Speaker 1: Welcome to the Wednesday March 26th, 2025 meeting of the Natick Select Board. I'm calling this meeting to order at 6 32 and at this time I would like to do, do you want to announce the pac? Speaker 2: Well, I'll just mention them and we do have Speaker 1: To do this. I know, but they're gonna lead us, right? Well, Speaker 3: They're gonna, oh, okay. Yeah. Would you guys like to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance? So Pac seven is here visiting us tonight, learning about some things about how we do government. So we're gonna do, we're gonna stand up and do the Pledge of Allegiance if
you guys would like to lead us. Speaker 1: So if everyone in the room could stand, and then we'll pause for a moment of silence for those who are serving our town, our state, and our country. Gentlemen, I pledge allegiance Speaker 4: Of the United States of America and to Republic for One Nation under God, indivisible. For liberty and Justice. Justice for all. Speaker 1: Thank you. At this time, we have two announcements. The first announcement, Mr. Evans. Speaker 5: Thank you Madam Chair. This is from Natick 180. They have a program on tomorrow night at seven
to eight 30 in person at the Natick Community Senior Center from seven to 8:30 PM Also on Zoom. I will put the link on the website for this meeting tonight. I just got this literally minutes ago, so I'm sort of winging it. But it's a How to get Help for Substance Use Disorder and it's put on by the Natick 180 Coalition so that it's valuable information. And I'm not sure if they're recording it, but if it's available on Zoom, I'm hoping they'll record it
so it can be played back. There is a registration code that will be in that message, so I'll put that information on now. Speaker 4: And I'd like, Speaker 1: I'd like to take the opportunity to recognize that representative David Linsky is here. Thank you for coming. Representative Linsky at this time, we will move in. Yes. Speaker 6: I'd also like to make an announcement, please. The, the very impressive Serve Natick organization that came before our board is having a, an event next week. Unfortunately, it conflicts with our select board meeting, so you won't see us there. It's April 2nd from six 30 to eight 30 at Natick High School.
Doors open at six. And this is the first ever Natick Impact Collaborative. It's an engaging event designed to spark conversation, inspire action, and foster community driven change. And these are a very impressive group of high school students. So I hope if you can, you'll attend. Speaker 1: Thank you, Ms. Wilger. At this time, we will enter into the agenda item, public speak. Any individual may raise an issue that is not included on tonight's agenda, and it will be taken under advisement by the board. There will be no opportunity for debate during this portion of the meeting. Due to the requirements of open meeting law, this section
of the agenda is limited to 10 minutes and any, any individual addressing the board during the section of the agenda shall be limited to three minutes while the select board endeavors to ensure that all interested persons have the opportunity to address the board due to time constraints that may not be possible. In cases where there's intense public interest to address the board due to time constraint, oh, I'm sorry. The board may schedule a future meeting to allow for, for future and further public input. Is there anyone tonight in the room who would like to address the board under public speak, please Show of hands.
Yes sir. Mr. Kaufman, if you could come to the microphone, just identify your, identify yourself. Speaker 7: John Kaufman, south Main Street, Mike on, Speaker 2: It's a little green light on, Speaker 7: Yeah, John Kaufman, south Main Street. I just wanted to say it was a great turnout yesterday and I appreciate everybody that voted yesterday. And I wanted to say that there were 4,500 yes votes and that was a great turnout. And there were also 3000 no votes on the override.
