To the editor:
You have until noon on Jan. 19 to submit a citizen’s article for consideration of Town Meeting. It’s easy and incredibly helpful to the community — even if your article doesn’t pass. Past citizen articles have ranged from the installation of a single crosswalk (passed easily) to a leaf blower ban (heavily contested).
Here’s how to do it: Download the form from the “Town Meeting” page at marblehead.org. Write, “To see if the town will vote to… ” and then say in plain language what you want the voters to decide. It doesn’t have to be perfect: You can edit it up until the moment it’s presented on May 6.
Get signatures from at least 10 registered voters, preferably 15 so you have a margin for error. The more the merrier. Turn your forms into the town clerk by Friday, Jan. 19 at noon. That’s it.
If you want to know more, consult “Town Meeting Time.” It’s a surprisingly fun and fascinating read that contains the rules for Town Meeting. It’s online at archive.org and at Abbot Library. See also the Town Bylaws (Chp. 174), available on the website eCode360.com.
Here’s what will happen next: The newspapers, the League of Women Voters, and the town moderator will want to talk to you. Friends and neighbors will congratulate you. Strangers will wish you luck. You’ll feel good about having done your little part to make Marblehead a better place.
Dan Albert