To the editor:
Town meeting can be described in many ways, most of them positive. But don’t call it a representational democracy. In Paul Fixx’s editorial in last week’s Hardwick Gazette, he describes Hardwick’s town meeting as a “spirited example of representational democracy,” and with no hint of irony, in the following sentence he declares that only 11% of Hardwick’s voters were in attendance. In his final sentence, he chalks up the lack of attendance to apathy, which I personally find insulting.
Here’s who was not represented at town meeting: People who are immobile (I was in this category due to a surgery), people who live paycheck-to-paycheck and can’t afford to take a day off, people who have a job that does not provide paid leave, people who have paid leave but would prefer to use it in another way, people who travel for work or are on vacation, people with no mode of transportation, people who don’t have the capacity to sit in a meeting of indeterminate length (this is not apathy!). The voting venue itself only holds 15% of Hardwick’s voters. Presumably if more than 15% showed up they would have been turned away.
Those lucky enough to be in attendance voted for a budget that included funding an equity committee. If we are genuinely interested in equity, the top priority for this committee should be working with the secretary of state to figure out how to get a ballot in the hand of every registered voter in Hardwick, including those who have been disenfranchised due to an antiquated (obsolete?) mode of casting a vote.
Patrick Larsen
East Hardwick
