MARBLEHEAD — If you were unable to attend Marblehead’s 377th annual Town Meeting in person Monday night, chances are you still somehow saw it.

Clips of Town Meeting have garnered more than 2.4 million views circulating on Facebook, Boston 25, Boston.com, X, and Instagram, featuring resident David Modica asking what may become the defining civic question of 2026:

“Are we kinda being pricks? Are we trying to do nothing because it seems like we are doing nothing?”

The viral exchange came during a debate over Article 4, Marblehead’s latest attempt to comply with the state’s MBTA Communities law, also known as 3A zoning.

The proposal — which ultimately passed — creates multifamily housing overlay districts at Tedesco Country Club and along Broughton Road, theoretically allowing up to 897 housing units, including approximately 780 units at Tedesco.

There is, however, one small detail.

Tedesco is currently functioning as a golf course.

Modica bravely stepped to the microphone to seek clarification on what many residents had apparently been wondering but lacked the courage to ask publicly.

“Tedesco, that’s like a golf course?”

Planning Board member Marc Liebman confirmed that, yes, at least the last time he drove by, the property in question was indeed still a golf course.

“You don’t have to get cute,” Modica replied.

“So they’re not gonna build any houses there, because it’s a golf course,” Modica reasoned aloud. “You can’t have houses in the golf course.”

He then appeared to summarize the entire strategy currently being employed by dozens of Massachusetts suburbs:

“This is a way to comply with 3A without doing any of the 3A stuff,” he asked.

To the surprise of many viewers online, officials essentially agreed.

“Yes, it is,” Planning Board Member and 3A zoning liaison Marc Liebman said. “We tried the other way, and it was rejected.”

“We’re preserving, like, the character of Marblehead,” Modica said, while simultaneously wondering whether the town was not really adopting 3A. “It’s selfish, we’re doing a bad thing, like we’re not doing any housing.”

Modica continued: “Are we kinda being pricks?”

Residents watching online reportedly experienced all five stages of zoning grief within approximately 14 seconds.

“I don’t know… are we trying to do nothing? Because it seems like we’re doing nothing,” he added.

He also admitted he was “not an expert on this” and “didn’t even know it was a golf course” because he “hasn’t driven by.”

Nonetheless, experts across Massachusetts agreed he had somehow become the accidental voice of an entire statewide debate over whether towns are genuinely creating housing or simply creatively redefining the concept of “potential capacity.”

The meeting eventually returned to order after Town Moderator Jack Attridge reminded attendees:

“Sir, this is the plan before us tonight. So that’s what we’re voting on.”

“Okay,” Modica responded sarcastically. “I just want to make sure we are voting on nothing substantive, or anything.”

“You aren’t missing anything,” Attridge replied.

The room erupted in applause.

And that applause continued online, Massachusetts-based housing advocate Jonathan Berk posted a video of the exchange on X Monday, which garnered 2.4 million views, saying that Modica’s comments “saw it all.”

Stand-up comedian and actor, Alex Edelman reposed the video, adding, “This man is actually the physical representation of Massachusetts.”

Boston.com also ran a story on Modica’s comments, pointing out that there can still be humor even in a serious situation. 

Board of Health member Tom McMahon also took to Facebook, saying, “Funniest guy in town and I have no idea who he is. He really changed the mood on a painful night.”

And it wouldn’t be a viral situation without a sweatshirt commemorating the event. A resident made a sweatshirt available on Etsy, deemed the Town Meeting Sweatshirt, with the popular question, “Are we being pricks?”