𝐓𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐁𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝: Thank you!

I want to start by thanking every single one of you who showed up to vote in today’s budget referendum. We had 𝟐,𝟑𝟗𝟖 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 cast a ballot—𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟏𝟓% 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 set by the Town Charter. This is a strong show of civic engagement and a sign that the people of Bloomfield are paying attention.

Unfortunately, due to 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 a in the Charter, the budget was not overturned—even though 𝟖𝟏% 𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐍𝐎.

Here’s why:

The Charter requires 𝟏𝟓% 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 (15,305 total voters) to participate for the referendum to count. But it also states that 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫—𝟐,𝟐𝟗𝟔 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞—𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞 “𝐍𝐎” in order to reject the budget. While we had strong turnout and overwhelming opposition, 𝐰𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝟑𝟔𝟐 𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 of that second requirement.

This is 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜. It’s unreasonable and undemocratic to say that both the participation threshold and the actual “NO” votes must reach the same number. That is not how democratic accountability is supposed to work. It’s time to revisit this language in the Charter and fix what is clearly a flawed process.

But that’s not the only concern from today.

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐓𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐇𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐋𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬:

• 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫 was seen at a 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 during active voting hours, asking poll workers if they felt safe. While that might sound harmless, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠, especially during a budget referendum tied to his administration.

• More seriously, a 𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐂𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐤’𝐬 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐥𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐨𝐩, 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐬 from the absentee ballots and polling locations. The Town Manager has no 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬, and should not be anywhere near the counting or handling of results. This crosses serious ethical lines and deserves scrutiny.

• There were also reports that 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐥𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐫 𝐌𝐚𝐡𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐮𝐳𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐦-𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞  of results. This is completely unacceptable. 𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭—𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭, 𝐚 𝐝𝐮𝐭𝐲—𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬. I understand Councilman Mahon recorded video, and I hope that footage will be made public.

⸻

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐍𝐞𝐱𝐭?

We’re not done.

This election revealed not just problems with the Charter language but larger issues about transparency, ethics, and boundaries at Town Hall. This is why the November election is critical. We need a clean slate, real balance, and leaders who understand the boundaries between politics and process.

To the residents who stepped up today: your voice matters. We’re awake now, and we’re not going back to sleep.

More to come.

– Rickford Kirton