(Editor’s note: Longtime Tow Moderator Sarah Cannon Holden announced in December that she would not be seeking another term.)
By Andy Payne
Fellow residents,
I’m running for Town Moderator.
Some of my background and principles: I was on the Finance Committee for several years, chairing it for five. I have experience with and appreciation for the Town Meeting process, working with residents and town staff, finding agreement, and respectfully disagreeing.
Our little town depends heavily on volunteers. I’ve lived in Lincoln nearly all of my adult life and raised three children here. I know it’s a cliche, but I feel an obligation to continue to “give back.”
My LincolnTalk posts and Town Meeting podium time demonstrate my approach to ensuring that residents are informed about (sometimes) complex topics, the implications of their votes, and essential trade-offs. If voters support it, I’d be honored to continue that work as Moderator.
On Town Meeting itself:
Town Meeting starts long before the actual meeting. I would strongly encourage groups to host sessions and post materials (FAQs, videos, slides, etc.) in advance so residents can come fully informed. For especially contentious topics, it might be possible for the moderator to serve as a pre-meeting facilitator between opposing groups.
Long meetings are burdensome for some, and the Town Meeting Study Committee has done excellent work identifying accessibility issues.
I believe that clickers, front-loading the schedule with the expected contentious topics, pre-published information, and moving even more items onto the consent calendar will go a long way toward keeping things manageable. Also, chyrons on the video feed clearly indicating the current and next warrant articles, along with (possibly) a simple text alert system for agenda items, will support those who need to “cherry-pick” their attendance.
With that said, I believe it’s worth spending some extra meeting time to ensure the process is as fair as possible and people feel heard, even when the vote goes against them. Also, it’s important for us all to understand the mechanics of Town Meeting and town government.
The election is on Monday, March 30.
Sarah Cannon Holden will leave some very big shoes to fill after our upcoming Town Meeting on March 28, and I’m humbled to have a chance to try. If anyone has questions, comments, feedback, concerns, and/or suggested dad jokes, please email me at andy@payne.org.
Respectfully,
Andrew Payne, Tower Road
“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnites. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.
Leave a Reply