Comments

Tom - I'm sure that people will continue to speak out at your Town Meetings. Yet, still, what a loss! No doubt Town Meeting votes could get heated at times, but there's certainly something to be said for having everyone know where you stand on an issue (and knowing where the other guy stands,too).I think that it makes people more respectful of another's opinion, more apt to consider seriously why someone they know and like disagrees with them, more apt to hear people out. Was there a sense in your Town Meeting that people were feeling intimidated by open voting? (Who hasn't had the experience of having an overbearing loudmouth attempt to cow them?)

On a side note (but variation on a theme, I think): One of the things I've noted in the blogosphere, especially on those sites that deal with political/social matters,is that when people write and comment anonymously, they tend to be more inflammatory and extreme,often put demeaning comments into play, etc.The freedom is exhilerating, but there is a cost!

Posted by Maureen Rogers at March 5, 2007 9:42 AM

1. And one can see they spared no expense in slinging the flag against the wall - plus the "pro" butcher paper signing look of "Town Meeting" & "Australian Ballot" ... tears welling up for me too ...

2. Naturally, Richard, down under, is ecstatic that his nefarious ways continue to creep into USA politics ... >:]

Posted by sean_town_cryor at March 5, 2007 9:43 AM

There is a simple beauty about small town politics. As a semi resort town whose life blood depends on summer tourism, our meetings tend to be a debate between developers (oddly enough, most not from here) and others that are trying hard to keep the charm that attracts tourists in the first place. What I like about our meetings is that we can have fierce debate and passioned arguments, but we all know we have to live with our neighbors the next day. Civility remains a virtue. We argue our positions hard, but if we lose, we lose graciously. A breath of fresh air compared to what I see in political blogs and from infamous pundits...

Posted by Mike Neiss at March 5, 2007 1:01 PM

'Small town politics' is about ownership, pride and passion about where we live - it is wonderful and long may it remain. I have been to meetings where we have spent hours talking about issues that most business people would consider not an effective use of time - but hey – this is real important stuff and I vote to keep it forever.

Posted by Trevor Gay at March 5, 2007 6:32 PM

PS

On a simlar thread ... this is what I wrote back in December 2006:

Today I had the pleasure of running a stall at our church Christmas Fayre. My small contribution was to sell greeting cards. I am delighted to say the Fayre was a great success. The goodwill and ‘giving’ of free time by dozens of people always amazes me. What inspires me too is the simplicity of it all as a management project. There was no 50 page written strategy about how all this should fall into place. There was no complex action plan. There was no complicated flow chart diagram. It was achieved mainly through word of mouth – asking people to do things, trusting that they will do those things and then leaving it to them. Oh dear, I thought to myself, (as I saw this 'smooth operation' achieve all its targets) .... if only management was that simple in our big organisations. Then I thought … why CAN’T it be that easy?

Posted by Trevor Gay at March 5, 2007 7:34 PM

Great burst of posts yesterday! Thank you!!!

Posted by Paul at March 5, 2007 8:02 PM

1. Hey wait a minute - that is Richard @ the podium in beard & glasses disquise - plus he is masking his Australian accent ... while adopting a Vermontesque play on words ...

Posted by sean_australian at March 6, 2007 1:20 PM