Blog#216-9/21/24
A UNIQUE POLITCAL POSITION
By
Richard Davis
The selectboard of a small town is one of the most unique aspects of democracy. There are many similarities between a selectboard member and a state representative or senator as well as a federal politician, but I think the level of accountability on the most local of levels is unique.
I have only been in the selectboard position for six months and I am trying to understand what accountability means. We have meetings where the people who live in our community can come and face us directly and question and criticize us. They have access to us by phone, e-mail and perhaps, most importantly, on the street.
We do not travel somewhere to do our political business and we engage in our community on a daily basis. People learn to recognize us and feel comfortable engaging in conversation whenever they see us. This is about as pure as democracy gets.
I am also finding out that people in our community want to be engaged on the issues and they want to make sure that they are heard. There have been a few times when I have invited people to my home to discuss issues on their mind and I enjoy this level of discourse. All of the board members I serve with seem to have the same attitude toward the people in our town and we all welcome engagement in formal and in informal settings.
That is the easy part of being on the board. But there are also more difficult aspects of the position and they are things that I am struggling with and will probably never resolve as long as I serve. One of the big questions for me is how to formulate a position on an issue when there is a lot of public debate or controversy over an issue.
The current debate over how best to create a safe community in Brattleboro is a case in point. There were two major issues before the board recently.
One had to do with an ordinance that describes unacceptable public behavior and fines people when they cross the line. The ordinance was not entirely a stick but also offered ways not to pay fines by showing a willingness to change behavior.
People came out on both sides of the issue and the board was about as engaged as any board could be on an issue. We received a lot of e-mails and attendance at meetings where the ordinance was discussed brought out a record number of attendees.
I tried to see both sides of the issue and made an effort to understand different perspectives. For me there have been two approaches. One is the intellectual side where all of the logical arguments are looked at and a list of pro’s and con’s float through my mind.
Then there is the gut level reaction. How does it feel to be on either side of the issue? In a situation like this everything becomes grey and I agonized over the decision because this was not just an intellectual exercise but something that will affect the lives of people. There really is no way to know how things will play out or whether the ordinance will solve the problems that it aims to address.
I kept going back and forth on this issue and did not feel comfortable supporting either side. In the end I tried to get the board to wait longer before enacting the ordinance because I felt we had other measures in place that would help solve the problem and we should wait to see how they play out before moving ahead with such a bold and polarizing initiative. In the end I was outvoted and the ordinance passed.
I can live with the board’s decision because we all gave it our best effort and we worked together to craft a solution. I made my position clear and I hope that reflected the stance of a significant number of townspeople. That is the best I could do.
Great question
Who does a representative really represent? It is very hard to figure out, and you stated the problem pretty clearly. Representatives, one hopes, listen to all sides, but the process asks them to choose one of the above.
As an observer, I thought you did well. You stayed calm, stated your thoughts on the matters at hand, and offered up a possible way to work things out.
You mention accountability up above. I think that comes down to being honest and straightforward, laying your cards on the table, and being grown up about winning some and losing some. I think, for example, Peter could have improved his accountability in these discussions by prefacing all his remarks on downtown safety with “I run a business on Main Street….” I’m not sure everyone knows this. Many still think he does radio. : )
I think one other important thing for selectboard reps to keep in mind is what they said to get elected, and what people who voted for them might expect. We have had a handful of board members of the years who were elected, we voters presumed, to take certain positions but when the time came, they switched. Voters have elected progressives that became conservative. Voters have elected candidates who implied they would support an issue or organization but voted against it. It’s not many, but staying true is important even if difficult.
What He Said, And
Inherent in democracy is the fact that “your side”- whatever side that is- won’t always win. It’s one of the ways you can tell it’s a democracy. With the SB, a simple majority rules. If that simple majority were applied to all votes in all elections, things would be quite different now.
Keep on keeping on, Richard. I’m glad you’re there; you almost always reflect my views. Thanks.