Gloucester City Council preserves mail-in voting for April 24 special election

GLOUCESTER -- February 11, 2025, Gloucester City Council keeps mail-in voting intact for its April 24 special election referendum. Meeting Tuesday, the council voted 6-0 to take no action on suspending vote-by-mail, leaving it automatically available, after City Clerk Grace Poirier detailed that processing mail ballots cost the city approximately $8,500 in staff labor for the September 2024 election and $14,000 in November, with a substantial share of those hours spent on ballots that were never returned. The council also voted 6-0 to send a non-binding recommendation to the Board of Registrars that it "positively affirm" early voting for the same election, which falls on a Thursday during school vacation week; the registrars were set to meet the following morning. In other business, the council unanimously approved a $154,050 Massachusetts Executive Office of Elder Affairs formula grant for the Rose Baker Senior Center and two $500 anti-vaping startup grants for middle and high school Youth Leadership Councils, and passed an amendment to the city's short-term rental ordinance allowing owner-occupants who rent a shared unit inside their home to register a separate second short-term rental unit.