EAST BRIDGEWATER — September 28, 2026 — Town counsel told the Select Board on Monday that the attorney general is likely to hold, as it has before, that town meeting cannot use a bylaw to direct town officials, a problem for the petitioned surveillance technology bylaw that leads the Oct. 7 special town meeting warrant. Counsel John Clifford also said the town has already decided to discontinue the camera technology.
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Article 1 is a petitioned general bylaw governing surveillance technology, and it needs a majority vote. Town counsel, John Clifford, reviewing the warrant with the board, said a written opinion on the article has been posted online and takes no position for or against the technology. The attorney general’s office reviews every bylaw before it takes effect, counsel said, and has taken the position that town meeting, as the legislative body, cannot direct town officials to act. Clifford called that ruling very likely here.
You know, at this point, the town has made the decision to discontinue this technology. Now, we have a contract, and we’re going to have to work through some legal issues with that.
—John Clifford, Town Counsel, Clifford & Kenny LLP 37:17
Clifford said the town offered weeks ago to meet with the petitioners and would still meet with them. If the body wants a vote, he said, it should hold one. Amendments should be submitted in writing before the meeting, Clifford advised, so their scope can be judged; one reaching beyond what the mailed warrant described would deprive voters of notice.
Town Administrator Charlie Seelig said a search of the attorney general’s database that afternoon turned up no determination yet on any bylaw covering automated license plate readers. Chair Carole Julius suggested East Bridgewater could become the test case. A speaker in the room countered that bylaws on mass surveillance equipment already exist and that the cameras are mass surveillance.
Article 2, a zoning bylaw prohibiting data centers, requires a two-thirds vote. The Town Administrator’s understanding is that the Planning Board, meeting the previous Monday, did not recommend the article and expects to bring another version to a future town meeting. A resident disputed that account, saying the Planning Board would not recommend the article if a moratorium was not going to be voted on, and otherwise planned to pass it over. A vote to pass over has the same effect as voting the article down, Seelig replied. Some residents want amendments to strengthen the prohibition, and those should also arrive in writing early.
Clifford urged voters to consider passing something now. An executive order from the governor places limits on data centers, including an explicit requirement that the municipality approve them, but it came after the bylaw was drafted. With at least 90 days for the Attorney General’s review, he said, waiting for the spring annual town meeting would leave the town without a bylaw for about a year. Seelig said six to eight communities have passed data center zoning bylaws in the last month and a half.
