You are correct- this issue comes up every time there is a hot issue(s) on the Warrant. But, to date, no one has done the serious work to explore options. We are are a town of volunteers, so I urge all who are interested to explore the state constitution and all Town legal docs to see if and how you could achieve these goals. Create a 21st century League of Women Voters, which, in Lincoln always included men.
Have a great holiday. Dig into turkey, the dig into the research. And then, let’s talk turkey! Sent from my iPad On Nov 21, 2023, at 4:59 PM, Michael Dembowski <mjdembow...@gmail.com> wrote:
Andy- THANK YOU - I wholly applaud your email and thoughts here as many Lincolnites would welcome such changes. Town Meeting is archaic to the point of being exclusionary and disenfranchising - as many point out, it is not in step with modern life.
In our household, work and family commitments on Town Meeting Days prevent participation by necessity. A refresh on the format would reinvigorate the forum, allowing for the possibility of much broader participation.
Imagine no postings, discussion or suggestion that decisions were made by the select few who could be physically present for such a length of time.
This can't be the first time these ideas have been raised. What has prevented action in the past and how can any proposed suggestions gain traction and then be implemented?
Michael Dembowski Conant Road
Unfortunately, there are specific rules that govern an Open Town Meeting like Lincoln that do not allow for matters that are decided at Town Meeting to be replaced by a traditional ballot vote. Given that the March 2024 meeting will cover two "Hot Topic" Issues, the bonding for the Community Center and the HCA rezoning, this one I assume is going to be a doozy. And that's on top of all the other typical yearly business of the town (presentations, budget, etc).
I believe there is a possible mechanism to be more inclusive, if the Town and Moderator decide to:
I propose that we hold Town Meeting in two sessions.
Session A: Presentations, Debate & Amendments only. Views are presented, debate to be had, and any amendments are to be discussed and voted on. The meeting would be live, streamed, & recorded. The recording would be made available for download after the meeting so people who were not able to attend could catch up on all of the debate, or just educate themselves on the issues that are of import to them. The moderator could then simply adjourn the meeting without vote (on the actual question). They have this power in general for cases when meetings run late and can re-convene at a later date, provided that date is before the ballot vote.
Caveats: - Anyone attending on-line would NOT be able to pose questions / make statements, this violates the rules of Town Meeting, you must be present to be recognized - Anyone not attending in person would not be able to vote on any amendments - All questions would need to be called, which closes debate
Session B: Voting. This would occur on the last Saturday before the last Monday in March as required by the town by-laws. Assuming people have been to Session A or downloaded and reviewed the material that is relevant to them, we now have a population of well-informed voters who can come in and just knock out the votes in succession (the question would have already "been called" in Session A, which closes further debate). This format would be much easier for parents to allow a smaller fixed period of time to vote on issues and anyone else with a busy schedule.
The actual text of the by-law timing is here:
"The Annual Town Meeting shall be held on the Saturday before the last Monday in March in each
year at 9:30 A.M. for the transaction of all business except that the election of officers and the
determination of such matters as by law are required to be elected or determined by ballot shall take
place on the last Monday in March, when the polls shall be open from 7:30 A.M. until 7:00 P.M., or
to such later time up to 8:00 P.M. as the Moderator may determine, provided, however, that whenever
the date for the Annual Town Meeting, as hereby established, falls on the Saturday before Easter
Sunday, the Annual Town Meeting shall be held on the preceding Saturday, although the Election and
ballot questions hereinabove described shall still be held on the last Monday in March."
Not covered in this: - Military / Reserve duty votes are still not able to be counted - Foreign nationals that live in town, and even those that live in town and own property that would be impacted can not vote - Proxy voting is not allowed
Unfortunately, those would require many more changes, but I believe we can do a two session Town Meeting under current guidelines.
