Quote:
Originally Posted by FlyingScot
We raised our kids in a town with Town Meetings, praised endlessly as pure democracy. They actually are less democratic. Families with kids can't send two parents for 3 or so hours 2-3 mights in a row. People who work nights can't vote at all. Meetings were dominated by retirees with nothing to do.
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We now have too many people, although years ago we had 4,000 people at one meeting, three gyms all connected with big TV and audio. In the "old" days the Girl Scouts provided babysitting. As things progressed, meetings were televised so one parent could stay home and watch and then swap places for ballot votes on bonds or anything that 5 others petitioned for a ballot vote. Some towns meet on Saturdays. We tried that and it was voted down. The overall point was that there is more to being a resident than just mailing in a ballot. To me, you need to take some ownership and participate. And, traditional town meeting or some other plan, there are just some folks who don't vote. That's their right too.
BTW, the retirees who had nothing to do were heavily outnumbered by whoever had a project or a pay raise on the ballot. The original special interest group bloc.