Town meeting is the best conduit to express our political agency. What is agency? It’s the capacity of actors to make things happen.
Traditional town meeting allows residents a free way to participate in our democracy. If a Deering resident believes strongly in something, they can gain support from 25 of their neighbors through a petition and get their idea on the warrant. All they have to do at this point is attend town meeting, present their case directly to the voters, answer questions and instantly get the result. No tricks and no misleading mailers or online postings. The town meeting process is simple, direct and it doesn’t cost anything but determination.
Should we choose to abandon this with SB 2, residents will need to figure out how to get their message in front of voters. This will likely require letters and paid advertising; democracy for the highest bidder.
We’re already buried in state and federal versions of this, complete with endless glossy postcards, emails and text messages, and straight up lies on the internet. We don’t need this in Deering. We live in a small town to get the benefits of a small town: community, clean air, simplicity and a connection with our past. Let the big towns and cities grapple with the nonsense and trickery of SB 2, and let Deering’s political agency – our democracy – continue to thrive.
Please support town meeting and just say no to SB 2.
AARON GILL
Deering