Of course, Town Council would have to review, but I believe this is in the realm of the possible. NH has specific rules that allow for this, but I do not believe that there are rules that preclude it in MA. And if there are rules, I would propose that we change the by-laws to support this structure. I believe this would make town meeting more accessible to a wider range of town people and more representative of the desires of the Town.
Sorry...that ended up longer than I intended. I'll save my musing about electronic voting and other efficiencies for another opportunity....
- Andy
Also, I apologize for writing students instead of kids in a sentence below — my work brain was apparently still functioning!
Katy Babysitting has been offered recently.
Respectfully, however, it’s not something that all parents can utilize. Not all kids will be comfortable in a large group babysitting setting where they don’t know the adults/babysitters. It’s not a great setting for babies/toddlers who are napping (if they even take babies — I think it may be school-age only). I also assume there is no medical staff so students requiring a nurse can’t go (I may be wrong on that one).
As a working parent who works in a public school and ends up at lots of night meetings, I don’t want to spend my whole Saturday away from my kids. Although these meetings are not that often, it actually does feel more often than I would have expected. With a military partner, we often can’t even send one of us to these meetings without paying for a private babysitter (if we can find one).
I share all this just to point out that this kind of babysitting isn’t necessarily a solution for all and there are many of us who want to participate but can’t given the length and timing of these meetings. Given this, any votes that happen at these meetings likely are not representative of the town as a whole. I realize that town meeting structure is a state issue, not something that we can change on our own, but I think it’s worth noting.
Also — I’ve seen many people tout the benefits of hearing the discussion at town meeting before a vote. Given that’s it’s 2023 and we can all share our thoughts in advance online, in videos, and via email, I don’t think that’s a key outcome (for me at least) anymore.
Best, Katy Hogue It always has been hard for people with young children. They used to have babsitting. Do they still?
It is a big chunk of time. But it's not that often in comparison to the hours and hours that volunteer town officials put in.
Guess it can be seen as the price of democracy?
Joan (former LWV president)
Being new to town I’m not terribly familiar with the town meeting process. I will note however that for those of us with time consuming responsibilities (in our case small children) it may be challenging to attend a lengthy meeting despite caring deeply about the issues and doing our best to stay informed. Just a comment, I may be missing something about how this works.
Best regards to all Rob Haslinger S Great Road Hi All,
I also agree that this should be a ballot item. If we can vote for a new school by ballot, why can’t we use the same process to vote for other extremely important town changes - ones that will impact our everyday living here and our taxes?
Respectfully, Margo Fisher-Martin
A town wide secret ballot would be a great idea to make sure a wider audience gets their voice represented.
I also encourage anyone not familiar with the proposed rezoning options to visit this website to gain a better understanding of the magnitude of the proposed changes and Lincoln’s uniquely impacted position.
LincolnHCA.org
Sarah Postlethwait
Part of the discussion at last weeks planning board meeting is noteworthy, but has not been mentioned here.
There was substantial discussion, maybe even consensus, on a none of the above option. Even a planning board member and some of the “working group“ were in favor.
Yet when the vote came up for a warrant article, that was not mentioned.
Another part of the discussion was the fact that town meeting determination is “skewed“ by attendance and timing. I have observed this to be absolutely true.
It is my belief that something which will so radically transform our community should be voted on in some form by secret ballot. It is also my belief that that will never happen.
Tom Kennedy
--
The LincolnTalk mailing list.
To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org.
Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/.
Change your subscription settings at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln.
The LincolnTalk mailing list.
To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org.
Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/.
Change your subscription settings at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln.
The LincolnTalk mailing list.
To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org.
Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/.
Change your subscription settings at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln.
The LincolnTalk mailing list.
To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org.
Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/.
Change your subscription settings at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln.
The LincolnTalk mailing list.
To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org.
Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/.
Change your subscription settings at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln.
The LincolnTalk mailing list.
To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org.
Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/.
Change your subscription settings at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln.
The LincolnTalk mailing list.
To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org.
Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/.
Change your subscription settings at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln.
|
