Jaffrey’s three-hour, 10-minute Town Meeting on Saturday was in one sense a ho-hum affair.
Every article passed, all the voice votes were unanimous, no secret ballots, no amendments, no points of order, no blasts of oratory. Those few who spoke did so mostly to pose questions, not to dissent. The most discussion ensued with the very last article – a non-money, non-binding petition request that we all “collaborate in creating Community Food Production gardens and perennial pollinator gardens.” Four citizens spoke to it, all in support. “What’s Town Meeting coming to?” you might ask.
This was my 45th Jaffrey Town Meeting. I remember the days not long ago when John Field would yell “No!” at every opportunity, Herb Bixler would rise in three-piece suit and elegantly oppose every petition article requesting money for all the nonprofit groups and Homer Sawtelle would roam around taking photos of selectmen and town staff using a camera with no film!
On the other hand, a ho-hum affair is perhaps just what we need at the moment, with partisan and civil issues abounding, a COVID pandemic still not behind us, bizarre and dangerous goings-on in Ukraine, inflation worries and a lot more.
What characterized this particular Town Meeting from previous ones, other than the ho-humness? Well, for one, we were back in our usual venue, Pratt Auditorium, after two gatherings in the parking lot at Hope Fellowship Church (which actually worked well). The technical side of things – PowerPoint and microphones –were glitch-free. We were food-less and drink-less, but then town staff shared their Munchkins with the crowd. Well, “crowd” is a misnomer. I’ve been counting numbers at 10 a.m. for 20 years now. This was the smallest crowd in all that time — 98 (which includes non-voters). This number represents only 2.9% of Jaffrey’s registered voters. I only spied two children in the audience. I count numbers but I wouldn’t try to guess the average age of those present. Pretty high, though.
Moderator Marc Tieger asked at one point whether there were any first-time Town Meeting attendees present. I saw two hands go up – there might have been more – and Marc expressed his thanks and asked that we all spread the word. Attend!
After the usual invocation by Tieger at the start, Town Manager Jon Frederick gave a concise “State of the Town” presentation touching on the town’s financial condition, describing the 10-year paving plan and updates on broadband, the Route 202 downtown project, the W.W. Cross site, the Cold Stone Springs water project and the Stratton Road sewer, sidewalks and paving project.
From there forward things moved quickly, one article after another. The selectmen and Norm Langevin, chair of the Budget Committee, did a professional, well-prepared job of presenting the articles and fielding questions.
Standing ovations honored two in the audience — Carolyn Garretson, longtime Conservation Committee member and chair and current supervisor of the checklist and all-around volunteer (and to whom the annual town report was dedicated), and Town Manager Jon Frederick, now in his fifth year as such.
Rick Carpenter was also recognized as the town’s longest-serving employee — 38 years, first as a police officer and now as prosecutor. And recognition was also given to Mark Bosse, who retired from 35 years of service to the Fire Department.
Tieger introduced Paul “Hutch” Hutchison, his new assistant moderator. He accepted the ballot votes and expertly handled one article. He has a bright Town Meeting future.
So everything went well and smoothly. It was announced that the St. Patrick’s parade — due to start in two hours – was canceled, hopefully to be rescheduled. We had entered Pratt Auditorium at 9 a.m. in rain; we left at 12:10 p.m. with snow coming down hard. Another Town Meeting came and went. Ho-hum perhaps, but the New England tradition continues.