Covid / town meeting

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Christine Southworth

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Mar 8, 2020, 7:13:28 PM3/8/20
to LexTMMA
Hi, just saw that there is a parent in Lexington who tested positive… given that Town Meeting is coming up, and this thing is clearly going to keep escalating for a while, is there a way to do TM voting online rather than congregating at Cary Hall? Not sure if this has been discussed yet but we have a lot of town meeting members who are older, it seems like a bad idea. (I just flew back from Paris so I’m staying clear of people for a while just to be careful…)

Christine Southworth
Precinct 7

Hongbin Luo

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Mar 8, 2020, 10:53:40 PM3/8/20
to Christine Southworth, LexTMMA
I think we should seriously consider alternatives.

Hongbin Luo
Pct 1. TMM

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Mary Hamilton

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Mar 9, 2020, 10:06:47 AM3/9/20
to Hongbin Luo, Christine Southworth, LexTMMA
It seems like we could utilize much more of the space in Battin Hall— for instance, set one part of the balcony aside for citizens and then put 2 precincts up there and then spread everyone else out all over the downstairs seating so people could keep some distance from each other. 
Mary Hamilton 
Pct 7

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David L. Kaufman

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Mar 9, 2020, 10:42:20 AM3/9/20
to Town Meeting Members, Hongbin Luo, Christine Southworth, Mary Hamilton
The best solution is for any Town Meeting Members who have any flu like symptoms, like cough, fever, etc., or who know that they have been exposed to a person that was at the Biogen meeting, which has been the source of almost every Massachusetts case, or anyone who has travelled to any location that is having an uncontrolled outbreak like China, Korea or Italy to stay home and just watch the meeting on LexMedia. 

Perhaps they could contact the Town Clerk to indicate that in advance, and if they wanted to vote they could do so by calling the Town Clerk via a conference call mechanism at the time of the vote, which could be extended to accommodate them participating remotely rather than by pushing the button on their device in Battin Hall.

David L. Kaufman, Precinct 3

For every one doctor in the United States there are now 6 clinical care workers
and 10 health care administrators.
 -MGH Proto Fall15 issue - Infographic

Henry Lau

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Mar 9, 2020, 11:03:58 AM3/9/20
to David L. Kaufman, Town Meeting Members, Hongbin Luo, Christine Southworth, Mary Hamilton
A very good suggestion. For remote voting, I think 'Webinar' may be able to help.

Henry Lau
Precinct 3

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Lin Jensen

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Mar 9, 2020, 11:16:20 AM3/9/20
to Henry Lau, David L. Kaufman, Town Meeting Members, Hongbin Luo, Christine Southworth, Mary Hamilton
I support this idea too. I'd also add that people who have underlying conditions or simply prefer not take risks for any reason should be allowed to participate remotely via Webinar or similar technologies. 
Lin Jensen P8

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Gang Chen

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Mar 9, 2020, 11:29:54 AM3/9/20
to Town Meeting Members
I would support the of advance voting or remote voting for this town meeting. I also want to know who will make such decisions, is it the TMMA executive committee? or select board?

Thanks

Gang Chen
Pct8

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John Rossi

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Mar 9, 2020, 11:30:20 AM3/9/20
to Lin Jensen, Henry Lau, David L. Kaufman, Town Meeting Members, Hongbin Luo, Christine Southworth, Mary Hamilton
I agree that the webinar alternative is worth exploring. I attend several a month, many national in scope, which allow for various forms of two way communication.



Regards,
John
John F. Rossi
101 Federal Street
Suite 1900
Boston, MA 02110
From: lex...@googlegroups.com <lex...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Lin Jensen <linsb...@gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, March 9, 2020 11:16:06 AM
To: Henry Lau <henryl...@gmail.com>
Cc: David L. Kaufman <davidl...@rcn.com>; Town Meeting Members <lex...@googlegroups.com>; Hongbin Luo <hongb...@gmail.com>; Christine Southworth <sout...@www.kotekan.com>; Mary Hamilton <marych...@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [LexTMMA] Covid / town meeting
 

John Rossi

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Mar 9, 2020, 11:33:00 AM3/9/20
to Lin Jensen, Henry Lau, David L. Kaufman, Town Meeting Members, Hongbin Luo, Christine Southworth, Mary Hamilton
And these are real time events which would seem to support our need for presentations, questions and comments plus voting via a pre- registration and/or code call in or virtual connection process via internet or in conjunction with a simulcast by Lexmedia.



