Town
Meeting vs. School Graduation Simultaneous scheduling gaffe
By Elizabeth Prata
Gray--At the last Council meeting, citizen Jean Bibber
alerted the Council to a scheduling conflict that
had been overlooked by the local officials; the Annual
Gray Town Meeting and the SAD 15 High School graduation
had been scheduled for the same morning, Saturday,
June 11.
The Gray Town Charter states that the annual Town
Meeting must be held on the Saturday immediately preceding
the municipal elections in June. The charter also
states that the regular elections for the choice of
members of the Council and representatives to the
Board of School Directors shall be held on the second
(2nd) Tuesday in June. Those limits are hard and fast,
the Charter being the effective constitution for town
government.
The graduation, while having looser guidelines, is
still limited to when the event can take place. The
High School seniors must complete a certain number
of days in school, which are the same for seniors
statewide. That means that after attendance requirements
are met, every high school in the area is looking
to secure a venue to hold their graduation ceremony.
There are not many suitable venues in the local area
and competition to rent a nice space is high.
Graduation is usually held in Merrill Auditorium in
Portland, but it was not available this year, prompting
the High School Administrators to scramble to find
another location within the time frame. They did,
but the only venue available by that time was the
Civic Center on June 11, the same day as Town meeting.
Ms. Bibber said that there are many parents, relatives
and friends who would want to attend a graduation
but that there are also many of those same people
who wish to participate in the once per year Town
Meeting. In Gray, the municipal budget is discussed
and passed at town meeting.
At Tuesday's Council meeting, the Council decided
to hold the Town meeting beginning at 8 a.m. instead
of the usual 10 a.m. Vice-Chair Lynn Olson said that
the two hours would hopefully give citizens enough
time to complete the Town Meeting business and enough
driving time to get to the graduation location. Graduation
is scheduled for 11 a.m.
Councilor Gary Foster said that a mechanism available
to the citizens at any time during Town Meeting and
that is that they may vote to recess and reconvene
at another time. He said that if business is not concluded,
that people at Town meeting may opt to recess rather
than rush.
The Council also said that they may produce a Charter
amendment for citizen consideration to move Town Meeting
from June to May or March, when weather is less conducive
to wanting to be outside instead of inside at a meeting.
This was suggested by Gray resident Ralph Wink at
the last council meeting, and the Council indicated
Tuesday night that they may move forward with that
idea. Moving the date may generate higher participation,
they said. Attendance at Town Meeting over the last
five years has ranged from less than thirty in 1999
to about one hundred, in 2004.
