Does Town Meeting Really Mean Anything
• If it only represents the "Minority of the Majority"
Jun 8, 2010 – It is rather ironic to me that after last night's New Gloucester Select Board Meeting, actually not after, but just before a motion for adjournment, Pamela Slye, took the podium "as a citizen" to address the recent events surrounding the New Gloucester Town Meeting, and the Board's subsequent actions. Oddly, her taking the floor was not an agenda item, it did not occur during the public comment portion of the meeting, and one has to wonder if someone from the audience would have been afforded the same courtesy at that late point in the meeting. Actually one doesn't have to wonder, the answer is no.
Ms. Slye, in her comments noted the Municipal chain of command and the fact that the Select Board answers to 5,000 citizens. She referred to the fact that the Board needed to look beyond the "special interest" folks who showed up at town meeting and only represent a small fraction of the total citizenry. Slye was making an attempt to clarify her statement about the "Minority of the Majority" at Town Meeting. She noted that many don't bother to attend town meeting, yet they still need to be considered as the Select Board makes its decisions and recommendations.
One can't help but see the irony of her words. The Town Meeting form of government is highly valued here in New England, and as a former Gray Councilor, no one knows that better than me.
In the last year, Gray eliminated the bifurcated Annual Town Meeting in deference to a referendum vote on the municipal budget. The rationale for doing so was that a small number of citizens at town meeting was not indicative of the total populous. In the case of Gray, the Council had always adhered to the public's wishes at Town Meeting, which at times were arguably not always totally in the best interest of the citizenry. When the community debated the elimination of the open floor portion of the meeting, there was a core of citizens who felt that "....if a citizen can't take the time to show up, too bad, leave things in the hands of those who care enough to be there....". Ultimately, those citicens did not prevail as the citizenry voted, by a huge margin, to eliminate the open floor meeting.
In the case of New Gloucester, at least this year, it appears that the Select Board has gone through the paces of Town Meeting, but is really governing for the folks who didn't attend. There is truly something wrong with this picture as the very intent of the open floor town meeting process seems to have been compromised.
During last night's meeting, during the appropriate time to speak, in oral communication for Selectmen, Ms. Slye stated that she had made 1,200 phone calls seeking public input. As a candidate for re-election, one can understand her motivation. Curiously, not one of those calls was made to one particular citizen, Sean Chayer, who specifically wrote to each Select Board member wanting to share his views and concerns through a mutual dialog. Curious.....
Reflecting on last night's meeting, and Ms. Slye's comments both during and at the tail end of the agenda, one has to consider if perhaps she was making a case to take the same actions as Gray and eliminate the opportunity the "Minority of the Majority" to make decisions for the entire community at Town Meeting.
Tracy Scheckel
Editor