I hope we were heard. 'cause I couldn't imagine if I went out and bought a heck of a lot more signs and started an organization in a town of 37,000 people. I hope we take some of that money, Mr. Erickson, not singling anyone out here and buy some number two pencils and keep 'em pretty sharp because of the no votes, as negative as it sounds, are not going away. You know, we have some situations coming up with union contracts and, you know, some of these things really gonna have to take a lot of work,
you know, and I appreciate your work yesterday, Catherine. And you know, I, I just, and, and quickly, you know, there were a lot of people that came to me, private messages on the Carmen when I stood there, and they weren't all gray haired. You know, there's a lot of people with young families in my neighborhood, in the Johnson neighborhood in the Weathersfield neighborhood that really are getting priced out. But, so that's all I wanna say. And again, I thank you very much. Speaker 1: Thank you Mr. Kaufman. On the, not entering into debate debate,
but just to draw attention to the select board page of the website. There is a, a dropdown for the commitments that this board has made to ensure that we begin to embark on or, and continue our efforts to cut expenses and look for shared deficiencies. So I thank you for your comments. You definitely were heard and you are part of our community and part of one Natick, so I appreciate your comments. Is there anyone online who would like to speak? You can indicate raising your hand using the reactions at the bottom of your zoom,
whatever you call it, zoom menu. Seeing none, we'll move into the swearing in of newly elected officials. I'd like to invite our clerk, Mr. Gobrial, to please come to the podium and to all of you who are newly elected, please stand or reelected or reelected, please stand. I wonder if we should all come up here so somebody can take a picture. Why don't we all come up here and we can stand behind the select board table. Speaker 4: Ms. Dixon? Yeah, could you take Speaker 1: Pictures of us? Thank you so much. Speaker 4: Seat behind the desk. Come on. Back Speaker 1: Behind the Speaker 4: Desk. The weighty seat of power.
I'm gonna take pictures so you guys get up there. Yeah, that's what I'm trying to avoid. How to tell is this, Catherine's not gonna be on the ballot, the school committee with all the cool kids, like always We'll close it, but I can at least move it. Kristen's gonna have cinematic production outta this. It's all good. Do you want accent lighting? Can you move over a little bit? Absolutely. Sure, yes. Do I have to move to Judy or can I stay here? A side profile. Otherwise it looks like my mug shot. This is not a school play. We're ready. Alright, Speaker 8: Just raise your right hands for me. Repeat after me raising your right
Speaker 4: Hands. Here we go. I, Speaker 8: I state your full name. Speaker 9: I Jeffrey Alderon. Speaker 8: Do solemnly swear and affirm. Do Speaker 9: Solemnly swear and affirm Speaker 8: That I will faithfully, that Speaker 9: I will faithfully Speaker 8: And impartially and Speaker 9: Impartially Speaker 8: Discharge and perform, discharge Speaker 9: And perform Speaker 8: All the duties incumbent on me, all the Speaker 9: Duties incumbent on Speaker 8: Me as a member of the Speaker 4: Committee Speaker 8: According to the home rule charter, according Speaker 9: To the home rule charter, Speaker 8: The bylaws of the town of Natick, the Speaker 9: Bylaws of the town of Speaker 8: Natick, the laws
of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the Speaker 9: Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Speaker 8: And the Constitution of the United States. The Constitution Speaker 9: Of the United States. Speaker 8: So help me God. Speaker 4: Help me. God. Speaker 8: Congratulations. Thank you. Speaker 4: Thank you. We have so congratulations and I know. Congratulations. Congratulations. Speaker 8: Congratulations. Speaker 1: This is gonna be something. Speaker 4: Congratulations. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you so much. Thank Speaker 4: You. Thank you. Good to see you. Hey, this is, this has gotta be my 10th, 10th time.
Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Did I get lost? Oh, they're all over there. I thought you were so hang on. Thank you. Speaker 1: At this time, at this time, we have a special ceremony. I invite the, can you hear me, Speaker 4: Your Honor? This is on, Speaker 1: It says I'm on, so I'll speak louder. I'd like to tell everyone that we have a special event tonight that happens once every 18 years. I'd like to invite the outgoing moderator to the podium
and the incoming moderator to the podium and proceed with the transfer of the gavel. Speaker 10: Madam Chair, Frank Fo gives former town moderator. Now, I did a little research for this this night because of his special occasion. Something as, as you mentioned, only happens 1218, every 12 or 18 years. And I wanted to impart a little history, especially with Cub Scouts. I think that's cool of what happens in Natick when we do transfer on even on the
Legi legislative side of the house. And has happened as a matter of fact in the clerk's office very quietly and has not been very public. So I wanna make it public and give you a little story behind it. In 1976, moderator Rome, who was elected in the spring, presided over Springtown meeting. Unfortunately, he passed away in July of that year. And something unusual happened that the town clerk, then Edward Devereaux, which some of us may know,
presided over town meeting and was the only moderator that presided over one town meeting that I could find in the history of Natick. He then was proceeded by a fellow named Phil Troll, a very well-known attorney in South Natick, who admirably served the town for 12 years and then was then had in an election, was voted out of office by Paul Connolly. Many of us might know Mr. Connolly, who is a current town meeting member. He served for 18 years. The story gets even better. I ran against Mr.
