All of the towns in our region have a volunteer crisis. Slots on select boards — the volunteer body that actually runs our small towns — are rarely contested. In almost every town, there are unfilled spots on committees that admittedly sound pretty dry — the Budget Advisory Committee or Trustees of the Trust Funds, for example — but are critical to the running of the town.
Town staff and administrators and the people who do volunteer are asking, “How come no one wants to volunteer anymore?” It has gotten to the point where the old New England model of the volunteer-run town, which has worked pretty well since the 1600s, is at risk of collapse.
What happens if no one runs for the select board in a town, or if people run for the wrong reasons, with an agenda that does not represent their town? According to NPR and many other sources, this is happening all over New Hampshire with the Libertarian “Free Staters,” a movement founded by Jason Osborne, a former Ohio debt collector. Both Democrat and Republican legislators are now expressing concern about the influence of these “Free Staters” in New Hampshire politics; maybe it is the one thing they can agree on.
So why is no one volunteering?
The question people most often ask me when they hear I am a small-town newspaper reporter is, “How can you stand sitting through all those boring meetings?” That always makes me smile.
I admit, some meetings are harder than others. One night last year, my former colleague David Allen had a scheduling conflict with a baseball game and a Select Board meeting in one of his towns. Since David is a baseball nut and I am somewhat useless as a sports reporter, I volunteered to cover the Select Board meeting for him.
The board members, who had never seen me before, asked why I was there instead of David, and I explained about the baseball game conflict. After an epic two-hour debate about the definition of a gravel road, a member of that Select Board noticed that my eyes were starting to glaze over.
“Bet you wish you had gone to that baseball game,” he chuckled.
The truth about municipal meetings is that if you don’t know anyone involved, if you don’t know the issues, and if you have no idea what’s going on, then yes, they can be torture. Planning Boards and and Zoning Boards of Appeal in particular have a steep learning curve, with their own language, acronyms, and references to zoning ordinances, building codes, and RSAs (otherwise known as the laws of New Hampshire). The select boards, budget committees and school boards all have their own languages as well.
But here is the secret about getting involved: Once you know people, once you know what’s happening, once you are aware of the issues and understand them, it’s not only interesting, it can actually be fun. Almost every issue discussed in civic meetings could be relevant to anyone in town, from whether the town will allow a housing development to how many police officers it will hire. Will your neighbor be allowed to open a strip bar in their tool shed? Come to the Planning Board and find out.
Often, people who have joined school boards, select boards, or other committees say that after serving and learning more about the issues, not only did they change the preconceived notions they came in with, they ended up in awe of the dedication of volunteers who run towns and school districts (particularly school districts!).
I remember a young member of the Greenfield Select Board many years ago talking about how when they ran for office, they were “100% against” the idea of paying a town administrator, which was a new thing in Greenfield at the time and something many saw as a needless burden on the taxpayers.
“Now, after a year on the Select Board, I am like, ‘Oh my gosh, we can’t survive without the town administrator,'” the young board member said. “I literally had no idea how much work was involved in running this town, how much work the Select Board does, or how important all the volunteers are, until I got involved. It’s really easy to be critical until you have sat in this seat yourself.”
In most of the small towns in the region, people joke that it’s the “same 30 people who do everything.” This year, each of the smaller towns had about 100 people attend town meeting. Where are the other 1,000 or 2,000 people? Many people have no time to volunteer between work, children, caretaking, and a second or even third job as they try to pay their property taxes, but there are still many people who are just not engaged, even though they could be.
I truly believe that people who aren’t involved in their towns are missing out. Walking into town meeting where you don’t know a soul is no fun. Walking into a place where everyone knows your name is a completely different experience.
There are all kinds of ways to get involved, and most do not involve a lot of public exposure. Sitting on the select board “hot seat” is definitely not for everyone, and for sure, not everyone has the patience to spend hours debating a gravel road ordinance. But if you have an evening a week — or less — to serve, to learn more about your town, to meet your neighbors, to use all the skills and experience you have acquired for the good of your community, and maybe make a difference, consider volunteering for one of your town’s committees. You may even find out it can be fun.