I write to thank the nearly 400 voters who made time to attend the Annual Town Meeting last week. Although the warrant contained only 21 articles, many involved important decisions for the town and, in some cases, substantial financial commitments. Careful preparation by board and committee members and the voters themselves allowed us to have thoughtful discussions and complete our business before 9:30 p.m.
My thanks also go to the Soundwaves and director Ben Icenogle. Their enthusiasm and musical performance were engaging, and many people arrived early to listen. Their rendition of the National Anthem was an appropriate introduction to this early creation of American democracy.
Like so many aspects of local government, town meeting depends on the efforts of the volunteers who make it run. Although they were too numerous to list in this letter (there were 21 of them), I thanked them in my opening comments and reiterate my gratitude now.
We added a new aspect at this year’s meeting: closed captioning for those who may have difficulty hearing. I thank Caitlin Eppes of the ADA Advisory Committee for encouraging us to introduce it.
In my letter after last April’s town meeting, I reported that problems with our electronic voting system seemed to be behind us, only to have them resurface in November. Accordingly, I appointed a committee of technical experts to investigate and resolve the failure. I thank the committee – Chair Jim Starkey and members Lee Spence, Kurt Melden and Bob Moffett – as well as Ann Harrison and Tiffany Marletta who assisted in the investigation. This time, the system performed as it should. It was important to get this right, because many voters have told me they value the opportunity to vote privately.
Sincerely yours,
Alan Wilson, Manchester Town Moderator
