David Rosenberg for Norfolk Town Moderator

My name is David Rosenberg and I am running to be the Norfolk Town Moderator.

A little bit about the Town Moderator's job

The Town Moderator “moderates” the Town Meeting - to ensure that everyone who wants to address the meeting has a fair opportunity to do so, to see to it that all the rules are followed, and to be sure that the meeting is run efficiently. In essence, the Town Moderator is responsible for the process by which the meeting is conducted, but is entirely neutral on the substance of the decisions the Town Meeting makes.

The Town Moderator is also responsible for nominating a Deputy Moderator and for appointing people to fill vacancies on the Advisory Committee.

A little bit about why Town Meetings are so important

Unlike meetings that are intended to merely inform, and unlike hearings at which voters express their opinions but the decisions are made by some Board or Committee, at the Town Meeting, the voters express their opinions, listen to and consider each others' opinions and then the voters, as the Town's legislative body, make the binding decisions.

A little bit about me

My wife and I have lived in Norfolk for more than 37 years and I have attended and participated in the vast majority of Town Meetings during the last 37 years.

I am retired from a career as a “computer person” working for computer vendors, computer users, educational institutions, and my own consulting company. My last position was at MIT.

I have had training as a facilitator and mediator, and hence have experience being a “neutral” while helping people accomplish their goals (as a facilitator) or resolve their conflicts (as a mediator).

I am currently a Registrar of Voters in Norfolk and have served three terms as the Chair of the Norfolk Town Meeting Technology Committee (appointed by two Town Moderators). I served as a member of Norfolk's Computer Study Committee. Before moving to Norfolk, I was a member of Maynard's Bylaw Study Committee. In my computer career, I was the chair of the Boston chapter of the IEEE Computer Society, the Boston chapter of the ACM Special Interest Group for Software Engineering, vice-chair and member of the executive board of the Greater Boston Chapter of the ACM, in addition to being an active participant in a number of other professional groups. I am currently on the organizing team for a software conference held annually in Cambridge.

The other candidate and me

The current Norfolk Town Moderator is running for reelection. I believe that I would run Town Meetings well, but I also believe that the other candidate has run Town Meetings competently. In that sense, Norfolk can't lose - whoever wins the race will be able to run Town Meetings competently.

Since the primary responsibility of the Town Moderator is running Town meetings and I believe that the other candidate would also be competent at running Town Meetings, why do I want to be Town Moderator?

I am concerned that typically a small percentage of registered voters attend the Town Meeting and hence the binding decisions that affect everyone in Town are made by a small percentage of the voters. In addition to being very busy, some voters don't attend Town Meeting because they are not sure what is being discussed, or they are not sure how to participate in the discussion, or they feel that if they speak they won't really be listened to, or they feel that their voices don't really matter.

If I am elected Norfolk Town Moderator, I will try to enhance civic engagement in Norfolk. We are fortunate enough to have the purest form of democracy - a system where the registered voters attending the Town Meeting really do rule. I find it ironic (and disappointing) that despite having such an open and participatory system, so few voters actually participate. Democracy should not be like a spectator sport, it should be like a participatory sport, where everyone participates because they know they will be listened to and their voice will really matter.

I am running to be the Norfolk Town Moderator because I want to engage many more people in Town government - if you are a Norfolk registered voter, I want the benefit of your views, advice, and participation in making the binding decisions for the Town of Norfolk. I'd consider it a great success if we had to struggle to find a meeting place large enough to accommodate all the registered voters who want to attend the Town Meeting.

I have a number of ideas about how to engage more people. Most of them are not my original ideas - I've been looking at what other cities and towns throughout the country have been doing. Many cities and towns don't have the advantage of an open Town Meeting like we have; yet they are fighting more restrictive systems to find ways to be sure that citizens’ voices are heard. In jurisdictions with more restrictive systems, there is a move toward Open Government. Our Town Meetings are open. We have to take advantage of that openness and get more voters to actively participate - by being sure that their participation really makes a difference and makes the town better.

But before trying to implement any of these ideas, I'd like to get your ideas about how to get more voters involved in making decisions for Norfolk. If I'm elected, I'll convene a discussion (probably both as a physical meeting and electronically) about how to get more people involved. Rather than wait for the election, I'd appreciate your sending me your ideas now at the address Rosenberg@ACM.org with “Norfolk Civic Engagement” in the subject (to help me find those messages among the other E-Mail I get). Or if you'd prefer, you can call me at 1-508-528-7124 so that we can discuss how to proceed. During my 2014 campaign, I solicited ideas for increasing citizen participation. People shared ideas with me by E-Mail, phone call, and in person. I've published all of the ideas I received, as well as ideas from practices in other jurisdictions, from article and books, and my own ideas, for everyone to read. They are on the web page Comments and suggestions received. (Some of the comments may contain a bit of venting. I didn't edit that out even though it may be a little uncomfortable for town officials to read. We have to read comments like that, understand citizens' frustrations, and determine what changes we can make to alleviate those frustrations.) I will update that page with new suggestions that I receive. I hope that the next Town Moderator (whether he is me or the other candidate) will use some of these (and other) ideas to take better advantage of Norfolk residents' knowledge, experience, advice, and wisdom to help make better decisions for Norfolk.

It won't be easy for me, as Town Moderator, to make these changes. And it won't be easy for you, as a voter, to become a more active participant - it will take your valuable time (of which nobody has enough) and effort (although many people are already stressed out). But I hope you will vote for me, David Rosenberg, on May 3rd and then I hope you will work with me to decide how we can make Norfolk Town Meetings more participatory and then I hope you will become one of the active participants who make the binding decisions for the Town of Norfolk.

Thank you for your consideration.

David Rosenberg

Candidate for Norfolk Town Moderator