February 2025

Updated 18 February 2025

That was…a lot. 

Last night’s meeting, which should have been the celebration of a big step forward in building the NE library, ended in shock, tears, and disappointment. 

After an amazing presentation by the architectural firm hired to assess community needs and design the library everyone has been waiting for, Robert Judge once again showed his true colors when he made a motion to postpone the decision indefinitely. As you might imagine, the room erupted in outrage.

I will be posting a highlight reel later, but for now, you can watch or listen to what happened at the links above.

After three hours of debate, the end result was that several board members expressed interest in getting “more information” on the building costs (this, despite four years and two committees’ worth of date at hand), and they voted 5-2 to pass Judge’s motion. Library Director Danny Gillane says he will have the requested information within two days, and Board President Daniel Kelly says he will convene a special meeting as early as possible in order to hold the vote as planned. 

The only problem is no one actually believes them anymore.

Voting in favor of indefinite postponement: Robert Judge, Ella Arsement, Erasto Padron, Alan Moore, and Eric Bacquet. Voting against: Rena Bradley and Daniel Kelly.

I do want to give a short discussion about the nature of the motion Judge proposed: to “postpone indefinitely.” He argued throughout and even after the meeting that the name was something of a misnomer; that it was, procedurally, the only motion he could have made in the given circumstances. This is not only categorically wrong (the board’s own bylaws give them the right to deviate from Robert’s Rules at any time), but it was also just wrong. Motions to postpone indefinitely are discussed in Robert’s Rules in § (Section) 11. It says:

11.1 Postpone Indefinitely is a motion that the assembly decline to take a position on the main question. It’s adoption kills the main motion (for the duration of the session) and avoids a direct vote on the question.

Further,

11:2-2 Can be applied only to the main question and can therefore be made only while a main question is immediately pending.

In other words, there has to be a motion on the floor, and then this subsidiary motion can be applied. The motion to postpone indefinitely cannot be made on its own. No one on the committee had made a motion to accept any one of the three library building options, and so therefore, Judge’s motion was incorrectly made from the beginning.

Of course, we all know why Robert Judge did what he did. It wasn’t about “more data” or even fiscal prudence. It was to invoke a response – to revel in the heartbreak of the people in the audience when he said the word “indefinitely.” As he’s done numerous times in the past, Judge pulled this stunt to infuriate the public, so that he could sit back and revel in the chaos while achieving his goal of maximum disruption and minimum progress.