Wayland special town meeting votes on $1.2 million union contract transfer

WAYLAND — December 6, 2023 — Wayland holds rare single-article special town meeting on $1.2M union contract transfer. Petitioner Alana Weiner moved to transfer $994,664 for the Wayland Teachers Association and $194,460 for the Wayland Educational Secretaries Association from the town's $1.8 million salary settlement reserve, covering the first year of contracts retroactive to July 1, 2023. Select Board member Tom Fay delivered the board's unanimous opposition, calling the meeting "costly, time-consuming" and estimating it cost taxpayers more than $10,000, though he stressed "this is not about our support of teachers and staff." The Finance Committee voted 4-1 against the article just before gavel-in, Co-Chair Pam Roman said. A floor amendment by Steve Glovsky to strike the teachers' $994,664 and fund only support staff failed on a show-of-cards vote. New Moderator Miranda Jones, the town's first woman elected to the role, ran the meeting on paper secret ballots after the Select Board declined electronic voting for a one-article warrant.