Edit 3:39 p.m.: Added additional context from former Town Moderator Ellen Harde regarding a Town Meeting that was rescheduled due to capacity concerns in the 1990s.
WESTFORD — After a surge of voters flocked to Westford Academy for Annual Town Meeting, capacity restrictions forced officials to reschedule the meeting to later this spring.
At approximately 9:20 a.m., Town Moderator Angela Harkness announced that the Westford Academy Gymnasium and Performing Arts Center had reached capacity. The capacity for an indoor meeting between both facilities is 1,600 people, according to officials.
This marks the second time since 1990 that Town Meeting has been rescheduled due to capacity concerns. According to former Town Moderator Ellen Harde, one meeting was adjourned in the early 1990s due to fire capacity concerns.
“We [had] held it at the Abbot, but the fire chief said we exceeded the capacity and had to adjourn and reconvene at Westford Academy,” Harde said.
Voters share thoughts
The meeting would have had voters consider whether to approve a budget with up to a $6.8 million Proposition 2 ½ Override in mind as well as a zoning bylaw that would allow for additional multifamily housing in Westford.
Some residents expressed frustration at Town Meeting’s abrupt ending as they exited the WA gymnasium.
“It’s not fair to the people that are here and have been waiting so long,” Shankar Hegde said. “And now I have to go back [home]. Now half the day is gone.”
Jeannie Kilcher felt the rescheduling was “ridiculous.” She had arrived two hours earlier and been waiting since then.
“They should’ve said if you’re not here by 9 or 9:15, we’re closing the doors,” Kilcher said.
However, Jason Blacksburg felt the rescheduling was “great, because it allows more people to come and represent [the town].” To his right was Liz Persico, who said the family is “dressing up as Star Wars characters and bringing lightsabers if allowed,” in honor of ‘May the Fourth be With You.’
Others, like residents Nate Mackinnon and Sarah Glatt, shared Blacksburg’s positive outlook on voter turnout.
“I think it’s great that people care about so many important issues,” Mackinnon said. “The good news is people showed up. The bad news is they have to give up another Saturday.”
“I think we need to give credit where credit is due, and there is a lot of credit,” Glatt said. “They made the process smoother for what they thought would be a lot of people.”
WA students, alumni in attendance
Students and alumni also attended to represent Westford Public Schools. Although she will graduate soon, WA student Tara Morris says she wanted “to ensure the generation coming up are able to have a continued good experience at school.”
Class of 2023 alumna Audrey Fletcher was involved with the arts programs at WA. Now a student at University of Massachusetts Amherst, she says she chose to “declare her major based on the electives [she] took here.”
Fletcher decided to attend after seeing the projected course cuts in the budget, saying, “the reports I was seeing made it seem like … [there would be] a bare minimum education left for people who are passionate for the arts.”
Although Morris is able to attend on the rescheduled date, Fletcher cannot due to scheduling conflicts. However, she plans to “vote by mail” in the Annual Town Election on May 7.
A new, efficient process
Despite capacity concerns, the Town of Westford expanded its check-in and aimed to create a more efficient voting process in the wake of an October 2023 Special Town Meeting that saw nearly 1,200 voters in attendance — more than double the number of voters of 2022’s Special Town Meeting and triple that of 2023’s Annual Town Meeting.
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“[We checked in] 1,600 people in an hour and 20 minutes,” Warden Joseph Roy told WestfordCAT.
The town has already spent over $50,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds to purchase an additional 800 clickers, audiovisual equipment and additional poll pads.
Even with an expanded check-in process and technology upgrades, Harkness believes these issues, such as parking and venue capacity, “are not going to go away.”
“As participation goes up as I hope it will, we have to accommodate,” she said. “I’m really happy that so many people were interested enough to come out in bad weather and participate, but it is disappointing that we couldn’t accommodate them all. We’ll work on how we’re going to do that next time.”
She added, “I hope people will come to the rescheduled meeting on May 4.”
Officials say they may explore borrowing or purchasing additional clickers to accommodate more voters in May.
The rescheduled meeting will be held on May 4 at 9 a.m. at the Westford Academy Trustees Field, with a rain date of May 5.
