EASTHAM — While it wasn’t exactly the frozen tundra of Green Bay’s Lambeau Field, a very chilly Nauset High School football gridiron was where Eastham voters assembled on the first Saturday of May outfitted in hats, coats, gloves, and even some blankets to fulfill their civic duty at the annual town meeting.
“It’s Cape Cod,” said voter Stacey Klimkosky, hunkering down in her lawn chair with only a bit of her face and bare hands visible beneath a puffy hooded coat and blanket. “You’ve got to plan for the worst and expect the best in regard to weather.”
Next year’s town meeting is expected to return indoors as the high school’s new auditorium and gym are both expected to be completed this summer, said the still chilled select board vice chair Aimee Eckman in a phone call hours after the meeting’s end. The day’s high temperature had been 52 degrees, according to Weather Underground.
People zig-zagged from the parking lot through and around the high school construction site to get to the check-in table and collect their electronic voting clickers. A quorum of 240 — 5 percent of the town’s registered voters — was reached just after the announced starting time of 10 a.m.
Moderator Scott Kerry led the meeting in a moment of silence for Arthur Autorino, the select board’s chair who died in February, and for Jared Collins, a former select board member, who died in October 2023.
A lighter note was struck as Kerry explained the workings of the voting system and asked for a test vote on the question “Will it rain today?” As the green light indicating the 30-second voting period glowed, the theme from Star Wars played. “All you Star Wars buffs will get that,” said Kerry, alluding to Saturday’s date, May the Fourth. A baby Yoda figure, a.k.a. Grogu from the Star Wars spinoff The Mandalorian, oversaw the proceedings from the select board’s table in the bleachers.
The vote on whether it would rain was 81 yes, 188 no.
A handful of youngsters played on the field behind the seating area for voters. Three mothers watching their children said the lack of child care at town meeting often means that only one parent is able to attend and can keep parents from attending at all.
“Young families aren’t here to advocate for themselves,” said Jackie O’Rourke.
“If we only have one half of our community here,” said Kim Radke, “the other half is not recognized.”
Hiring a sitter can cost $25 an hour, they said, and was not a viable option. “It’s a huge economic burden,” said one mom.
Despite the weather, voters took their time debating the articles, with lines forming at the microphone for many of the questions. After three and a half hours, the meeting had approved all the articles by wide margins.
“This is real democracy in action,” said Nancy Benben, shifting from foot to foot to keep warm. “It gives me hope.”
While voters disagreed on several articles, the meeting’s tenor remained polite.
“It is a very civil discussion on both sides of various issues,” said David Sutherland.
A noticeable number of voters left the meeting after the passage of Article 5D, to limit to two the number of short-term rental certificates an individual property owner can obtain. As the meeting progressed through the remaining articles, the increasing number of empty chairs was evident.
Seated in the nonresident section, Kathy and Jim Daw stuck it out until the end. Asked by a reporter if they were part-time residents, Jim Daw replied, “Part-time residents and full-time taxpayers.”
Point taken.
With the final vote to adjourn, the remaining participants celebrated with cheers. Making her way to the exit, Deb Cryer exclaimed, “We stayed to the end. Woohoo!”
