I'm neutral on this topic but that won't stop me from making some comments and asking some questions:
First, a few thoughts about comments of younger persons with families. Remember that 80 year olds (ex. Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, etc.) are having babies so don't forget about the older people with young kids! In fact, probably with the exception of our Hanscom residents, the average parent in Lincoln running around with the kids are probably 'older' than the cohort elsewhere (especially compared to Hanscom). Many people in all age brackets are going to have an issue hanging out all day. Older people might have medical issues that preclude them from spending the entire day. Do we know how those ratios changed as the day went on? Maybe the younger people stayed and voted more as the day went on. The most important thing I learned during that day is that Happy Hour starts a lot earlier for some age groups. 😀 Also, do the percentages of people in each demographic that showed up actually roughly hew to the percentages of each demographic overall in Lincoln? I don't know. I'm asking that question out loud. Also, realistically will the 18 to say the 23 or 24 demographic actually be in town for the vote even in March? They will be most likely at college, studying abroad or in some instances serving in the military. They are probably never going to be voting in large numbers unless there is some kind of absentee ballot. So right there you are really looking at a certain demographic that will never be adequately represented. Even worse if you are asking them to leave their studies on a weekday to come and vote. At least on a Saturday there is a more realistic hope of getting them to vote if they are somewhere within a drive of Lincoln. Also, most importantly any committee would also need to understand that the public is not consuming the information that is being put out even online. Andy Payne, who you could argue presents the most important piece of information, which is the money part, admitted that his video got a limited amount of views. Maybe the mailed out information gets more attention but not sure how you could track that and you are not going to be able to send that out in time. We would need to make sure that the information that is put out during the non-voting sessions are actually going to be consumed. By all means, let's continue the conversation but splitting it up to two days presents challenges and you might still end up with the same voters. A lot to think about! On Tuesday, December 12, 2023, Peter Buchthal <pbucht...@gmail.com> wrote: > A town meeting is an all day plus affair which disenfranchises many > younger voters with families and other voters who are unable to attend all > day meetings. > > At our last special town meeting in early December we had 878 voters > check-in with the following distribution of voters by age. > 18-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60-69 70-79 80+ > 2% 5% 14% 16% 23% 24% 16% > > With only 640ish cast ballots for preference votes for the Community > Center and HCA rezoning, we lost 16/% of our checked-in voters as many > didn't stay to participate in both important votes. Please note that only > 21% of the vote is 49 or under. > > > With a poor representation of our younger residents, We need to revamp our > Town Meetings to better engage our 4876 registered voters. Certain votes > require 2/3 of a town meeting and with such poor voter turnout, the power > of a few well organized groups can dominate the decisions of the town > unjustly. > > I propose > 1) The town should purchase electronic voting devices to speed up all town > meetings. At least 60 towns in the commonwealth already successfully use > these devices. I bet we could save at least a couple of hours at each town > meeting by using this proven technology. List of Mass Towns > <https://www.meridiaars.com/electronic-voting-system-in-massachusetts-towns/> > > > 2) We should explore Andy Wang's earlier suggestion of separating the > debate/amend parts of a Town Meeting from the voting part. The town should > create a working group to explore the many different ways to increase voter > participation at Town Meetings. Maybe we can even get this new style of > Town Meeting ready for our March meeting. > > Many towns like Concord have town meetings that last several days and have > even poorer voter participation than ours Concord Town Meeting > Participation > <https://concordma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/43398/TOWN-MEETING-VOTER-PARTICIPATION-1997-2023>. > The working group should explore separating the time consuming parts of a > Town Meeting from the voting part. The first day of the Town Meeting > could work through, amend and debate all contentious warrants up to an > actual vote. At a certain point when a warrant is ready to vote, the > moderator should table the vote until the continuation of the 2nd day of > the town meeting. Information about the 1st day's work will be posted > online with a video that voters would be able to review. The 2nd day of > only voting would be a couple of days after the first and begin at a set > time and be finished hopefully after only spending a couple of minutes per > vote if the Town purchases electronic voting devices. > > Peter Buchthal > Weston Rd > > > > On Tue, Dec 12, 2023 at 9:01 AM Andy Wang <andyrw...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> As of March, according to the election results. >> >> Andy >> >> >> >> >> >> >> On Tue, Dec 12, 2023 at 8:36 AM Garrick Niemiec < >> garrickniemiec...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >>> >>> On Mon, Dec 11, 2023, 9:52 PM Garrick Niemiec < >>> garrickniemiec...@gmail.com> wrote: >>> >>>> 5000 voters are on record >>>> >>>> On Mon, Dec 11, 2023, 9:36 PM Barbara Low <barbara_...@hotmail.com> >>>> wrote: >>>> >>>>> I thought there were about 5000 residents, not voters. >>>>> Does anyone know the actual number of voters? >>>>> >>>>> Sent from my T-Mobile 5G Device >>>>> Get Outlook for Android <https://aka.ms/AAb9ysg> >>>>> ------------------------------ >>>>> *From:* Lincoln <lincoln-boun...@lincolntalk.org> on behalf of Sara >>>>> Mattes <samat...@gmail.com> >>>>> *Sent:* Monday, December 11, 2023 8:22:46 PM >>>>> *To:* Garrick Niemiec <garrickniemiec...@gmail.com> >>>>> *Cc:* Lincoln Talk <lincoln@lincolntalk.org> >>>>> *Subject:* Re: [LincolnTalk] Wow 800 Lincoln folk vote at STM >>>>> >>>>> Most towns do NOT do this. >>>>> Laws which govern Open Town Meeting towns are the determining factors. >>>>> Perhaps all who want to come up with some new concepts should get >>>>> together, like LRHA, and research and propose to the town. >>>>> That would be really instructive and constructive. >>>>> >>>>> March will have a ballot, in addition to the TM vote -to approve the >>>>> $$ for the Community Center. >>>>> One could skip TM and simply vote at the ballot box the following >>>>> Monday. >>>>> >>>>> Again, I urge all who are interested in this issue to form a study >>>>> group and see what options are available. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> ------ >>>>> Sara Mattes >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> On Dec 11, 2023, at 8:09 PM, Garrick Niemiec < >>>>> garrickniemiec...@gmail.com> wrote: >>>>> >>>>> I couldn't disagree more...we need to make voting accessable...time >>>>> for change Sara.. time for change now. Let us vote electronically...all of >>>>> us remotely. C'mon most towns do it now. >>>>> >>>>> New comers including my family all recognize this! >>>>> >>>>> The system is sooo antiquated. >>>>> >>>>> Join us now before the march town meeting fails us again! Again and >>>>> again and again! >>>>> >>>>> As a good friend said at STM we are not spending our money wisely! >>>>> You know that...a school project for 30M turns into 100 M. Driven by >>>>> current Lincoln politics including selects. Yikes! >>>>> >>>>> Now RLF is bankrupt? What's going on here. We're in a tailspin. Any >>>>> ideas? >>>>> >>>>> On Mon, Dec 11, 2023, 6:53 PM Sara Mattes <samat...@gmail.com> wrote: >>>>> >>>>> Garrick, >>>>> Town Meeting is open to all who care enough to attend. >>>>> It not a drive-by! >>>>> When people make noise about wanting a secret ballot at a ballot box, >>>>> there is no evidence that indicates a huge leap in participation! >>>>> I don’t like the way thing unfolded or the (predictable) outcome, but >>>>> it was not because voting was not available tall. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> ------ >>>>> Sara Mattes >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> On Dec 11, 2023, at 5:53 PM, Garrick Niemiec < >>>>> garrickniemiec...@gmail.com> wrote: >>>>> >>>>> 5000 are registered voters...this is NOT the Lincoln way!!! >>>>> -- >>>>> 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. >> >>
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