Clinton should work better

We’ve been lucky.

For years, some of us on the Select Board have been pushing for better communication, for finding better ways to share news about what’s going on at Town Hall, whether that’s openings on town boards and committees, changes in services or regulations, or big events like town elections and the annual town meeting and how they work.

But, since business as usual was working for the most part, the regulars weren’t worried. Their Clinton rolled on: they knew how to get things done, the same 200 or so people showed up at town meeting every year to pass the town’s business, and all was good.

Until this past Monday. 

On Monday, we were completely unprepared for the fact that 600-plus people might care enough about something to show up to town meeting. The meeting took five hours for a normal-size warrant, mostly because of the procedural requirement for paper ballots and voting by precinct that made everyone who waited an hour to get into the building get up and get back in line for upwards of another hour—twice.

Just as bad, I’ve heard from many of you that the number should have been higher. Many members of the community who also care about Clinton weren’t there because they either weren’t aware when town meeting was or how it works. 

We have to do better. 

We have to do a better job of getting people involved in the annual budget process and making that budget easier to understand, so they’re not coming to town meeting and being asked to digest a $71 million budget in minutes. 

We have to do a better job of getting the word out about town meeting and local elections, what’s at stake, and how the important issues will be decided. 

We have to do a better job of opening up our town to newcomers. I get that Clinton has been Central Mass’ best-kept secret for years, but that secret is out. The town is growing, we have new neighbors, and they now have an equal stake in what’s happening here. 

Nights like Monday should be a way we get more people involved in town government. They should be a way we get more people excited about seeing their voice and vote make a difference in their community. 

Instead, people who have never been to town meeting before walked away confused and angry. 

The next iteration of your Select Board has a big challenge ahead, working with the incoming town administrator to repair the damage done on Monday.

But there’s a tremendous opportunity in front of us, too. Hundreds of you showed us that you care about what’s going on in Clinton, and that you want to be involved. We have to find a way to bridge that communication gap and open our town up to this untapped resource. 

Who do you want leading those efforts? The people who think what’s been good enough for them should be good enough for you? The people who think that if you can’t figure out town hall then it’s your problem? The people who think all that’s special about Clinton is for them, not you? 

Or do you want a proven leader who’s shown a commitment to communication and transparency time after time over the past nine years: launching the town’s Facebook page, expanding cable TV coverage to streaming on YouTube, expanding public meeting coverage on those outlets to include every major board and committee, and never ducking your concerns and complaints. 

Since 2017, I have pushed to make our town more open and accessible to everyone in Clinton, whether you’ve been here for generations or moved in last week. 

If I’m re-elected, I will redouble those efforts and work with department heads to commission a townwide survey and see how people get their information, what they care about, and how we can better share what’s going on in Clinton. I’ll work closely with the new town administrator to leverage her ideas and the best ones we can find elsewhere to make sure nights like Monday never happen in Clinton again. 

You deserve nothing less.

Election Day in Clinton is Monday, June 8. Polls are open at Town Hall from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

If you like this post or anything else about my campaign for Clinton Select Board, please share with your friends. Monday is just days away so now, more than ever, we need to spread the word.