Re: [LincolnTalk] "The Town" isn't deciding anything on Dec 2-Note on Town Process.

2023-11-29 Thread Sara Mattes 
All,
The school vote was culminated in a ballot vote, as will be the Community 
Center.
All bond issues require a ballot vote, the Monday after Town Meeting.
Votes on zoning take place inside the Town Meeting…much more inclusive today 
than during our earliest days.
Then, it was a select few white male property owners.
We have made progress!

Cheers,
Sara

--
Sara Mattes




> On Nov 29, 2023, at 10:36 AM, Fuat Koro  wrote:
> 
> Thanks Rachel.  The low participation bothers me as well especially as we're 
> looking at ways in which we can be more inclusive.
> 
> The heavily discussed/widely communicated topic like the school building had 
> 18% voter participation. (~900 voters  out of 5000 as you mentioned.). 
> 
> As a reference, the 2022 state primary and the 2020 presidential election had 
> 32% and 86% turnout of the voters in Lincoln respectively. I'm not comparing 
> the importance of local topics vs. state/national elections, but from a 
> process/accessibility standpoint, town meeting does depress voter turnout to 
> levels that are hard to call representative of the overall number of voters.
> 
> I know there have been some suggestions to improve our participation. And I'm 
> fully supportive of taking a more creative approach despite the state-lwvel 
> constraints.
> 
> These are my own views.  I am not speaking on behalf of any of the town 
> committees I sit on.
> 
> Fuat Koro
> 
> On Wed, Nov 29, 2023, 5:34 AM Rachel Drew  > wrote:
>> Lynne Smith wrote yesterday: "We will all meet on December 2nd to make the 
>> best choice we know how to make for Lincoln's future".(emphasis added). This 
>> is not accurate. Only those residents privileged enough to be able to take 
>> the better part of their day off from work, family responsibilities and 
>> other personal priorities will be in attendance on December 2nd. Based on 
>> historical counts of Town Meeting (TM) attendance (which are published in 
>> the Annual Town Reports), on average less than 400 residents attend the 
>> regularly scheduled TM in March - or about 8% of the voting-age population 
>> in town. A special TM like the one on December 2nd may draw more residents 
>> due to its hotly-debated topics (for reference, the special TM in June 2018 
>> on the school options drew around 900 people, following a long and 
>> well-advertised campaign to get residents to attend), but may also exclude 
>> more residents since its timing and agenda were not known far enough in 
>> advance that all residents could plan it around their other commitments. 
>> Either way, it only takes half of those in attendance to approve most 
>> warrant articles, so it is likely that less than 5% of voting-age residents 
>> will determine the path forward on the Community Center, Common's expansion, 
>> and the HCA zoning this Saturday.
>> 
>> I'm not offering an opinion on Town Meeting as good or bad, legitimate or 
>> rigged - it is our form of governance in Lincoln, and whether you love it or 
>> hate it, it is how Lincoln decides most of the important issues in town. I'm 
>> only asking that we be honest when we talk about what a Town Meeting is - a 
>> chance for an unrepresentative* minority of the population to come together 
>> and debate topics of importance for the town, then make a decision based on 
>> their preferences and perceptions of what is best for the rest of us. No 
>> vote on Saturday will tell us anything about 'the will of the town', so 
>> let's please stop perpetuating this false narrative. 
>> 
>> (full disclosure - I am a member of the HCAWG and the Lincoln Housing 
>> Commission, though my comments above are made as an individual resident of 
>> Lincoln and do not reflect the views of either group. I will also be out of 
>> town on a long-planned trip on December 2nd).
>> 
>> *For more information on the demographics of Massachusetts TM attendance 
>> relative to general populations, please see this article, which includes 
>> Lincoln as one of its case studies:  
>> https://www.townofsharon.net/sites/g/files/vyhlif3801/f/pages/survey_of_engaged_tm_04_01_2020.pdf
>> 
>> Rachel Drew
>> -- 
>> 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.

