Middlesex Town Meeting Solutions Committee
Meeting Minutes
January 23, 2002

Present: Susan Clark, Gregory Whitchurch, Barbara Whitchurch, Dave Shepard, Wilson Brett and David Lawrence

1. Review of Survey
Results of the survey of town residents were reviewed. Susan pointed out that the results are not a quantitative measure but do provide useful qualitative information.

2. Update on Rumney School
There hasn’t been any recent contact with Rumney School but there is still interest on the part of teachers in coordinating with this committee.

3. Recommendations to the Select Board
Considerable time was spent discussing what recommendations the committee might make to the Select Board from the information gathered so far. The discussion was divided into items categorized as those the committee feels certain about and those that are hunches.

“What We Know”
- Participating voters at the 2001 Town Meeting voted about four to one to maintain a traditional meeting.
- Participating voters chose to maintain Australian ballot for the school budget by about a four to one margin.
- Respondents to the survey (74 individuals) support traditional Town Meeting by three to one.

A number of pieces of information come from research conducted by Professor Frank Bryan of the University of Vermont:
- Smaller towns get better participation in Town Meeting.
- Towns with significant issues on their warning get better participation.
- Providing child care increases Town Meeting attendance for women.
- Initial data indicates that a 5:00 p.m. meeting is effective in maintaining participation and still having an evening meeting.

“Our Hunches”
- Some number of Middlesex residents feel that the Town Meeting process doesn’t work for them.
- A 5:00 p.m. start is a good time for Town Meeting.
- A move to a larger space, such as Rumney School, may be in order. It will be helpful to get feedback on this possibility from voters at Town Meeting. The committee is also interested in knowing if there is support for increasing the space at the Town Hall.
- Wilson reported support from people he has spoken with for allowing volatile issues to be voted on at a later date by Australian ballot. This would likely require either a change in state law for all towns or Middlesex getting a town charter to allow this.
- Having Town Meeting be a state holiday would help participation.
- Changing the winter school vacation could help participation. Greg expressed reservations about advocating for such a change.
- Getting more information out to people could help participation.
- Recognition at Town Meeting for residents who have made big contributions to the town could boost the feeling of community.
- An insert in the Middlesex Monthly informing residents when official meetings are to be held could help people feel better connected and able to participate in town government. The committee should seek approval from the Select Board for this - the insert might be an extra for a few months and then could be incorporated directly into the paper.
- A Middlesex website would likely foster knowledge of town government issues among some residents.
- The committee should pursue alternate voting possibilities using technology to reach out to people who currently don’t attend Town Meeting.
- Considering the importance of town size in participation at Town Meeting, this issue could be something for the Planning Commission to keep in mind.

Following this discussion, Susan said she would draft proposed recommendations from the committee to the Select Board and email them to committee members for comments prior to January 29, 2002.

Minutes recorded by Dave Shepard.