Fall Town Meetings are often opportunities to give important local projects and proposals a first glance before sending them down the proverbial pike for action or rejection at spring Town Meeting.
That practice is staying true to form in Lynnfield where a proposed clubhouse and maintenance shed for King Rail Reserve Golf Course is now a spring, not a fall, Town Meeting article. With King Rail off the warrant, it might make sense not only in Lynnfield, but in three other area towns for meeting members to come together for a proverbial meeting of the minds before Town Meeting convenes in the spring.
Lynnfield saw Town Meeting split last year over the rail trail article with both sides weighing in vigorously on the subject. Meeting members should seriously consider reconvening before the spring to wash away any bad blood splattered during the rail trail debate. There is no reason lingering animosities or festering differences caused by the trail debate and the razor-thin vote to move forward with planning should not be erased.
A pre-Town Meeting meeting sounds like overkill, but clearing the air in the wake of the contentious vote could set the stage for a more focused debate at the next Town Meeting.
Swampscott residents clearly signaled their approval for a rail trail when they went to the polls but those in the losing column are still angry over their defeat and the resentment is good reason to hold an air-clearing discussion in Swampscott prior to Town Meeting.
Town Meeting is defined by protocol, procedures, and don’t-forget personalities. Small town residents attend Town Meeting because it is an opportunity to see feuds, gripes and differences on display. Plenty of important business gets done by well-meaning and involved residents, but Town Meeting would be, well, just Town Meeting without personalities on display.
In Saugus and Nahant, Town Meeting season 2017-2018 is shaping up to be a watershed event that should be preceded by pre-meeting discussions. The ash landfill articles advanced by Saugus Town Meeting ran into a wood chipper by the name of Attorney General Maura Healey, who shot down the articles and indirectly questioned the town’s understanding of where local authority ends and state authority begins.
A pre-meeting discussion should include a thorough review of the town board and committee review process leading up to Town Meeting. Healey’s landfill ruling did not sit well with some residents, but there is no question town policy should not conflict with state law.
In Nahant, spring Town Meeting is likely to be a referendum on the town’s management and the direction the town is going in terms of spending and prioritizing town needs. Nahant residents like democracy in big doses and they combine Town Meeting with elections to ensure there is plenty to talk about when Town Meeting rolls around.
If dissatisfaction over the way the town is being run surfaces during the fall and winter, the griping is likely to emerge by spring into reform proposals and election challenges.
Only Marblehead appears to have Town Meeting well in hand with members efficiently dispensing of articles ranging from Christmas decorations to new fire trucks. Meeting members in other towns might be well served to take a tip or two from their Marblehead counterparts.
