Hardwick’s lively town meeting last month has me concerned about what might happen if a petition recently turned in to Town Clerk Tonia Chase passes muster with the select board and then voters.
The petition essentially calls for an Australian ballot vote to decide whether “all public questions, town budget and appropriations” will be voted on by Australian ballot beginning with the next town meeting. It calls for a special meeting to decide the question by Australian ballot.
The Hardwick Select Board will consider how to respond to that petition, and two others, at its meeting this Thursday, April 2, at 6 p.m.
This year’s town meeting drew over 250 people for a spirited example of representative democracy in action. Unfortunately that was just 11% of Hardwick’s 2,333 voters, leaving more than 2,000 voters out of decision-making on the floor of town meeting.
An Australian ballot is a secret ballot and provides an opportunity to vote for those with concerns about publicly sharing their vote for whatever reason.
While Vermont’s Town Meeting Day is a state holiday, it’s not like Thanksgiving or Christmas. Many of those not employed by the state do not have the opportunity to spend hours at a town meeting, but could stop at the polling place to vote before or after work.
Sadly, informational meetings, whether a day or a week before an Australian ballot vote, rarely draw more than a handful or two of voters, losing an important benefit of town meetings for even the small percentage of voters who do attend.
It makes sense to vote by Australian ballot to allow as many as possible to cast a vote; even allowing absentee ballot votes to help with that.
It makes sense to have a town meeting to allow the exchange of ideas and allow the possibility of amending what’s being voted on during the discussion.
As we saw at this year’s Hardwick town meeting, calling for a floor vote, though it does make each person’s vote private, doesn’t bring in any more voters than are attending the town meeting, and, this year, added more than an hour to the process. It’s simply not reasonable to vote that way on all town meeting articles.
What’s the solution? How might Hardwick find a creative way for those who can, to come together as a community to discuss and debate issues, and allow those who can’t to cast a vote too?
The Civic Standard has proven it’s possible to gather a large number of Hardwick residents for an activity, whether it be a concert, karaoke, a play or just a meal.
Could the select board do the same for informational meetings? How many people would show up on a Saturday afternoon for wood-fired pizza, tacos or spaghetti and music before or after doing the community’s and the town’s work of explaining a budget, discussing appropriations or considering the creation of a new town forest?
Even then, amending articles to be voted by Australian ballot won’t be possible.
Short of everyone in the state, except public safety workers and others serving critical roles, what can Hardwick do to bring as much of the community as possible together once a year for spirited conversions like we had at this year’s town meeting and still allow those who are unable to attend to vote?
Let’s challenge each other to be creative and find a way to do that before our town meeting dies an apathetic death.
Paul Fixx, editor
