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Town meeting rejects citizen petition to create volunteer LHS financial accountability committee
Summary
A citizen petition sought a temporary volunteer committee to review and translate Lexington High School project finances, but town meeting voted 38–125–11 against creating the committee, with town boards arguing the new SBC finance subcommittee and dashboard address transparency needs.
A citizen petition asking town meeting to create a temporary volunteer financial accountability and communications committee for the Lexington High School project failed on a final vote after extended debate.
Proponents, led by petitioner Gori Goel, argued residents cannot easily find or interpret project expenditure information for the $659.7 million LHS project and asked for a three‑, five‑ or seven‑member volunteer group of residents with construction finance, auditing or public procurement expertise to review invoices, analyze payment data, attend PBC and SBC meetings and publish plain‑language updates. "Keep the narrative and bring the numbers back," Goel said, urging that narrative reporting be paired with live numbers and accessible links.
Town officials and standing committees opposed the article. Select board representative Miss Kumar told town meeting that the select board and professional staff believe the town already has multiple oversight bodies, including an SBC finance subcommittee and the permanent building committee, and that adding a new committee risks duplicating work and creating confusion. The school committee and the SBC reported votes against the article; multiple advisory bodies (PBC, capital expenditures committee, appropriation committee) recommended disapproval.
During question-and-answer exchanges, petitioners said the proposed committee would be advisory and not interrupt payment workflows; staff explained typical invoice and accounting flows (contractor → architect → OPM/project manager → town finance) and cautioned about posting unredacted invoices online for privacy/security reasons.
After closing debate (closed by a town vote earlier in the discussion), the motion on Article 26 failed: 38 voted in favor, 125 opposed and 11 abstained. Supporters said the petition moved the town forward by prompting formation of the SBC finance subcommittee and early dashboard work; opponents said the structures now in place and staff processes provide sufficient oversight.
