Enliven Daily

“I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it.”

I think I said “Wow” and “are you kidding me?” about 20 times last night at our town’s Deliberative Session.  For those not familiar with a Town Meeting form of government (and I am still learning as there is a lot), (Click Here) and you will be directed to the Pelham, New Hampshire message board and a post from Selectman Bill McDevitt who I would consider our resident expert on this subject.  Sadly, only about 100 of the 9000 registered voters showed up last night to discuss the submitted Warrant Articles that include the 2010 budget, pay raises, expenditures and two huge ones in my mind – a new fire station and a School Resource Officer.  Most of these Articles carry a tax impact and as you can imagine a $3million+ fire station will have a large tax impact combined with a new high school that will be discussed tonight.

What I liked about this process were residents in a room having the opportunity to discuss things that will affect their town.  You could ask questions as well as give your support on why something is important or needed or voice your opinion on why it was not good for the town.   Unlike a major city like Boston for example, we truly have a direct say in how a town should be run or money spent.

But the cons outweighed the pros last night as when only 1% of registered voters show up, you are not getting a diverse or large subset of the population to help create things or drive change.  Furthermore, it is usually many of the same people that either enjoy this process or have been through for years and end up dictating how the meeting goes.  For newcomers to this meeting, I can see why it can be intimidating or frustrating.  But I was fascinated as well as “fired-up” as there are 3 things I am very passionate about when it comes to voting in my town – Safety (police and fire), Education and Leadership.  All 3 of these were hot items last night but since our School and Town have different Sessions, tonight the real fireworks will occur when the $50 million+ for a new high school is discussed.

I commend our Town Moderator and Selectmen for leading last night’s event as it was smooth until the end when an Article was presented regarding the definition of marriage.  Some citizens got the necessary signatures to get this on the ballot which I commend as to me; this is how our government should work.  I still do not know all the details surrounding it but for some residents, this was the hottest button of the night as they were ready for it and called for a secret ballot vote to basically have it removed.  Being a novice to this Town Meeting form of government, I had no idea what was going on but just like how I make most evaluations in my life, I used my gut and this surprise did not feel good.  So I spoke up (as I did on a few other Articles) to support allowing this Article go to the townspeople (remember, last night was not the voting on these Articles, it was the discussion).  The amendment to dissolve this Article failed by a close vote so it will stay on the ballot for next month’s vote and the citizens will then have the Choice to vote on it. 

For the record, I will vote against this marriage definition Article in March but like our opening quote from Voltaire, this is the form of government our town uses and I will defend all my neighbors Choosing to participate in it.      

School Deliberative Session tonight and I am pretty sure I know what tomorrow’s entry will be about.