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After Vote Any Town Meeting With Less Than 50 Percent Attendance Will Need to Collect Signatures for Reelection

Thanks to a vote of the town’s legislative body, Town Meeting Members should do their duty and attend meetings or be expected to hit the pavement in search of signatures if they want to run for reelection. 

Until the vote, any Town Meeting member who wanted to run to keep their seat only had to send a letter to the Town Clerk’s Office stating their intention to run again. Non-incumbents looking to be placed on the ballot must collect 10 signatures from registered voters in their precincts. 

The two warrant articles voted on last week change that if a Town Meeting member attends less than 50 percent of the meetings during their three year terms. Now if they attend less than half the scheduled meeting they are also required to collect signatures if they wish to have their name on the ballot. 

The proposal was put forward by Town Meeting Member Betsey Hughes who said in a letter to the body published in the warrant backup materials that she recognizes that most members perform the duties to which they are elected but this would address the action of those who do not. 

“First let me say that the vast majority of Town Meeting Members are dedicated and take their obligations to their constituents seriously,” she wrote. “As we all know, representing one’s precinct at Town Meeting is not an honorary position; it carries with it important responsibilities that can only be fulfilled by careful and advanced study of Town Meeting materials and attendance at meetings. Unfortunately, attendance statistics show that precincts are poorly represented by members who fail to attend Town Meetings.

Hughes then presented statistics from 2020/2021 attendance records that covered the 10 nights of Town Meeting sessions during that time. They are as follows:  

  • 38 members (30 percent) of the 126 members attended 100 percent of the meetings. 
  • Only 67 percent attended 75 percent of the meetings with 26 members (21 percent) attending less than 50 percent of the meetings
  • One Town Meeting Member did not attend any meetings during this two year period.
  • The three Precincts with the lowest level of attendance during period came in at 36 percent, 27 percent and 25 percent respectively of members not attending. 
  • The overall best precinct attendance in 2020/2021 were Precincts 1 and 7 who came in with an average of 85 percent attending.

Though most Town Meeting members who spoke about the proposal were in favor there were a few who thought the measure was overreach. 

“I think the spirit of this is well intentioned but I think this is over regulating things,” Member Chris Murphy said. “What happens when someone is impacted because they are getting cancer treatments or something? If they don’t show up, other people should run against them and make it known they aren’t a good member and they will lose their election. We are not the Town Meeting member police and this is what it feels like.”

Others who support the measure argue that most residents don’t follow the workings of Town Meeting that closely and may not be aware their representatives are not in attendance. This change, they argued, would make that more obvious and work as a way of informing the public. 

“They shouldn’t be hiding in the low visibility of our election process and getting by because people don’t know they happen to be someone who doesn’t go to meetings,” Member Monte Pearson said. “This is a good way of highlighting that.”

In the end the articles passed by a clear majority.