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May
16, 2001
Eve Brown-Waite
Oh,
I just LOVE this time of year. After all, it's only one
night each year that we hire a babysitter, kiss the kids
good-night at 6:45 and say "Don't wait up. We might
be back late!" Yes, it's Town Meeting time! A real
big event in our household. It's grassroots democracy at
its grassroots-iest.
After all, where else but Town Meeting can you
participate in bare-naked democracy? And where else but
Town Meeting can you be sure that your voice is heard
and that your vote is counted (certainly NOT in
Florida)? And
where else but Town Meeting would a group of otherwise
sane and rational individuals haggle for an hour over
whether to lift the levy limit, limit the levy, levy the
limit, or drive our Chevy to the levy?
This
year one of Deerfield's issues mirrored a state and
national one. A hotly contested item was whether or not
to vote ourselves a tax cut. But unlike the state and
federal level, we
chose not to. In the words of one speaker, we opted to
"use our common wealth for the common good."
Instead of voting ourselves a few dollars off of next
year's tax bill, we voted to give the school all the
money that it needed for a change. I was proud of
Deerfield at Town Meeting.
Did
you participate in your Town Meeting?
What were the big, contentious issues in your
town? And
what did it tell you about your community? E-mail me at info2005@valleyviewpoint.com
and tell me all about your Town Meeting.
(Back
to Eve Droppings)
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