Conway for Norton, Norton, MA (2026)

03/12/2026

Howdy neighbors -

You know what doesn’t get talked about enough these days? Politics! Speaking of politics…

I’ll be seeking re-election as Town Moderator at our upcoming election on 11 April. I’d love to earn enough of your votes to do this for 3 more years.

As moderator, I wanted to help make local government a bit more accessible and to be fair and impartial regardless of the issue, person, or potential outcome. I feel I have consistently met that mark, and I hope you feel the same. We may disagree but I’ll always treat you fairly and offer help with any motions or amendments you’d like to make. Likewise, being friendly with me isn’t going to help you - you’ll only be subjecting yourself to more terrible jokes and puns!

If you have any questions - about me, the role of moderator, or dang near anything else - fire away.

It’s been a pleasure and an honor to serve as moderator these last three years. I’d like to earn your vote and do it all over again!

Thank you for your consideration,
Jack

02/15/2026

Fellow Nortonians -

After hemming and hawing for way too long a time, I decided to run for Town Moderator again. I really enjoy forcing people to listen to my terrible puns and groan-inducing dad jokes a few times a year. We’ll see how many other folks do!

I need to finish rounding up signatures this week. Please let me know if you’d be willing to sign and we can work out a time that I can swing by.

Thanks for supporting my antics!

Jack
Aka Mr Moderator (at least until April 11!)

01/09/2026

Howdy neighbors!

Your friendly neighborhood Town Moderator here to help spread the word that we have officially entered the second most wonderful time of the year: town election season is now upon us!

The following seats are on this year’s ballot. Please note: incumbents may (or may not) be seeking reelection for any (or all) of these roles.

Town Moderator (1, 3 year term)
Select Board (1, 3 year term)
School Committee (1, 3 year term)
Board of Assessors (1, 3 year term)
Planning Board (2, 3 year terms)
Planning Board (1, 2 year term)

All registered voters in town can run office; there are no additional qualifications required for any of these elected positions.

Some key dates to keep in mind:
- Nomination papers are available at the Town Clerk’s office up to and including Wednesday February 18th.
- Prospective candidates need to return completed nomination papers, with signatures from at least 50 registered Norton voters, by end of day Friday February 20th.
- The Annual Town Election will be held from 8a to 4p on Saturday April 11th at Town Hall, 72 East Main St.

If you have questions, the Town Clerk’s office is the best place to go. Reach them online ([email protected]) or by phone (508-285-0230). Additional information may also be found here: https://www.nortonma.org/town-clerk)

Serving in these capacities is a fantastic way to give back to our community. I hope you’ll consider throwing your hat into the ring - more choices, more gooder!

Stay frosty,
Jack
(aka Mr. Moderator)

10/22/2025

Howdy neighbors!

Your friendly neighborhood Town Moderator here to provide some unofficial* results of the 20th October Fall Town Meeting. We had a rather robust (for Norton) turnout with a bit more than 250 residents in attendance, a run time of just under three hours, and a couple of laughs. Thanks for a great night!

The amazing Norton Media Center already has the meeting uploaded if you’d like to relive the thrills, spills, and chills of parliamentary procedures and civic engagement!
https://youtu.be/Oma0cYjdeZo?si=YKwp8LGqc6a_fx44

With no Special Town Meetings visible on the horizon, the next big get together will likely be Annual Town Meeting next Spring. Until then be safe, be kind, and be engaged!

Awkwardly yours,
Jack
aka Mr Moderator

* The only official results are those that come directly from the Town Clerk’s office. While I’m reasonably confident that our results will match up, best to verify with them if you’d like confirmation.

