Hello, My name is Scott and this is my town.

1
Hello, My name is Scott and this is my town.

• Im from Swampscott - a coastal suburb north of
  Boston!

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Wont you be my neighbor?

• Population 14,412
• White - 97.5
• Black - .7
• Asian - .7

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The Cribs

• Median household Income(as of 1999)
• -Swampscott 71,000
• -National Ave 42,000
• Household Demographics
• -Swampscott 2.48
• -National 2.59

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Thesis

• Swampscott governments role in the building of
  the new high school was efficient, though the
  process was not as wholly democratic as many
  citizens had hoped it would be.

5
Leading Or Impeding?

• 5 person Board of Selectmen Marc Paster
  (chairman), Charles Baker (vice-chair), Reid
  Cassidy, Adam Foreman, and Daniel Santanello
• 1 town administrator Andrew Maylor
• 1 town moderator Boze Goldman

http//www.town.swampscott.ma.us/
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Like Athens?

• Athens had an Archon that was selected by lot -
  Swampscott chooses their Town Admin. by selecting
  the qualified candidate that is available
• Athens had a representative Boule of 500 after
  Kleisthenes - Swampscott has a representative
  town meeting of over 300
• Athens Boule meetings were held under an open
  roof for all to hear outside - Swampscott allows
  for open Council meetings and town meetings
• HOWEVER
• Athens limited citizenship to men while
  Swampscotts is limited solely by age.

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Big Brother

• Representative Town Meeting
• -6 precincts
• -324 Town Meeting Members
• -1 moderator (Boze Goldman)
• Meeting is open to public and all can speak --
  only members can vote

http//www.town.swampscott.ma.us/public_documents/
SwampscottMA_TownMeeting/S0012F54C
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Saratoga vs. Swampscott

• Mayor, 5 Council Members, 2 Supervisors
• Council meetings are open - every 2 weeks
• Council has the authority to enact, amend, or
  repeal local law. - Mayors approval required
  (City Charter 3.1 Powers of the City Council
  and 9.1 Enactment of ordinances)
• Mayor has authority to appoint some
  administrative positions in citizen commissions -
  appts. must be in accordance with Civil Service
  Law
• Elections for City Officers are held every two
  years - top 5 vote getters are make the City
  Council

• 5 Selectmen, Town Administrator, Rep. Town
  Meeting
• Council Meetings are open - every 2 weeks
• Selectmen bring forth ideas of amendments which
  are vote through by a simple majority of town
  meeting (Town Charter 7.1 Duties of Selectmen
  and 8.2 Powers and Duties of Admin.)
• Selectmen appoint some citizen commissions while
  the Moderator appoints others - Selectmen
  approval needed
• Selectmen elections are every three years, Town
  Meeting Member elections are annually with
  staggered term lengths

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School of the hard knocks

• Since 1978 there had been plans to rebuild the
  schools
• Main Issues
• Where would a new HS go?
• How would it affect taxes?
• Would there be government subsidizing?

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Years later

• For years these issues held the town back - every
  few years there was a failing vote to build a new
  school
• 1998 - school board has a master plan where all
  schools are inspected and architecturally
  re-evaluated -- cost 200,000 (Interview with
  Arthur Goldberg)
• Plan brought before town meeting - A new HS at
  Phillips Park, moving the Jr. High to the current
  HS, and refurbishing elementary schools over the
  next 10 yrs. (Swampscott at odds over school
  plan. Nov. 29, 1998)
• Town Meeting passes the idea - special vote
  called for 2.5 tax override in 2001 - this fails
  due to location.
• 2002 - Different location (Jackson Park) - 2.5
  override passes in town vote. (Ten years later
  will the school plan pass?. Aug. 1, 2002)

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And it gets interesting

• After the vote passed narrowly passed (by just
  224 votes), neighbors of Jackson Park brought a
  lawsuit against the town.
• The state govt. then investigated the
  environmental hazards of the area.
• In all, a year was lost to these ordeals - by
  contractor decisions in early 2005, material and
  man-power drives up price 8M
• In total, 47M HS plan went to 56.5M - 20 over
  budget. (A costly lesson on schools. Nov. 19,
  2006)

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Opponents

• Marianne McGrath - Accused town govt. of turning
  its back on the neighbors.
• Smilia Marvosh - Claimed the placement of the new
  school was too close to Aggregate Industries
• Harvey Greenberg - criticized govt. action as
  forcing the new school on the residents -- felt
  that many decision makers forgot how much a 2.5
  tax increase really is (13 per thousand or
  500/yr. on just school taxes)

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Proponents

• Arthur Goldberg - School Committee member wants
  to keep property values of town high, thus need
  new school
• Paul Levenson - Selectman that felt new schools
  would improve the quality of education
• Mark Schwartz - HS history teacher that cant
  understand how the schools through the town have
  gone over three decades with no new
  advances/major repairs.

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Conclusion

• Yes the school is built
• -However, it is over budget, over a year late,
  and has completely divided the town
• -Had the process been more democratic - more
  town wide votes throughout the process then the
  year delays could have been avoided.
• -It is important to remember that of the 6
  precincts, 3 voted against the plan while three
  were in favor - of 55 voter turnout of the
  nearly 10,000 registered voters, 224 votes is not
  a large majority at all.

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Bibliography

• Derringer, George. More money for new high
  school approved. Swampscott Reporter. Nov. 16,
  2006.
• Laidler, John. Swampscott at odds over school
  plan. Boston Globe North Weekly. Nov. 29,
  1998 pg. 3.
• Rosenberg, Steven. Ten years later, will this
  school plan pass?. Boston Globe Globe North.
  Aug. 1, 2002 pg. 1.
• Rosenberg, Steven. Swampscott school override
  vote set. Boston Globe Globe North. Dec. 8,
  2002 pg. 10.
• Rosenberg, Steven. A costly lesson on schools.
  Boston Globe City and Region. Nov. 19, 2006.
• Rosenberg, Steven. Swampscott approves new high
  school. Boston Globe Globe North. Dec. 19,
  2002 pg. 9.
• Rosenberg, Steven. Swampscott project in
  jeopardy. Boston Globe Globe North. Feb. 27,
  2003 pg. 6.
• Personal Interview with Marc Pastor, Chairman of
  the Selectmen. Nov. 24, 2006.
• Personal Interview with Boze Goldman, current
  Town Moderator. Nov. 24, 2006.
• Personal interview with Arthur Goldberg, former
  School Committee member. Nov. 24, 2006.
• Charter of the city of Saratoga Springs, NY
• Charter of the town of Swampscott, MA
• General Bylaws of the town of Swampscott, MA
• www.factfinder.census.gov/
• www.town.swampscott.ma.us