As the Nov. 3 election nears and early voting is in full swing, local political candidates are campaigning on everything from affordability to school busing. There are three local races on the ballot, two for state representatives and one for state Senate. In all three races, Democratic incumbents are running for re-election against Republican opponents. […]
Author Archives: Fred Thys - Independent Staff
Posted inGovernment
Town Meeting warned of dire budget forecast
Select Board Chair Deb Iaquinto opened fall Town Meeting with a warning to members about a five-year budget forecast projecting growing deficits starting in the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2028. Her opening statements followed a presentation from town officials earlier in the week about the need to rein in a budget growing faster than […]
Posted inGovernment
Derailed citizens’ petitions prompt tense debate
The barring of two citizens’ petitions as “out of order” at Town Meeting prompted a heated floor debate Saturday, with proponents arguing Town Moderator Steve Triffletti overstepped his authority in not allowing a vote. But Town Meeting members did approve one other citizens’ petition Triffletti allowed to the floor after a negotiated settlement last week. […]
Posted inGovernment
One citizens’ petition will go to Town Meeting
At least one of the three citizens’ petitions ruled “out of order” for Saturday’s Town Meeting is back on the agenda after its supporters agreed to drop a late change to their original petition. Plymouth’s longtime Town Moderator Steve Triffletti had initially decided to bar all the citizens’ petitions on procedural grounds. On Wednesday, he […]
Posted inGovernment
Citizens’ petitions denied hearing at Town Meeting
Saturday’s Town Meeting could turn especially contentious after all three citizens’ petitions were barred from consideration as improper and out of order by Town Moderator Steven Triffletti. The citizens’ petitions call for increased transparency in the operations of Plymouth Municipal Airport, changes to neighborhood steering commissions, and changes in a proposal to stiffen setback regulations […]
Posted inPolice & Fire
Plymouth teenager gets probation in Harvard explosion
The Plymouth teenager who set off fireworks at Harvard Medical School on Halloween night was sentenced last week to three years of probation and ordered to pay about $28,500 in damages. Logan Patterson, now 19, and his friend Dominick Cardoza, now 21, of Bourne, agreed to plead guilty in March to tossing a large firework […]
Posted inBusiness
Mayflower Brewing closing at year’s end
Plymouth’s oldest craft brewery is closing its doors at the end of the year, the latest casualty in a nationwide decline in the popularity of independent breweries. Mayflower Brewing Company, which was purchased last year by the owner of Orleans-based Hog Island Beer Company, will close its brewery and tasting room on Resnik Road on […]
Posted inGovernment
Iaquinto scolds board for bad behavior
Select Board Chair Deb Iaquinto admonished her fellow board members Tuesday about their continued bickering from the dais, announcing a ban on them directly addressing each other at their weekly meetings. “We continue to make headlines that don’t reflect the actual work that we do for the people of Plymouth,” Iaquinto said at the beginning […]
Posted inGovernment
Select Board flaps continue despite conduct policy
Just a month after the Select Board passed its new conduct policy mandating civility on the dais, another episode of incivility erupted at this week’s meeting at West Elementary School. This time it was board member and lawyer Kevin Canty, who has a reputation as being more measured, who used a frustrated and disparaging tone […]
Posted inGovernment
Select Board backs delay of Pilgrim Hall grant funds
Town officials told their bosses on the Select Board Tuesday the town has doled out nearly $40 million in taxpayer-funded project grants over the last 23 years without the proper oversight and preservation restrictions. Although they took no vote, the board members who spoke supported Town Manager Derek Brindisi’s controversial position to withhold future grant […]