At the polls

All who ran were unopposed except in the Select Board race and race for Moderator. In both those races the incumbent won. Congratulations to all the winners — opposed or unopposed — go forth and do good for Stockbridge. 

At Town Meeting

All the articles were passed in an efficient 2 hours. So refreshing that our Moderator finally used the “Hold” on the group of finance articles and the Community Preservation Committee articles. It moves the meeting along and frees time for debate. There’s a bit more to it but this was a valiant first try. It’ll go smoother next time.

The debates centered around CPC grants — there was a contingent opposed to granting money to nonprofits. Nonetheless, all the CPC articles passed.

As I left Town Meeting, a couple, second homeowners, approached me. They thought I would be the next moderator, and if I was, they wanted me to allow them to sit among the regular audience. They were upset and a bit hurt to be asked to sit apart — in the bleachers. Is there any reason to hurt and exclude people? 

Once there might have been reason to physically separate the voters from the nonvoters to make sure only those authorized to vote did vote. Is that still necessary?

Reasonable change is not just necessary but inevitable. The clickers handed to voters only at the entrance by people checking names against the voters’ roll, solves the legal problem of the moderator being sure only voters vote. 

The moderator should consider including rather than excluding a population that is now greater in number than the number of locals. Post clickers, the only reason to banish non-voting second homeowners to the bleachers is if the moderator does not want to allow them to speak. That decision is a privilege left to the moderator. Please contact him and make your case for sitting among us — I will save a seat for you.