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The League of Women Voters of Sudbury opposes Warrant Articles 3 and 4 at the May 20 Special Town Meeting. Article 3 calls for a change to Sudbury’s charter to create a recall election process. Article 4 asks for a non-binding vote of no confidence in the Sudbury School Committee.
The Sudbury LWV opposes the Article 3 recall election proposal. This proposal would change Sudbury’s charter without first creating a charter review committee, taking public comment and publicly considering the options for a recall election process in Sudbury. The League feels this is unwise. We also feel the proposed threshold for a recall election is too low, the simultaneous successor election provision is unnecessary because Sudbury has an established process for filling vacancies, and the proposal does not establish the specific grounds required to initiate a recall.
The Sudbury LWV opposes the Article 4 call for a vote of no confidence in the Sudbury School Committee. This non-binding resolution criticizes a volunteer elected committee but fails to offer any evidence to support a no-confidence vote. Given that this article was filed in April and new school committee members were sworn in in early May, it is unclear which committee is the target of this resolution. A remedy already exists for those dissatisfied with the actions of a committee–run candidates in the annual town election for that committee and make the case to the voters.
We applaud the advocacy of the students who submitted Article 1, that asks the town to support an expanded Bottle Bill, which the state League has long championed. We urge those students to continue to be active in town government. The League voted not to take a stand on Article 1 because we do not feel town meeting, Sudbury’s legislative body, should comment on a bill before the state’s legislative body unless that bill applies specifically to Sudbury.
We take no stand on Article 2 because the state LWV took no stand on the audit ballot question in 2024.
The League urges Sudbury registered voters to attend the Special Town Meeting Wednesday, May 20, at 7 p.m. in the gymnasium of Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School.
Linda Smith and Bonnie Glass
Co-presidents
