Stoneham Select Board Votes to Pursue Ballot Question Information Law for October Town Meeting

STONEHAM — August 28, 2025 — Stoneham Select Board votes to pursue a ballot question information mailing law while tabling an override election date. The board voted unanimously, 4-0, Thursday to direct Town Administrator Dennis Sheehan to prepare a warrant article placing adoption of MGL Chapter 53, Section 18B — which would require the town to mail a neutral summary and for-and-against arguments to every registered-voter household before any ballot question election — before the October 21 town meeting. Town Clerk Maria Sagarino estimated the mailing would cost between $5,000 and $7,000 based on roughly 8,000 unique voter households, less than an initial $6,397 census-based estimate. Town Counsel Robert Galvin, who said none of his current client towns has adopted the statute, noted it could only be repealed by a subsequent town meeting vote. A motion by board member Dave Caraviello to set December 2 as the override election date was withdrawn after Sheehan urged members not to commit to a date before the Override Study Committee delivers its report around September 30, citing the board's difficult experience setting and then retracting a date during the spring 2025 override cycle.