Just moved to a small town in Southern NH. Coming up on election time. (Running for office myself, but, that's another story...) One question that will be on the ballot (has been for last several years) is whether our town should abandon its traditional Town Meetings and instead adopt the protocols of NH Senate Bill 2 (SB2) for Town government. A hotly contested issue, this. My wife is dead set against it; myself, have mixed feelings. For those of you unfamiliar with the terms of this debate, will describe some of the issues "below the fold."
Under the terms of SB2, the traditional Town Meeting is replaced by a "Deliberative Session." In a traditional Town Meeting, every Warrant Article (including the town budget) is up for public debate and amendment before each is voted on. In a "Deliberative Session," the articles and budget are debated, amended, but, not voted on for adoption; the final vote on the articles is then held in a day long election at the regular polling place a few weeks later, with curtained polling booths and secret ballots.
Proponents of SB2 claim that the open Yes/No ballot is more inclusive, in that the polls are open all day, and absentee ballots are allowed. Proponents of Town Meeting government counter that the voters who show up for Town Meeting are the ones who actually care about town government. Well, it is true, in those towns that have adopted SB2, attendance at Deliberative Sessions tends to be sparse, and confined to those voters with true axes to grind. On the other hand, the requirement to attend a Town Meeting to vote smacks a bit of voter suppression: limiting the franchise to the "right kind" of voters.
Town Meeting votes are conducted via a show of hands; nothing secret about it. There is some concern that this may lend itself to some species of voter intimidation. Does mean you "wear your (political) heart on your sleeve" at Town Meetings!
Major concern with SB2 is that, once adopted by a town, it requires a vote by 80% of the town's registered voters to repeal. Some 60 odd towns in NH (over half) have adopted. There have been over 40 repeal attempts; none have succeeded.
Inclined to vote against SB2; our town is small (1,200 souls, more or less) and I'm reluctant to make a change so difficult to reverse. Any opinions from KOS land?