Regards,
John
John F. Rossi
101 Federal Street
Suite 1900
Boston, MA 02110
From: lex...@googlegroups.com <lex...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of John Rossi <john...@johnrossi.com>
Sent: Monday, March 9, 2020 11:30:16 AM
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RODNEY COLE

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Mar 9, 2020, 11:34:50 AM3/9/20
to Lin Jensen, Henry Lau, David L. Kaufman, Town Meeting Members, Hongbin Luo, Christine Southworth, Mary Hamilton
Unfortunately, there are State laws regarding how official town meetings can and cannot be run. At least for committees. I would imagine the same is true for Town Meeting. For example, to have a vote with a member on the phone, the CEC must take a voice role call vote. You also need a quorum actually present. 

I would bet a nice dinner (but not my house) that there is no way to get the legalities taken care of, the technology set up, and widely tested, for a remote access Town Meeting in time.

Rod Cole
Precinct 9

andrei radulescu-banu

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Mar 9, 2020, 11:35:25 AM3/9/20
to Lin Jensen, Henry Lau, David L. Kaufman, Town Meeting Members, Hongbin Luo, Christine Southworth, Mary Hamilton
"Under state law, attendance must be in person; no absentee voting is permitted in a Massachusetts Town Meeting.  State law also requires the Town to hold at least one Town Meeting each year in the spring."

This is a snip from the Concord Town Meeting web site - not an authoritative reference, but an indication that we function within state law parameters. I, at least, am completely unfamiliar with what state law permits in this regard.

Until we have some expert legal opinion, I would caution us to not get too wayward with remote voting proposals.

Andrei Radulescu-Banu, Pct 8



==================================
Andrei Radulescu-Banu
86 Cedar St, Lexington MA
617.216.8509 (m), 781.862.5854 (h)
==================================

John Rossi

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Mar 9, 2020, 11:37:24 AM3/9/20
to andrei radulescu-banu, Lin Jensen, Henry Lau, David L. Kaufman, Town Meeting Members, Hongbin Luo, Christine Southworth, Mary Hamilton
I would suggest asking our state rep to inquire about the possibility of an emergency proclamation through the governor’s office. We should still have plenty of time to explore that option.



Regards,
John
John F. Rossi
101 Federal Street
Suite 1900
Boston, MA 02110
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Sent: Monday, March 9, 2020 11:35:12 AM
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Subject: Re: [LexTMMA] Covid / town meeting
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John Rossi

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Mar 9, 2020, 11:41:10 AM3/9/20
to RODNEY COLE, Lin Jensen, Henry Lau, David L. Kaufman, Town Meeting Members, Hongbin Luo, Christine Southworth, Mary Hamilton
Rod, there might be sources at Microsoft or Amazon, both of which have local presences that may be able to assist us, not to mention MIT and other technology organizations.



Regards,
John
John F. Rossi
101 Federal Street
Suite 1900
Boston, MA 02110
From: lex...@googlegroups.com <lex...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of RODNEY COLE <ro...@comcast.net>
Sent: Monday, March 9, 2020 11:34:46 AM
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Subject: Re: [LexTMMA] Covid / town meeting

