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Override passing a win for School Committee

By Courtney Llewellyn

Reminder Assistant Editor



LONGMEADOW The final tally: 2,339 to 2,335. Proposition 2 1/2 passed by a mere four votes last Tuesday, prompting School Committee members Christine Swanson and Mary Vogel to scream and hug each other tightly in joy.

Moments before, they had been pacing the hallway, quiet and reserved, waiting for all the votes to be tallied.

"We're nervous but we're excited," Janine Idelson, the newest member of the School Committee, said before the numbers were announced. "We've worked very hard for this, making phone calls, passing out leaflets, walking around ringing doorbells. The problem has been misinformation. We needed to inform everyone before the vote."

School Committee chair Geoff Weigand said, "This could be a great day for Longmeadow [if the override passes]." He joined in the merriment when it was announced that it had.

Of the 11,487 registered voters in Longmeadow, 4,675 (or 40.65 percent) came out to vote on the $2.15 million override. Three of the five precincts favored the override, although it wasn't a clear majority in Precinct B, for example, 480 were for and 450 were against.

"The higher the turnout, the better," Weigand said. "That way, the will of the town is expressed." He added that he would be happiest if 100 percent of the voters had turned out.

Katherine T. Ingram, Town Clerk, said she was "really pleased with the turnout" for the vote.

"We were busy all day," she said. "With bigger issues, you draw more voters." The gubernatorial elections held in November 2006 drew out 65 percent of Longmeadow voters, but the town elections held in June only attracted 11 percent of the voting population.

With the override, $1.2 million goes toward the retroactive and current teacher contracts and the remaining $950,000 will be used to maintain the current level of town services, like Parks and Recreation, the senior center, and the fire and police departments, through fiscal year 2010.

The allocation of the funds will be discussed at the Special Town Meeting on Nov. 27.

"We're getting closer and closer to ending the teachers' contract process," Weigand said. "When the checks are in the the teachers' hands, that's when I'll be happy."

Not all the voters were as excited the override passed, however.

Because the vote was so close, several voters have already returned to Town Hall to pick up paperwork for a recount, according to Ingram.

"Even though it was so close, a recount doesn't happen automatically," she explained. "The deadline for the petitions for a recount is 10 days after the election, which will be Nov. 16 at 5 p.m."

If a recount is needed and the override is not passed, hope is not lost. "If it winds up it doesn't pass, we'll figure something out," Weigand stated.