‘Relic’ is democracy at its best
Sunday, May 12, 2013
While many relics of our Puritan past have withered into
obsolescence there is one that stands tall in the eyes and hearts of New
Englanders — our venerable Town Meeting, the garden of government where the
seeds of democracy are planted.
Urbanites seem so numbed by government bureaucracies that
they have lost the ability to rub elbows with the individuals who still speak
their minds and vote their hearts. Our towns still allow it. Town Meeting is
not a form of government — it is a legislative body. It is an open and
transparent place to conduct municipal business. Town Meetings are efficient and
will have passed balanced budgets and finished their business by the end of
June. If only our state and national legislatures could be so open.
“Tyranny of the minority” may better describe Congress than
it does the Town Meeting. What good is being “elected” if you are representing
special interests and lobbyists rather than your electorate?
Every eligible voter should attend a Town Meeting this year.
In colonial days Town Meeting attendance was mandatory, but only if you were a
church-going male landowner. Today we usually see a limited proportion of a
town’s voters attend — but they can be any registered voter — man, woman or
atheist. Failure to attend is the choice of citizens who have confidence in
those who do attend. Keep in mind, that small fraction that does attend is far
more representative than any city or town council of a dozen or so politicians.
Accessibility is a virtue of the Town Meeting. A state law dating back
to 1715 allows 10 people to put an issue on the agenda for the meeting. This is
their democratic right, whether the topic deals with water bottles, plastic
bags, zoning changes or barking dogs. True, some Town Meetings get bogged down
in apparently trivial matters. But these are issues that people are passionate
about, and the Town Meeting gives them a forum to convince their neighbors to
follow.
I never cease to be amazed at the quality of discussion from
our townspeople. Elected officials must be prepared to listen. There is always someone
in the hall who has expertise on the subject at hand and asks probing
questions. Avid voters listen. They may arrive uninformed, but when a vote is
called they know to make the right choice. Yes, there are some who come for a
single issue and leave when their vote is taken, but dozens, if not hundreds,
more stay to the end. There are some who do love to pontificate, but a gentle
suggestion from the moderator can let them know they are repeating themselves
and they will yield the microphone.
Town Meetings are embracing technology. Power Point
presentations are easier to understand, cable TV broadcasts the
meetings, and several towns have adopted electronic voting to speed things
along.
As I stated, Town Meeting is not a form of government — it
is the most democratic legislative body.
Replacing the Town Meeting with a town or city council will
not solve any of a town’s political problems. Anyone who thinks the Town
Meeting with its openness can be swapped for a ballot box is living
in serious denial.
Robert H. Saquet is town moderator in Mansfield and
president of the Massachusetts Moderators Association. “As You Were Saying” is
a regular Herald feature.
