IPSWICH — The typical annual Town Meeting starts like this: At 7:45 p.m., Moderator Jim Grimes calls for a recess to allow stragglers to take their seats and, more importantly, to buy time until a quorum is in attendance.
Grimes was true to form Tuesday night, but not for lack of warm bodies.
"Tonight, people are still filing in," Grimes said.
Following the Pledge of Allegiance, Grimes said he thought it best to go over the rules of the road for the meeting.
"I believe I see some new faces tonight," he said wryly, alluding to the school supporters who had clearly gotten out the vote.
Come together
This Town Meeting will be remembered for its equanimity, if nothing else.
All matters were concluded in one sitting, though voters had to stick around until the wee hours Wednesday to accomplish that feat. Remarkably, every article on the ballot passed on a voice vote, many of them unanimous.
Requesting a show of hands is solely Grimes' call, but a noise meter was all that was needed Tuesday.
The approximately 625 people who turned out may have been the largest crowd at Town Meeting since the town voted on mosquito spraying many years ago. In any event, it was the first time in recent memory a second room was required, and the middle/high school cafeteria was prepared for the eventuality.
It didn't need to come to that. No more than a handful of people were seated outside the Performing Arts Center, where there were easily enough empty seats to accommodate them.
Help!
The additional meeting space necessitated naming an assistant moderator, and Grimes chose Turkey Shore Road resident Ed Dick.
After each vote was taken, Grimes announced the verdict in the auditorium, then called on Dick to report the results from across the way. The process was cause for some lighthearted laughter that Dick amped up for Article 4.
"You're good to go, Jimmy," Dick said, giving a thumbs-up that brought down the house.
Carry that weight
There were a few voices raised against the only contentious article on the warrant, the $1.5 million school budget override, and you sensed even they were resigned to defeat.
Town Meeting regulars weren't surprised to see Allen Lane resident John Meers come to the microphone to protest the override. Meers usually does, and he was joined by a couple of other people who, a bit mildly, complained.
They were pretty handily outweighed by school supporters such as Labor In Vain Road resident Michael Goldstein, who moved to Ipswich three years ago when he was named CEO of a high-tech, 3-D imaging company.
Goldstein said one of the few ways to relieve the increasing tax burden being shouldered by property owners is to attract high-end businesses, such as EBSCO Publishing and New England Biolabs. But he offered one caveat.
"When businesses like mine move, the first thing they look at is the education system," Goldstein said. "The idea that costs shouldn't go up is nuts. Costs are going up, and you'd better get used to it. We're not going to cut our way to an excellent school system."
Get back
It's become a de rigeur, if disheartening, staple of town meetings everywhere that have a single controversial question: The vote is taken, and supporters and/or opponents file out of the hall en masse, sometimes threatening to end the evening early due to a quorum shortage.
It looked like that was happening after the school override passed, but interestingly enough, School Committee member Jeff Loeb used not shame but enlightened self-interest to head off the stampede.
Loeb was at the podium to introduce Article 8.
"Before I begin, turn around and sit down," Loeb said in a stern, commanding voice as hordes of voters headed for the exits. Loeb even repeated the order.
To say the folks who did turn around appeared stunned wouldn't be hyperbole. They looked as though they anticipated a civics lesson or a scolding. Right on the first count, wrong on the second.
"This vote (the override) doesn't count until the meeting is over," Loeb said.
Most of the chagrined departers dutifully shuffled back to their seats, and stayed there the rest of the evening.
Fixing a hole
Mill Road resident Dan Clasby's decision not to run for re-election left an empty seat on the Finance Committee. Voters followed the committee's recommendation and unanimously elected Redwood Drive resident Larry Seidler to the post.
Seidler previously served 15 years on the School Committee, three as chairman, and also headed up the School Building Committee that was formed to shepherd the new middle and high school projects to completion.
Hello, goodbye
We'd be remiss to report on the meeting without mentioning it was Selectman Ed Rauscher's final act, after 15 years on the board.
He had the unpleasant duty of reading Article 3, a copious listing of every year-end budget transfer. It's a mind-numbing but necessary process, and Rauscher managed to make light of it when he was done.
"Any questions? Yes, you in back," he said, pointing.
"Just kidding."
