There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. Yes, that is Steve Triffletti dressed as a Pilgrim. Welcome to Fall Town Meeting!
PLYMOUTH – There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. Yes, that is Steve Triffletti dressed as a Pilgrim. Welcome to Fall Town Meeting!
Triffletti, who celebrates 30 years as town moderator, plans a few surprises for the autumnal event this Saturday morning. He will greet viewers of the televised meeting by wearing a colonial costume and reading the Mayflower Compact.
"I want to do something to honor Plymouth’s 400th anniversary," he said. "We’ll also have the New Plimmoth Gard on hand for a salute to the flag and a high school student will lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance."
Town Meeting will also pause for a moment of silence to honor longtime member Brenda Bradley, who died Aug. 29. "She had perfect attendance at Town Meeting until this summer, when she became sick and went in the hospital," Triffletti said. "We will honor her service to Plymouth."
Once the preliminaries are over, it will be on to the main event. Town Meeting representatives will begin debating and deciding on more than a dozen articles and multiple motions. As with the spring session, the Fall Town Meeting will be held virtually via Zoom and shared on PACTV for residents to watch.
The meeting will begin with a vote by members to hold a virtual meeting. This formality was required by state legislators when they approved online sessions for communities this spring.
Members will then vote on the consent agenda, a compilation of articles that are generally approved without debate. This step helps save time by not having to vote on each one separately.
New for the fall will be the opportunity to view Town Meeting members when they talk about the business of town government. Changes to the Zoom program will enable members to be shown on screen for the first time. Representatives complained after the spring session about not seeing the person who was debating a topic because of the limitations of the technology.
"Assistant Town Moderator Nicole Manfredi worked with our technical team to set this up," Triffletti said. "Town Meeting members will be able to appear on screen when they discuss an article or motion."
The town moderator intends to maintain a brisk pace in an attempt to complete the fall meeting in one day. There will be brief breaks every two hours, but Triffletti plans to forgo the lunch recess to keep things moving. Town Meeting members have already approved an adjourned session for Monday if it is needed.
Because of Plymouth’s quadricentennial, Triffletti wants the fall town meeting to be a special event. He is urging residents to watch early for an important recognition for the town.
"Of course, 2020 is our 400th anniversary," he said. "Though many programs have been postponed because of the pandemic, we wanted to recognize this milestone at Town Meeting. State Rep. Mathew Muratori will read a proclamation by Massachusetts legislators, but then we will have a surprise. Tune in at the beginning to see what it is."
As if the town moderator dressed as a Pilgrim wasn’t enough!
Town meeting will begin at 8 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 17. The remote session will be carried live on PACTV’s government channels at Comcast 15 and Verizon 47, as well as online at its streaming channel at www.pactv.org/live.
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The Link LonkOctober 14, 2020 at 05:00PM
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Triffletti plans to dress as Pilgrim to begin fall town meeting - Milford Daily News
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