By John McDonald
The New England-style town meeting — originating in the 1600s — has been called the purest form of democracy. Having experienced more than a few town meetings over the years, I can’t imagine democracy in an impure form.
In addition to “the purest form of democracy,” town meetings have also been called a lot of other things over the centuries, but it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to list them all here, although a lot has also been said over the centuries about “democracy.”
Winston Churchill said “”Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others” tried from time to time. Always good for a quote, Ben Franklin said “Democracy is two wolves and one lamb voting on what to have for dinner.” The wolves win every time.
Even though it’s summer, I’ve been thinking about the town meeting and democracy lately, after reading articles in the paper about two towns in Maine that were thinking of doing away with their annual town meeting — also known as “democracy in action.”
There was a time, here in Maine, when such talk would be labeled “crazy” or “subversive,” even “communist.” Well, maybe not communist, but at least “European.” At the time, it was unthinkable something as divisive and rumor-producing as the annual March meeting at the town hall would ever be done away with. Back home I remember, months before town meeting, rumors would start flying on one town issue or another. There was always talk of the town buying some piece of property and who in town would gain or lose from such a transaction. No town meeting discussion would be complete without talk of roads and the town’s popular road commissioner. As the date of our town meeting approached, there were always lots of questions about our friendly road commissioner.
“What does he do down there in the town garage all day?” or “How many of his relatives are now employed by the town these days?” or “What did they do with all that money we voted them last year, anyway?”
These were some of the questions asked by the early-morning crowd at the Mainely Food diner. The lunch crowd would continue the questions, often adding a few more, like “What are they teaching the kids up to the school these days that it costs so much?”
People in our town loved their town meetings and all the ill-will that went with it. Where else but at town meeting could one group in town finally put it to an opposing group and vote them down as many times as they possible. There were groups in our town that would vote against their own interests and shoot something down just because the other group wanted it too. It was all so much fun. And some towns want to put an end to it?
As a young reporter for a northern Maine newspaper, I attended dozens of town meetings in March, where the outside temperature was in the teens and inside the packed hall it felt like a sauna — even to people who had never been in a sauna. You knew you were in for a lively meeting when the voters in attendance appeared to be as steamed as the windows. A good town meeting would begin with people arriving early and filling up the available seats long before the meeting was scheduled to begin. Late arrivals would stand along the aisles on each side and in the back.
Once the moderator was chosen, the articles would be introduced and the arguing would soon follow, and now some Maine towns want to end all this? They want to end all the conflict and dissension, all the discord and rivalry, all the friction? Why would any decent citizen of the town want to do that?
John McDonald is a storyteller and the author of five bestselling books, including “A Moose and a Lobster Walk into a Bar” and “The Maine Dictionary.” Contact him at 207 240 8324 or maineauthorjohn.mcdonald@yahoo.com
