A good idea in July; not so much in March
Open-toed sandals, air-conditioning, outdoor barbecues, and tank tops are all things that seem like a good idea in July but not so good in March. And so it is with Annual Town Meeting on a weeknight.
Back in July, when the selectmen decided that drastic measures were needed to boost Town Meeting attendance, moving the meeting to a weeknight (or two or three) in late March or early April seemed like a reasonable thing to try. At night, there would be no competition from youth soccer games, gardening, brush-burning, garage-cleaning, dump-tripping, or any of the other traditional Saturday rites of spring in town.
But now that Town Meeting is almost here, it’s hard to find anybody who thinks it’s a good idea. Older people don’t like to go out at night or can’t drive after dark; parents of young children are hard-pressed to find babysitters on a school night (let alone two or three nights in a row); parents of older children are afraid their kids will play video games instead of doing homework if they’re left home alone. Then there are the knitters, always a significant voting cohort, who know they’ll never find dropped needles in the dark Cronin Auditorium.
On with the show
Still, the show must go on and Annual Town Meeting will convene this year on Tuesday, April 1 (no fooling) at 7 p.m. in Cronin to consider the town’s business for the upcoming fiscal year. According to Selectmen Chairwoman Marie Sobalvarro, no formal time limit has been set, but the first night is expected to wind down around 10 p.m., and presumably the second night too, unless it ends earlier for lack of articles to consider. If the meeting goes on for a third night, all bets are off.
Town Moderator Bob Eubank says he’ll “rely on common sense and the general progress made to determine when (and if) to move to the second night.” Eubank added that he’s not inclined to cut off debate due to time constraints because “usually the meeting itself does a good job of that.”
Problem for elders and parents
For those who don’t drive at night, the only town-sponsored transportation is via the Council on Aging MART van. Harvard Help scheduler Pat White is compiling a list of that organization’s volunteer drivers who are willing to offer rides as well. Anyone who needs a ride to Town Meeting should call the COA at 978-456-4120.
As for childcare, the Harvard Girl Scouts will provide babysitting in the Bromfield Gym for however many nights as Town Meeting lasts. Executive Assistant Julie Doucet says coverage will be provided by older scouts and supervised by adults at all times.
Why the change?
The decision to move ATM from its traditional all-day Saturday to successive weeknights was not made lightly. When they discussed it last summer, the selectmen agreed that they had to try something to entice more townspeople to participate in this bedrock of town government. Town Meeting attendance has been steadily declining in Harvard (and elsewhere) for years, and last year’s turnout (286) was the lowest in 15 years.
A poll of area towns last spring showed only three that held town meeting on a Saturday (Harvard, Lunenburg, and Westford); the other twelve all convened their meetings on a Monday evening and continued on successive nights until their business was done. The selectmen briefly considered moving Town Meeting to a Sunday afternoon, but board members decided there were as likely to be as many competing family activities on a Sunday as on a Saturday. It was Selectman Leo Blair who suggested starting on a Tuesday instead of a Monday and who particularly liked the idea of convening Town Meeting on April Fools’ Day. “I can’t think of a better time,” he said.
