Dear Moderator Eaton, Select Board Members, Town Manager Slagle, and Wilmington Voters (via the Wilmington Apple):
Did anyone feel good after leaving yesterday’s Town Meeting? Not about the results on particular articles (whether positive or negative), but about the process and length?
Although admittedly still new to town government relative to many residents, my family and I moved to Wilmington in 2010 and my wife and I have attended several Town Meetings, in-whole or in-part. Most have been in-part for various reasons, usually familial obligations.
This year, I had to step out to pick up our dog from the groomer, but was able to return as the meeting dragged into the 2:00 hour around Article 16, then left apparently just before it ended at almost the eight-hour mark. I was only able to attend that much this year due to fortuitous scheduling that allowed me to skip three of my children’s sports games while my wonderful wife covered those. On those fields, she encountered several residents who wished to participate, but were unable to do so for similar reasons. Effectively, we’re excluding a large swath of our residents that either cannot avoid work or family obligations or made an economically rational decision that eight hours would be better spent with their family on a beautiful spring day.
Far from the pinnacle of small-scale democracy, this year’s Town Meeting was a civic-minded exercise of endurance and it is hard to imagine anyone swelling with civic pride on the way out.
This is no criticism of Moderator Eaton, who once again provided as much levity, patience, and impartiality as he could to this march.
Nor was this experience solely the result of a particularly frequent speaker (though many of his questions and comments seemed more likely to delay Town Meeting than comment on or elicit information regarding the articles). Though the right to be heard is a fundamental one, surely many towns have similarly inclined citizens.
Instead, my suggestion to our Town leaders is that there must be a better way. To be sure, many among us and our ancestors have sacrificed far more than a Saturday in service of democracy.
However, as at least one speaker analogized during Town Meeting, in what other setting (e.g., the private sector) would anyone find this eight-hour exercise requiring the presence of 150 or so people to be a good use of our collective time?
I am admittedly not an expert on municipal law and recognize that the Town acts within constraints of state law. However, we all have friends and family in other towns (using the legal sense of that word) and our experience appears to be a uniquely belabored one.
It’s 2025. What can the Town do to modernize Town Meeting?
Respectfully,
Brian Landry
EDITOR’S NOTE: If any reader has ideas on how to improve or modernize Town Meeting, Town Manager Jonathan Eaton can be reached at moderator@wilmingtonma.gov.
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