- Article 1 (pay prior year unpaid bills, 4/5th majority to pass) - passed by a vote of 249-2
- Article 2 (changes to General Bylaws “List of Jobs” and Salary Plan) - passed by majority vote
- Article 3 (additional budget appropriations for FY26) - passed by majority vote
- Article 4 - no action taken
- Article 5 - no action taken
- Article 6 (transfer of funds from Free Cash to Capital Improvements Account) - passed by majority vote
- Article 7 (disbursement from Capital Improvements funds, 2/3rd majority to pass) - passed by a 2/3rd majority vote
- Article 8 (funding of Barrows Court drainage improvements) - passed by majority vote
- Article 9 (allocation from Water Retained Earnings for PFAS treatment efforts) - passed by majority vote
- Article 10 (appropriate funds for water main along Elm Street, 2/3rd majority to pass) - passed by 2/3rd majority vote
- Article 11 (allocation of funds for federally mandated reporting requirements) - passed by majority vote
- Article 12 (expansion of real estate tax exemptions) - passed by unanimous vote
- Article 13 (lowering the age of eligibility for property tax exemptions - passed by unanimous vote
- Article 14 (Water Pollution Abatement Trust Program administrative costs) - passed by majority vote
- Article 15 (amending of Norton Zoning Bylaw) - referred back to Planning Board for further study
- Article 16 (allocation of funds to Compensated Absences Trust Fund) - passed by majority vote
- Article 17 (allocation of funds to “Other Post-Employment Benefits Liability Trust Fund”) - passed by majority vote
- Article 18 (allocation of funds to Stabilization Fund) - passed by majority vote
-fin-

10/05/2025

Howdy neighbors!

It’s your friendly neighborhood town moderator here to help spread the word of our next Town Meeting. Everyone is cordially invited to join the festivities on Monday October 20th at the Norton High School auditorium. Doors usually open by 6:30p and the meeting kicks off at 7p.

Information on what will be voted on can be found here: https://www.nortonma.org/home/pages/warrants-and-town-meeting-information

Some quick reminders:
- Anyone can attend the meeting
- Only those registered as voters in Norton may vote
under state law, remote participation is not allowed; you need to be there in order to have your voice heard and votes tallied
- This is your meeting. Ask questions. Make statements. Advocate for your position.
- However! I do ask that you remember my golden rule: be civil. I still believe it’s possible to disagree without being disagreeable and would love to see that on full display

If you have any questions about the meeting itself, how to do things like make motions or amendments, or the like please ask away in the comments.

Hope to see you on the 20th!

Jack
aka Mr. Moderator

05/14/2025

Howdy neighbors -

It’s time once again for our Annual Town Meeting!

Come join the fun at Norton High, 7pm Monday May 19th. The assembled masses will be taking up such exciting topics as…

The annual operating budget!
The MBTA Community Act zoning!
Zoning Recodification!
And much, much more!

The full warrants for both the Annual and Special can be found here: https://www.nortonma.org/home/pages/warrants-and-town-meeting-information

Hope to see lots of shiny happy faces next week!

Jack
Aka Mr Moderator

03/12/2025

Howdy neighbors -

Your friendly neighborhood moderator here with an update on my recent solicitation for volunteers to join the “Town Manager Screening Committee.” I am deeply appreciative that so many people – 22 responders! – completed the questionnaire and want to take an active role in the search process. It’s a great sign for the level of engagement within the town.

After going through the responses over the weekend (the methodology of which I’ll get into below), I was able to make a selection that I believe is in line with the intent of the Moderator’s appointees: “to broaden the membership base of the committee to be most representative of the demographic and occupational base of the Town.” With that direction in mind, I’m pleased to announce I have appointed the following individuals to serve on this committee:

Carol Bratt
Joe Fernandes
Dinah O’Brien
Sharon Rice

Please join me in wishing them good luck for the task ahead!

While I was able to make these selections, it was an extremely difficult decision to make. Each candidate made a compelling case for their participation and I have no doubt any combination (of which there are 7315) would perform wonderfully. In order to create as fair a process as I could think of, I took the following steps:

* Once the survey was closed, I took the response source file (Google Sheets, like Excel but free) and hid the fields with names and email addresses to anonymize the data.
* Next, I sorted the list by phone number to create a randomized order.
* I then ranked each question’s responses on a scale of 1-10.
* Once complete, I calculated the average score for everyone and sorted highest to lowest.
* Note: the scores were very tightly packed, with less than 2 points separating the highest and lowest average – which I feel is a testament to the strength of the candidates.
* Lastly, I referred back to the self-reported demographic each person would represent in an attempt to not overly represent any particular group.
* At the end, those four individuals were at the top of the list when I revealed the names

I’m happy to field any questions y’all may have.

