N.E. rite of spring still a work in progress
Communities forced to get creative amid health crisis
Often touted as “the purest form of democracy,” town meeting has been a staple of Massachusetts life for centuries.
Though a source of pride for many Massachusetts communities, the style of government has had no choice but to adapt to pandemic life.
Town meeting operates by bringing residents together in one room at least once a year (often twice) to debate and vote on everything from the purchase of local road equipment to multimillion-dollar budgets and pressing social issues.
In Massachusetts, where some of the first New England town meetings were established in the 1630s, 300 of 351 municipalities continue to hold town meetings in some form, according to Secretary of State William Galvin’s office.
Annual town meeting — the event where most of a town’s big ticket items are decided — is typically held every spring.
When Gov. Charlie Baker implemented in-person gathering restrictions last year, town meeting became a big question mark as communities grappled with balancing town meeting’s trademark group debate process with new state-mandated safety protocols.
Now, as annual town meeting season approaches once more, communities are looking to the state and their local governing boards to determine what town meeting will look like this time around.
Last year, Massachusetts allowed towns to postpone their annual town meetings to the summer and reduce the quorum needed to open the meeting.
“They’ve been a really good partner,” Massachusetts Moderators Association President Stephen Dodge said of the state Legislature.
In addition to the flexibility enabled by the Legislature, towns also found solutions to the in-person gathering problem by holding meetings outdoors, using a virtual/inperson hybrid meeting format, reducing debate time, and taking advantage of consent agendas to shorten the duration.
“Every town has kind of evolved in its own way and
has its own traditions,” said Dodge. “What’s kind of amazing with COVID (is) towns have been able to adapt and do so many innovative different things.”
EArly form
Town meeting evolved from the era when the first European settlers in what would eventually become the six New England states would gather in a meeting house, usually a church, and decide all local issues. Town meeting is still used in some form in all six New England states.
Over the centuries, the system has evolved. Some communities now use representative town meeting, where residents are elected to represent their
neighbors. Others use a combination of floor debates, votes and pre-printed ballots for different issues.
Billerica, which has a representative town meeting, typically holds town meeting in the evening over the course of several weeknights until all town business is addressed. Last year, the town held a hybrid town meeting on a Saturday that allowed representatives to gather in small groups organized by precinct, and connect via Zoom.
“We were just fortunate to have all the technology because we have the new high school,” said Billerica Town Manager John Curran.
To help save some time, Billerica also held several virtual prep meetings ahead of town meeting for representatives to learn about the issues being voted on.
Though virtual and hybrid meetings help towns navigate gathering restrictions, not all towns have the infrastructure to do it.
in Chelmsford, technological capacity is one point of concern, according to Town Moderator Jon Kurland.
“We did look into virtual town meeting,” Kurland said. “it’s somewhat problematic. Logistically, it becomes considerably more time-consuming.”
he elaborated that some communities that held virtual town meetings found that it took longer to tally votes, which lengthened the meetings’ duration.
Last year, Chelmsford postponed town meeting and relocated from its tra
ditional venue at the Senior Center to the larger high-school gym. The town also shortened debate time to three minutes per person and took advantage of the consent agenda to save time.
Some changes may stick With annual town meeting season approaching, MMA’s Dodge believes most towns will repeat what they did last year. This time around, organizing the adjusted town meetings should be smoother.
“i think the hard work has been done in trying to plan and get the legislative relief,” said Dodge.
At the time they spoke with The Sun, officials in Billerica, Chelmsford and Dracut did not yet have concrete plans for annual town meeting. Before set plans are made, the towns are waiting on any updated guidance from the state as well as input from their boards of selectmen.
While Curran expects Billerica will follow the same hybrid format, Kurland and Dracut Town Manager Ann Vandal are awaiting more information from the state and holding out hope for a return to normal town meeting.
“i honestly think we might be able to move forward with regular town meeting,” said Vandal. “That’s what i’m hoping. The problem we have is the capacity levels.”
Across New England, communities are considering what town meeting will look like post-pandemic.
in Vermont, the Associated Press has reported that some residents are pushing to keep some of the changes, like using preprinted ballots to decide issues.
in Massachusetts, towns seem focused on returning to their traditional formats but may hang on to a minor change or two.
Curran expects Billerica will continue offering the prep meetings, which he said have proven helpful.
Chelmsford, too, may keep a small change.
“i think we’ll probably stick with the time limitation on debate per person,” said Kurland. “Town meeting is the purest form and the earliest form of self government, and it’s a uniquely unique New England animal, if you will. i do respect the history of town meeting, and we do try to preserve it as best we can.”