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5-20-2025 11:32pm
At Annual Town Meeting, Residents Vote to Keep Quorum Requirement of Town Meeting Intact and Unchanged
Darlene Cancell
Editor
At Westwood’s Annual Town Meeting held at Westwood High School on Monday, May 19th, along with the issue of funding a new fire station and the town’s budget, another issue which drew a significant amount of interested comment was the proposal in Article 18 to make changes to the town’s Charter, removing the requirement that a quorum must continue to exist after the opening of a town meeting.
There were many proposed changes to the Charter, but the proposed elimination of a quorum requirement after the opening of a town meeting was the only revision met with particular concern among those making comments. Some residents who rose to speak on the issue noted that the proposed change to the quorum requirement should have been brought as a separate article from the rest of the changes proposed for the Charter, hinting at their approval of all other revisions to yhe Charter.
Currently, the existing Charter provides that the town must establish a quorum requirement to conduct its business, and that a smaller number than the established quorum may immediately adjourn a meeting.
Commenters called it "bad government" and "dangerous precedent" to only have a quorum requirement at a the opening of a town meeting, as proposed in Article 18. One resident commented that the ability to conduct town meeting business with only four to five people making decisions after the opening of the meeting s is alarming. Commenters noted that the proposed change would serve to disenfranchise and discourage people who want to vote, and who end up leaving a town meeting due to obligations at home, such as babies and dinner. They raised the fear of gamesmanship, where an important matter of town business can be delayed until many voters go home, leaving only a few people in a meeting, with no quorum requirement, to determine the fate of the issue.
In response to a question from the public regarding changing Town Meeting to a Sunday or weekend date, Paul Fitzgerald, chair of the Charter Review Committee which had proposed the Charter revisions in Article 18, noted that many people are busy on Sunday nights. He brought up flip side of the gamesmanship issue, noting the Charter Review Committee was concerned that someone could cause a town meeting to end before a decision on an important article could be made, due a quorum ceasing to exist during the meeting.
Resident Brian Clinton called the proposed elimination of the quorum after the opening of a town meeting a “terrible precedent” that would discourage voter participation even more. Instead, Mr. Clinton suggested that the Charter Review Committee consider revising the Charter to allow residents to vote from home and remotely, such as via a Zoom meeting.
School Committee member Anthony Mullin proposed an amendment to Article 18, that would remove the proposed changes to the Charter's quorum requirement and keep the same language as currently exists in the town’s Charter. His motion to amend was seconded and Article 18 was amended by a majority of the vote.
On a subsequent vote to approve the amended Article 18, Moderator James O'Sullivan determined through a voice vote that there were two-thirds of voters in favor. Article 18 was passed, with the town’s existing quorum requirement in place, and undisturbed.
