Town Meeting, Election & Related News
Town Meeting
What is Town Meeting?
Town Meeting is both an event and an entity. As an event, it is a gathering of a town’s eligible voters, and is referred to as “the Town Meeting.” As an entity, it is the legislative body for Pembroke, and is referred to simply as “Town Meeting.”
So, you may say, “I went to the Town Meeting. Town Meeting approved the budget.”
Town Meeting is also the purest form of democratic governing. It has been in use for over 300 years to the present. In Pembroke, this means that once or twice a year residents show up and vote to approve three major things:
- It sets the salaries for the town employees and elected officials.
- It votes to appropriate money to run the town.
- It votes on the town’s local statutes, which are called by-laws.
In Pembroke we host an Open Town Meeting which means anyone registered to vote in Pembroke, is allowed to attend and vote on Warrant articles. The Meeting is run by the Town Moderator. There are numbered articles on the Warrant, published before the meeting and provided to attendees of the event. The Article numbers are put into a raffle/lottery drum and picked out at random. There are opportunities to make comments or ask questions on articles, but all comments/questions must be addressed to the Town Moderator.
Town officials as well as Town Counsel will be seated up front, often there to provide info or answer questions.
When is Town Meeting?
In Pembroke, our annual town meeting is held the second Tuesday of May and the bylaws allow for a second Special Town Meeting to be held in the Fall.
Okay, but when is the next one?
Town meeting is Tuesday, May 9th at 7PM At the Pembroke High School Auditorium.
Free Babysitting is provided so parents can attend.
What are the major articles on the Warrant of interest to the general public?
1) Town Meeting will vote on the appropriation for a new Public Safety Complex. This vote requires 2/3 approval. Additionally, on May 13th the voters will vote on a debt exclusion* for the project. This vote is a majority vote. The Projected Building costs of the safety complex will be $61,140,000. Due to requirements for Override to be added to a ballot within 90 days of Town Meeting, if this article was pushed to October Town Meeting, we would need to hold a Special Election at a cost of $20,000 to the town.
2) Vote to approve forming a Vocational Education Planning Committee. This committee would explore the option of joining South Shore Technical High School. There is no cost to this article.
*What is a Debt Exclusion?
A debt exclusion is a temporary increase in property taxes, outside the limits of Proposition 2 ½, to raise the funds necessary to pay debt service costs for a specific capital project. Debt Exclusion funds may only be used for that specific project.
What else will be voted at Town meeting?
You should look through the Warrant, so you know what is being voted on. Additionally, the first few pages have information including Municipal Finance term definitions, a guide to Town Meeting procedures and a summary of motions.
2023 Annual Town Meeting Warrant
How can I help get the word out?
You can share this poster from the Town Manager’s office. This will be on display at the Pembroke Public Library and Town Hall.
Elections
When are Town Elections?
Elections will be held on Saturday, May 13th from 9:00am to 7:00pm in your precinct:
Precinct 1: Pembroke Town Hall, 100 Center Street
Precinct 2: Pembroke Community Middle School, 559 School Street
Precinct 3: Bryantville Elementary School, 29 Gurney Drive
Precinct 4: Pembroke Community Middle School, 559 School Street
Precinct 5: North Pembroke Elementary School, 2 Pilgrim Road
If you are not sure which Precinct you are in, you can enter your address here to find it:
https://www.sec.state.ma.us/WhereDoIVoteMA/WhereDoIVote
Who will be on the Ballot?
You can see the list of who is running, and even see if the candidates have submitted a short paragraph on why they are running on:
https://www.pembrokeunited.com/election-candidates/.
We have included links to any web or social media pages as well as a brief paragraph on why they are running for those that have submitted one.
Why do local elections matter?
Of about 13,500 registered voters in Pembroke, in the last election only 2,172 voters cast their votes. That means only 16% of the town let their voices be heard about who should be running the town. The previous election in 2020 had 1,452 voters or about 10% voters. This means that in municipal elections your vote can make a bigger impact.
In this town we have had issues with road conditions, water pressure, water discoloration, lack of affordable housing and lack of Vocational school opportunities. The Town has plans for each of these issues, but who you vote for will have a say in how these issues are addressed or prioritized.
Public Safety Complex
The Town has shared information about the Public Safety Building. The links below explaining the needs and projected cost.
The next Public Safety Presentation with Q&A will be May 2nd at 6PM at Tiny & Sons Auto Glass, located at 575 Washington St, Pembroke, MA 02359.
Plans for the Public Safety Building at Washington St
Plans for the Proposed Substation Fire Station on School St
Informational Video from Town Manager
Video of the first Presentation with Q&A at The Pembroke Library
Video with Town Manager, Police Chief, Fire Chief and Chair of Public Safety Commitee
Pembroke Vocational Training – A History
The town of Pembroke left Silver Lake Regional High School in 2004 and formed Pembroke High School. Since that time, Pembroke has not been a member town with a vo tech high school. Pembroke students historically have been able to apply as out-of-district students to Silver Lake, South Shore Technical High School (formerly named South Shore Vo Tech) and two area agricultural vocational high schools. At the school committee meeting on December 5, 2017, the school committee voted to make Silver Lake the preferred provider for vocational education, which was estimated to save the district $160,000. The full policy IHAI can be seen here.
The school committee on January 15, 2019 updated the policy to be “All accepted 9th grade [vocational] students must attend Silver Lake Regional High School for their 9th grade exploratory year.” Once this happened, no ninth grade students from Pembroke were accepted into South Shore Tech.
Things to note:
- Voting yes to warrant article 10 will begin the process to explore Pembroke becoming a member town with South Shore Tech.
- The first Pembroke class to be able to attend as freshman in 2026, the class of 2029 (current 6th graders).
- Communities served as in district towns:
- Abington, Cohasset, Hanover, Hanson, Norwell, Rockland, Scituate, and Whitman
- Additionally, Marshfield is one year into their exploratory committee and are on track to join for the 2025-26 year.
