I was dismayed to read Deerfield Selectboard member Carolyn Ness quoted, in the article about forming a Mosquito Control District (Dec. 10), as saying that towns “do have to endure the bureaucracy . . . by taking the issue to Town Meeting for a vote.” I find it hard to believe that she meant to say that.
First, Merriam Webster defines “bureaucracy” as “a body of non-elected government officials”; other dictionaries refer to a government of many departments, and mention unelected officials. The Town Meetings held in most of the towns in our area are the furthest thing from that – they are government directly by the people in its most basic form, since any voter who chooses can attend and speak and vote. Even representative Town Meetings are only one step away from that, and unelected officials have no role in any of them.
Second, town officials are there to do the will of the people, and before they do something they need the people to agree to it. This process may be cumbersome, but how else can government by the people work? If town officials simply did what they wanted, it might be more efficient, but it wouldn’t be democracy.
In this country, we say we love democracy, but sometimes it seems that some of us love it more in theory than in practice. We sing its praises, but we don’t like actually doing it. The basic jobs — voting, serving on committees, running for office — are being done by an increasingly small percentage of us. Ms. Ness has clearly shown her willingness to step up and serve; I hope that quote does not accurately reflect her attitude towards the people she serves.
Mike Naughton
Millers Falls