I recently attended both public forums held by the publisher and editors of the Greenfield Recorder and Daily Hampshire Gazette, where my concerns about local news were reinforced. Specifically, the anemic number of paid subscriptions and the lack of young readers. Combined with the low turnout typical of our local elections, this translates to a dysfunctional democracy.
We can’t speak of a so-called “will of the people” locally when the overwhelming majority of the people don’t vote, and young people can’t deal with the challenges they face for their future without getting involved in local politics — a challenge in itself after a long hard day at work.
Although cities function as they do elsewhere, New England towns have more local control than in the rest of the country. So it requires more civic engagement in order for our local democracies to function. Our elections and the paths the respective towns of the commonwealth take are determined by a vocal minority that may or may not speak for the rest of us. They also may not be in our best interests, particularly the future of young people.
Massachusetts has 263 towns with an open annual Town Meeting, which are a legacy of the Puritans and unique to New England. These meetings are where citizens deliberate and vote on budgets, bylaws and zoning rules presented by town officials. Big decisions are made here, but attendance is typically very low. Voters are often not prepared for the matters being decided, while other voters may be blissfully unaware that the meeting is even taking place.
Low voter turnout is also common for town elections, where select boards, school committees, planning boards, boards of health, boards of assessors, and others are elected. These are the people who decide what appears on an annual Town Meeting agenda among numerous other things, so it’s important to know what is going on in the meetings of the various boards and committees throughout the year. Unless we attend those meetings ourselves, which people with various responsibilities seldom have time to do, we need journalists covering them.
It’s a tall order for a newspaper to cover every board meeting of every town in the region. So we must support and urge others to support the local newspaper with paid subscriptions and advertising. It’s only $10/month for a digital subscription to this publication, which is a pretty good return on investment given the cost of having no local news. Studies have shown a lack of local news results in government waste, something to think about as your taxes continue to rise. Massachusetts already has the least transparent state government in the nation costing us.
The structure of town government is also the reason why resolving issues important to young people is much more cumbersome and time consuming in Massachusetts. The housing shortage and pursuit of alternative energy are good examples. We need more starter homes and the zoning rules to make it more economical. We also need more alternative energy sources with the zoning and infrastructure to accommodate it. There is significant pushback on both, without viable alternative plans to address these urgent matters in a timely fashion.
Gov. Charlie Baker signed Housing Choice into law to relieve the housing shortage made worse by the pandemic. It allows zoning changes to pass with a simple majority rather than a two thirds super-majority, but those reforms need to be brought forth and passed at an annual Town Meeting. Baker proposed that law in 2017, it took the Legislature until 2021 to pass it. Now it is up to towns where too many can’t afford to live, because there isn’t enough supply to meet demand. Reducing the size of a building lot and expanding where a duplex can be located are ways to change that.
The tools of our local governments seem to be utilized to prolong our problems more often than to solve them. One legislator from Ludlow even proposed giving towns another tool to stop the much-needed progress toward our alternative energy goals, specifically the construction of commercial solar arrays. Jake Olivera (D-Ludlow) was quoted as saying, “There are plenty of rooftops and parking lots where solar should be placed.” Townspeople should consider the added cost and time involved enlisting willing property owners of those roof tops and parking lots, as well as the economic feasibility and viability of such a pursuit in meeting our alternative energy goals, before accepting Mr. Olivera’s and others’ vague assertion in the face of what most climate scientists are describing as impending doom.
We need to take an interest in what our town politicians are doing, while participating in our annual Town Meetings. A good first step is to urge others to subscribe to the local newspaper.
Michael Seward lives in Shelburne.