Middlesex Town Meeting Solutions Committee
Meeting Minutes
May 24, 2001

Present: David Lawrence, Wilson Brett, Susan Clark, Gregory Whitchurch, Barbara Whitchurch, Kim Cheney, Stanley Scribner, Martin Pincus, Mary Just Skinner, Dave Shepard

1. Minutes of the April 12, 2001 Meeting
A motion to accept the minutes of the April 12 meeting was made by Stanley Scribner and seconded by Mary Skinner. The minutes were accepted. Stanley suggested publishing the minutes in the Middlesex Monthly.

2. Meeting Agenda
The agenda for this meeting was established as follows:
• Reports from committee members
• Discussion on representative meeting
• Expand/refine list of target issues/solutions
• Plan of action/next steps

3. Reports from committee members
•Computer Technology
David Lawrence provided information on some computer technology issues related to assisting people who may not be able to physically attend Town Meeting to participate from a remote site, such as their home. One possibility is streaming video; David thought Sovernet might be willing to provide free access for the Town Meeting. One way this could be accomplished would be for volunteers to set up a lap top computer with an internet connection in a home. Having a satellite site where people could gather is another possibility. A question was raised as to whether a motion could be made at Town Meeting to allow people not physically in attendance to vote via the internet. The Secretary of State has indicated allowing voting in this manner might have to be included in a town charter.

Mary posed the question of whether there should be criteria for receiving the Town Meeting via internet service. Wilson asked if computer technology could enable any voter to vote and whether such technology is likely to reach people who don’t attend Town Meeting?

It was suggested that the survey of voters could be used to gauge interest in computer technology and get a reading on whether it may be likely to help people who otherwise couldn’t attend Town Meeting. David noted he was curious about how much of a problem there actually is with people not being able to physically attend Town Meeting and feels the survey could be a good way to assess this.

•Review of Draft Survey
Copies of the draft survey, prepared by Barbara and Henrietta Jordan, were passed around for review. A number of suggestions were offered:
-Include lists of issues with a simple ranking system (strongly disagree, disagree, no opinion, agree, strongly agree).
-Susan felt that in addition to the survey, we ought to have informal “living room” meetings with some voters, including some of those who signed the petition seeking to move from Town Meeting to Australian ballot.
-A suggestion was made to include a question, phrased in a positive manner, about what people like about Town Meeting.

Additional comments on the survey can be sent to Barbara via email. A revised draft will be prepared for review at the next meeting. For the next meeting Susan would like to discuss “living room” meetings or other approaches to get more feedback from voters.

•Motion to Postpone
Mary reported on her research into the question of a motion to postpone voting on a given issue at Town Meeting. The Vermont League of Cities and Towns informed her that it is allowed to pass over or table an issue at Town Meeting. At the end of Town Meeting another meeting can be set at a date certain to take up the issue again. A question was posed as to whether an issue that is tabled or passed over could be voted on at a later date by Australian ballot? Kim said if that isn’t currently allowed, the law could be changed. Mary will check on whether it is allowed to postpone a vote on an issue at Town Meeting and specifically vote on the issue by Australian ballot at a later date.

•Pending Legislation
It was reported that two bills in the legislature related to voting (S.92 and H.127) are unlikely to be voted on this year. Discussion of this issue was postponed to a later meeting when Henrietta is in attendance to give the committee a report.

•Legal Issues
Greg asked if we should look into the definition of attending Town Meeting. After some discussion it was agreed that we don’t need to answer this question.

4. Representative Meeting
At the request of Kim, the committee considered the concept of a representative meeting. The town of Brattleboro uses this concept and Kim explained how it might work. The town of Middlesex would be divided into districts and the voters of each district would elect a representative who would be the person to actually vote on the issues at Town Meeting. Stanley suggested adding this concept to the survey but after some discussion it was decided not to do so. For the present time, the committee agreed not to pursue this concept further as it seemed to be getting away from the goal of this committee to increase participation in Town Meeting.

5. Frank Bryan Data
Susan reported on information she obtained from University of Vermont political science professor Frank Bryan about his many years of data collection about Town Meeting. He is interested in attending a meeting with this committee at some future date. His suggestions/recommendations regarding promoting participation in Town Meeting are broken into two categories: structural and procedural.
Structural:
1.Don’t go to an Australian ballot format.
2. Providing child care increases participation, especially for women.
3. Don’t start the meeting too late (in any case don’t begin later than 7:00 p.m.), attendance is lower when the meeting starts too late.
4. Having a meal is important in boosting attendance.
5. Town Meeting and the school meeting should be joined. Having both together increases attendance. It is not a good idea to have one meeting before the meal and one after. It's ideal to start each meeting before the meal, pause them for the meal, then complete each meeting after the meal.

Procedural:
1. Town meeting is more successful when a town’s population is less than 2500 and there are issues with some degree of controversy to be voted on. Dr. Bryan recommends that town leaders put some budget items on the agenda as specific items to be voted on rather than having them buried in the budget.
2. Involve the school and children.
3. Form a committee to publicize issues. Use many media and different formats.

Check town reports that have won awards to get ideas.
4. Celebrate citizenship. For example, make it a point to recognize young people who are voting for the first time (“coming of age”) and for accomplishments such as many years of continuous attendance at Town Meeting.
5. Vote on “out of town” petitioned items separately rather than in one big group.

With regard to moving Town Meeting to a larger space, Dr. Bryan said it shouldn’t inhibit participation but it is important to do microphones carefully if they become necessary because microphones can inhibit people.

Concerning the timing of Town Meeting, Stanley agreed to look into the past times that Town Meeting has been held in Middlesex and the resulting attendance.

 6. Issues for the next meeting
• Review new draft of survey
• Discuss living room/community discussion as options for expanding survey
• Report from Henrietta on pending legislation
• Brief history of Middlesex Town Meeting - Stanley
• Review of award winning town reports - Susan
• Cost of mailing the survey to all registered voters - Dave Shepard
• Further clarification of legal issues - Martin
• Cost of mailing the survey through a mailing service - Wilson
The meeting was adjourned at 9:18 pm. The next meeting will be held on June 21, 2001 from 7:00 to 9:00 pm at the Middlesex town office.

Minutes recorded by Dave Shepard