Editorial

Well done

In this day and age of accelerated lives, busy work schedules, and an unending merry-go-round that includes beeping cell phones and pagers, the Town Meeting may seem like a throwback.

In growing towns where the work of the government and elected officials toil almost unseen by the masses, and their work may seem disconnected from the impacts and realities of the working mom and pop, Gray's Town Meeting last Tuesday was a happy exception.

The attendance showed that there is growing interest in re-connecting with the work that we all do. Everyone participates in government, even the act of heading to Town Office to pay your property taxes is an act of participation. Last Saturday about 150 people decided to step up their participation and see what they could do first-hand to pass or not pass the annual municipal budget.

The best that any Council or Administrator can hope for is that when the budget is ready for presentation, the citizens come with open mind, questions, ready to hear answers and debate among themselves as to the merits of what they just heard.

Some citizens even came prepared with alternate proposals and supporting information to justify their ideas.

The audience was respectful for the most part, the Council was also respectful for the most part. The Moderator was moderate. There were good questions. There was humor.

There was a collective interest in seeing that the process was the best it could be. What more could one ask for? In this high-speed day and age, the lumbering process called Town meeting may seem anachronistic, but those in Gray came together and fulfilled the promise of democracy in action at its finest.

Gray Town Meeting Attendance:
1998- sparse
1999 - about 30
2000 - about 40
2001 - about 50
2002 - about 113
2003 - 130
2004 - 150


PenSpeak
By Marty Riskin