Do you know what actually happens at your local town Selectmen's meetings? These weekly meetings of your locally elected town government officials serve many of the same functions as the Legislature in Augusta and the Congress in Washington, passing town ordinances, figuring out the best ways to operate for the town, and adopting budgets. But Selectmen's Meetings are more than just the town's “legislature;” it is also the “electorate,” appointing the various department heads and other town officials. In fact, under state law, the only thing required of Maine towns' annual town vote is the election of the municipal officials.
Elections may occur in two ways. The traditional way is to nominate officials from the floor of the meeting and to vote by a show of hands or by writing names on a paper ballot. A more recent way (1890) is to require candidates to declare their candidacies prior to the Town Election by taking out nomination papers. Voting is then done by secret ballot in the privacy of a voting booth.
Unlike the state Legislature and Congress, Town Election is not a representative body of voters. It’s just what it says it is: an election in which participation is the right and responsibility of every voter. Some say Town Elections are the “purest form of democracy” because citizens, not their representatives, participate directly in the making of laws and the raising and spending of their taxes.
Since colonial times, the Town Elections have been a staple of local government in New England. Today, in Maine, most towns still operate under the Town Election, or Town Meeting form of government.
If you're sitting at home on the evening of a scheduled Selectmen's meeting and wonder fi you should attend.....the best and perhaps most colorful answer to this question appeared in the Biddeford Journal Tribune in March 1994:
If you ask why town Selectman's meetings are so poorly attended, people will tell you they go if there’s something exciting on the warrant. They’ve been watching too much television. When it comes to doing your civic duty (which is the key to accountability in self-government) there’s no room for channel surfing. On Selectmen's meeting days, those meetings should be the only show in town.
Or they’ll say Selectmen's meetings are held at the wrong time, or that there are too many issues decided in executive session, or that the selectmen do what they want no matter what people say. Well, the way to get things changed (including Selectmen's meeting scheduling and Executive session activity) is to attend Selectmen's meetings and put up a fuss. And it’s no wonder the selectmen and other officials take control of municipal affairs and do exactly as they want. Somebody has to make decisions, and without a representative amount of towns people at the meetings, they only do their best at forming things to their own best ability and knowledge.
The purest form of democracy is participatory democracy, in which you put your butt in the chair at the Town Office and you have your say on every last blessed item on the day's agenda. You might slip out for a coffee but you don’t slip out for the whole day. If you do, you’re part of the problem and somebody else is going to solve it in their OWN way and on their OWN agenda. In order to remain completely legal, The items voted on at a Selectman's Meeting should follow an agenda which is posted one to two weeks in advance by the selectmen on the town's website or in a local newspaper. The requirement that all subject matter must be stated on the Selectman's agenda keeps the meeting orderly, prevents surprise, and lets voters who might otherwise stay home know that some topic of interest to them is coming up for discussion and possible action.
The warrant law requires only the general subject matter to be stated. Selectmen's decisions will be legally valid, so long as they are within the same general subject matter state on the Selecmen's agenda. But Selectmen's meetings which add some brand new subject matter not published on the agenda may not be legal if there are people who wish to file a report that the information was not made known on the Selectman's agenda prior to the vote by the Selectmen.
Any vote taken under an agenda heading entitled “other business” cannot be legally binding, because that agenda doesn’t state any subject matter. Of course a vote to name someone “Volunteer of the Year,” a vote to thank the Girl Scouts for the sandwiches, or even a vote to strongly urge the selectmen to appoint an advisory committee to look into a parking garage, doesn’t have to be legally binding, and therefore can be passed under an “other business” article.
Large changes to town policy or operations must be included in the Selectmen's meeting agenda in order to give the people of the town their say, or allow them to ask questions prior to the Selectmen's decision.
Do you have to know the Robert's Rules of town engagement to attend a local Selectman's Meeting or other Board Meeting? The answer is "No". Voters may not talk without being recognized by the Selectmen, but if you ask to be recognized to speak, the Selectmen must hear your argument or question. You should direct all of your questions to the Selectmen. You should not argue with another resident during a Selectman's meeting, but you may make your point directly to the Selectmen. If an item of business is not on the agenda so that the town knows that it will be discussed, the Selectmen are not supposed to act on it without allowing the opportunity for towns people to ask questions and have their say. This is why you are more than encouraged to request time at the Selectman's meeting by contacting the Town Clerk's office or the Selectmen's Secretary at least a week before the scheduled meeting to request a time slot be allowed for your concerns. If someone has already scheduled time on the agenda for your same concern, you are encouraged to attend and speak your mind, ask questions, or give your thoughts on the matter being discussed.
To approve an article on the Selectmen's agenda, It is customary for the Chairman to read the article aloud and ask if anyone in attendance has any statements or questions regarding the item being discussed. Once all discussion is deemed over, or when the conversation is no longer moving in a forward flow, the Chairman will make a motion on the article; usually one of the other Selectmen will respond by saying “I move to pass this motion", or "I move to decline this motion", the Chairman will then ask, “Is there is a second?” to which the motion will be seconded by one of the remaining Selectmen or it will not be seconded, which will mean the defeat of whatever the Board is discussing at the moment.
To amend an article: Sometimes, during the discussion, someone will propose a change. For example, in a so-called “open-ended” money article, they may want to increase or decrease the amount of money recommended by the budget committee or selectmen. The amendment must be announced by the interested party, and then motioned and seconded by the Selectmen. There must also be an opportunity to discuss the amendment before voting on it. If the amendment passes, then the motion, as amended, is passed. If the amendment does not pass, and there are no further amendments, then the original motion is voted upon.
Also, over the years, Selectman's Meetings practices themselves may have evolved in ways that are slightly different from what happens in the town next door. That is to be expected with a practice that has been around for more than 200 years. Due to the lack of attendance at Selectman's Meetings, proper Selectman's Meeting protocol may no longer be followed, more out of bad habit than out of a disinterest by the Selectman to follow the proper procedures. It is up to town residents to push the proper meeting protocol back into normal use at a Selectman's Meeting by their attendance and demands to the right to speak.
If you have a question, you can't be ridiculed or spoken to rudely by any Selectman. They must act in a respectful manner of any town taxpayer or registered voter. They may defer your answer to a Department Head or ask you to attend the next meeting in which they will have the Department Head's answer in writing to read to you, or have the Department Head present for your questions, usually depending on whether that person is elected or appointed. Elected officials have to answer to the voters, while appointed officials usually will answer to the Selectmen or upon Selectmen's approval will be at the meeting for your questions.
So after reading all of this information, the question remains, how important is our voice and attendance at the town's Selectman's Meetings? The answer is VERY important!! All those old sayings about town government being a “pure democracy” are true! State law refers to the Selectmen's meetings as the “legislative body” of the town. The Selectmen's meetings hold all the basic power for governing the town and holding the town management to the requirements of the town voters. There is no higher authority in town. But in order to have the right to participate, you must be a registered voter of the town, and you must attend. If you don’t go, how can you justify blaming anybody but yourself?
Do you know what was voted on, approved, or negated at the last Selectmen's Meeting?? Perhaps you should know. The decisions there directly effect the management of your town, it's rules, regulations, hiring practices, tax rates, road and transfer station information and more. If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem!!
All information found within several pages of the Maine Municipal Association. Some are copied and pasted into this article for expediency. Other information comes from past officials of other local Maine towns, and some comes from the General Meeting rules under Robert's Rules of General Meetings.
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