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MAY 7, 2025
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VOLUME 3, ISSUE NO. 24
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MARBLEHEADCURRENT.ORG
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ON SOCIAL @MHDCURRENT
TOWN MEETING 2025 Visit MarbleheadCurrent.org for the very latest on Town Meeting vote results.
Capacity issues postpone, relocate Town Meeting BY WILL DOWD AND LEIGH BLANDER A record-breaking crowd threw Marblehead’s annual Town Meeting into disarray Monday night, forcing Town Moderator Jack Attridge to postpone the meeting to Tuesday night and move it to the Marblehead High School field house. More than 2,000 voters tried to attend Town Meeting in the Veterans School Performing Arts Center and gymnasium, exceeding safety limits, according to Fire Chief Jason Gilliland. Attendees in the gym also said they could not see the screen broadcasting from the PAC. “This is sort of a moderator’s worst nightmare,” Attridge said. “Nobody wants to do this meeting tonight more than I do.” Since 1983, a regular Town Meeting has not exceeded 850 attendees, according to Town Clerk Robin Michaud. “Our venerable institution showed its strength last night,” Atrridge wrote in a statement Tuesday morning. “It also challenged decades of attendance which, despite planning for more than double the maximum we have seen since the early 80s, overwhelmed the venue and overflow room.” After the PAC cleared out,
CURRENT PHOTO / MARC GRAZADO
The overflow crowd packed the Veterans School Performing Arts Center and gymnasium. Some people in the gym said they couldn’t see a screen broadcasting from the PAC.
»Select Board OKs three union contracts hours before Town Meeting Monday. Page 2. Select Board member Moses Grader said the town was “a victim of its own success.” “There was such a great buzz here, and the anticipation for the agenda was really pretty good,” he said. “We’re going to have a debate, and we’re going to resolve it the way we’ve done for
375 years.” Longtime voter Christine Nuccio recalled quieter nights in the past. She said she has not missed a single Town Meeting in 35-plus years. “There have been many years that it’s 7 p.m., and we’re begging people to come down in
LAW
order to have a quorum,” Nuccio said. The historic crowd was presumably there to vote on the contentious MBTA Communities Act multifamily zoning question. Other hot topics on the warrant included two debt exclusion overrides to replace the Marblehead High School roof and renovate the Mary Alley Municipal Building. Voters
were also expected to decide whether to approve recalls for elected officials and whether to ax the town’s new sustainability coordinator position. Earlier in the evening, it was learned that the new clicker voting system for Town Meeting had hardware problems at Vets and could not be used. League of Women Voters volunteers were on site to conduct hand counts.
EDUCATION
Federal judge denies religious After 18 months of order’s request to block inspection heated discussions,
School Committee approves flag policy
BY WILL DOWD BOSTON — A federal judge has ruled against Egypt House of Marblehead, which claims it is an Orthodox Christian monastery. The judge denied a preliminary injunction that would have banned Marbehead and state tax officials from inspecting the property. U.S. District Court Judge Brian E. Murphy issued the decision Thursday, ruling that Marblehead-based Egypt House failed to establish a likelihood of success on the merits of its religious discrimination claims. The ruling allows town assessors to proceed with an inspection of the property at 12 Conant Road, which Egypt House purchased in June 2022 and claimed qualified for religious tax exemption as a chapel, clergy residence and retreat center. Egypt House had sought to block specific town officials — particularly naming John Kelley, chair of the Board of Assessors and Matthew Provencher, town counsel, — from conducting
BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW
Teachers, students and parents call for change in June election BY LEIGH BLANDER
CURRENT PHOTO / WILL DOWD
Father Andrew Bushell and attorney Tracey M.A. Stockton confer during the April 29 federal court hearing in Boston, where Egypt House sought a preliminary injunction to block Marblehead officials from inspecting its Orthodox monastery.
the inspection and to prohibit photographing or handling religious objects within the monastery. The organization’s attorney, attorney Tracey M.A. Stockton, contended during the hearing that such actions would desecrate consecrated religious space. During that hearing, Stockton argued that allowing certain town officials to conduct inspections would violate Orthodox doctrine and harm
Bushell’s religious standing. “If Father Andrew were to break or ignore the holy canons, he would be subject to deposition ... and a trial of excommunication,” Stockton told the court. “It is not possible to admit laity into the chapel... and for laity to touch the holy objects, the holy vessels, the holy altars or to photograph the same.” BUSHELL, P. 6
Reaction was swift to the School Committee’s 4-1 vote Thursday night to adopt a flag policy that may lead to the removal of Pride, Black Lives Matter and other flags and banners in Marblehead schools. “While I am disappointed that the School Committee has once again disregarded the needs and voices of Marblehead students, very little surprises me after the last eight months,” Marblehead High School teacher Ashley Skeffington told the Current. “At this point, my only hope is for new leadership on the board with the coming election. This is frankly an embarrassment for Marblehead.” The flag debate has roiled the community for more than 18
months, starting when a mother removed the Black Lives Matter flag without permission from the MHS cafeteria. The School Committee then reached out to its attorney to draft a policy regulating flags. Despite vocal opposition from many students, teachers and community members, the School Committee presented and repeatedly tweaked a policy. The ultimate version allows, by right, only the U.S., Massachusetts and POW-MIA flags to be affixed to school property, along with six heritage month flags that can be displayed during respective months. The superintendent may also recommend additional flags and banners, but the SCHOOLS, P. 7