Arlington supports Community Preservation Act

Yes committee logo

Yes campaign issues statement; no does not respond

UPDATED, Nov. 10: Arlington voters approved the Community Preservation Act on Tuesday, Nov. 4.

With 21 precincts reporting, the vote was 10,034 yes and 8,476 no, or a difference of 1,558, according to unofficial numbers.

The turnout was about 65 percent, 19,680 of 30,411 registered voters cast ballots. The town website numbers showing counts in all precincts report 63.84 percent turnout. Read full town site results for all races here >>

The efforts of opposing ballot-question committees resulted in wins for each side. The opposition won in precincts 11, 13, 15, 18 and 19. Yes voters were surprisingly strong in East Arlington, particularly in Precinct 3.

The results were known by supporters of the ballot question at 8:52 election night.

The measure adds a 1.5 percent surcharge to tax bills to provide funds for historic preservation, open space, affordable housing and outdoor recreation, aided by state money.

State share expected to be known Nov. 15

As to the latter, the most current numbers for the state share of funds is expected to be known Nov. 15, Katherine Roth of the Community Preservation Coalition told YourArlington on Nov. 3.
On the 15th, she wrote, the CPA state match base percentage number for this year will be known, when the CPA matching checks are distributed to eligible communities.

She added: “In past years, we have known the CPA state match percentage by the time of the November election, but there are more variables involved this time and legislators took longer than usual to negotiate the details of the supplemental budget, which influences the state budget surplus — so the state comptroller is still working things out.”

Asked about fears that state funds will decline to zero, she wrote: “[T]hat’s impossible, because the CPA statute mandates a minimum of a 5% match for each participating community, though we doubt if, politically, it would ever be allowed to fall so low.”

Here are the unofficial results of CPA voting from each precinct:

Yes campaign says thanks

Joe Curro and Susan Stamps, committee co-chairs for the yes campaign, posted their statement Wednesday, Nov. 5. It says, in part:

“Thank you to the voters of Arlington, who came out in force yesterday and decisively chose to adopt the Community Preservation Act as both a fiscal tool and a means of promoting quality of life initiatives in our town ….

“By endorsing the Community Preservation Act, we have made a conscious decision to pursue a multi-pronged renewal strategy. We have also provided arrows in the quiver to attack the challenges outlined in the draft Master Plan for Arlington, which will be publicly presented for the first time tomorrow evening ….”

The campaign opposing the Community Preservation Act, led by Bill Hayner, has not responded two two requests for comment.

Garballey crushes Monju

In the only contested race in Arlington, state Rep. Sean Garballey, a Democrat, topped Republican Joseph Monju. The unofficial vote tally reported by Boston.com was 13,995 to 4,038.

“Congratulations to Sean Garballey,” Monju wrote Nov. 5. “My dedicated, hard-working team of volunteers and I are disappointed in our loss. I would like to thank my many supporters across the district for believing in me and for sharing in my vision of fiscally responsible government. I congratulate Charlie Baker and look forward to his leadership of the Commonwealth.” 

Garballet responded: “I am honored by the overwhelming margin of victory that our campaign received in every single neighborhood throughout the district. I will continue to be an independent and effective voice for the people of Arlington and Medford.”

Among all state House races in Massachusetts, Garballey drew the highest number of votes and the second-highest winning percentage, according to numbers reported at BostonGlobe.com. An 88.1 winning percentage was recorded in the 27 Middlesex District.

Coakley

Baker

Statewide, Democrat Martha Coakley lost a tight race for governor to Republican Charlie Baker. 

Coakley, of Medford, conceded at 8:15 a.m. the day after the election.

Evan Falchuk received more than 3 percent of the vote. His United Independent Party needed Falchuk to reach that number Nov. 4 — the state’s benchmark for official party recognition. That would allow the United Independents to hold primaries and field legislative candidates.

Edward J. Markey was elected to his first full term as U.S. senator. 

Here are unofficial Arlington results (further results are expected from the town clerk’s office Nov. 5):

GOVERNOR

Baker, 6,233

Coakley: 12,403

Evan Falchuck, United Independent Party: 619

Scott Lively, Independent: 103

Jeff McCormick, Independent: 102

Write-ins: 220

ATTORNEY GENERAL

Maura Healey, Democrat: 14,284

John B. Miller, Republican: 4,586

Write-ins: 754

TREASURER

Deborah B. Goldberg, Democrat: 12,025

Michael James Heffernan, Republican: 4,659

Ian T. Jackson, Arlington, Green-Rainbow: 1,747

Write-ins: 1,264

Statewide results, according to Boston.com:

Goldberg: 1,106,129
Heffernan: 817,249
Jackson: 81,418

STATEWIDE BALLOT QUESTIONS

The results of ballot questions went this way, according to Boston.com:
1.) Gas Tax: ‘Yes’ vote repeals 2013 law that increases gas tax with inflation
Yes: 1,068,664
No: 951,247
2.) Bottle Bill: Expands the state’s beverage container recycling law to include all non-alcoholic containers
Yes: 552,142
No: 1,521,728
3.) Casino Law Repeal: Repeals a 2011 law allowing three resort casinos and a slots parlor
Yes: 822,687
No: 1,235,678
4.) Paid Sick Leave: Entitles certain employees to earn and utilize paid sick days
Yes: 1,228,196
No: 835,665

Unofficial Arlington numbers

1.) Eliminating Gas Tax Indexing

YES: 7,433

NO: 11,434

2.) Expanding the Beverage Container Deposit Law

YES: 8,588

NO: 10,729

3.) Expanding Prohibitions on Gaming

YES: 10,686

NO: 8,645

4.) Earned Sick Time for Employees

YES: 13,577

NO: 5,542

HISTORY

Oct. 28, 2014: ARLINGTON CHANGES: Among town registered voters, unenrolled edge Democrats

COMMUNITY PRESERVATION ACT OVERVIEW

Part 1: Differing viewpoints among officials roil Community Preservation Act discussion

Part 2: ANALYSIS: A war of words around Community Preservation Act finances

Part 3: What Community Preservation Act could help pay

Part 4: YourArlington series on Community Preservation Act

OPINION

YourArlington publisher endorses CPA

Advocate endorses CPA

Vice chair of Finance Committee opposes CPA

CAMPAIGN WEBSITES

Vote-no committee | Supporters

Vote-yes committee | Supporters

This story was published Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2014, and updated the next two days as well as to add a link Nov. 10.