SB2 is still the way to go
Editor, The Citizen: Once again Moultonborough Town and School District Meeting decisions on spending and issues were made by a small group of voters. It was not participatory democracy at its best, with only 9 percent attending Town Meeting and three percent at the School Meeting.
The SB2 petitions gained strong voter support in spite of the aggressive disinformation effort by those protecting the status quo and opposing greater voter participation on town and school spending and issues. Their contradictory arguments and repeated fear of getting less tax money to spend under SB2 were misleading and denied voters the chance to be heard. Mr. Hume's successful effort to put SB2 on the Town and School District Ballots and his determination to defend the rights of all voters in spite of this opposition is admirable.
The presence of children and nonresidents could not hide the fact that the number of Moultonborough voters attending Town Meeting was not a real improvement. With the exception of one person, the School District Meeting had no discussion of the articles and little of the voter education claimed as unique to the current deliberative session. Voting was simply a rubber-stamp approval of the School Warrant, which does everyone a disservice.
The way to inspire enthusiasm and confidence in our town government is to increase the opportunity for more voters to participate. Correcting the vote counting machine, which was malfunctioning on Election Day, will also help. Public officials who complain about voter apathy and lack of involvement and then oppose the SB2 effort should consider their own culpability for disfranchising voters.
Hollis Austin
Moultonborough
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