I Could Not Disagree More!

You may have seen this recent editorial in the Herald entitled "Town Meeting Needs Adjourning - Gone From Quaint to Antiquated."

An appropriate title for a rebuttal would be "Town Meeting Thrives in the Town of Walpole."

I take issue with almost every point made by the author against Town Meeting. At a time where government at all levels continues to intrude into the lives of Americans, Town Meeting preserves the right of citizens to maintain dominion and hegemnony over our own destiny. She fails to mention how towns that switch away from a town meeting form of government to a city form or otherwise, often regret it soon thereafter.

Although the author further fails to make the distinction, it appears she is referring in general to the open town meeting, because her anicdotal evidence of declining interest gets no quarter here in Walpole. Having reviewed our attendance records for the past several years, I can state that our attendance is never less than 80% of RTMs, and the number is usually closer to 85%-90%. Some towns may have an issue with declining interest, or trouble getting a quorum, but we never do. I will never forget that during my first town meeting in October 2004, we carried over to the same night as game seven of the magical and historical ALCS series with the Yankees - we had no problem making a quorum that evening. See walpole-ma.gov/TReports/TR2004.pdf

I invite Ms. Braceras to Walpole Town Meeting on Monday, May 2, 2011 to observe a Town Meeting where dedicated representatives hardly ever "go-along to get-along," but rather where important issues are debated with passion, intelligence, and an abiding devotion to doing what is best for the Town of Walpole. The author derides many articles that come before Town Meeting as "nonsense." Is debating a $67 million budget nonsense, where our Town Meeting representatives will decide whether to spend almost $1.3 million of their fellow citizens tax dollars per week for the next year? I say it is democracy, practiced as it was meant to be practiced.

My next post on this subject will be a poignant essay written by colleague Moderator Howard Hanson of Stoughton, which is in essence a rebuttal to Ms. Braceras article.