September 1, 2003
Bridgewater elects Selectmen to address the day-to-day and long-term issues for Bridgewater. To directly handle all of the management of the Town, the Selectmen have a Municipal Administrator. They have the authority to make many decisions for the Town. However, we are ultimately ruled by Town Meeting. (Of the 351 cities and towns in MA, 301 have town-style government.)
There were a number of people upset about a Special Town Meeting being called on the smoking issue, and its cost. The financial cost for the meeting is the price we pay for our form of government. Any citizen can move forward with a Citizen's Petition to request a meeting/vote on an issue. Also, it is worth noting that Article 12 from the May 5 Town Meeting was brought forth as a Citizen's Petition.
Other forms of town government allow for representative Town Meeting. For example, in each of Bridgewater's seven precincts, nine representatives could be elected. Therefore, those 63 elected representatives would decide issues for the Town. Town residents would not have a direct voice in any decision.
I believe that 600 people attending a Special Town Meeting on a hot July night demonstrates that residents wish to be involved in the decision-making. Therefore, how we do things now is a good and working system.