Connolly and Mr. Connolly won the election by one vote. And then we had a recount and we tied, and your former board members had the opportunity to appoint because of a failure to elect the next moderator for one year. And I was given that appointment. We then squared away again in the election in the following year. And I prevailed in that election and I served then for 17 years after that. So you can see this doesn't happen often, but while this was all happening, the reason why I mentioned the history
is it in the background, this gavel was handed from one moderator to the next. Whether it was the elected moderator or, or interim or appointed. They took this, this gavel. And as a matter of fact, I had a heart attack in my fifth or sixth year. And our town clerk, Diane Packer, who ably ran town meeting, used this gavel also. So you can see there've been a lot of different people that used it. And this traveled from, from in the back room
or in the clerk's office, from moderator to moderator. I wanted it to be public because I wanted to make certain that we start to hear a little bit about the rights to privileges and the authorities of what this gavel really represents. And that is the rights, privileges, and, and authority of the residents, taxpayers in interested parties of the town. You might remember I started town meeting with that phrase for a very good reason. 'cause that's what our charter says. It says it very explicitly. So what I want to do is passes on to our next moderator
and kind of give him a little warning like the, the Roman chariot, the, the warrior in the back of the Roman chariot is use this wisely. Because if you don't, you're gonna know all about it. But it carries an enormous, enormous responsibility and power. And it isn't the moderator's power. It never has been. It never was. It's the people's power. Speaker 1: Good luck. Thank you, Mr. Fos. Mr. Alderson, would you like to say a few words? Speaker 11: Very few. I, I appreciate everything that Frank has done for the town, also
for me personally, for the past year, as I've ramped up to speed and learned what the job entails, they are incredibly immense shoes to fill and to hear 12 years and 18 years, I'm like, gosh, if I can make for three years, I'll be, I'll be very grateful to the town and the people that support me. And there will be challenges, there'll be mistakes along the way, but I, but I take those words to heart quite, quite seriously. And I thank the voters for their support as well. Even though it was an uncontested election. Every conversation I've had has been both the challenging ones and the supportive ones. You know, I think the town is looking forward to change
small or large in any way it comes. And I'm hoping that the town sees the right things happen in the position that I'm filling and the actions I take. But I thank, thank you for this, Frank. Thank you so much for the handoff. Appreciate it. Speaker 1: Thank you Mr. Alderson, members of the board comments. Hope Speaker 12: I wanna say congratulations to Mr. Alderson. Congratulations on your election, and thank you for stepping into this role as town moderator. And I wanna say to Mr. Frank Fos, our former town moderator,
thank you for your years of service. I was not elected when I ran a roughshod town meeting election. I didn't have the privilege of serving on town meeting. But, you know, getting to know our town government town meeting is not an easy, you know, body, not the people. But this is a, you know, it's a tough role to have to be the moderator of town meeting and, and, and govern that body, lead preside over that body as well as, you know, the other appointments that you make.
