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In Maine, March is town meeting season, and even though some towns have abandoned these annual gatherings in favor of referendum-style voting, plenty of towns maintain this proud, colonial tradition of direct participation in local government.
These meetings serve to pass budgets and adopt laws and ordinances, but they also serve as social gatherings, often with potluck on the agenda.
I covered a town meeting in Hebron years ago where residents fiercely discussed dozens of spending articles before noon, and then broke for dinner. The change of mood in the room was instant, from one of contentious debate to friendly banter.
Food will do that.
When the first rush of town meetings begins on Saturday, March 1, residents across the state will experience much the same thing. Monitor Local will be reporting on many of these annual meetings, but we also urge you to attend in person and participate to the fullest.
There’s really nothing like it.
The Maine Municipal Association’s guide to town meetings contains a gem of a quote about town meetings from the former Biddeford Journal Tribune’s editorial board: “The purest form of democracy is participatory democracy, in which you put your butt in the chair at the meeting house or the high school gym and you have your say and you cast your vote on every last blessed item on the warrant.”
We hope you find our reporting useful this town meeting season.
We also hope that you are enjoying this newsletter and encourage you to share it with family members and friends. They can sign up on our website to have it delivered to their own inbox each Saturday.
You know what season has also arrived? Frost heaves.
Mud won’t be far behind. |
