TRURO — Voters at Tuesday’s annual town meeting approved three Proposition 2½ overrides totaling $1.4 million but rejected a fourth seeking $107,000 for a full-time “school resource officer,” which had been requested by the select board.
The only speaker on the question was not against Article 14 in principle but raised financial concerns. “It’s not a question of wanting all these things,” he said of the override request. “It’s a question of affording all these things.”
The vote was one-sided, with only scattered support. The override would have created a police officer position whose duties would have included law enforcement and promoting school safety at Truro Central School. The article was narrowly recommended by the select board but not endorsed by the finance committee.
Voters approved an override for $601,122 to fund added emergency personnel and an administrator to the fire & rescue dept. as the town transitions away from its contract with Lower Cape Ambulance Association.
Another override added three community sustainability programs having to do with child care, including preschool and after-school care as well as an ongoing voucher program, to the town’s budget.
Select board member Sue Areson sought to remove the child-care-outside-school-hours provision from the article. Her motion failed — with 144 votes in favor and 164 against. She wanted to divide the question, she said, in the interests of “transparency.”
State Sen. Julian Cyr spoke as a Truro voter in favor of the article in its entirety. “I want my fellow residents to realize how fundamentally the game has changed,” he said, citing a 62-percent jump in Truro real-estate prices since 2020. Cyr encouraged “those of us who are, frankly, lucky enough to have a foothold here” to vote in favor of the community sustainability article.
A third override made Truro the ninth town on Cape Cod to create a full-time housing coordinator position.
A full town meeting report will appear in next week’s Independent.
