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Committee debates presentation format and records 4-4-2 tally on 'not recommend' motion
Summary
Members argued about presenting departmental detail versus consolidated views; an attempted 'not recommend' motion resulted in a recorded tally of 4 yes, 4 no, 2 abstain (4-4-2) and committee discussion over how abstentions affect formal recommendation.
Committee members engaged in a procedural exchange over whether the budget should be presented strictly by department or in Jim's consolidated format. Speaker 7 proposed proceeding with Jim's presentation and splitting it into departments later; Speaker 9 confirmed two versions would be provided on the 22nd.
The group also debated the correct procedure for voting on a "not recommend" motion after an attorney's advice was read into the record. The chair/recorder reported the recorded vote as "4 4 2," and one member noted that even if a named member (Brian) had abstained or not voted the numeric result would be effectively unchanged. A roll call later listed individual member votes (as read by a committee speaker): "Tom Ballard — No. Bob Maholland — No. Brian Black — Yes. Suzanne Ryan — Yes. Bob Lohman — No..." The committee discussed whether abstentions produce a formal 'no recommendation.'
Because the tally resulted in no clear majority recommending approval, the committee left open the procedural question and directed staff to present the two budget versions and to return for further discussion before making a final recommendation to the select board.