Dinesh Patel MD

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Mar 9, 2020, 12:04:19 PM3/9/20
to Henry Lau, David L. Kaufman, Town Meeting Members, Hongbin Luo, Christine Southworth, Mary Hamilton
My fellow citizens and town  members
I think the best thing to do is to postpone the town meeting for 14 or so days 
We need to get handle on this
The ideas of voting in high tech way would get more confusion and what about 
yes
No
Question 
Face to face 
Senior citizens 
I do not quite know but things like incident in Bowman school is opening concerns and what next
So much time and energy has gone thru about warrants articles etc so online telemedicine etc may not provide justice to all who have spent time and citizens who are concerned
I guess we can say parliamentary elections have taken place and Parliament will meet after knowing the stability and preparedness of our town state and country as Regards corona virus.
Prevention and preparedness will be easy a bit
Hopefully this virus dissemination in community is contained
Just my thoughts 
Dinesh
Precinct 6



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On Mar 9, 2020, at 11:04 AM, Henry Lau <henryl...@gmail.com> wrote:



Henry Lau

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Mar 9, 2020, 12:17:12 PM3/9/20
to Dinesh Patel MD, David L. Kaufman, Town Meeting Members, Hongbin Luo, Christine Southworth, Mary Hamilton
 Support on that as well.

Henry Lau
Precinct 3

Rod Cole

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Mar 9, 2020, 12:23:12 PM3/9/20
to John Rossi, Lin Jensen, Henry Lau, David L. Kaufman, Town Meeting Members, Hongbin Luo, Christine Southworth, Mary Hamilton
Possibly. Would likely take bold action on the part of the Select Board, starting with postponement of Town Meeting. 

I am reminded of the remarkable speed and focus the town managed when PCBs were found at old Estabrook. So who knows. 

But there are many challenges that would need to be overcome before we have remote access voting at TM. 

Rod Cole

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On Mar 9, 2020, at 11:41 AM, John Rossi <john...@johnrossi.com> wrote:



Thomas, Ruth S

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Mar 9, 2020, 1:13:04 PM3/9/20
to lex...@googlegroups.com
Is Sunday's bus tour cancelled?

Ruth Thomas, 4
From: lex...@googlegroups.com <lex...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Rod Cole <ro...@comcast.net>
Sent: Monday, March 9, 2020 12:22 PM
To: John Rossi <john...@johnrossi.com>
Cc: Lin Jensen <linsb...@gmail.com>; Henry Lau <henryl...@gmail.com>; David L. Kaufman <davidl...@rcn.com>; Town Meeting Members <Lex...@googlegroups.com>; Hongbin Luo <hongb...@gmail.com>; Christine Southworth <sout...@www.kotekan.com>; Mary Hamilton <marych...@gmail.com>

Ben Moroze

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Mar 9, 2020, 1:15:45 PM3/9/20
to Thomas, Ruth S, lex...@googlegroups.com
It is not.

Ben Moroze

On Mar 9, 2020, at 1:13 PM, Thomas, Ruth S <rth...@bu.edu> wrote:



Sunny

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Mar 9, 2020, 1:23:28 PM3/9/20
to Town Meeting Members, John Rossi, Lin Jensen, Henry Lau, David L. Kaufman, Hongbin Luo, Rod Cole, Christine Southworth, Mary Hamilton
Great points so far !

Too add my 2¢ worth :
 • I too attend multiple “remote” meetings on a daily basis without any issues - Skype, WebEx, Zoom, and Hangouts all work well
 • Regarding legalities - speaking only for the meetings I attend (including Board meetings) any of the platforms I mentioned above have recording ability and are accepted as being present
 • It should not be hard for us to be able to host Town Meeting via any meeting platform including voting - the harder part will be how we interact : comments, questions, and answers 

Regards,
Sunny Chandra 

Valerie Overton

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Mar 9, 2020, 2:16:54 PM3/9/20
to Sunny, Town Meeting Members, John Rossi, Lin Jensen, Henry Lau, David L. Kaufman, Hongbin Luo, Rod Cole, Christine Southworth, Mary Hamilton
The technology certainly exists to conduct Town Meeting remotely pretty easily:

  • Watch via LexMedia livestream
  • Connect via a web conference platform; submit Yes and No comments and Questions via web conference chat feature (which the moderator or designee can read aloud)
  • Offer web conferencing or phone number to the public for public comment
  • Vote via web conference poll or google form or similar so that our names and votes are captured

We would need to prepare:

  • Obtain permission from state
  • Decide on technology platform
  • Help TMM set up and learn how to use the technology

If we haven't recently, the TMMA Executive Committee should talk with our public health department to determine whether we should shift to a remote format and/or postpone Town Meeting. This affects the Town Manager and staff, Select Board, and major committees as well, so we would certainly want to be organized and sensitive about making any changes IF we feel like changes are warranted.

