Town Meeting 101

New to Town Meeting? Hold on to your hats!

And bring a bottle of water and snacks!
(and a portable phone charger!)

Time: 

Doors open: 8:00 AM

Meeting starts: 9:30 AM – TBD

Note:  Article 3/HCA will be the first main topic.  Do not be late!  There will be presentations and important discussion. If you show up just to vote later, you may miss it. You must sign in at the registration table in order to vote, so plan that into your arrival.

Lunch Break: 

Location:

Lincoln School Auditorium, plus overflow space in the Gymnasium and Learning Commons

Shuttle Info:

A free shuttle van (available to anyone, regardless of your position on the issues) will run from five locations in South Lincoln between 7:45 AM – 7 PM. Please see the route and schedule, here. 

This year’s annual Town Meeting is expected to be historic.

Town Administrators are braced for an overflow crowd of 1,200 people. To accommodate everyone, three areas at the school will be used: 

• the Donaldson Auditorium, the main site

• the Learning Commons adjacent to the cafeteria (via live stream)

• the Reed Gym (via live stream).

Timing

If you want to choose your venue and your seat, arrive early:  Doors open at 8 am and volunteers to check you in by confirming your name and address. At 9:30 sharp, the Town Moderator (Sarah Holden) will rap the gavel and start the meeting. It will get serious quickly so don’t dawdle.

Agenda

A Town Meeting agenda and details of all the warrant articles will give you an idea of the order in which they will be presented but the amount of time devoted to each is unknown. The big topics for town decisions are Article 3: the Housing Choice Act Zoning Bylaw and Article 4: Funding Request for the Community Center. These will undoubtedly inspire a lot of discussion after each is presented by the committees.

Preparation

To make the most of the day, it’s a good idea to do a little prep. Thumb through the Financial Section and Warrant package mailed to you last week and bring it to the meeting so you can follow along with the committee’s explanation of the town budget and your taxes about the two big articles. You can learn more about Article 3 here on the LincolnHCA.org website.  Information on Article 4, the proposed $24 million Community Center, can be found on the Lincolntown.org website. Keep in mind that there are people who feel strongly about both of these issues—both for and against.  It's up to you to do your homework first. Don't just go along with the crowd. An informed electorate is a responsible electorate!

Two minutes at the Mic

After presentations are made from the podium, residents are allowed 2 minutes at the microphone to comment.  If you know you want to speak, prepare your thoughts in advance and find a seat near the aisle so you can line up at the microphone. 

Calling the Question

After a good number of people have had their 2-minute say, someone will likely ‘Call the Question,’ which means, that person is ready for a vote. After another person seconds this, the Town Moderator asks for a voice vote. If 2/3 of the room resoundingly agrees, then discussion is ended—regardless of how many people are waiting to speak at that point—and the main vote is called.  More detail here.

Voice Vote and Standing Count

To pass, Article 3 (the HCA) requires a YAY voice vote of a simple majority of all attendees in all three venues. (Sounds a bit odd for a decision of this magnitude, right?) To Vote No for Now, Let’s Get it Right, Raise your voice in a hearty NAY. 

If the results of the voice vote are not conclusive, the moderator will ask for a standing count. Stand proud with your fellow No for Now voters—every vote counts—this is not the time to be timid. Volunteer ‘counters’ will run around and count the people standing row by row. After the standing vote counts are tallied, a final Vote decision is announced.  More detail here.

What Rules Does Lincoln Town Meeting Follow?

That is an excellent question!  While the Lincoln Town website offers some insight, there are gaps that could use clarification. When asked, the Town Moderator explained that the rules are a mix of Roberts Rules of Order and Town Meeting Time (an niche publication from 1962 which is hard to find on the internet). This makes it difficult for citizens to understand and even question how a meeting in Lincoln is being run.