by Julie Gowel ·
Friday, June 26, 2026
The Select Board conducted a survey to determine which days and times allow a larger number of Harvard residents to attend the Annual Town meeting. The survey ran for a month following the spring Town Meeting, held on May 2, and was publicized on the town’s website, community social media forum Nextdoor, and in the Press.
The survey, which received approximately 175 responses, found residents nearly evenly divided between a Saturday Town Meeting and a weeknight meeting. While 56% of respondents indicated a preference for Saturday meetings, 47% selected weeknight meetings when given the option to choose multiple preferences. The results prompted Select Board members to adopt a compromise approach.
According to Select Board chair SusanMary Redinger, a letter to the editor in the Harvard Press inspired the initiative. She brought the idea to newly appointed Town Administrator Dawn Dunbar, Executive Assistant Julie Doucet, and Select Board member Kara Minar, at an agenda planning session. “I think it’d be really great if we got some data, so that we could see if there’s a better, obvious choice to the timing of town meetings,” said Redinger. However, the results revealed that what works for one group of residents often creates barriers for another.
Fall’s Town Meeting is expected to be held Tuesday, Oct. 20, in the evening. Redinger said the Select Board is holding two possible dates for the spring Town Meeting, one Tuesday and one Saturday. “We’ll make a final determination after the fall Town Meeting to see if holding it on a Tuesday night garnered more people attending it,” she said.
“We’re trying to meet people where they are and make it as convenient as possible for them to participate,” said Select Board member and former chair Kara Minar.
“[The survey] tells us that there is no obvious answer,” Redinger said. “If you move it to a weeknight, you’re going to lose some people, but if you keep it on a Saturday, then you’re preventing other people from going.”
The survey found that “Civic responsibility” was the strongest motivator for attendance, cited by more than 60% of respondents. “Topics being discussed” ranked nearly as high. “Childcare availability,” while cited less frequently, was identified as an important factor by nearly one in five respondents.
That last finding resonated with Select Board members, who noted that childcare at May’s Town Meeting was well attended. However, feedback gathered by the Harvard Family Association suggested that childcare alone does not solve the accessibility issue for many families.
In comments compiled by HFA Co-Chair Nicole Holub, parents identified several barriers to participation, including lengthy meetings, conflicts with youth sports schedules, limitations of existing childcare options, and the inability to participate remotely. Families also noted that childcare currently does not accommodate infants in diapers and may not support children with disabilities or special needs.
Many families advocated for a future hybrid or remote participation option, arguing that it would allow parents, caregivers, and residents with limited mobility to engage in Town Meeting proceedings without being physically present.
Current Massachusetts law does not permit remote voting at Town Meetings, though bill H.2274, introduced in February 2025, seeks to change current legislation. According to the General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the Massachusetts League of Women Voters, the bill was tabled in January of this year, and the LWV website states, “the advocates for this system are trying instead to pass a pilot program provision that would allow up to five towns to experiment with remote open town meetings.”
While families indicated that Saturday scheduling conflicts with sports activities and weekend commitments, other residents raised concerns about moving meetings to an evening. Council on Aging Director Debbie Thompson noted that nighttime meetings can create difficulties for older residents, particularly those who no longer drive after dark.
“Mostly it’s the driving at night that would be the issue,” Thompson said. To address that concern, Thompson said the Council on Aging offers transportation through its van service, which can bring seniors to Town Meeting and return them home afterward.
Evening meetings can also present challenges for residents who prefer not to be out late. Thompson noted that lengthy meetings may run past bedtime for some seniors and create difficulties for town employees and department heads who work a full day before attending the meeting.
Select Board members emphasized that attendance is often driven more by the issues on the warrant than by the date on the calendar. Harvard has seen attendance surge for votes on major issues, including the Hildreth Elementary School building project and the Old Mill Road athletic field proposal.
Still, board members say the survey is part of a broader effort to discover how local government can encourage greater participation. Approximately 336 residents attended this year’s Annual Town Meeting, roughly 7% of Harvard’s nearly 5,000 registered voters.
“It is part of an overall goal to optimize Town Meetings,” Redinger said. “The Select Board always wants to see how we can improve governmental operations.”
While no single solution emerged from the survey, Redinger and Minar say the conversation is likely to continue as the town seeks ways to improve accessibility and participation.