Thanks,
Valerie Overton (she/her)
Precinct 1

From: lex...@googlegroups.com <lex...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Sunny <su...@chandralink.com>
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Mark Andersen

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Mar 9, 2020, 2:24:38 PM3/9/20
to Sunny, Town Meeting Members, John Rossi, Lin Jensen, Henry Lau, David L. Kaufman, Hongbin Luo, Rod Cole, Christine Southworth, Mary Hamilton
Some opinions I have about Coronavirus and town meeting:
* I favor partial postponement to protect the health of the town meeting population.
* Given the fact that numerous town meeting members are "high risk" I expect that town meeting may have lower attendance if done in person and a number of people have good reason not to show up.
* I imagine we cannot do a fully "remote" town meeting for legal reasons.
* I expect some items need to be passed before start of fiscal year for planning purposes.  Other items can wait.  (i.e. passing the budget v. an article to change future policy)
* The virus will get worse in Lexington before it gets better.  Almost common sense.

Given that, I suggest:
* The Select Board (incl. town manager/counsel/volunteer) sort out in the warrant what is necessary business in a timely fashion v. items that could be held over until June or later (indefinite hold).
* We prioritize the items which are important to get through esp for fiscal year planning and do those in the first week in two sessions, if possible starting them earlier and running them longer.
* Then we take a break for items which are not time critical until such time as it seems safe to return.  (Informed by medical professionals guess of how long the spring flu typically runs and other virus experience).

During the more "urgent" first week meetings I suggest:
* Use the space a bit differently.  Strict rules of empty chair between each person.  
* Dispense with all informal congratulatory events and ceremonies until after the break.
* Speakers should avoid licking the microphone.  (Seriously I do not know what risks sharing a microphone entail.)  A small stand should be setup next to each one with hand sanitizer.
* Avoid physical contact during greetings.

It will be sad and hard to come to town meeting and not greet in the usual fashion, but these are the times we find ourselves in.  For those of us who are vulnerable, taking these precautions is extremely important.

I hope these comments are constructive and useful.

-Mark


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Valerie Overton

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Mar 9, 2020, 2:29:48 PM3/9/20
to Town Meeting Members
To me it goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway: we should make sure any remote TM plan incorporates good practices for inclusion of people with disabilities. This includes using a 508-compliant platform, sending 508-compliant PDFs and other materials in advance, etc.

Valerie Overton (she/her)
Precinct 1
From: lex...@googlegroups.com <lex...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Valerie Overton <Valerie...@erg.com>
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Dinesh Patel MD

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Mar 9, 2020, 2:49:40 PM3/9/20
to Ben Moroze, Thomas, Ruth S, lex...@googlegroups.com
Ben
I am sorry to inform you that I would not be able to attend the meetings
Risks for senior like me is higher
The information coming in from all over 
does suggest one advisement that seniors are more prone and with preexidting conditions it is not good idea to expose oneself in crowd or gatherings .
Each individual can decide their course of action.
My thoughts are that we are continuing to learn and prevention preparedness is not upto the par so the risks to elders and community at large is higher

