Ah, those late nights

Friday, February 26, 2010

School district officials had one last week when their budget hearing went to 11:30 p.m. One hardy member of the public stuck it out to the bitter end and should be applauded, as should the school district officials and budget committee members who hung in there to do the district’s important business.

Now comes the real fun: Next month, the Hollis/Brookline School District, the Hollis School District, the Brookline School District, the town of Hollis and the town of Brookline will hold separate (but equal, of course) annual meetings at which voters will decide a variety of issues, including budgets. They will do so in what we now refer to as “traditional” town and school meetings to differentiate them from Senate Bill 2 ballot voting. In towns that operate under SB2 – Amherst and Milford among them – warrant articles are voted upon the same way as school board members or selectmen are chosen: at the polls on voting day.

There are those in Hollis and Brookline who are beginning to fall in love with SB2 and if you’ve ever attended one of the “traditional” meetings, you’ll understand why: They can run quite long, sometimes even over two nights.

Who, ask the SB2 supporters, has time to deal with that?

It’s a point well-taken.

Once upon a time, folks made it a habit to attend town and school district meetings, regardless of how long they ran. It wasn’t that they could exactly afford the time, they just gave it. They knew it was important and they wanted to be a direct part of the decisions made on behalf of their towns and school districts. Those meetings are the essence of a democracy.

SB2 is part of the essence of a republic.

There is nothing actually wrong with either system, although one could argue that the closer one can get to the decision-making process, the better. Standing alone in a voting booth isn’t as close as saying “Aye” or “Nay” at a town or school meeting.

And, “traditional” proponents would argue, at the meeting, voters get to hear discussion and they can change warrant articles if they choose.

Ah, yes, say SB2 proponents, but the same can be said for the mandatory Deliberative Sessions that precede by a few weeks the day of voting. There warrant articles can also be debated and changed, so what’s the difference?

There is no easy answer to this conundrum. There is merit on both sides. In Milford, for instance, more people participate in decisions on voting day than ever participated in town and school meetings. That is a good thing.

But how informed are they? If they didn’t read the papers or go to the Deliberative Sessions, the answer is: not very.

But, you know, this is America and even the uninformed have a right to vote. Can’t be asking people if they have a clue before letting them enter the voting booth.

As much as we wish things could stay the same (on this issue at least), change is probably coming.