If there’s a town policy you’ve been wanting to change, here’s your chance.
Concord’s Town Meeting warrant opens at 9 a.m. on January 17 and closes at 4 p.m. on February 19. Citizens wishing to submit a petition can find more information on the town website, concordma.gov, and send proposed articles to [email protected].
Petitions require 10 voter signatures, but more are suggested in case there’s an issue with a signatory.
Town Clerk Kaari Mai Tari advises petitioners to speak with town employees for help.
“If you have a petition article that you’re going to have a committee weighing in on, you want to get their input,” she said. “If there is something that you can do to amend your article, that [could] go a long way to getting your article passed at Town Meeting.”

Though state law requires all petition articles to be included on the warrant, if they don’t meet local or state requirements, that information would be presented on the Town Meeting floor. “It’s important to word it in a way that when it gets to Town Meeting floor, it will actually accomplish what the petitioner wants to accomplish,” Tari said.
The appropriate boards hold public hearings and votes on whether or not to support articles. The information is presented at Town Meeting.
The deadline for unregistered residents to register to vote at Town Meeting is 5 p.m. on Friday, May 23.
— Christine M. Quirk