The board of health and school Superitendant are doing well for the childrens and parents - we need to commend them
Thursday they have open forum meeting about what next and info 
Bowman school incident is also trouble some — may be more who knows?
My thoughts are that despite all the available technology as I read and gone thru in medical field ( MD) it takes time to adapt for all
Regulatory, legality and learning 
curve  ?
Either way I think for all practical reasons my suggestion is to postpone the activity for next 14 days
This will provide some more preparedness for prevention and if online etc needs to be adapted the technologist can help us prepare specially senior citizen like me and get all the permits squared away as well.
Just my thoughts and ofcourse we will get more handle about life history of corona virus from CDC DPH WHo and many academic and scientific organizations.
I just cancelled my teaching at MGH even though less number but better safe than sorry 
Lexington is blessed with super professional people and vibrant leadership and community - we will break thru this but needs a pause to prepare ?
Thank you for all the wonderful thing you and your team doing
We are very proud of all of you so we will overcome as our minuteman suggests —-
Sincerely

Dinesh 

Dr. Dinesh Patel, M.D. 

Massachusetts General Hospital 

Dgp...@mgh.harvard.edu


Precinct 6 town member 

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Raul Marques

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Mar 9, 2020, 3:36:59 PM3/9/20
to Dinesh Patel MD, Ben Moroze, Thomas, Ruth S, lex...@googlegroups.com
I’m wondering who should lead here? Is the TMMA, the Moderator, Town Manager, or the Select Board?  Or who? 

Raul marques 7 

On Mar 9, 2020, at 2:49 PM, 'Dinesh Patel MD' via LexTMMA <lex...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Ben

Jessie Steigerwald

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Mar 9, 2020, 3:46:46 PM3/9/20
to Dinesh Patel MD, Ben Moroze, Thomas, Ruth S, lex...@googlegroups.com
It would be important to also consider the public aspect of our meetings. 

Members of the public have always had the right to be present in the balcony, to speak and share their views.

We need to do the work required for the town to operate, but also keep up the public participatory nature of this work. 

I expect our Moderator May be in discussion with others across the state to consider best options.

Jessie

Jessie Steigerwald

On Mar 9, 2020, at 2:49 PM, 'Dinesh Patel MD' via LexTMMA <lex...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Ben
Precinct 6 town member 
<image0.jpeg>

Dinesh Patel MD

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Mar 9, 2020, 4:33:37 PM3/9/20
to Raul Marques, Ben Moroze, Thomas, Ruth S, lex...@googlegroups.com, Lexington Group
Thanks
Leadership comes from bottom up and al citizens and governance 
I consider the thoughts put forth by me as a concerned citizen first and ofcourse as one of the town member
This is complex issue so good to brainstorm and let the leadership decide what is best 
Raul
I do not know who decides but we have wonderful dedicated select board ,TMMA , moderator, town manager and the team who will figure out the best course of action
I just posted my thoughts - Hopefully it will stimulate all.I am sure that more than likely the leaders are going thru same thoughts - it is difficult but they will make the right decision
I am certainly very proud of what they do 
Thank you
Dinesh 

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On Mar 9, 2020, at 3:37 PM, 'Raul Marques' via LexTMMA <lex...@googlegroups.com> wrote:


Precinct 6 town member 
<image0.jpeg>

Raul Marques

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Mar 9, 2020, 5:03:27 PM3/9/20
to Dinesh Patel MD, b...@moroze.com, rth...@bu.edu, TMMA List, Lexington Group
Dinesh,

I appreciate your leadership and diplomacy; I believe that keeping communication open is paramount in a crisis situation.  Silence is not becoming.

Raul

  

Wendy R.

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Mar 9, 2020, 7:21:41 PM3/9/20
to John Rossi, Lin Jensen, Henry Lau, David L. Kaufman, Town Meeting Members, Hongbin Luo, Christine Southworth, Mary Hamilton
This is a rapidly changing landscape. For openers, I suggest we cancel the “in person” town meeting information sessions. Instead, the presenters could present in the Select Board Meeting room so we could see and listen in real time on LexMedia.  We might be able to set up call in questions by phone.

That buys us a little time to give those in authority the time to figure out an alternative.


