Oops! Rookie Town Moderator makes costly mistake
By Matt Carroll, Globe Staff
Pembroke Town Moderator Stephen C. Dodge succeeded a legend, John D. Walsh Jr., who served for 59 years, arguably the longest tenure for a town moderator in state history.
Now Dodge hopes he doesn’t become a footnote as one of the shortest-reigning moderators in the state.
Dodge made a vote-counting gaffe at the Nov. 3 Town Meeting, which meant an article passed, rather than failed. It was his first Town Meeting.
The article awarded small longevity raises to 13 nonunion workers, totalling about $3,500, according to the town. The raises were similar to those awarded union workers. Not much cash, when town budgets run into the tens of mil lions of dollars, but still . . .
“Here I am, filling in for a guy who served in the position for 59 years, and in my first standing count, I can’t count,’’ the 51-year-old Dodge moaned. “I’m glad it wasn’t for $350,000 or $3 million.’’
The problem occurred on Article 23. Voters pro and con were asked to stand separately because it was a close vote.
Vote counters wrote down vote totals, and handed the tally sheets to Dodge, who read the totals from the podium. As he read the totals, others kept track of the count.
But in the hurly-burly of the vote, he accidentally read “23,’’ the article number, rather than the vote total, off one sheet. The actual number was four on the sheet. Because the meeting was moving quickly, no one had time to check the sheets until the next day.
Dodge announced the measure had passed, 78-69, when it had actually been shot down, 59-69.
Once Dodge announced the vote total as official, that was it - it was indeed official, according to town officials. To overturn it, voters would need to go back to Town Meeting and have a quorum, and no one seemed too enthusiastic last week about going back for such a small matter.
Dodge, who is the associate director of the Massachusetts Petroleum Council, said he got a call the next day from Town Administrator Edwin J. Thorne.
“He said, ‘Town Meeting went great, but guess what?’ ’’ said Dodge. “I was embarrassed.’’ Dodge said he realized for a moment that night he might have made a mistake, and thought he had corrected himself, but hadn’t.
Thorne doesn’t recall another mistake like it, but did recall a previous Town Meeting when a budget of more than $50 million passed without a debate because the moderator forgot to allow time for it.
Thorne, along with the police and fire chiefs, was among those who received the small raise.
Dodge says he is undeterred about seeking reelection. Other than the miscue, the meeting went well, he said. “That’s part of the learning curve,’’ he said last week.
Matt Carroll can be reached at mcarroll@globe.com.
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