While Harvard’s seniors typically account for the largest percentage of attendees at Annual Town Meeting, that number was even higher at this month’s Super Town Meeting. Meanwhile, the proportion of those under 45 years of age fell to a new low.
In a review of voters who attended the June 8 meeting held in the Hildreth Elementary School cafetorium, the Press found that 64 percent (125) of the 203 attendees were 65 years of age or older, while only 4 percent (9) were under the age of 45. There were no attendees between the ages of 25 and 29. These numbers differ dramatically from those for the March ATM. In March, 65-and-over attendees accounted for 52 percent of the turnout, while the under-45s accounted for 7 percent.
The results can be seen clearly in the graph below. The chart is a histogram that sorts the 203 attendees into five-year cohorts. The largest block of attendees (41) comprised members of the 65 to 69 cohort, followed by those 55 to 59 years of age (29), and those in the 70 to 74 cohort (28).
Harvard and Still River residents accounted for 89 percent (189) of all attendees, but 23 Devens residents—11 percent of the total—also made the trip to the HES cafetorium. The median age of Harvard’s attendees was 65, but that of the Devens contingent was 54, 10 years younger, which can be seen in its distribution across the top of the chart. On the night of the Super Town Meeting, there were 3,869 registered voters in Harvard, Still River ,and Devens. Turnout was 5 percent.
Why the low turnout this month among the younger adults of Harvard’s population? Town Clerk Janet Vellante speculates that the year-end concert of the Bromfield Music Department drew the parents of the more than 170 students who performed that night in Cronin Auditorium.
As for the higher than usual proportion of seniors, perhaps that was because the night’s warrant included two articles whose passage promised additional senior housing and medical offices to support it. Both are of potential benefit to Harvard seniors; both passed by substantial majorities.
