Town Meeting Location: What Do You Think?

Town Meeting will take place at Town Hall this year. But on Town Meeting Day when you receive your ballots to vote, you’ll also receive a non-binding questionnaire from the Selectboard, with one simple question: “Should the 2009 Town Meeting be held at Rumney School rather than the Town Hall for a one year experiment?”

The Selectboard wants to know: what do you think?

Middlesex Town Meeting Solutions Committee members have discussed the pros and cons of each site with citizens over the past few years. This is a tough decision, and the Solutions Committee is not taking a stand, but supports the Selectboard in gathering citizens’ opinions. Here are a few of the key points that have emerged through our conversations. We offer them simply to help get voters thinking about all sides of the question.
 
In favor of Rumney:
• Rumney’s gym is bigger. Some people feel crowded and uncomfortable at Town Hall. It’s possible that some people don’t come to Town Meeting because Town Hall is so crowded. Town Hall may be so crowded that a Town Meeting held there doesn’t meet fire code.
• While both sites are handicapped accessible, access to Rumney is simpler since it does not involve an elevator.
• Rumney is well equipped to host child care, and with the meeting at Rumney, child care could be on-site (parents of younger children may feel uncomfortable dropping their kids at Rumney to attend a meeting across town).
 
In favor of Town Hall:
• Town Hall is located in the traditional village, and is less institutional-feeling.
• The acoustics in the gym may make it hard to hear, especially for elderly voters. Microphones are not an ideal solution; people are less likely to speak when they have to use a microphone.
• It would be more work to move voting booths and the Town Clerk’s computer, records etc. to Rumney for the day.

Additional considerations:
• Neither Rumney nor the Town Hall is centrally located. Each side of town has its fans, both due to geographic and historic patterns. While Town Meeting location is a practical question, it is also a sensitive, symbolic issue to some.
 • While the Middlesex United Methodist Church has indicated that it would be open to moving its traditional fundraising dinner to Rumney, logistics regarding timing, moving chairs/meal tables etc. would have to be dealt with.
• Parking is not ideal in either place.

You may have additional “pros and cons” to add to the list! The Middlesex Selectboard and the Town Meeting Solutions Committee encourage you give the question some thought, and be sure to fill out a questionnaire on Town Meeting Day. We look forward to a vibrant Town Meeting (in any location!).

If you wish to share additional thoughts on this question, feel free to contact the Selectboard or Solutions Committee. (Selectboard Chair Peter Hood, (h) 223-6518; (w) 223-9644. Solutions Committee Chair Susan Clark, 223-5824, sclark@sover.net; other contacts available from the Town Clerk, 223-5915, or at www.middlesex-vt.org.)