At the Board of Selectmen meeting this week, Chairman Stu Sklar presented what he felt was a “unique opportunity” to his fellow board members. The selectmen had already voted in a prior meeting to hold a Special Town Meeting in the fall to get the town’s input on how to proceed with the Town Hall renovation project. But with a gubernatorial election coming up on November 4, Sklar suggested that a Town Hall question be added to the ballot, which would result in a greater sampling of town opinion.
“It’s an opportunity to get a real feel for what the town wants,” said Sklar. “It won’t be 400 people, it will be more like 2,500 people out of the 4,000 registered voters in this town.” Sklar’s plan also included a phone-in informational session that would allow voters to ask questions, much as at a Town Meeting. Emails, tweets, YouTube, and cable TV were mentioned as possibilities to make the session accessible to as many voters as possible.
Public needs information
to make informed decision
Selectwoman Lucy Wallace said that her concern was “getting the information out to the public so that people could make an informed decision.” She said that after the 2013 STM, where the additional funding was voted down, she heard from voters that the reasons for the higher cost “hadn’t been clearly articulated.” “If we can do the informational piece, I’d feel more comfortable with it,” said Wallace.
The board then discussed the difficulty of coming up with a ballot question or questions. Everyone agreed that answers to any such questions would be nonbinding, but how the questions would be worded could prove challenging. “When it’s all said and done,” said Selectman Ron Ricci, “a nonbinding referendum question will be subject to interpretation by the five of us. We’ll be asking what the vote meant.” Sklar mentioned that even though the question would be nonbinding, to him the voice of 2,500 voters would be binding, and he was “optimistic” that the board could come up with a clear question. Time is also a complication though. According to Town Administrator Tim Bragan, the deadline for adding a question to the November ballot is September 30. Ricci expressed his concern with that deadline, saying, “I’m not sure that in two weeks we’ll be able to come up with good enough questions that people will understand and that will be useful to us.”
STM a better venue for feedback
Ricci also argued that the STM would be a better venue to get public feedback. “A question is a binary decision. The Town Meeting is interactive. We can explain things to people who have questions.” Wallace interjected that the interactive informational session that Sklar talked about earlier would be comparable to a Town Meeting, and Sklar reiterated the benefit of seeing what a lot of people in town want rather than what the 400 people who come to Town Meeting want. Wallace cited the example of the 2013 STM, when the vote for additional funding for Town Hall was narrowly defeated but was resoundingly defeated at the polls.
Wallace then suggested that each of the selectmen craft an idea for a clear ballot question or questions and send those ideas to Sklar. Sklar will compile the input, add his own, and bring what he hopes will be a question ready for the ballot to the next BOS meeting on September 23 for discussion. If, at that meeting, the board can’t come up with a ballot question that members are comfortable with, they will proceed with the plan to use STM for public input. Wallace also suggested that Sklar come up with a plan for the informational session, adding that she would help with that.
