The chilly, gray weather on Election Day reminded everyone that November had arrived. At 3 p.m. Tuesday, when the Bromfield cafeteria doors opened for the shortened election hours, a dozen people were lined up outside. Within moments, the line had grown to 15, then 20, then two dozen. Quite a few were wishing they had worn something warmer.
By the time the polls closed five hours later, about a quarter of Harvard’s registered voters had cast a ballot, according to preliminary results posted by Town Clerk Marlene Kenney. And the results were strikingly clear on every one of the four ballot questions.
On Question 1, voters said an emphatic yes to borrowing $2.6 million so the town can buy the former medical office building at 16 Lancaster County Road and renovate it to become the town’s senior center and Council on Aging offices. The measure passed by more than two to one, with 798 in favor, 309 opposed.
Town Administrator Tim Bragan read the results of the vote to the Select Board, which was meeting Tuesday evening when the polls closed. Moments later, the board signed a purchase-and-sale agreement for the building.
Council on Aging Director Debbie Thompson said she was very happy to see how many had voted in favor of the new senior center. “The whole Council on Aging and I are very appreciative of the town’s support for this project, and we look forward to working with the town for many years,” she said.
On Question 2, voters approved the $965,000 for a new firetruck by an even larger margin of well over three to one. The tally was 861 in favor and 249 against, making the firetruck the biggest numerical winner of the day.
Both Questions 1 and 2 required a majority vote at Town Election, as well as the two-thirds’ majority each won at October’s Town Meeting. Both votes were necessary because the two measures call for borrowing that is exempt from the limit on yearly property tax increases.
Questions 3 and 4 gave voters two opposing scenarios for the future of Bromfield House, the building at 39 Mass. Ave. that housed the school administration offices for many years.
Question 3 asked if the town should sell the house but retain possession of the land for future public use. The voters’ answer was a decisive no, with 743 opposed to the idea and 316 supporting it.
Question 4 presented a different possibility for the future of Bromfield House—selling the property intact to become a private home. Voters favored that idea by a vote of 776 to 312.
The Question 4 scenario had also easily won a two-thirds’ majority when presented as a warrant article at the October Town Meeting. A group dedicated to preserving Bromfield House as a residence on its present site organized a citizen petition that led to the warrant article.
A leading voice in that group was Beverly Dunlap Rodrigues, of Old Littleton Road, whose father had been born in Bromfield House and whose grandfather had lived there while principal of the Bromfield School. In a telephone call, Rodrigues said, “I’m very happy today. … I’m impressed with how people voted.” She called the strong margin in favor of selling the house as a residence “a pretty significant indicator of what should be done.”
Town Clerk Kenney said voter turnout was “pretty steady” for almost the full five hours, with only a few lulls. By 7:40 p.m. arrivals had slowed to a trickle. At 8 p.m. by the school clocks and the attending police officer’s watch, the doors were locked. Seconds later, the Unitarian Church chimed the hour from the top of the Common. A few past elections have left disappointed would-be voters arriving at the doors too late, but not this year.
The 1,120 voters who cast ballots in the election, by a preliminary count, gave the town a turnout rate of 24.9%. That’s at the high end for recent town elections, but by no means a record. The recent record for high turnout at a town election was 46% in 2018, when the new elementary school, the town charter, and repairs to the old library—as well as a full slate of town offices—were all on the ballot. The low was an abysmal 11% in 2019. Turnouts for state and national elections, of course, are generally much higher, with the 2020 presidential election drawing 91% of Harvard’s registered voters to the polls.
