MARBLEHEAD — The highly anticipated Town Meeting kicked off Monday night with approximately 1,400 residents ready to make their voice and their vote heard.

The balanced budget, advancing the override to the ballot in June, and 3A zoning all passed, but not without healthy debate.

The most talked-about warrant articles were posed front and center because of an amendment by Matt Hooks, co-chair of For Marblehead, to Article 1, to take the articles out of order. The amendment passed 1,023 to 225 with a total of 1,248 votes cast.

Hooks said he encouraged residents to approve the motion so that Articles 22 and 23, which are regarding the budget override strategy, can be heard first, and the community can hold a full conversation regarding the articles.

Sarah Fox, who is running for the School Committee, raised concerns about not meeting quorum for the remainder of the meeting.

Fox said all business done at Town Meeting is “necessary to make our town run. And when we move around the order, that really jeopardizes quorum, which makes us unable to get our town business done.”

Fox said that, in previous years, going through popular issues encouraged attendance; it did not facilitate a consistent quorum.

Finance Committee Chair Alec Goolsby proposed a vote on Article 23, the balanced budget.

This was especially important because it posed severe cuts across the town and schools in order to close the $7.7 million gap.

The proposal included the elimination of roughly three dozen positions spanning municipal departments and schools, the closure of the library, and the elimination of departments across town.

Jack Buba, a member of the Marblehead Liberty Foundation, questioned the use of funds. He asked where the allocation for the high school roof project went since the project came in $2.6 million under budget.

“You need to come in at the $2 million level because that’s what we voted for,” he said.

Michael Pfifferling, assistant superintendent of Finance & Operations for the schools, said that the bids for the roof came in under budget.

“Just give us the $2 million back,” Buba said. “It’s not contingency. It’s our savings.”

Kate Thompson, co-chair of For Marblehead, called for a yes vote on the balanced budget. The balanced budget had to be approved before the consideration of overrides.

John DiPiano and James Full then raised concerns about using raised hands to vote, because there was no one counting votes by walking up and down the aisles, and people were less likely to vote how they truly feel because their vote would be public to the community.

DiPiano and Full wanted to know why it was ethical to use hand votes for the procedural and budget votes when every voter was issued a Meridia ARS keypad, also known as a clicker, capable of recording a secret ballot during check-in.

Town Moderator Jack Attridge responded, saying that the use of the keypad was up to the discretion of the town moderator and was his “latitude.”

DiPiano said, “So your latitude allows the mob to just say, ‘We go to a handbook when it benefits us?’”

“Why the hell do we have these stupid clickers?” he said, adding, “We’re pushing overrides; we’re pushing Prop 2½ — and we’re going to go back to the hand count?”

Article 29 proposed the override vote. Chair of the Select Board Dan Fox proposed a three-tier override structure beginning with Tier 1, the lowest financial commitment, a $9 million override over three years, described as a partial restoration of cuts already made. Tier 2 and Tier 3 build from there, adding further restorations, public safety staffing, school technology, and capital investments.

The vote authorizes the Select Board to place override questions on the June ballot and approve contingent appropriations tied to those options. Advancing the override to the ballot passed with 1,227 in favor and 159 against, with a total of 1,386 votes. The clicker was used for this vote.

“I want to be very clear here: A no vote tonight means the cuts that we are outlining will go into effect July 1. These are real people, real services, as many of us depend on in this town,” Fox said.

The community was not voting on the tiers but rather voting on whether the Select Board should advance the override proposal to the ballot in June. An override vote has not been passed in Marblehead since 2005.

While many people spoke in favor of the override, some criticized property assessments, stating that there is no formula for the assessments, and many houses allegedly come in much lower than they should be assessed at. This impacts available funding through Prop 2½. If properties are underassessed, there is less tax revenue to support the town.

Hundreds of people left Town Meeting immediately following the override vote, causing Attridge to raise concerns about meeting the 300-person quorum.

This was a stark contrast to the following vote on Article 4, the 3A multifamily overlay district, which only had 963 total votes. The article passed 881-82. Following this vote, another mass exodus ensued, when 347 people left, causing Attridge to, again, remind voters of the quorum.

Article 4 creates a new 3A-Multi-family overlay district made up of Tedesco Country Club, including its parking lot, which makes up the Tedesco Subdistrict. It also creates the Broughton Road subdistrict.

Together, the two areas provide 897 housing units, which is a requirement of the town. The Tedesco subdistrict has space for 780 units.

A resident asked if the Tedesco Country Club has agreed to the project.

Planning Board member Marc Liebman responded, saying that Tedesco has agreed and will remain the owner of the subdivision, not a mandate to build. Tedesco will have the ability to build on the property should they choose.

Editor’s note: This was the information available as of press time.

Residents line up to check in for the 377th annual Town Meeting in Marblehead Monday evening.

Marblehead VFW Post Commander Ronny Knight recites the Pledge of Allegiance before Town Meeting Monday night.

Resident wait for the 377th annual Marblehead Town Meeting to get underway Monday night.

Marblehead Town Moderator Jack Attridge gets the 377th annual Town Meeting underway.

State Rep. Jenny Armini speaks during Marblehead Town Meeting.

A woman knits to pass the time during Marblehead’s Town Meeting Monday night.

A Marblehead resident uses an electronic clicker to cast a vote during Town Meeting.

A Marblehead resident uses an electronic clicker to cast a vote during Town Meeting.

A woman knits to pass the time during Marblehead’s Town Meeting Monday night.

Walter Casey asks a question about the town’s revenue during Marblehead’s annual Town Meeting Monday night.

Marblehead resident Jack Buba expresses concerns with the school budget during Marblehead’s annual Town Meeting Monday night.

More than 1,200 residents turned out for the 377th annual Town Meeting in Marblehead Monday night, a majority of which voted in favor of the proposed budget in Article 23.

More than 1,200 residents turned out for the 377th annual Town Meeting in Marblehead Monday night, a majority of which voted in favor of the proposed budget in Article 23.

More than 1,200 residents turned out for the 377th annual Town Meeting in Marblehead Monday night, a majority of which voted in favor of the proposed budget in Article 23.

Marblehead residents learn about the proposed override in Article 29 of Town Meeting Monday night.