The following letter to the editor was submitted by Andover resident Steve Walther (photo). The views expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Andover News. You can learn more about our policy on opinion and commentary on our Mission and Policies page.
Andover Town Meeting can require that voters will be consulted about the form of local governance they prefer. The upcoming Town Meeting will consider article 12, which will put 4 non-binding questions on the local ballot to gather voter input about our form of local government.
A Special Town Meeting advisory vote in November overwhelmingly supported using the local ballot to get voter input about Town Governance. Unfortunately, the Select Board chose not to listen to that advice from the voters and squandered the opportunity to use this years’ ballot. Hence a second Town Meeting vote – this time to require ballot questions for next year.
After ignoring November’s Town Meeting advisory vote (considering it was never on the Select Board’s agenda), the Select Board was petitioned by multiple parties to get a similar ballot question on this years’ ballot, and they rejected those petitions. The Select Board could have put forward a ballot question entirely of their own accord, but explicitly rejected that as well. Having rejected the option for responsive action four times in succession, the Select Board then reversed course and approved a warrant article substantially the same as what they rejected every time prior. Why? The Town’s article 11 offers voters less choice than article 12 and is positioned prior to it, seemingly a ploy to confuse voters. How else to explain the Select Board’s sudden reversal? These are the tactics of delay and obfuscation.
Voter input is critical, as the bureaucratically appointed Town Governance Study Committee spent years reaching conclusions that were completely out of touch with Andover voters. Clearly more detailed voter input is needed, and article 12 offers voters the broadest opportunity to be heard on how they feel about multiple forms of local governance. This would enable a Charter Commission or other entity to focus on forms of governance the voters are most interested in.
Support voter choice and a chance to be heard at the ballot. Feel free to vote ‘yes’ on each one of the choices offered by article 12, to allow next years’ local ballot voters a full range of options to select from on the local ballot.
Steve Walther
Andover
Andover News accepts and encourage reader submissions, including letters to the editor and opinion columns. Submissions should be 750 words long or fewer and Andover-focused. Please include your name, title if applicable to your topic and connection or interest in Andover. We also need a phone number so we can confirm authorship. Send us your prose!