High Turnout as Williamstown Passes Local Tax Exemption

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
Print Story | Email Story
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Sixty-nine percent of registered voters participated in the 2024 election in the Village Beautiful.
 
But the total number of votes fell short of the 2020 total, when Joseph Biden defeated Donald Trump in the presidential race.
 
Election workers late Tuesday evening were confirming the results of balloting that drew 3,506 ballots collected early, through the mail and on Tuesday at Williamstown Elementary School.
 
In addition to the candidates for various offices and five statewide public questions, Williamstown voters had one local question on the ballot. No. 6 sought to confirm a vote at last May's annual town meeting to create a tax exemption for the Community Preservation Act surcharge for low-income residents of any age and seniors of low- or moderate income.
 
That question passed by a margin of 2,177-977.
 
In 2020, Trump and Biden split 3,695 votes in Williamstown, with Biden garnering 85 percent in his successful bid to replace Trump in the White House.
 
Not surprisingly, the Democratic nominee again was the favored candidate in the progressive stronghold.
 
The Kamala Harris-Tim Walz ticket took 2,886 votes to just 484 for the ticket of Donald Trump and J.D. Vance. That gave Harris about 85.6 percent of the vote in the town of 7,400.
 
Democrats also won the down ballot races by sizable margins in Williamstown: U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (2,855-357), U.S. Rep. Richard Neal (2,652-650), state Sen. Paul Mark (2,790-478).
 
The one local office on the ballot, the Mount Greylock Regional School Committee, had three incumbents running unopposed for the three seats up this cycle.
 
Williamstown voters said yes to all but one of the five statewide public questions on the ballot. Question 4, which sought to legalize psychedelic substances, was rejected by local voters by a relatively narrow margin, 1,933-1,414 (58 percent opposed).
 
Two other statewide questions passed with similar splits.
 
Question 2, which sought to remove passing the MCAS standardized test as a requirement for a high school diploma, was favored locally by a vote of 1,962-1,400 (58 percent in favor). Question 5, which sought to raise the minimum wage for tipped workers, was favored, 1,822-1,510 (55 percent in favor).
 
Of those 3,506 votes tallied on Tuesday, 1,803 were cast on Election Day at the elementary school.
 
Town Clerk Nicole Beverly reported that voters requested 1,998 mail-in ballots, of which 1,234 were completed and mailed back to town hall. An additional 469 voters voted in person during the early voting period. The 1,703 early and mailed-in votes accounted for 49 percent of the total votes cast in the town.

Tags: CPA,   election 2024,   


If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Williams College Addressing New Bias Incidents

iBerkshires.com Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – Saying the college has to “resist hatred in all its forms,” the president of Williams Monday informed the campus community of recent bias incidents at the school.
 
Maud Mandel sent a college-wide email to provide details on the incidents, talk about how affected students are being supported and point out that the college’s code of conduct will be brought to bear on any members of the student body found to be responsible.
 
The recent incidents appear to be targeting both Jewish and Black students at the school.
 
“In one case, a table painted with the U.S. and Israeli flags was placed outside on the Frosh Quad,” Mandel said, referring to an area bounded by two residence halls that abut Park Street . “Over several days the table was repeatedly flipped over and damaged. It was eventually defaced with graffiti that read, ‘Free Palestine,’ ‘I love Hamas,’ ‘F— Zionists,’ ‘Colonizers,’ ‘F— AmeriKKKa’ and ‘Don't claim rednecks.’ “
 
The Star of David was crossed out on an Israeli flag at the table, and the table itself was repeatedly damaged by vandals, Mandel wrote.
 
Her email also referenced a series of reports earlier this semester involving the harassment of Black students on Main Street (Route 2), which runs through the middle of campus.
 
“[On] several occasions this semester, people in cars have yelled the N-word and other racial slurs at Black and other students crossing Route 2,” Mandel wrote. “During one of those incidents a person in the car also threw an empty plastic bottle at the students. Route 2, the main public thoroughfare through campus, has been a site of similar incidents in past years.”
 
View Full Story

More Williamstown Stories