2019 Annual Town Election

The Summary of Votes (PDF) is available at this link.

A description of the duties and responsibilities for each office is available online on this PDF or by clicking the name of the office below.

Candidates' Night

Weston's League of Women Voters hosted its annual on April 23rd. Weston Media Center recorded the event, which is available for viewing online.

What is Prop 2-1/2?

The ballot question below is a debt exclusion question. If you are unfamiliar with debt exclusion in municipal budgets and how it impacts the tax levy, a Proposition 2-1/2 primer is online, as well as a history of override votes in Weston. There are six projects included in the debt exclusion. Four will be voted upon at Annual Town Meeting. The other two, the Case House restoration and the Town Center Project, were appropriation approvals from the last two Special Town Meetings.

ATEbutt
*This is to fill a term as the result of a resignation
Office Elected Term Limit
Moderator (vote for one) Douglas P. Gillespie one year
Selectman (vote for one) Laurie A. Bent three years
Board of Assessors (vote for one) Paul L. Zorfass (incumbent) three years
School Committee
(vote for two)
Anita M. Raman
Rachel Stewart
 three years
Recreation Commission
(vote for two)
 Julie Johnstone
Trevor W. MacDonald
 three years
Planning Board (vote for one) Alicia M. Primer five years
Library Trustees
(vote for two)
 Linda Kent Delaney
Emily L. Hutcheson
 three years
Board of Health Laura Lee Azzam (incumbent) three years
Commissioner of Trust Funds Andrew Van Ogtrop three years
Commissioner of Trust Funds* Robert Trumbull one year*
Measurers of Lumber
(vote for three)
 Aidan Llewellyn Fleming
Edward E. Heller
Doris Atwood Sullivan (incumbent)
 one year

BALLOT QUESTION NO. 1: PROPOSITION 2½ DEBT EXCLUSION

Shall the Town of Weston be allowed to exempt from the provisions of Proposition two and one-half, so called, the amounts required to pay for the bond(s) issued in order to design, engineer, construct and equip the following, including all costs incidental and related thereto: (1) DPW-Drainage  improvements; (2) South Side Drainage Improvements; (3) Cherry Brook Culverts; (4) Radio System Upgrades; (5) Case House Renovations; and (6) Town Center Improvement Project?

Passes - Yes: 551  No: 458

SUMMARY

State law provides for an exemption from the limits of Proposition two and one-half of those amounts required to pay for the debt service for bonds approved by the voters. Question 1 would exempt the debt service for the bonds that will be issued in part for projects to be considered at the May 2019 Annual Town Meeting: 

Projects to be considered by May 2019 Annual Town Meeting:

  1. DPW-Drainage Improvements (Article 14)  $300,000
  2. South Side Drainage Improvements (Article 15)  $334,740
  3. Cherry Brook Culverts (Article 16)  $465,900
  4. Fire Department Radio System Upgrades (Article 17)  $760,000

Explanation

Separate articles appear in the Annual Town Meeting Warrant to appropriate the funds and authorize borrowing for each purpose.  A two-thirds vote of Town Meeting in favor is required for approval.  This ballot question is only to exempt the debt service from the limits of Proposition 2½, should these items be approved by Town Meeting.

The debt service for the projects to be considered at May 2019 Annual Town Meeting is estimated to be $62,122 in fiscal year 2021, $339,369 in fiscal year 2022, then decreasing each year until the bond reaches maturity.  This Proposition two and one-half debt exclusion shall be approved if a majority of the persons voting thereon vote “yes.”

This ballot question also seeks to exclude the debt authorized for the renovations of the Case House passed at the Special Town Meeting on November 27, 2018 (Vote passed 218-34 for $8,475,000) and the Town Center Project passed at the Special Town Meeting on March 18, 2019 (Vote passed 285-103 for $10,900,000) including the burying of the utilities and all associated costs (Vote passed 349-56 for $7,190,000).