Re: [LincolnTalk] "The Town" isn't deciding anything on Dec 2

2023-11-29 Thread Fuat Koro 
Thanks Rachel.  The low participation bothers me as well especially as
we're looking at ways in which we can be more inclusive.

The heavily discussed/widely communicated topic like the school building
had 18% voter participation. (~900 voters  out of 5000 as you mentioned.).

As a reference, the 2022 state primary and the 2020 presidential election
had 32% and 86% turnout of the voters in Lincoln respectively. I'm not
comparing the importance of local topics vs. state/national elections, but
from a process/accessibility standpoint, town meeting does depress voter
turnout to levels that are hard to call representative of the overall
number of voters.

I know there have been some suggestions to improve our participation. And
I'm fully supportive of taking a more creative approach despite the
state-lwvel constraints.

These are my own views.  I am not speaking on behalf of any of the town
committees I sit on.

Fuat Koro

On Wed, Nov 29, 2023, 5:34 AM Rachel Drew  wrote:

> Lynne Smith wrote yesterday: "We will *all *meet on December 2nd to make
> the best choice we know how to make for Lincoln's future".(emphasis added).
> This is not accurate. Only those residents privileged enough to be able to
> take the better part of their day off from work, family responsibilities
> and other personal priorities will be in attendance on December 2nd. Based
> on historical counts of Town Meeting (TM) attendance (which are published
> in the Annual Town Reports), on average less than 400 residents attend the
> regularly scheduled TM in March - or about 8% of the voting-age population
> in town. A special TM like the one on December 2nd may draw more residents
> due to its hotly-debated topics (for reference, the special TM in June 2018
> on the school options drew around 900 people, following a long and
> well-advertised campaign to get residents to attend), but may also exclude
> more residents since its timing and agenda were not known far enough in
> advance that all residents could plan it around their other
> commitments. Either way, it only takes half of those in attendance to
> approve most warrant articles, so it is likely that less than 5% of
> voting-age residents will determine the path forward on the
> Community Center, Common's expansion, and the HCA zoning this Saturday.
>
> I'm not offering an opinion on Town Meeting as good or bad, legitimate or
> rigged - it is our form of governance in Lincoln, and whether you love it
> or hate it, it is how Lincoln decides most of the important issues in town.
> I'm only asking that we be honest when we talk about what a Town Meeting is
> - a chance for an unrepresentative* minority of the population to come
> together and debate topics of importance for the town, then make a decision
> based on their preferences and perceptions of what is best for the rest of
> us. No vote on Saturday will tell us anything about 'the will of the town',
> so let's please stop perpetuating this false narrative.
>
> (full disclosure - I am a member of the HCAWG and the Lincoln Housing
> Commission, though my comments above are made as an individual resident of
> Lincoln and do not reflect the views of either group. I will also be out of
> town on a long-planned trip on December 2nd).
>
> *For more information on the demographics of Massachusetts TM attendance
> relative to general populations, please see this article, which includes
> Lincoln as one of its case studies:
> https://www.townofsharon.net/sites/g/files/vyhlif3801/f/pages/survey_of_engaged_tm_04_01_2020.pdf
>
> Rachel Drew
> --
> 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.

Re: [LincolnTalk] "The Town" isn't deciding anything on Dec 2

2023-11-29 Thread RAandBOB 
Of course, if we went to a representative town meeting, the same people who are 
now in government might be our representatives, making all the decisions on our 
behalf. What will you be any happier with that form of government? I think we 
would still be second guessing all their decisions.

