An Exercise in Democracy

by Glenn C. Koenig, Webmaster at Town Wide Mall

Maynard, MA - A few yard signs have appeared in Maynard over the past week or so, urging residents to vote this Tuesday, May 6th.  For those who may need an update, this is Maynard's traditional annual town election for local officials.

This year, the ballot has only a few open seats on town boards.  That's because many terms are for three years, so in some years fewer seats are open while current office holders await the end of their terms before going up for re-election.
The best way to prepare to vote is by taking a look at the sample ballot on the town's web site:
https://www.townofmaynard-ma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/3767/-Ballot-Sample

The polls will be open from 7 AM until 8 PM at the Fowler School, at 3 Tiger Drive.
More information on voting is shown on the town's election page for this spring -
https://www.townofmaynard-ma.gov/170/Elections

Of the three positions on the ballot, two are uncontested races (Select Board and School Committee), with only one incumbent running for re-election in each.  That leaves the third office, that of Library Trustee, as the only contested seat, with two candidates are running for the one position.  In a quick search of the web, I could not find a web page for either candidate's campaign.  I found one post in a Maynard oriented group on Facebook, but there was no reliable campaign information there.  (Note:  For lack of additional time, I decided to end my search and publish this story).
This dearth of candidates is likely to leave many voters deciding that it's not worth going to the polls this Tuesday, leading to a very low voter turnout.

There are actually two separate elections shown on the town's election page, the second of which is on May 27th.  The ballot for that one is shown on a separate sample ballot page here:
https://www.townofmaynard-ma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/3788/Sample-Ballot
Turn out for this second election is likely to be much greater, as there are two tax override questions for voters to decide upon.

Between the two elections, Maynard will hold it's annual Town Meeting on May 19th.  More information about the meeting, including a link to the Warrant is on a separate page devoted to that, here:
https://www.townofmaynard-ma.gov/549/Annual-Town-Meeting-May-19-2025

This year, there are 45 articles on the Warrant, so it remains to be seen whether they can all be debated and voted upon in a single evening.  The Moderator usually does his best to keep the meeting moving along, but at the same time he must allow for enough time for each article to be discussed before those present feel that they are ready to take a vote.
According to the town's alert page,
https://www.townofmaynard-ma.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=331
... a printed version of the Warrant was sent to all households in town as an insert with the Action Unlimited advertising flyer delivered last Friday, May 2nd.  Sadly, the Action Unlimited flyer does not  get delivered to every household every week reliably, so some households will may not receive a printed copy.  (I just got mine in the mail today [Monday], so perhaps wait to see if one arrives.)
Voters wishing to obtain a printed copy are encouraged to visit the Town Building at 195 Main Street during open hours to request one, or view it online, and perhaps print out their own copy (as it's 70 pages long, that could take a lot of toner or ink!)
If the town were to mail the printed Warrant directly through the Post Office instead, the cost of postage would me much higher, so distribution via the Action has been chosen as a compromise.

Background

For anyone new to town government, I have written two documents, in PDF form, on my Perspectives page (here on this web site) that may help readers understand what's going on.  One is "Introduction to New England Town Government; How it Works" where I give an overview of the terminology (such as "Article," "Warrant," etc.) and the methods used to conduct Town Meetings.  The first few pages of the Warrant itself also provide some information, but it can take experience at a few meetings to get a good sense of the process as a whole.
The other article that may be of interest is "Reasons for Low Voter Turn Out - Why don't more people vote in local elections?"

Commentary

This is clearly a very difficult time for town government.  Even in past years, keeping up with the issues facing the town has been challenging, given the growing complexity and cost of running local governments.  And yet, democracy depends on an informed populace.  It's meaningless to offer citizens the right to vote, yet leave them with little or no information on which to base their decisions.
As I explained in my essay "No News?" on the Perspectives page, most cities and towns are now left with no local news media.  That's because the economic foundation for local news organizations has crumbled in the last two decades.  Many town governments, including Maynard's, have had to maintain extensive web sites in an effort to provide citizens with information on town government operations.  However, there is so much information to access there, that it may seem overwhelming.  I have to laud town officials, staff, as well as volunteer board and committee members for the great job they do in keeping the information on the web site up to date and thorough. But clearly, for many folks who have limited time to delve into the details, the loss of a reliable local newspaper to summarize the highlights is a critical drawback.
One reason there are so few contested races in our local elections is that fewer people have the time and willingness to dive into the work required.  Making decisions about running local government has become more and more challenging over the past few decades.  Yet the seats on local boards and committees remain largely unpaid volunteer positions that require many hours of work in order to do a reasonable job.

This year, the political turmoil going on at the national level has suddenly produced a flood of news headlines, along with blog posts, online discussion forums, and so forth. Although these issues are of grave importance, this situation has distracted many citizens from paying attention to local affairs.
Make no mistake about it, policy on the federal level is bound to have a significant impact on local government in a number of ways, including our sources of funding and the health of the economy in general.
Massachusetts law restricts how quickly cities and towns can raise local property taxes (a provision known as Proposition 2 1/2).*  But expenses for everything, including materials, utilities, and labor, as well as employee benefits (such as medical insurance) are increasing faster than that rate. I covered some of this in my previous story, "Finding Our Financial Path," back in February.
At the same time, there are numerous state and federal laws that dictate how the town must perform many of its functions.  This makes it very difficult to cut costs for many town and school operations while still complying with those laws.

If you think that things can't continue to go on like this, then they probably won't.  It seems likely that significant changes will occur very soon that will cast this entire situation in a new light.  Yes, change is difficult, especially when it's rapid, widespread, and profound. Our best bet, in my opinion, is to keep our eyes, minds, and communication channels open.  If anything, we are all going to need patience and an attitude of forgiveness when people struggling to make things work end up not being able to produce the ideal results we might desire.
One important point to remember is how much Maynard depends on volunteer energy to get things done that are beyond the capacity of local government itself.  As we go forward, we may end up shifting more functions over to local volunteer organizations, either new or existing, to keep the town working.

* For a description of how the law works, the Wikipedia article seems to be a good summary:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_Massachusetts_Proposition_2%C2%BD

A Personal Note

Alert readers of my posts here may have noticed that I published my most recent story back in early March, almost two months ago.  As I primarily work alone, when personal and family life demands arise, I must postpone putting effort into the news.  Recently, those demands have increased markedly with the sudden passing of my ex-wife, Janet Blodgett, back on Easter Sunday.  Her obituary is on the funeral home's web site, here:
https://obits.fowlerkennedyfuneralhome.com/janet-blodgett
I would not normally put such personal events here in a news story, but I thought I should be honest about one of the main reasons I haven't been able keep up with publishing as I might have wished.  We, as a family, must settle all of her affairs, including clearing out her apartment.  I put up a link to her obituary on Facebook last week, but I thought it only fair for those of you who do not have a Facebook account to have access to it as well.
Meanwhile, Maynard may have an additional source of news reporting soon, to complement what I have been doing here.  So, stay tuned.

Town Wide Mall is free for anyone to read and carries no advertising, so our only means of support is from donations.  Please consider helping with a donation of any amount. Click on the Donate button, below, to see the options.

News Index

Donate

Perspectives

News Index has a list of all Town Wide Mall stories since April 2023, over two years.

Perspectives has a list of articles and essays of a more timeless nature.