Reaching New Highs - Editorial
Monday night’s Special Town Meeting was well attended, which came as no surprise to us given the roster of hotly debated topics on the warrant. What was surprising—in the most pleasant way, we think—was the sheer number of voters that showed up in person to partake in what turned out to be a commendable showing of democracy in action.
A total of 812 votes were cast on Article 15, the private petition to repeal the town’s ban on marijuana that we all knew would be the hottest topic of the evening, but the town clerk estimates that as many as 876 voters were in attendance. By our records, that is one of Bourne’s highest-attended Town Meetings in the last two decades.
That is quite an impressive turnout, even without considering the fact that that number is two more than the number of ballots cast in this spring’s annual town election, or that last November’s Town Meeting was so sparsely attended that it took 35 minutes to reach the required quorum of 125 voters.
In truth, the fact that so many of Bourne’s voters turned out to be heard on any issue, regardless of what the subject matter or outcome of that issue is, makes us feel proud. But hearing words printed in this newspaper, written by columnist Wesley Ewell and used in the midst of it all, was a moment of pride and of confirmation that the work we do matters. Knowing that some of the warrant’s biggest votes were on topics that have become main characters in our newspaper over the better portion of this year is, we think, validation that the pages and pages of coverage were well worth it.
Part of our goal as a local newspaper—and part real, true mission of local journalism as a whole—is to keep our readers aware of what is going on in town and provide them with the facts and information they need to be active citizens in their community. And from where we stand, Monday night’s turnout was evidence that we are advancing toward that goal.
All in all, new highs truly were reached at this week’s Special Town Meeting. Another laudable piece of the evening was the exchange of opposing statements from both sides of the aisle on the various issues voted on. Despite all of the hot debate and passion surrounding the three marijuana-related articles, it was reassuring to see opposing views exchanged in a respectful, productive way. Town Moderator Amy B. Kullar was faced with a tenuous task in overseeing what could have easily been an unruly back-and-forth, but she did well in trying to make it as civil and fair as she could.
We would like to think that this will be the last word on the topic of marijuana in Bourne—but we know better than that. Regardless of where the issue goes from here, the more than 800 residents of Bourne who showed up to cast their vote should feel pride in having done so. Democracy is a special thing to be part of, and we know we are proud to have done our part.
As written in the masthead of The Washington Post: democracy dies in darkness.