Would it make more sense for residents to share their views on this issue with their neighbors, friends, a Meetup group, or more importantly US senators and members of Congress? Kate Poverman indicates many people have signed up to speak at Town Meeting on this issue. What amount of minutes/hours (in other words, the percent of our limited TM time and therefore budget — time is money after all) should be spent on an issue that is clearly outside of TM’s purview? What TM work or town services are speakers willing to omit in tradeoff to air their views on this terrible and very important issue, yet one that is not TM’s? Per the town website, “TM is responsible for passing a balanced annual town budget, and enacts all town bylaws.” We have enough issues ahead balancing the budget, among others, that it is difficult to see why TM should allocate governing time to weigh in on, yes, world peace. This is the work of our elected national leaders, who should correspondingly refrain from state and municipal matters. In a twist on a Bill Belichick phrase, let’s do our respective job(s), please!
Read the original article, Town Meeting will vote on resolution calling for Gaza ceasefire