Again, thank you for wanting to ensure Norton has a bright future under a new Town Manager!

Jack
Aka Mr Moderator

03/06/2025

Howdy neighbors!

The Select Board has called for a Special Town Meeting to take place on Wednesday March 19th 2025 at 7pm in the NHS Auditorium.

Link to the Warrant:https://www.nortonma.org/sites/g/files/vyhlif3606/f/uploads/2025.03.19_stm_warrant_03-19-25_as_posted.pdf

Basic info on what's on the docket:

Article 1 seeks authorization for the town to appropriate, transfer, and/or borrow a sum of money to be used for running sewer along Elm Street and Miller Terrace, from East Main to the former Reed and Barton property at Elm x Cross. (Select Board and Water/Sewer Commission)

Article 2 seeks authorization for the town to appropriate, transfer, and/or borrow a sum of money to be used for a Water/Sewer project at the Cottage Street water tower. (Water/Sewer Commission)

Please reach out to the board(s) with specific questions on these articles, for I am but a humble messenger for the meeting itself.

Hope to see you there!

Jack aka Mr Moderator

03/05/2025

Howdy, neighbors -

Following up from my last post concerning the establishment of the "Town Manager Screening Committee", I'm providing some additional information and a direct link to throw your name into the Goblet of Fire. There's been a great turnout so far! However, my motto is "more participation, more good-er" so I'd love to see that number keep going up and up.

- As Town Moderator, I need to appoint (4) individuals to this committee. Each of the elected boards (plus the Finance Committee) in town will also choose a representative; this includes the Board of Assessors, Planning Board, School Committee, and Select Board. There will be (9) total members of this committee.
- The Town Charter sets my task thusly: "Appointments made by the Town Moderator shall be last in time so that the Moderator may, insofar as it may be feasible, appoint people who will broaden the membership base of the committee to be most representative of the demographic and occupational base of the Town."
- Additionally, at least (3) of my appointments "must not hold any other appointed or elected Town position."
- In full transparency, my likely preference is to have the 4th individual not be someone who holds an elected/FinCom position. I feel it's most important as much of our community finds representation within the (9) committee members

All that said, I’d love for you to take this brief questionnaire: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfOhihhY0_ZxTJLUPvpMHKL6kTcjPTiGnLqrSBbuH8s0-B9-g/viewform?usp=preview

With the level of interest I'm seeing (nearly 30 people as of Tuesday evening!), I've decided to use this format to collect information and inform my decision. This form will stay open until 11:59pm Friday March 7th. I will make my appointments as quickly as I can following this deadline.

If you have any additional questions or any difficulty with this survey, please reach out to me at [email protected].

Are you still reading this??

Jack aka Mr. Moderator

02/28/2025

Howdy neighbors!

Some late breaking news from this evening’s Select Board meeting. As Town Moderator, I apparently have the privilege of appoint (4) residents to the Town Manager search committee! The “bad” news is that the committee needs to be established within the next two weeks so there’s a very small window to conduct my own search for those searchers.

I’m extremely light on details at the moment beyond the two week timeline. However! If you are a daring soul who is interested in learning more, please send an email to [email protected]; please include your name, best way to reach you, and why you’d like to join the search for Norton’s next Town Manager (CV/qualifications can come later).

Unexpectedly yet fondly,
Jack aka Mr Moderator

10/15/2024

Howdy neighbors!

Believe it or not, we are a week away from our next Town Meeting! The fun will be taking place on Monday October 21st at 7pm in the NHS Auditorium.

The warrant should be getting posted at this link very soon: https://www.nortonma.org/home/pages/warrants-and-town-meeting-information

While this shindig lacks the broad interest of the soring’s override-focused get together, there are still a number of important things up for consideration that will benefit from your participation. Based on rumblings around town the three biggest are likely going to be the MBTA Overlay zoning; Elm St sewer; and supplemental budget funding.

Hope you see lots of shiny happy faces!

Jack
Aka your friendly neighborhood moderator

Conway for Norton

03/12/2026

02/15/2026

01/09/2026

10/22/2025

10/05/2025

05/14/2025

03/12/2025

03/06/2025

03/05/2025

02/28/2025

10/15/2024

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