BRATTLEBORO-As member of Representative Town Meeting more than several years ago, I found the old boys’ club of the RTM to be very active and likewise very effective at blocking certain people and certain ideas from discussion and or consideration.
A recent advocate for RTM admitted very clearly that part of the dynamic of the RTM has included flooding the meeting with friends to vote with the clique (my word).
I found this to be quite true and very frustrating for the several years I was part of the RTM team. I found my presence to be ineffective and the experience quite unfulfilling because discussions were systematically and repeatedly cut off when someone suggested they had heard enough even though others were waiting to speak.
The vote would be taken to end the discussion, the clique voted yea, and the others were essentially censored. And the town was robbed of the opportunity to hear from those who were not in the clique.
I know for a fact there are other folks in town who are equally disillusioned with the non-democratic system in Brattleboro.
RTM is a show-and-tell facsimile of “democracy in action,” but the Australian ballot is another system worth a try and will likely increase the numbers of people participating in our experiment of self governance.
The decision-making power will be in the hands of each one of us individually and collectively. Now is the time to replace the old way with a clear path to the future.
For those of us who believe in equality, the Australian ballot is the way forward.
Lynn Russell
Brattleboro
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