Ruth Ann
(She, her, hers)

> On Nov 29, 2023, at 8:34 AM, Rachel Drew  wrote:
> 
> 
> Lynne Smith wrote yesterday: "We will all meet on December 2nd to make the 
> best choice we know how to make for Lincoln's future".(emphasis added). This 
> is not accurate. Only those residents privileged enough to be able to take 
> the better part of their day off from work, family responsibilities and other 
> personal priorities will be in attendance on December 2nd. Based on 
> historical counts of Town Meeting (TM) attendance (which are published in the 
> Annual Town Reports), on average less than 400 residents attend the regularly 
> scheduled TM in March - or about 8% of the voting-age population in town. A 
> special TM like the one on December 2nd may draw more residents due to its 
> hotly-debated topics (for reference, the special TM in June 2018 on the 
> school options drew around 900 people, following a long and well-advertised 
> campaign to get residents to attend), but may also exclude more residents 
> since its timing and agenda were not known far enough in advance that all 
> residents could plan it around their other commitments. Either way, it only 
> takes half of those in attendance to approve most warrant articles, so it is 
> likely that less than 5% of voting-age residents will determine the path 
> forward on the Community Center, Common's expansion, and the HCA zoning this 
> Saturday.
> 
> I'm not offering an opinion on Town Meeting as good or bad, legitimate or 
> rigged - it is our form of governance in Lincoln, and whether you love it or 
> hate it, it is how Lincoln decides most of the important issues in town. I'm 
> only asking that we be honest when we talk about what a Town Meeting is - a 
> chance for an unrepresentative* minority of the population to come together 
> and debate topics of importance for the town, then make a decision based on 
> their preferences and perceptions of what is best for the rest of us. No vote 
> on Saturday will tell us anything about 'the will of the town', so let's 
> please stop perpetuating this false narrative. 
> 
> (full disclosure - I am a member of the HCAWG and the Lincoln Housing 
> Commission, though my comments above are made as an individual resident of 
> Lincoln and do not reflect the views of either group. I will also be out of 
> town on a long-planned trip on December 2nd).
> 
> *For more information on the demographics of Massachusetts TM attendance 
> relative to general populations, please see this article, which includes 
> Lincoln as one of its case studies:  
> https://www.townofsharon.net/sites/g/files/vyhlif3801/f/pages/survey_of_engaged_tm_04_01_2020.pdf
> 
> Rachel Drew
> --
> 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.

[LincolnTalk] "The Town" isn't deciding anything on Dec 2

2023-11-29 Thread Rachel Drew 
Lynne Smith wrote yesterday: "We will *all *meet on December 2nd to make
the best choice we know how to make for Lincoln's future".(emphasis added).
This is not accurate. Only those residents privileged enough to be able to
take the better part of their day off from work, family responsibilities
and other personal priorities will be in attendance on December 2nd. Based
on historical counts of Town Meeting (TM) attendance (which are published
in the Annual Town Reports), on average less than 400 residents attend the
regularly scheduled TM in March - or about 8% of the voting-age population
in town. A special TM like the one on December 2nd may draw more residents
due to its hotly-debated topics (for reference, the special TM in June 2018
on the school options drew around 900 people, following a long and
well-advertised campaign to get residents to attend), but may also exclude
more residents since its timing and agenda were not known far enough in
advance that all residents could plan it around their other
commitments. Either way, it only takes half of those in attendance to
approve most warrant articles, so it is likely that less than 5% of
voting-age residents will determine the path forward on the
Community Center, Common's expansion, and the HCA zoning this Saturday.

I'm not offering an opinion on Town Meeting as good or bad, legitimate or
rigged - it is our form of governance in Lincoln, and whether you love it
or hate it, it is how Lincoln decides most of the important issues in town.
I'm only asking that we be honest when we talk about what a Town Meeting is
- a chance for an unrepresentative* minority of the population to come
together and debate topics of importance for the town, then make a decision
based on their preferences and perceptions of what is best for the rest of
us. No vote on Saturday will tell us anything about 'the will of the town',
so let's please stop perpetuating this false narrative.

(full disclosure - I am a member of the HCAWG and the Lincoln Housing
Commission, though my comments above are made as an individual resident of
Lincoln and do not reflect the views of either group. I will also be out of
town on a long-planned trip on December 2nd).

*For more information on the demographics of Massachusetts TM attendance
relative to general populations, please see this article, which includes
Lincoln as one of its case studies:
https://www.townofsharon.net/sites/g/files/vyhlif3801/f/pages/survey_of_engaged_tm_04_01_2020.pdf

Rachel Drew
-- 
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.