PROVINCETOWN — At the midway break for refreshments, longtime voters and first-time observers all seemed to agree: Provincetown’s annual town meeting was going remarkably smoothly.
Right from the beginning, town officials seated at tables with tastefully flamboyant silver skirts kept a brisk pace.
Town Manager Alex Morse started the night with an April Fool’s Day joke — “I do hope folks cleared their schedule for the entire week, as we expect this to go a few nights” — which got a good laugh from the voters. “That’s the only April Fool’s joke allowed tonight,” Morse added.
It was time for business, and Morse appeared comfortable at the podium sporting a bold green tie, ready for any inquiry.
Town Moderator Mary-Jo Avellar kept an eagle eye on matters of decorum and procedure, shutting down out-of-order comments and silencing any mention of a previous speaker’s proper name before the transgressive syllables could even be fully voiced.
The first seven articles were introduced, voted on, and approved quickly and unanimously.
When Article 8, a nearly $12-million proposal to revamp town-owned Motta Field, was introduced, the audience began to rustle and whisper in anticipation.
A pair of heartfelt speeches from Provincetown Schools Supt. Gerry Goyette and Athletic Director Chelsea Roderick softened the audience, however, and resistance from the budget hawks in the room started to melt.
Voter Dennis Minsky told the meeting that, according to his back-of-the-envelope calculations, he would pay about $3,000 in taxes as his contribution to the project over the next few years.
For that reason, “I am resolved to use the damn thing,” Minsky said, to laughs. “I just hope there are enough benches.”
Voter Laura Ludwig came to the microphone, collected her thoughts, and said everyone might be better served by spending time in Provincetown’s natural wonders rather than at an engineered park.
Artcle 8 passed, however, as did the next 10 measures, after which the moderator called for the refreshments break.
While in line downstairs — where the options included sandwiches from Far Land Provisions, homemade cookies and pastries, sodas, and the all-important coffee — voter Ron Plant told the Independent that he was happy to see the Motta Field project pass and was pleased with the “tight ship” the town moderator was running.
Voters Chris Spaulding and Chris Hartley agreed that the meeting was moving along nicely — and wondered how many people in town might have wagered on the University of Connecticut women’s basketball team, which was playing for a spot in the NCAA Final Four with a 9:20 p.m. tipoff.
After the break, it was evident that some sports betters and fair-weather voters had indeed made an exit, leaving a room of hardened veterans more willing to slow the meeting’s brisk pace.
Voter Peter Cook rose twice to denounce the “fast talking and fast voting” that had taken place earlier in the meeting. “Let’s slow this down,” he said, as the town took up two articles on the fire dept.
Sure enough, the meeting slowed down — although, confusingly, the pace of votes didn’t. Motions to amend, to call the question, and to reconsider the previous question all required votes of their own, and eventually voters near the back of the room said they no longer understood exactly what they had voted for.
An amendment to Article 20 had failed, the article itself had passed, but confusion among voters persisted. After 10 voters submitted a motion to reconsider Article 20, a loud groan reverberated through the meeting.
In the balcony where nonvoters were sitting — along with some voters who appeared not to mind that their votes weren’t being counted — eyes began to glaze over. The “yawns per minute” rate on the floor was reaching a peak. An observer in the balcony quietly declared a new contest — bald men versus hat-wearers — and tallied 25 of the former, 26 of the latter.
Around 9:30 p.m., voter Ngina Lythcott offered a motion to adjourn the meeting so that everyone could take time to properly study the remaining articles. Avellar called a vote, but only one other citizen besides Lythcott wanted to go home and start again the next evening.
The following articles went quickly, however — “open space” was popular, and only a few spoke on zoning — and finally salvation arrived in the form of the consent agenda, which bundled Articles 35 to 43 into one vote.
The vote to approve the consent agenda and the vote to adjourn were performed in rapid succession, and the meeting had suddenly ended, at just under four hours. A cheer rang out, and voters chattered their way toward the exits.
