To the Editor,
In the last 10 years, the average attendance at Town Meetings/Special Town Meetings has been 341 registered voters, out of a population of 4,165 registered voters. Only eight percent of us are making critical Town decisions for all of us. This is both insufficient and dangerous. Now, and in the next 10 years, our town is facing not only many significant capital expenditures, but land use decisions which affect property values and deserve as many voters and votes as possible. With a quorum as low as 100, very few residents can make irreparable changes to all that makes Manchester the special place that it is. Article #12, which asks to send zoning bylaw amendments to a ballot vote, is meant to get as many voters to the polls as possible by adding early voting and mail-in voting to your options. It has nothing to do with the topic of affordable housing.
Town Meetings do not allow for everyone to fully participate in our democracy. If you physically can't be there, whether for work, travel, sickness, or family commitments, then you don’t have a voice in changes to your zoning. Let’s change that!
Morgan Evans
Manchester