And so for the time that I have been here and, and before that, I just say thank you for your years of service and, you know, continued health and wealth on what you do as Constable and so on and so forth. So, thank you Frank. Speaker 1: Thank you, Ms. Pope. Mr. Sidney, Speaker 3: I had the pleasure of serving under Mr. Foss on the finance committee when I joined, oh, I think it must have been 20 years ago now. And we had a really, I, I, Mr. Fos has always had the, and I'm losing my words here,
but he's always had the, the town at his heart and what the town means and what the town needs. And that was true on the finance committee. It was true when he was moderator. And I have a deep respect for everything he's contributed to this town. And Mr. Foss, thank you for your service and thank you for being my friend. And Mr. Olson, I wish you the best of luck and I'm looking forward to arguing with you the same way I argued with Frank, whether it's privately or on the floor of town meeting.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Mr. Sidney. Ms. Slager, Speaker 6: Thank you madam Chair. Frank, what can I say? It's an end of an era. I'm sure that you'll miss this at times and other times you won't. It's a very tough job. There are hundreds of unruly people in the audience that you have to try to keep in line and you would do so firmly, but with authority and with expertise. And, and I know it's gonna be a step up for Mr. Alderson to understand all of the things that you knew instinctively.
You've just contributed so much to the town. And I'm gratified that you are still staying involved. We have a new constable and potentially we'll see a, a town new town meeting member too. It's been invaluable and I've appreciated all of the help that you have given me when I was on the finance committee and all that. You have helped this town. It would be a different place if you had not been here. And Mr. Alderson, I look forward to the innovation and changes that you're going to bring, potentially hybrid town meeting and things that will move this, this town forward in terms
of maybe increasing participation, which I will hope would happen. And it's, you know, always exciting having someone with new ideas. And I, I hope you will enjoy the job and have much success. Thank you Speaker 1: Mr. Evans. Speaker 5: Thank you Madam Chair. Thank you Frank, for all your years of service. It, it is a, a challenging job and it's a herding cat job. It's, it's impossible to be, to keep everyone on track, but you manage to do that and,
and get us through town meetings. You've been fair to all speakers regardless of what they have to say. You let everyone express their opinions and that I think leads to better solutions for the town. So I think I thank you for that. When I was on stage as the finance committee clerk, he would often very, what's the right word, tactfully correct me in front of hundreds of people saying, I think what you meant to say Mr. Evans was, which was very helpful. So thank you for that. The other thing is to Mr.
Alderson, my o only advice is don't try to do too much and be yourself. Don't try to be anyone else other than you. And you'll just do, you'll do just fine. Rely on people who've been through it. Frank will be a phone call away. Any, any of us will be a phone call away. But you may, may not want to answer our calls right away, but just be yourself and have fun doing it. So thank you. Speaker 1: And I would just like to add to my colleagues' comments. I could expound on all of them. Mr. Fos, I remember the first day that I was sworn in in town meeting many years ago
and you gave me a copy of town meeting time. And as, as a person who is always interested in history and parliamentary procedure, I loved reading it and then promptly forgot it for every single town meeting. But you are always gracious and kind and, and pointing out process and you've always been available to me when I've had questions about governance and I appreciate that deeply and I respect that. So thank you and Mr. Alderson welcome. It'll be a different place with you here, but I'm sure it'll be a good place. And I look forward to the increased participation
and in the interest of keeping our Boy Scouts alert. I'm gonna cut this really short, but thank you so much to both of you for, for service and for stepping up steeply appreciated. If there are no more comments or questions or by the board, I would like to move to the select board reorganization. Are there any motions Speaker 12: I move to nominate Catherine Coughlin as the chair of our board. Speaker 5: I'll second Speaker 1: Nomination by Ms. Pope. Second by Mr. Evans. Are there any other motions? All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed?
Any abstention? That's 5 0 0. I would like to nominate Ms. Slager as vice chair, she'd be willing to serve in that capacity. Second motion by Catherine Kauflin. Second by Ms. Pope. Is there a a second motion? Any discussion? All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? It's 5 0 0 and I'm looking for a no, a nomination for clerk. Mr. Evans. Speaker 5: I'd like to nominate Ms. Pope Speaker 1: Nominated by Mr. Evans.
Second. She's willing to, she's willing to do it. Nominated by Mr. Evans. Seconded by Ms. Wolfs logger. All in favor, please say aye. Or are there any other motions? Any discussion? All in favor, please say aye. A. Aye. Any opposed? Any abstention? 5 0 0. At this time I'll entertain a motion for adjournment. So moved. Move, move. Mr. Sidney seconded by Ms. Slager. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? We are adjourned.