Selex to State:

Change T.M. Law

By M. D. Drysdale

After six years, somebody has listened to Warren Preston.

For six years, the Randolph Center dairyman has taken the floor at Randolph Town Meeting to complain about a state law that bugs him.

That's the law which forbids a Town Meeting to discuss any public issues that are being voted the same day by Australian ballot.

In towns like Randolph, which votes all its budgets and money issues by Australian ballot, that means that the moderator is not supposed to let people at Town Meeting ask their elected officials about anything that involves money.

Warren Preston doesn't think that is right. He thinks citizens at Town Meeting ought to be able to talk about every kind of town business- especially about money and budgets. He thinks that's what Town Meeting is for. (Full disclosure- The Herald has agreed strongly with Preston in past editorials.)

Thus, every year, Warren Preston stands up again under "Other business" and asks Randolph officials to please ask their lawmakers to change this state law.

Every year it seems his plea, though seemingly well-received, gets forgotten.

Not this year, though. Monday night at selectboard meeting, Town Manager Peter Butterfield brought up Preston's issue. And this time Selectboard Chair Jim Hutchinson, who is also a state legislator, was interested. He knew that a bill has already been filed in the legislature that would accomplish Preston's goal.

Hutchinson made a motion that the selectboard "send letters to the legislative delegation supporting the ability of the voters to discuss" ballot items.

"The bills that move are the ones that are supported," he told the meeting. The selectboard then gave that support with unanimous approval of Hutchinson's motion.

The bill went nowhere the first year of the session, and a similar bill filed six years ago also went nowhere, he noted. But, he said, it might help to have Randolph's elected public officials standing up on behalf of Warren Preston's crusade.

Another Change

This exchange led Selectman Ken Goss to wonder whether Randolph had ever considered changing Town Meeting to Saturday or to an evening time, when more people might be able to come.

As a result, this next Town Meeting voters will be asked whether they might like to make a change- though the change wouldn't be spelled out at that time.