Local News

‘Unacceptable’: All of Truro’s voters couldn’t fit at Town Meeting. Residents were angry

“It is so wonderful that we have so many people who want to participate in our town government."

Truro's special town meeting was postponed on Tuesday night due to an unprecedented turnout. Town of Truro, Massachusetts on Facebook

By Molly Farrar

November 30, 2023

2 minutes to read

A special town meeting in Truro on Tuesday night was postponed to May after more than 700 people showed up at Truro Central School to participate.

Town officials announced that with hundreds of people still outside, the meeting would be postponed due to voter participation and public safety concerns.

The turnout was unprecedented for Truro, a town with a year-round population of less than 3,000. With more than 200 people outside waiting, the meeting had to be postponed for a fourth time due to voter participation concerns.

Wisotzky addressed the crowd at 5:45 p.m., about 15 minutes after the meeting was set to begin.

“This is the last thing I really wanted to do,” town moderator Paul Wisotzky said. “It is so wonderful that we have so many people who want to participate in our town government.”

The packed gymnasium immediately reacted when Wisotzky proposed adjourning the meeting to Feb. 3. Voters booed and chanted no, and someone called out “unacceptable” from the audience.

The meeting was set to cover 15 warrant articles that would include discussion of a new public works building, plans for a 70-acre town property, and zoning bylaw amendments.

Less than a dozen people spoke at the meeting before it was closed, all frustrated with the situation.

“The competency to bring us here after these many delays,” voter Steve Sollog said, “that we are now here together, and you’re using an excuse you were well aware was a possibility and to continue it to a winter date is an absurdity.”

The Town of Truro said they arranged for two additional rooms at the high school to accommodate more voters, where an audio feed of the meeting would be played. However, the turnout ultimately exceeded the school’s occupancy of 523 in the three rooms.

“This is not just a voter participation issue, … if we don’t have space, they can’t participate and that’s a problem, but it’s also a public safety issue,” Wisotzky said after consulting with the police and fire chiefs.

Voters asked for the meeting to be moved to the spring to allow for an outdoor location, which passed overwhelmingly.

The meeting is now set for May 4 at 10 a.m., the same day as the annual town meeting, officials said on Tuesday. The Truro ballfield was mentioned on Tuesday, but the town said in a statement that they are still in the process of choosing an outdoor location.