New England's town meetings are 'an exercise in community-building' in contentious times

Allan Dooley holds his voting card in the air as he voices his opposition to eliminating three of the town’s elected positions at a recent meeting in Lyme, N.H. (Photo by Alex Driehaus of the Valley News and Report for America)

Local government meetings have been heating up as voters duke it out on contentious national wedge issues. At a time when Americans feel more fractured than ever, New England's unique town meetings might serve as an inspiration, Alex Hanson reports for the Valley News in West Lebanon, N.H., and White River Junction, Vt.

Town meetings were once a banner social event, where friends and neighbors would meet up after a long winter and decide basic local issues, Hanson reports. But with social media, the pandemic, and fewer farmers, the meetings' character changed, making them less popular as a social event, said Paul Doton, meeting moderator in Barnard, N.H., for the past 30 years.

Still, "The appeal of the meeting endures, in part because democracy elsewhere feels more fragile, and because there’s nothing else quite like it," Hanson reports. Kelly Green, who has moderated meetings in Randolph since 2011, told him: "It has not changed, but it has become, I think, I sense, more important, because people are feeling like democracy is fraying."

But Green said she loves town meetings because they encourage better communication. "A fundamental feature of Town Meeting that makes it such an excellent exercise is that it requires people attending to practice speaking and practice listening," she told Hanson.

Former New Hampshire agriculture commissioner and journalist Steve Taylor told The Rural Blog, "Our love for the town meeting is often regarded by observers 'from away' as yet another "cranky Yankee' manifestation, akin to quirky regional things like overuse of the word 'wicked,' the soft drink Moxie and Saturday baked bean suppers. We don't claim it should be the norm everywhere, we just say it's the best way for us. We can hear careful explanations and differing opinions and then make our decisions right there, rather than relying on roadside signs and the vitriol of broadcast ads and social media. And our community officials are easily called to account when it's face-to-face right there in the meeting hall."

Town meetings are often much like the old days, with engaged local citizens participating in civil discussion to decide important matters. Valley News columnist Jim Kenyon writes that he saw evidence of that at the Town Meeting in Lyme, N.H. About 125 residents — around 10% of the local electorate — gathered in the school gym to vote on hot-button issues.

The meeting remained civil, and showcased why attending such meetings in person matters, Kenyon writes: "Along with an opportunity to speak their minds, residents can listen to neighbors and elected officials — often one and the same — explain their stances."