Canadian Press
Could New England’s town council be weakened by an epidemic?
Midlex, Vs. – For centuries the town meeting has been a major part of life in New England – but the coronavirus epidemic could spur a departure from tradition where people gather to discuss everything from the purchase of local road equipment to a multi-million dollar budget. Suppressing social issues. The premise of the town meeting is to bring everyone together in the same room – sometimes literally the townhall, sometimes the school arena – until voters decide on local issues. Restrictions on individual gathering imposed by the epidemic make it impossible. The virus, hopefully, will be under more control until some communities are delaying meetings this year. Others are using pre-printed ballet to set deadlines, leave the whole day’s discussion together. Some people worry that even after life becomes normal, there are still temporary chores. “If people think this is a new model, I will be very disappointed because it will move us completely away from the good of the town council, which is an opportunity to get together with our fellow voters, to hear directly from our elected officials, to challenge them. To discuss budget and public issues at the assembly meeting, ”said Jim Douglas, a former Vermont government official who served as moderator for 33 years in his hometown of Middlebury. But others face the challenge of getting people together during a town meeting, virus or no, restricting the number of people who can attend. In Vermont, where the traditional Town Meeting Day – the first Tuesday in March – is a holiday, the state this year empowered cities to determine local issues with only pre-printed ballots. Most of the towns that have chosen the option held remote informative meetings to help voters make informed decisions. In Middlesex, Vermont, voters will vote Tuesday on a criterion that, if approved, would require the city to continue with a pre-printed ballot to determine everything – from allocations for the local library to payments for social events – but the city budget. Vic Dwyer, a longtime Middlesex resident who supports the move, said it would allow more people to vote. “The issue is that a lot of people feel they can’t ask any questions in town meetings,” said Dwyer, who is running for a Middlesex select board meeting this year. “It gives people the opportunity to participate in democracy and vote from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. But others think it will take something away from the process. “We need a face-to-face, empowered discussion,” said Middlesex Town Meeting moderator Susan Clark. Vermont Secretary of State Jim K. Condos said it takes no place on the choices that towns make about their meetings, but they understand why some are pushing for change. Many are unable to attend traditional town meetings, which last all day. “They can live in one city and work in another and the time is hard,” he said. “Their children, school, whatever it is, can interfere with their lives. It’s not like it was 100 years ago. “In Maine, the epidemic last year removed town seats for more than 100 people who planned meetings during the spring in 6,486 municipalities in the state. Thanks to an emergency order from the governor, many Maine towns are set to make decisions this year using secret ballot. Eric Conrad of the Maine Municipal Association said more people voted in secret than in previous traditional town meetings. “It’s lost democracy, but the partnership is better,” he said. While European immigrants will eventually become the six states of New England, in a synagogue, usually in the church, and all local questions will be decided. Rhode Island.Douglas, former governor of Vermont, said that over the centuries locals have shifted power to groups of “men of choice” and the system has evolved, with some communities now using representative town seats where locals Co is elected to represent their neighbors Other communities use a combination of floor debates, votes and pre-printed ballots for a variety of issues In large communities, voters already determine issues with a pre-printed ballot. In Massachusetts, where some are first in New England. Town councils were established in the 1630s, according to the office fees of Secretary of State William Galvin, with 300 of the 351 municipalities continuing to hold town councils. Last year, Massachusetts legislators allowed cities to postpone their annual town meetings until the summer, which enabled many more. Keep them out after the initial virus growth has subsided. In New Hampshire, traditional town meetings are held on the second Tuesday in March. The March Town meeting in Hannicker was postponed until June and then to July, when voters were scattered throughout the school. This year, Hennicker officials decided to move forward with the March 13 meeting, in which voters walked as far as possible in the arena. “I hope he will endure. If we continue to keep things like this, I think we will have to re-examine the situation, but I hope this is a once in a lifetime affair and we can get back to normal, ‘said Hannicker city moderator Cordell Johnston. “At that stage, the question is whether town meeting is a viable way to run a town and I think for most cities, it is.” Reporters from the Associated Press in Portland, Maine, Stoneheim, Massachusetts, Mama Phil Marcelo and Concorde, New Hampshire, contributed to this report. ___ This story corrects Cordell Johnston, not Cordell Johnstone, as the spelling of Hernickar Town moderator’s name. Wilson Ring, Associated Press
