2003-Annual Report - Laserfiche WebLink

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Town Clerk /Board of Registrars Expenditures Payroll FY03 FY02 $1701065 $1601969 Expenses $ 71370 $ 51870 Elections Total $ 89,209 $ 783293 Registration Total $ 271934 $ 241940 Records Management $ 191950 $ 101915 Personnel Licenses: Full Time 4 4 APPOINTED by the Town Manager: Town Clerk Donna Hooper since 1996. Office staff: Administrative Assistant Marie Hill; Municipal Clerk C. Jean Coates (until June); Information Specialist Diane McKenzie retired in August after serving for eight years and was replaced by Andrea Linehan. BOARD OF REGISTRARS APPOINTED for a 3-year term by the Board of Selectmen: The Registrars welcomed Ann Miller [R] appointed to fill the unexpired term of Connie Foster who resigned in 2002 after 17 years of service. Mary Abegg [D], term expiring 2006 and re- elected as Chair, served along with Luanna Devenis [R], term ending 2005, and Town Clerk Donna Hooper. Mary DeSimone and George McCormack, Jr. were appointed as Assistant Registrars at Minuteman Regional Vocational High School and Lexington High School, respectively. Registrars submit- ted recommendations to the Board of Selectmen for the Board's annual Election Officer appointments. Registrars staffed voter registration sessions prior to the March Annual and June Special Elections and certified petitions to call Special Town Meetings in January (Lincoln Field) and July (ser- vice restoration). Registrars also certified ballot question initia- tive petitions for the State Election, Special Town Election, Annual Town Election petitions, and Presidential Primary. Registrar Mary Abegg staffed a special voter registration booth at Lexington High School as part of Senior Week events. The Town's annual census updated our population and ver- ified voter registration rolls, with the Annual List of Residents subsequently published in June. HIGHLIGHTS: • The Annual Town Meeting covering 31 warrant articles and 8 meetings was convened on March 24 at the National Heritage Museum, 33 Marrett Road, and dissolved April 30. • Two citizen - initiated and one Special Town Meetings called by the Board of Selectmen were conducted. • A vote to override Proposition 2 -1/2, held June 2, 2003, was defeated. • Defeat of the override necessitated elimination of the Municipal Clerk position and cuts to operating expenses for Archives and Records Management initiatives and sig- nificant reduction in funding for annual codification ser- vices. Staff reductions necessitated review of core services and elimination of nonessential services including Notary Public services and MA Wildlife licensing, as well as delays in meeting public information and records requests. Accomplishments included: • Orientation and training of Election Officers for two elec- tions. • Records Management Initiatives microfilming of over 30 years of payroll records for accessibility and long -term preservation. • Preservation of four volumes of Town Records, spanning 1778 -1862, including cleaning, repairing, rebinding, and microfilming. • Publication of Supplement #3 to the Code of Lexington, updating bylaw changes adopted at the 2003 Annual Town Meeting, changes in Traffic Rules & Orders, and other regulatory updates. Election reform moved ahead, in the form of Help America Vote Act of 2002 passed in response to the November 2000 Presidential election irregularities encountered nationally. Enhancements to the Commonwealth's Central Voter Registry provided further improvements in preparation for full implementation of the Help American Vote Act of 2002. Further postponement was encountered with the statewide electronic vital records system long proposed to be compliant with federal requirements. Town Clerk's office continued ser- vicing the community as agents for the US Department of State, accepting and processing applications for US Passports. The Town Clerk's Office oversaw appointment notifica- tions; oaths of office and the posting of approximately 1050 public meetings conducted for appointed and elected boards and committee members. Archives and Records Manager /Town Clerk Donna Hooper, and representatives of the Lexington Historical Society, National Heritage Museum and Cary Memorial Library, collaborated as part of a small Massachusetts Historical Records Advisory Board grant "The Revolution and Beyond: Documenting Lexington's Heritage" to identi- fy gaps in Lexington's historical records collections and to produce a Community Plan. With the assistance of a Consulting Archivist, the plan will help document our Town's heritage for generations to come. Statistics Population: ......30,179 Vital Statistics for 2003: Registered Voters: (as of Dec. 10, 2003) (as of May 2003) Births ........181 Total ..........191868 Marriages .....118 Unenrolled .......9046 Deaths .......315 Democrat ........7888 Republican .......2843 Licenses: Green Party USA .....36 Dogs .......2278 Libertarian .........31 Raffles ........14 Other .............24 Business Cert. ..253 Flammables ....3 8 Page 12 2003 Annual Report, Town of Lexington