Library Project Defeated by 158 Votes
Town officials are surprised that the library vote failed.
Photos
The Shrewsbury Public Library building project was defeated by 158 votes tonight.
Town officials were suprised and will head back to the drawing board when it comes to the project.
"I am surprised, but the board will be discussing how to move forward," said Board of Selectmen Chairman James Kane. "We're going to have to take a big breath and see how we move forward."
"Tomorrow is a new day," said Library Director Ellen Dolan. "This is a disappointment, but I'm incredibly thankful for all the volunteers who put their heart and soul into the project. The voters spoke and we will look to them to see what changes they want."
Library Trustee Laurie Hogan said she believes the library project is good for the town. "I'm very disappointed, but the voters have spoken," she said. "We can reduce the project by 5 percent, but anything smaller and we lose the grant. I still believe this project is good for the town, but we're going to have to move forward."
Hogan's husband, Matt, also addressed the crowd of supporters that gathered at Lakeside Grill after the vote.
"If the library supporters didn't vote, it's their own fault," Matt Hogan said. "But tomorrow is a new day."
Voters steadily came to the polls all day.
"I'm voting no," said Don Wiles, who voted at the town hall. "It's a Proposition 2 1/2 override, so it's always a no."
Jane Persico, who also voted at the town hall, said she was in favor of the project. "The town has to keep growing," she said. "If they put a cafe in the library, then the kids will have a place to hang out."
| Precinct: | Yes: | No: |
| 1 | 430 | 374 |
| 2 | 210 | 437 |
| 3 | 140 | 266 |
| 4 | 240 | 375 |
| 5 | 362 | 375 |
| 6 | 316 | 359 |
| 7 | 449 | 333 |
| 8 | 531 | 380 |
| 9 | 322 | 259 |
| Total: | 3000 | 3158 |
Stay with Shrewsbury Patch for more coverage of the election.
In This article
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Shrewsbury Public Library
609 Main St, Shrewsbury, MA -
Lakeside Bar & Grille
97 Boston Tpke, Shrewsbury, MA
Anonymous
10:26 am on Wednesday, October 19, 2011
The real shame is that so few people voted on an issue that will so significantly impact thier own finances.
Anonymous
10:31 am on Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Of course town officials are 'surprised' - that show's they're just as clueless about what the public wants as they are about fiscal responsibility. Spending tens of millions of dollars based on a handshake promise from the State to help, during the most significant economic disaster since the Great Depression - yeah, that's smart. meanwhile, there's NO playground at the Patton School...
Madaline Danzilio-Guerra
12:36 pm on Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Once again the residents have spoken. I guess some town officials and newcomers just dont get it.
Robbin Miller, Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Advocate
1:48 pm on Wednesday, October 19, 2011
I wonder if ignorance, fear, and false information led to the defeat of the initiative. Sometimes people vote on their emotional responses as oppposed to looking at the facts in an objective manner. Is it time to have a City Council form of government where elected officials can make objective decisions and input from their constituents.
Salvatore Santoro
12:17 am on Thursday, October 20, 2011
Robbin
Do not insult our intelligence we knew exactly what we voted against. In Case you missed, there was no guarantee for matching funds and the town was requesting an override on our taxation system where the people had already spoken on by setting maximum limits. How many times we have to tell tem that they need to be fiscally conservative specially at a time when we are experiencing another recession. A city council????? whats wrong wih letting the costituency vote just iike we have done. What is that you did not understand about the results of this election. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MOOOOOOOOOre SPEEEEEEEEEnding
Brian Guagnini
7:50 pm on Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Thank God this didn't pass. I'm not sure we can take another tax hike during these tough economic times. THANK YOU to all of those who voted NO ..... you did the right thing!
Jennifer
9:49 pm on Wednesday, October 19, 2011
It's hard to believe that people were so opposed to an increase of $65 per year for an average homeowner in exchange for a state of the art, renovated library. Now we will need to fix the current facility, still spend almost as much money and not gain any space or value. Shrewsbury just said, "don't give me $10M".
Salvatore Santoro
8:09 am on Friday, October 21, 2011
Jennifer ..you do not get it do you? The clear message send to people like you in the polls said " No More Spending" If our city manager learn to cut the waste and come up with some extra money to repair the library, so be it. At this time 1/2 or more the population of Shrewsbury is having a hard time dealng with a severe down turn of our economy and repairing or buiding a new library is not even on their radar screen of importance. I guess you are one of the few furtunate who can efford to give this town an additional $650 per year in temporary taxation,and have the luxury to ignore the dilemma others are facing. Shame on you for not respecting the vote of the majority, belly aching, not and counting your blessing
Nicole Moreau
10:03 pm on Thursday, October 20, 2011
I am so relieved this did not pass. Being a new home owner in Shrewsbury I am well aware of what the pros and cons of this decision would be. With the way technology is moving it is completely unnecessary for an 18 million library. With our economy the way it is right now and the uncertainty of the future we should be making more conservative decisions. Whoever thought an 18million library was reasonable should be fired.
Brian Guagnini
11:31 pm on Thursday, October 20, 2011
Why don't those 3,000 disappointed voters who wanted this to pass so badly just "donate" $500 per month and fund this renovation project themselves?