Both Linda and I attended the Deliberative Session and  here is what we remember. Bobby Aldrich stepped to the  microphone as a citizen of the community  to offer an amendment  to the proposed budget committee warrant article. The new law regarding amending warrant articles had gone into effect the night before. The language of said new law was muddy to say the least. Our Town Moderator  who is also  a partner in the law firm of record in town saw no issue with the amendment and neither did our Town Counsel, who has a terrific  haircut. No Selectmen spoke to the amendment.

We voted as a community.

Secret  ballot.

The amendment passed by a wide margin, passed by the citizens who do not want an elected Budget Committee packed with  citizens hewing to some agenda. The control that  this new budget committee might wield over school budgets killed the  proposal.The tone of the budget committee proponents was one of wresting control and they even had prepared another article listing the choice candidates  for  the committee had the first article passed.

Demanding.

Sorry.

Most prefer the system that  is in place, with the Selectmen as ultimate arbiters of the Town Budget and committee assignments.

Judge McHugh stumbled  in  providing relief to  the plaintiffs.

He wasn’t there. His decision was made  in the vacuum of a court room, devoid of the flavor of the  day, the moment.

There was a comment from someone recently either on TV, in the News Letter or on Brandon Stauber’s blog, Patch, about  a packed room. Packed with  people who attended with the sole purpose  of defeating the  Budget Committee proposal.

Really?

This year because the session was not held in the drafty  Town Hall, but in our beautiful and comfortable HS auditorium we had lots of new attendees. I looked around and  counted the regulars prior to Charlie Tucker’s  annual folksy count of pure citizen attendee versus Town employee. The room was filled with  new people,this was no  flash mob driven to attend by Twitter and Facebook prattle.

Democracy in action is what I experienced at the Deliberative Session.

It is time to speak  up as pure citizens that  support and work within  the current system  and reject the shrill tone and tactics of the opposition.

The Town was not the bad actor, your fellow citizens have basically sued  the majority, their own neighbors in our Community.

Perhaps  we should pass the hat to provide them relief for their crushing loss.

See you at the Talbot,

Mike