Referendum Set For June 14

A referendum on restoring $800,000 to the Board of Education's $145.68 million budget in 2011-12 will be held on June 14, with voting hours from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. at regular polling places except for residents in District 2.

The Board of Selectmen voted unanimously Wednesday afternoon to set the date and polling hours of the referendum after learning that the Town Clerk's Office had certified at least 1,748 signatures on petitions asking that a referendum be held. The selectmen also decided to use paper ballots and ballot boxes in the referendum.

The referendum seeks to overturn the Representative Town Meeting's decision to cut $800,000 from the Board of Education's budget, which was on top of a $2 million cut that had been made by the town's Board of Selectmen, a decision that was backed by the Board of Finance.

Residents in the town's 10 voting districts will vote at the same place they vote in a regular election, except for residents in District 2.

Town Fiscal Officer Paul Hiller said St. Pius X Church on Brookside Drive was not available for voting on June 14. District 2 residents instead will vote at Burr Elementary School, 1960 Burr St.

Roger Autuori, the Republican Registrar of Voters, said District 2 residents would receive notices in the mail that Burr Elementary is their polling place for the referendum, and Selectman James Walsh asked that the Registrar of Voters' Office also post notices at St. Pius in case someone goes there by mistake.

"We'll make up signs also, but I think the more official way is to send something in the mail," Autuori said.

Walsh and First Selectman Sherri Steeneck agreed on the date and polling hours for the referendum without much discussion. Walsh wanted to hear about the costs of using paper ballots and ballot boxes vs. optical scan machines, though he and Steeneck agreed on paper ballots and ballot boxes after brief comments from Autuori and Matt Waggner, who is the town's Democratic Registrar of Voters.

The cost of the June 14 referendum was estimated at $16,880, which is higher than the $10,259 cost of last August's referendum on the RTM's decision to approve $350,000 for a girls' Little League field and infrastructure for a park on Hoyden's Lane.

Waggner said the cost was higher because Walsh and Steeneck wanted voting to take place from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., instead of from noon to 8 p.m., which were the voting hours in last August's referendum. "It's a full day. We're paying poll workers for 14 hours instead of eight," Waggner said. The cost also is higher because phone lines already were set up for the Aug. 12 referendum on the softball field due to primaries for Republicans and Democrats that were held two days earlier. Lastly, the cost for the June 14 referendum is higher because the Registrar of Voters' Office predicts more residents will vote in the upcoming referendum than voted in the Aug. 12 referendum and plan to order 20,000 ballots.