WESTFORD — Voters will again decide what holiday should be celebrated in October at Annual Town Meeting.
A citizen’s petition was filed on Jan. 22 by resident Anthony DiLeo, who was previously involved in advocacy to preserve the Columbus Day holiday. The Select Board voted 3-2 to support the petition during a Feb. 13 meeting.
“We submitted this petition to bring together Westford residents over this holiday,” DiLeo told WestfordCAT in an email.
Article 22 on the Annual Town Meeting warrant calls for the Select Board to declare the second Monday in October as both Columbus Day and Indigenous Peoples Day and to supersede the previous declaration, which eliminated all local references to Columbus Day.
“In the spirit of inclusivity, we submitted this petition to recognize both throughout the town and schools on that day and hopefully unite the community,” he said.
The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee says they plan to continue to offer their perspective to the Select Board regarding the holiday.
DEI Committee Chair Joe Diamond says the committee hopes that the Select Board will “honor the will of the voters” and continue to support Indigenous Peoples Day as the sole holiday on the second Monday of October.
The committee says it hopes the Select Board will “further recognize and endorse October as Italian American Heritage Month.”
How we got here
A citizen’s petition was originally filed in 2020 to recognize Indigenous Peoples’ Day as the second Monday in October. The motion failed for lack of majority at a 2020 Special Town Meeting, with the question later referred to the DEI Committee for further review.
A survey was later conducted in 2022 which found that a majority of respondents opposed renaming the holiday. The question, which was a non-binding resolution, appeared on a May 2023 ballot, which passed by a slim majority. A recount was later held which affirmed the results.
The Select Board later voted 4-1 to accept the recommendations of the non-binding resolution during a June 27, 2023 meeting, where board member John Cunningham cast the dissenting vote.
Annual Town Meeting will be held on March 23 at 9 a.m. at Westford Academy. The deadline to register to vote is March 13.
