Your participation matters.

This letter to the editor was in today's Exeter Newsletter. Ms. Ferraro explained the importance and process of the deliberative session and I wanted to share parts of it here. (There's no need to reinvent the wheel, right?) 

Once a year we have the opportunity and obligation to come together as a community at annual town and school meetings to participate in listening, discussing, debating, amending and finally voting on important issues that will affect all of us. The first part of the meeting is the deliberative session. The second part is Election Day.

Newmarket's deliberative session will be held this Saturday, February 2nd. For the first time, we are holding the Town and School deliberative sessions on the same day. It will undoubtedly make for a long day, and we'll see how it goes this year. The town portion of the meeting will begin at 10am and the school portion will begin at 1pm.

At the deliberative sessions, all warrant articles, except zoning articles, will be considered. There will be opportunities for explanation, discussion and the amendment of each article and then a vote is taken to either accept the article in its original form or as amended. The subject matter of articles cannot be amended, but dollar amounts can be. The results of the deliberative sessions will then go on the ballot to be voted on Election Day. 

Since the change from the traditional form of Town Meeting to the two-session SB 2 (Senate Bill 2), attendance has dropped off considerably, decreasing from several hundred residents in attendance to less than 75 residents. Low attendance means that a very small number of voters have the power to amend and shape the articles and budget for the remaining 10,000 town voters on Election Day. The deliberative session is essentially the traditional Town Meeting, only minus the same-day-voting, and yet only a handful of voters participate in the shaping of the warrant articles that go on the ballot. 

My challenge to you, neighbors and friends, is to make SB 2 work. Find the time, make the time in your busy schedules to become a well-informed voter and attend the deliberative sessions. Then remember to vote on March 12. Do it for yourself, your children, your families, your neighbors and for our community.

Well said, Ms. Ferraro.