Leverett residents call for Bush impeachment
By Bob Dunn
Staff Writer
Published on May 04, 2007
LEVERETT - Town Meeting voters April 28 made Leverett the second western Massachusetts town inside a week to call for the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Cheney.
Following Whately's vote April 24, residents urged their town representatives to recommend to Congress impeachment action on the grounds that Bush and Cheney are responsible for unauthorized electronic surveillance, torture of prisoners, misleading the public to justify the war in Iraq, suspending due process and access to counsel for detainees, detaining non-citizens without charges and abusing the power of the executive branch.
The article passed without discussion, and with only one voice in opposition.
In earlier action, voters also approved a $4.7 million budget, put the "Right to Farm" proposal out to pasture, silenced a noise bylaw, and said hello to some new town officials.
First up: Elections
The meeting began by soliciting nominations for positions up for election, leaving voters with three contested races - for Select Board, School Committee and library trustee - to determine.
After days of speculation as to who might run for the Select Board seat vacated by outgoing chairwoman Fenna Lee Bonsignore, two candidates were named: Peter D'errico and Steve Ball, with D'errico edging Ball out by 98 votes to 87.
For her last Town Meeting as a member of the Select Board, Bonsignore was presented with flowers and a portrait of her two terriers, and was invited to say a few words.
She thanked all those she worked with throughout her 18 years on the board and said the key to the success of Town Meeting was to respect every person's ideas and to listen to them.
"None of us are always right and none of us are always wrong," Bonsignore said.
The second contested race of the day, for School Committee, came down to three nominees vying for two spots. Incumbent chairman Steve Kavanagh was running for re-election, while the other available seat formerly belonged to Laurie Millman, who decided against seeking another term.
Running against Kavanagh were newcomers Dawn Sacks and Farsid Hajir.
Hajir and Kavanagh won the seats with 137 and 114 votes, respectively. Sacks received 89 votes.
The most crowded contest of the day was that of library trustee, which received four nominees for two available spots.
Incumbent Elaine Barker sought re-election while Lydia Peterson did not, leaving her position vacant.
Georgie Schmid, Tina Cohen and Lisa MacCoullough ran along with Barker, who retained her seat with 107 votes.
Schmid took the remaining position after receiving 119 votes.
Candidates for the remaining offices up for election all ran unopposed and were voted in with a single ballot.
Budget issues
Voters approved Leverett's annual budget at a total of $4,749,555 with little debate, save for questions from the floor about expenses for heating municipal buildings that may not need to be heated and the hiring of a second driver/laborer for the Highway Department.
Voters also approved a change to the town's code to allow a smaller quorum for special Town Meetings, under the condition that no bylaw changes or bond issues be on the warrant.
Under those conditions, special Town Meeting will need a quorum of only 21/2 percent of active voters present to conduct business.
Two bylaws that were scheduled to come up for a vote Saturday were tabled.
The first, the "Right to Farm" bylaw, was withdrawn by its sponsor, the Agricultural Commission, before reaching the floor. According to the commission, the warrant article was only finished in February and all of the affected parties have not had time to study it.
The second would have created a noise bylaw that would have set restrictions on noise from music players, televisions, musical instruments, shouting on public streets, construction noise and other noise that may disturb neighbors.
Despite the amendment, a motion was passed to table the bylaw until next year's Town Meeting to give the Select Board time to rework it.
