(Glad to see the connection drawn from municipal government up through state government. As Caroline Lucas’ victory in Brighton shows, having Greens elected locally lends credibility towards national Green representation.   – promoted by eli_beckerman)

AT THE STATE HOUSE

Our Senators’ and Representatives’ voting records are public, but the web site of the Massachusetts legislature does not provide them easily and quickly (an understatement).  One source has told me that a way to obtain voting records that are not reported in the media is to travel to the State House and ask the Clerk of the respective chamber for a paper copy of the vote!

The State House web site is not very helpful.  Here is the answer to the Frequently Asked Question of how to find out how your legislature voted:

Roll Call votes are recorded in the journal … If the journal you need is not available [on the web site], then copies of the corrected proofs of the journals are available about two weeks after the day of the session and can be obtained from:

The Legislative Document Room

Room 428

State House

Boston, MA 02133

(617) 722-2860

The Document Room does not have a mail facility, so please send them a self-addressed stamped envelope with your request.

Also, the Clerks of each branch maintain a book of all the roll call votes recorded in a legislative session. That book is available for viewing within their offices. The Senate Clerk is located in Room 335 in the State House, the House Clerk in Room 145 of the State House.

When I am elected to represent the Fourth Berkshire District, I’ll make it a priority to have a voting record link on the front page of the web site that can be indexed by date, subject, bill number, and representative.  I will also publish my votes on my own site.  This information should be available within minutes of a vote being recorded.

AT TOWN MEETING IN LENOX

Last week on May 6, the town of Lenox had its annual town meeting.  Many residents of the town already know that I am a candidate for State Representative.  I deliberately sat in the front row of the auditorium so that as many voters as possible could see how I voted when the vote was cast by a show of hands.

Here is a summary of my votes on the major warrants.  A link to the specific warrants can be found on the town’s web site:  http://www.townoflenox.com

NO – on an amendment to Article 3 to reduce the Economic Development budget from $95,000 to $50,000. (The amendment failed.)

YES – on the non-amended Article 3, the budget for all town departments, except schools. (The article passed.)

YES – on Article 4, the school budget. (The article passed.)

YES – on an amendment to Article 8, to increase the library budget by $30,000, restoring most of the cuts that the Select Committee had proposed. (The amendment passed.)

YES – on the amended Article 8. (The article passed.)

YES – on Article 9, which was amended by the Select Committee to reduce capital budget of the town building and equipment expenditures by $30,000 (to compensate for the passage of the amended Article 8). (The article passed.)

YES – on Article 12, the proposals from the Community Preservation Committee for use of the Community Preservation Fund (historic preservation, open space, affordable housing). (The article passed.)

NO – on Article 14, increasing the fine for public consumption of alcohol to $300.  (I also voted against the $300 fine for marijuana last year). (The articled passed.)

YES – on Article 15, adopting the “Stretch Energy Code.” (The article passed.)

YES – on Article 16, authorizing the Select Committee to obtain rights to land parcels for a portion of a proposed bicycle path that will be linked across the county. (The article passed.)

I would be happy to discuss and provide more detail on my votes on these and other articles that were presented at the town meeting.  Please post a response on this blog or send me an e-mail.

The fiscal challenges that Lenox is facing is similar to many other towns in the Fourth District that I have visited.  The share of revenue coming from property taxes is increasing very rapidly.  Property taxes are already an overused, regressive source of public revenue.  The state legislature is not taking any steps to reverse this; it is complicit in the increasing unfairness of our tax system.  This will be discussed many times during the campaign.