Coming right up, election day!

by Glenn C. Koenig, webmaster at Town Wide Mall

Maynard, MA - The Action Unlimited booklet mailed to most households in Maynard this past Friday was a little thicker than usual. That’s because it contained a copy of a Warrant for the Annual Town Election, scheduled for Tuesday, May 7th.  For those who routinely recycle the Action Unlimited mailer without checking the contents, they may want to grab the Warrant before it goes out in the recycling bin, this coming week!

The Warrant in this mailing may look a little different from the ones in recent years.  That’s because this one is only for the Annual Town Election; it does not contain any articles or information for Town Meeting (scheduled for Monday evening, May 20th).  Residents are advised to be on the lookout for the Warrant for Town Meeting, as it will be mailed out on Friday, May 3rd, also within The Action Unlimited.

The warrants are mailed out this way because Maynard no longer has a weekly newspaper, the Beacon- Villager, which was the traditional publication in which it was included.  The Beacon-Villager ceased publishing on paper in May 2022.  The Action Unlimited is the only weekly publication routinely mailed out to every household at this point in time.

If you did not receive a copy of The Action Unlimited, or your copy was missing the Warrant, a copy can be obtained at Maynard Town Hall or on the town's web site:
https://www.townofmaynard-ma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/2867/warrant-5724?bidId=

For anyone  signed up to vote by mail, you should have already received your ballot  For those planning to vote in person, a sample of the ballot is also available on the town web site:
https://www.townofmaynard-ma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/2853/sample-ballot?bidId=

The reason for two separate Warrants has to do with the unusual nature of the town election this year.  Every ten years, the town is required to review its Charter, as required by state law.  The Charter is sort of like the town’s constitution, an overall guide to the functioning of government in town.  A special committee is set up to review the Charter and make changes and amendments in order to keep it consistent with various changes in state and federal laws and policies, as well as changes in the surrounding culture that may have evolved during that time.

Once the committee has finished its initial work, it has to report to Town Meeting for approval (which it did last year), then report to the voters, who must give final approval of the changes (at this upcoming election).  That report and the entire text of the revised Charter is provided to voters before the election in the Warrant booklet. Therefore the election is not only to elect officers (Select Board, School Committee, Library Trustees, and Town Moderator), but also to vote either “yes” or “no” to the changes to the Charter.

The warrant booklet includes four pages to detail when and where the election will take place, what will be on the ballot, then ten pages for the report from the Charter Review committee, followed by the entire revised charter itself (another 32 pages).

If you want to review all this online, the report and the charter itself are located on a separate page of the town web site, devoted to the Charter Review Committee:

https://www.townofmaynard-ma.gov/272/Charter-Review-Committee

Note:  For those new to Maynard, or new to town government in Massachusetts in general, you may want to read my four page guide, "Town Government Introduction."  To access it, go to the Opinion page on this web site and scroll down to find the link to the document.  It is a PDF file that you can download, read, and save for future reference.

Commentary

The Annual Town Election is likely to have a relatively low turnout this year, as all the candidates are running unopposed and the ballot question is not particularly controversial.

Does this mean that democracy is in trouble?  Perhaps.  However, although there may be differences of opinion on various issues here in town, the lack of new candidates is likely due more to the time and effort it takes to participate on the boards and committees on which they will serve.  Few people in town have the capacity and devotion to step up to these posts.  Most of the rest of us are resigned to trust them to do well for the town in general, and take a balanced approach to the questions they will face and the decisions they must make.  This is now how our government was intended to work, perhaps, but with the pace and complexity of life these days (compared to when our government structure and functions were originally set out), this is where we have ended up.

In addition, the Town Charter (the only ballot question this time around) is not well known to most residents in town, not surprisingly.  After all, the charter is intended to serve as a non partisan, non controversial framework within which the town functions.  As with any similar constitution-type document, it is not intended to be changed very often or in any radical way.

Still, I found it interesting to read portions of the Charter Review Committee’s report.  It is clear to me that a great deal of thought and care has been given to the revision process by the members of the committee, and I appreciate the time and effort they have put in, in completing this work.

In this case, the phrase “no news is good news” comes to my mind.  After all, no one wants to have a struggle or boiling controversy when it comes to such an important document. Thankfully, I believe that voters can vote in confidence in favor of this ballot question.

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