blog notes supplement. He wrote: "The first question asked how reducing the parking would encourage more customers. The issue is that there are enough spaces in town lots and on-street spaces. However, those don't count toward the required parking. To take advantage of this option, the applicant would need to provide other amenities to reduce the need for transportation services. "A representative of one of the business districts spoke in favor of the article." Patrick Hanlon (5), a ZBA member, explained the case of the proposed Arlington Heights pub, which needed to be issued a variance, because it didn't couldn't provide the required parking. Daniel Jalkut (6) expressed frustration that businesses have to get over parking hurdles. He urged businesses to take on the risk. "We need more flexibility," he said in support of the measure. Ruderman (9), who lives in the area affected, said he will vote for the proposal, happy it would require considering each request individually. Beth Melofchik (9) said she is generally supportive, but asked why town homes on Prescott are included. She asked: "How is that relevant to commercial?" Planning Director Jenny Raitt indicated that all properties showing in B3 or B5 zones are not commercial. Nancy Bloom (18) expressed concern for Heights parking, noting that the Center has significant parking. Rod Holland (7) said he backs the article, asking about its effect on the overnight on-street parking ban. Raitt responded that there no impact. Barbara Thornton (16) expressed support, saying that it is needed for commerce to thrive. John Worden (8) said he wants to make sure that the language is strong enough to be limited to businesses. He referred a former Redevelopment Board chair who he quoted as saying: "'We can do whatever we want.'" Zsembery called the proposed language is "very specific," related to business only and not residential. Ed Trembly (19) decried bike-sharing, calling it "a total disaster." Leone brought him back into the scope of the articles. At 9:33, the meeting took a five-minute break. On return, like clockwork, McCabe asked to end debate. The vote was 211-23-3. The main-motion vote, requiring two-thirds, passed, 213-26-2. Article 21 (Zoning map amendment, rezone town property) The request to amend the zoning map to change a town-owned parcel between the DPW Yard and the high school from residential to industrial, so it can be used for the DPW project. After the presentation, no one spoke, leading to an immediate vote. The article passed, 237-4-2. Article 22 (Collective bargaining) The agreement have note been settled, so the no-action recommendation was accepted, 242-0-1. Articles 25 (Black Lives Matter banner) Proponent Michael Jacoby Brown (17) offered an amendment as a part of the presentation. The original article appeared to require the Select Board to get Town Meeting's permission before removing the banner in the future -- a step that Town Meeting cannot lawfully take. The amendment removed that implication and encouraged a continued public engagement. In a video, proponents seeks reinstatement of the banner, hanging from June 8 to Sept. 30. It noted broad support affirming the humanity of black lives. Presenting the opponents' view was Trembly, who said, "Black Lives Matter is not what we're talking about. We're talking about the banner." If you go to the Black Lives Matter website, he said, the donate button sends your payment to ActBlue Charities. He called that a major fund-raiser for Democrats. "Why open another can of worms?" he asked. "Town Hall should not be political. Please vote no on 25." A series of points of order followed. John Deyst (13) asked why there is to be no discussion. As Leone had previously explained, presented were one statement each, for and against for the nonbinding resolution. "I'm not going to change," he said. "It's a Select Board issue. We'll tell them [with a vote] up or down." Sheri Baron (7) said she is on the record objecting to lack of discussion. Leone said he thought length discussion would needlessly delay the meeting. Charlie Foskett (8) objected to points or order trying to continue a debate. One tried to offer comment through the raise-hand feature used for voting issues, and Leone rejected it. The vote on the amendment began, and another point of order interrupted it, asking whether the vote was to accept the measure (it was). The vote was 170-40, with 30 abstaining. New points of order were raised, including one by Jalkut, who said the raised-hand showed there were outstanding points of order, which he called "a democratic issue," not an attempt to continue debate. Leone cut him short. The final vote on the amended motion was adopted, 166-34, with 38 abstaining. At 10:33 p.m. the meeting was then dissolved. The moderator offered sturdy praise and for the town staff and volunteers who made Arlington's first virtual Special Town Meeting possible. Leone warned the annual meeting in April will likely be on the Zoom portal. See the ACMi video of the Dec. 2 meeting: 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.