Staff report
Some towns are postponing their town meetings due to conflicts with the primary election on March 3.
Voters in Pittsfield will meet at the scheduled Town Meeting time on Tuesday, March 3 at 6 p.m. only to adjourn the meeting until Wednesday, March 4 at 6 p.m.
Pittsfield Assistant Town Clerk Sarah Gallagher said election officials and justices of the peace need to be at the town office for the primary election on Tuesday night until polls close at 7 p.m. and they can’t count results for Town Meeting at the same time.
“People need to be here manning the election,” she said.
Gallagher said Pittsfield has always held its Town Meeting starting at 10 a.m. on Town Meeting Day but last year, a petition was presented to change the time of the Town Meeting to the evening to allow more people to attend.
Gallagher said there were only about 30 people at last year’s Town Meeting. Eighty-eight people signed the petition.
“When more people sign a petition that were at the meeting, I think the Select Board was right to reconsider,” Gallagher said. “The Select Board voted a year ago that they would do that—not thinking ahead to the primary this year.”
The Select Board sought advice from the Secretary of State’s office this year to change the time of the Town Meeting.
“The Board, none of us having sat during a presidential primary election, failed as a whole to recognize the conflicts as presented,” the board said in a letter to voters.
Pittsfield voters will decide on the proposed budget to be raised by taxes—$520,850, which is a slight decrease from last year’s approved budget of $547,315.
The proposed tax rate, .5107, is down from last year’s .5353 per $100 of assessed property value. The owner of a $250,000 home would pay $1,277 in municipal property taxes.
Select Board chair Charles Piso’s seat is up this year. He’s previously said he’s unsure if he’ll run again. Town Meeting will be held at the Pittsfield Federated Church.