Wendy Reasenberg
TMM Precinct 8

Albert Zabin

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Mar 10, 2020, 10:07:38 PM3/10/20
to Hongbin Luo, Christine Southworth, TMMA List
One way of reducing the risk of infection  would be to use the balcony as well as the orchestra floor so members would not sit so close to each other.  This tactic is being used by others including the Legal organization Access To Justice
 Albert P. Zabin, Pct. 1
1Page Road
Lexington,MA 022420
ajz...@gmail.com





Tony

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Mar 11, 2020, 2:10:36 AM3/11/20
to Town Meeting Members, Tony Galaitsis
Given the elevated state of emergency, I am sure the Town and State leaders are busy thinking about ways to minimize the spread of the virus by relaxing the requirements for large gatherings (Harvard took a significant step in that direction).

The earlier suggestions to delay the 2020 TM deserve closer attention. I would go even further and suggest that the governor "require" our State's communities to shift the "Spring" Town Meetings to a date as late as the "Summer".

I hope our Town and state representatives will bring such a suggestion to the Governor's attention, if it has not happened already.

Tony Galaitsis,
TMM,Precinct 5

===========

David L. Kaufman

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Mar 11, 2020, 5:08:20 PM3/11/20
to Town Meeting Members
One possibility is to call the ATM to order at the pre-established time and then postpone to a date certain. If there is a requirement for a quorum to do that is a question I can not answer, but if a quorum is not present, but nobody present doubts the quorum, it would only take a few people in the hall.

By March 23 whether we will need to postpone will probably be much clearer.

In the interim, the important question that needs to be answered is which specific articles, if any, need to be passed before the end of the fiscal year so the Town Government can continue to operate. Unlike the US Federal Government, the Town can not operate on a continuing resolution.

.
David L. Kaufman, Precinct 3

"Progress is man’s ability to complicate simplicity” -Thor Heyerdahl




Ricki

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Mar 11, 2020, 5:21:19 PM3/11/20
to David L. Kaufman, Town Meeting Members
I wonder if the State of Emergency in MA allows for a way to keep funding the town’s services and regular business until which time town meeting can convene. Sometimes these things come with funding mechanisms. I’m sure our town Moderator and officials will be letting us know how we can proceed without harming the functionality of Lexington.
Ricki Pappo
Pct 2


> On Mar 11, 2020, at 5:08 PM, David L. Kaufman <DavidL...@rcn.com> wrote:
>
> One possibility is to call the ATM to order at the pre-established time and then postpone to a date certain. If there is a requirement for a quorum to do that is a question I can not answer, but if a quorum is not present, but nobody present doubts the quorum, it would only take a few people in the hall.
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andrei radulescu-banu

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Mar 11, 2020, 5:39:25 PM3/11/20
to Ricki, David L. Kaufman, Town Meeting Members
> I wonder if the State of Emergency in MA allows for a way to keep funding the town’s services and regular business until which time town meeting can convene.

The State of Emergency allows Gov Baker to issue executive orders that can override existing state laws over the course of the emergency. The Governor has not issued any executive orders yet, but that could be a venue to lift some of the state law requirements for Town Meeting, while still conferring much needed citizen oversight over the coming weeks. His style, so far, seems to be not to force X or Y to happen, but to give instead options to the community - e.g,, schools have the option to close, and the state law requirement for schools to be open a certain number of days has been suspended.

Andrei Radulescu-Banu, Pct 8

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Narain Bhatia

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Mar 11, 2020, 11:11:03 PM3/11/20
to Christine Southworth, LexTMMA
Large meetings are banned every where. MIT now has limit of 25. They are using Zoom.com for virtual meetings.

Narain Bhatia

On Sun, Mar 8, 2020, 7:13 PM Christine Southworth <sout...@www.kotekan.com> wrote:
Hi, just saw that there is a parent in Lexington who tested positive… given that Town Meeting is coming up, and this thing is clearly going to keep escalating for a while, is there a way to do TM voting online rather than congregating at Cary Hall? Not sure if this has been discussed yet but we have a lot of town meeting members who are older, it seems like a bad idea. (I just flew back from Paris so I’m staying clear of people for a while just to be careful…)

Christine Southworth
Precinct 7

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