IS THE SPECIAL TOWN MEETING A THING OF THE PAST?

Are you in favor of keeping this traditional way of allowing the
citizenry to take a stand for or against a town issue or expenditure;
one in which every citizen who chooses to attend the meeting has a
vote that carries exactly the same weight as a vote from a town
representative?  What is your opinion and why?

At the March 4, 2013 meeting of Town Council, Deputy Mayor Simon
commented that he felt that having Special Town Meetings, at which
citizens are entitled to vote on the issue at hand, was an antiquated
practice that should be reevaluated as few people are interested in
attending. He stated that of the 23 people present at the March 4
Special Town Meeting 18 were staff and elected officials and only 5
were private citizens. As one of those five, I appreciated having the
opportunity to vote that evening.

Perhaps attendance was low because of the nature of the issues being
voted on. If the roof on a school or other town building is leaking,
it needs to be repaired before more damage is done to the interior. 
It may be painful to approve the expenditure of funds for it, but it
is a necessary expense; therefore one would expect little if any
opposition.

However, I venture to guess that on some occasions in the past the
public has expressed strong opposition to items on Special Town
meeting agendas. In those instances, I would expect the private
citizens in attendance might have outnumbered the staff and elected
officials.

Other than the ballot box, to my knowledge, Special Town Meetings are
the only opportunity where private citizens have a voice equal to
that of staff and elected and appointed officials. If this practice
were to be abolished, as Mr. Simon suggests, what could possibly
replace it that would still allow citizens a voice strong enough to
be equivalent to a vote? Whether antiquated, or not, it is a time
honored tradition that should not be discarded.

Submitted by Bonnie Karkowski