Town Meeting Format Places “Voting Tax” on Families

I will be upfront in saying I was very disappointed the pool did not pass on Monday night.  Clearly a majority of the town wants a new pool, just not quite a 2/3 majority. What disturbs me more is the “Town Meeting” format we follow to make these big decisions. I grew up in another community where issues like this would be voted on by ballot and registered voters would have an opportunity to vote between 8am and 8pm.  I’ve now lived and been a registered voter in Massachusetts since 1995 but this format is still very foreign to me.  A document on the town Web site states it is “considered one of the purest examples of democratic government.” But what is democratic about having a meeting that some people may not be able to attend? 

We have young children and could not, despite our best efforts, find a sitter for Monday night. So I went to the meeting to “represent” our household and my husband stayed home with the kids.  But of course that was not a true representation of our household since I could only vote once, not twice.  In essence parents with children pay a “voting tax” in order to be able to attend Town Meeting, at the price of about $12/hour – the going rate for a sitter.  How is this fair?  The other option is to opt out of voting.  What about a family that can’t afford a sitter? Or a single parent who doesn’t have a spouse to stay home with the kids? Is it fair that they are not represented?  I can appreciate tradition and history but a few things have changed since the Town Meeting format was initiated in colonial times. For one, women can vote now. 

The vote was so close and as I looked around I spotted at least 10 people I know who took the same approach we did of sending one “representative” from their family.  If we had all been able to get sitters it would have passed!  I guess the other option is we all bring our kids to the meeting and sit them in the visitor section unsupervised. That could be interesting!  We need a town government format that allows equal opportunity for voting for all members of the town. 

On a side note, given the close margin on the vote, why was there not a recount?

Erica Mitchell

This letter was also sent to the Hamilton-Wenham Chronicle and the Hamilton Board of Selectman.