Warrant
errors exasperate voters
By Elizabeth Prata
Gray--At the Gray Town Meeting on June 11, as Gray
voters progressed through the business to be conducted,
they discovered that there were items presented incorrectly
in the Warrant. The Warrant is a legal document required
by State Statute to alert voters to the Town Meeting
place and time, and to state the exact business to
be conducted. It is to be posted in conspicuous places
7 days before the meeting. This is so that the voters
may have time to read, learn, and prepare before arriving
to vote on the business at hand- the municipal budget.
The original Warrant as posted on the Town's website
differed from the one presented at Town Meeting and
also differed from the one published in the papers,
resulting in inconsistent copies of the Warrant passed
out to the public.
That caused momentary confusion when a question arose
that could not be answered without consulting the
hard copy. When Moderator Donnie Carroll referred
to the newspaper version, he was told by Manager Mitchell
A. Berkowitz that that one was not correct, but that
he did not have a correct copy on hand.
Articles 13 to 21 referred to the item as referencing
a line in the 2006 budget - Article 3, but they should
all have said Article 4. That correction was one of
a series of amendments made by resident Janet Neal,
who discovered the inconsistencies.
Article 16 said $72,800 but the correct amount was
$72,500. Article 20 was to transfer $40,000 but the
correct amount was $20,000. Also the referenced budget
line 1200-6766 was incorrect (Wilkies Beach) and should
have been 1200-6774 (Stimson Hall).
Gray resident Andy Upham stood up toward the end of
Town Meeting and said, "I am in awe of how many
mistakes there are in this, the town's most important
document."
Chair Pam Wilkinson said after the meeting that the
Council and Manager should have been more diligent
with the numbers presentation. "Hopefully the
Manager will do more proofreading in the future and
have it sound and accurate. Not just more accurate,
but accurate, period."
