Ah, the venerable Town Meeting — an event so important it deserves to be capitalized. This New England tradition dates back to the early 1600s with the Puritans, although a couple of states in the Midwest use them.
Even in this digital age, they are still relevant. Registered voters will gather in their meeting halls to take care of business for their towns.
Those communities with less than 6,000 have so-called open meetings, which means any registered voter can participate. Communities with more than that number have representational Town Meetings, in which members are elected, or an open meeting. Cities don’t have Town Meeting.
And to keep things on the up and up, Town Meetings have rules. A warrant of articles must be posted ahead of time — seven days for an annual meeting, 14 for a special meeting, which are typically called as the need arises — so voters know ahead of time what business will be conducted. Nothing can be snuck in afterward.
Towns determine what constitutes a quorum, that is, the minimum number of voters required so a meeting can be held. An elected moderator is in charge of making sure the articles move forward and for keeping things civil.
And voters can express their views with voiced “yea” or “nay,” a show of hands, by standing, or a paper ballot when a contentious issue is on the table.
At annual meetings, voters decide how to divvy up money to run the town and to pay its school assessments. Typical items on a warrant include whether to purchase highway or fire equipment, invest in the water and sewer systems, and other big ticket items. Some will be dependent on the passage of a Proposition 2½ debt or capital exclusion at an election.
This year, many towns will vote whether the state flag and seal should be changed because of its symbols that many deem racist against Native Americans.
Oftentimes the discussion can be spirited. Other times the articles just breeze through.
Town Meeting is the ultimate in participatory government. For the majority of the United States, those decisions are left to politicians instead of the people. That’s too bad.
But Town Meeting only works when the people show up.
To prepare voters, the Gazette runs advances of each Town Meeting. Town websites have their warrants posted. Then there are the annual reports.
The season is underway. Hadley held its Town Meeting Thursday night, followed by Cummington on Friday. Several other Town Meeting are on tap Saturday, including in Shutesbury and Sunderland, and in the Hilltowns communities of Plainfield, Worthington and Goshen, followed by Williamsburg and Chesterfield on Monday.
In Sunderland, voters will decide on its third override in as many years, when registered voters decide whether to allow the town to raise an additional $200,000 — or not.
School officials and a handful of residents urged voters to approve the override, saying schools had made several cuts already to programs, technology and staff. Frontier Regional School District Superintendent Darius Modestow said the schools have no more “fluff” left to trim.
In Shutesbury, voters will consider a request to tap into slightly less than half of the town’s $1.69 million in reserves to reduce the long-term borrowing approved in 2015 for a municipal broadband project.
The 37-article warrant also includes a series of zoning changes, including addressing marijuana sales and cultivation, and approval of the town’s fiscal 2020 budget.
In addition to routine items, Cummington will address the question of providing stipends for certain public safety positions and whether the town should continue negotiations with the Hampshire Regional and Worthington school districts, to establish tuition agreements for Cummington students, once the town leaves Central Berkshire Regional.
High-speed internet will take center stage in Worthington and Plainfield. In Worthington, voters will decide whether to bring high-speed internet to the last 14 homes in town, and in Plainfield, voters are being asked to approve $149,876 to operate the town’s high-speed internet service.
The Annual Town Meeting is an opportunity to say how your small town will be run for the next year. We say, “Don’t miss it.”