Annual Town Meeting is Harvard’s legislative session. Once you sign in, you have powers analogous to those of a state representative or senator. You may speak for or against any article, offer amendments, and cast your vote, along with the other 200–300 of the town’s roughly 4,000 registered voters who take part each spring.
The Town Meeting form of government has been described as America’s purest form of democracy. But it’s more than that, as full of local color and as representative of Harvard’s diverse preoccupations as the May Apple Blossom Festival, the summer Farmers’ Market or the fall League of Women Voters and Harvard Schools Trust Flea Market.
For newcomers and veterans alike, here’s a short list of things to look for and do:
Attend an 7:00 a.m. or 8:00 a.m. board meeting
No kidding. The Planning Board, the Selectmen, the Finance Committee, have all posted public meetings to be convened in the Bromfield gym before the start of Town Meeting, where they plan to hash out the final wording of articles left deliberately vague in the warrant and will decide which to recommend. Among the “undecideds” are articles calling for the hiring of a town planner. You’ll have to stand, but you’ll be less surprised by the final wording of the article when the motion to accept it is made.
Sign in early
Even if you skip the last-minute scrum of town boards, you’ll want to arrive early and sign in before you do anything else, advises Town Clerk Janet Vellante. To participate in Town Meeting you must be a registered voter. Before you enter the gym, you’ll be asked to confirm your status with a “checker” and handed a colored card, which you’ll raise each time the moderator calls for a vote. As 9:00 a.m. approaches, there’s often a crush at the door to the gym, says Vellante, and you may find yourself waiting in line as the meeting gets underway.
Buy coffee and pastries
There is always at least one organization outside the meeting room selling coffee, cider, donuts, muffins, or cookies to raise money for a worthy cause. Get your caffeine and sugar here as you fuel up for the morning-long deliberations.
Tour the civic groups in the lobby
The path to the meeting room is typically filled with booths and easels set up by town boards. The Conservation Trust will be selling their cool hats. The Hildreth House Improvement Committee will display its scaled-back plans for a town senior center. Allow time to learn more about the projects your neighbors have initiated to make Harvard a better place.
Pick up copies of the 2013 Town Meeting booklet and 2012 Annual Town Report
After you check in, swing right and you’ll find copies of the booklet and Town Report along with other handouts (such as last-minute wording of some of the articles up for a vote). If you don’t already have a copy, you’ll need the Town Meeting booklet for the details on each warrant article. Though—dare we say it again?—the wording in the booklet won’t necessarily match what you hear from the floor.
The town report includes updates from virtually every board and department in Harvard. Pick an organization, and you’ll find its latest stats and accomplishments in this document.
Sneak a peek at the 2012 Citizen of Note
Every year, the Selectmen name a citizen of Harvard whose contributions to the town are worthy of special recognition. The name is kept secret until the day of Town Meeting. At some point during the morning, the moderator will pause to announce the name of this year’s choice and invite the individual to step forward, along with family members. Flip open the cover of the Town Report and you’ll know who it is.
Have a Chef Paul lunch with a town official
Sometime around noon, the moderator will call a halt to the deliberations for lunch. For a modest fee, you can dine on a healthy lunch in Bromfield cafeteria prepared by school food director Paul Correnty and his crew. It’s an opportunity to sit with a town official, elected or otherwise, and discuss town affairs. Or just visit and share family news and neighborly gossip.
Stick around to vote on Article 42
Yes, it’s one of the last on the agenda and may not be taken up until after lunch, but it’s also key to settling one of the most contentious issues the town has faced during the about-to-expire 2013 fiscal year: implementing the much vetted plan to renovate Town Hall. Town officials have had their say throughout the year, now they need to hear from voters. That means you.
