The Appeals Court, as expected, did not overturn Superior Court Judge Mary-Lou Rup's decision and they did not even bother to rule on the votes of Shoshana Holzberg-Pill and her brother Jacob Holzberg-Pill (thrown out by Judge Rup) because upholding the voting rights of Richard and Joan Paczkowski made the matter of the Pills votes moot.
The Shutesbury Board of Registrars had allowed all four contested votes (Pills and Paczkowkis) to count but threw out the vote of Christopher Buck (originally allowed by the Town Clerk) bringing the vote total to a 522-522 tie, measure fails.
A pro library contingent of ten voters appealed the decision of the Board of Registrars tying to get the "no" votes of the Paczkowskis thrown out, but instead Superior Court Judge Mary-Lou Rup upheld their votes and went even further, throwing out the Pill "yes" votes.
Thus with this Appeals Court ruling today, the new Shutesbury library $1.4 million override vote now-and-forever stands at 522-520, ballot question fails.
And because the deadline to accept a state grant of $2.1 million--requiring the $1.4 million in town matching funds--expires June 30, the issue that refused to die is now dead, buried with a big ol' building sited squarely on top (just not a new library).
4 comments:
Why has this not appeared in the regular news media?
The Gazette, finally, got to it this morning. Front page, but below the fold. The Spfld Republican is MIA however.
And, as it turned out, the Appeals Court did not have to "compromise" with anyone.
Another self-appointed expert gets it wrong.
Long live Daniel Shays of Shutesbury! "The tragedy of the [Shutesbury] liberal class and the institutions it controls [library and school] is that it succumbed to opportunisim and finally to fear. It abrogated its moral role. It did not defy corporate [state] abuse when it had the chance. It exiled those within its ranks who did." Chris Hedges, Death of the Liberal Class, 2010
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