To the editor:
The choice of whether to make serious changes to how town meetings are held can be very divisive. Let me share what we went through, in your neighbor Woodbury.
Maybe four years ago, during COVID, two petitions were submitted to the select board, to move to Australian Ballot voting for the budget and election of officers. The meeting was well attended (maybe 100) with good arguments on both sides. Prior to the final vote, a proposal was presented, to widen the discussion by appointing a committee to develop a list of options and survey the entire electorate.
The committee met for several months and came up with an article that was presented at the next regular town meeting. The option chosen was to move town meeting to Saturday. (State law requires town meeting to be held on the first Tuesday in March or any time within the previous three days.)
Results of the survey showed that the most persuasive argument against the Tuesday meeting was that working people can’t always take the day off. Voters approved the change.
This year was our third Saturday meeting. The first two did not result in a much improved attendance, but this year attendance was up a bit, almost filling our school gym. We also hold a pre-town-meeting forum on the previous Thursday evening, which is more informal and has brought in more people each year.
There are still people who would rather not go to an open meeting and would prefer to mark a paper ballot from the comfort of their kitchen table. I personally don’t see how they can decide on a budget number on paper, without having a chance to ask questions or listen to discussion about the issue.
By the way, during Covid-19, there were a couple of elections by mail, and the numbers were somewhat higher than in-person voting but still, not impressive, maybe 300 out of 800 votes. And in those instances, the state paid for the mailing, and it was expensive.
Another thought regarding the identity of voters. In Woodbury, voters are checked in as they arrive at the meeting and given a sticky name tag. Someone at the table checks a name off on the checklist while a second person writes the name on the tag. When there is a paper ballot, people are told to show their name tag. BCA members watch the ballot box and look for the name tags. No further check-off is necessary. No voter fraud.
Just my thoughts: take a breath and do it right. The decision to stop holding open meetings is an important one, not to be done in anger or haste. I love Hardwick and have had a business here for a number of years.
Diana Peduzzi
Woodbury Select Board Member
