The speaker, even though a former TMM, might not have been aware of
the guidelines of speaking at TM for those who are not currently
members.
Residents are required to give their name and address when called
upon to speak.
The Moderator allowed him to come to the front of the room due to the
"poor lighting", not normally allowed - the apace in the front is
normally reserved for TMMs only. The Moderator then gave him at least
three chances to speak to the article that was currently before Town
Meeting which he proceeded to ignore. It disrupted the flow of TM and
was unfair to those who spend time away from family to be there night
after night. The Moderator, in my view, showed a great deal of
patience with the speaker.
It is required for all speakers, including Town Meeting Members, to
speak to the article and not branch off into other topics, regardless
of how important they might be. Can you imagine the numbers that
might show up to discuss their views on various topics at the expense
of dealing with the business of Town Meeting and the resulting
disruptions? Volunteers contribute their time and we are paying
employees for their time so dragging the meetings out even longer than
necessary is not only unfair to those who show up every night but
would increase costs for running TM.
Kathy Vassar TMM Pct 1

I saw it on TV and had a completely different take. Town Meeting is not the time or place for everyone to get up and make a political speech. It is long enough as it is. Those town meeting members (yourself included) are generous with their time and service to the town, it is unfair to allow rambling speeches. That non-town meeting member gets up at every town meeting to make his pitch. It is long, rambling, and not germane to the article on hand. I thought the moderator was generous in giving him ample opportunities to get to the point about how it pertained to the article, and he couldn't. I also thought she was generous in allowing him to move to and speak in the area reserved only for Town Meeting members, due to his saying the lighting was poor in the back of the room. Personally, I think it was just a ploy to be in a section where he could appear on TV, as the lighting isn't any better in front than in the back.
Bravo to the moderator for trying to move the proceedings along. If the speaker wanted to make a point, he could write an op-ed and send it to MWDN or the Patch. He could also contact town meeting members individually prior to the meeting. He doesn't need to hold the entire town meeting hostage for his personal agenda.

Matt,

An excellent letter, and an excellent point. I would hope that citizens be allowed to speak on motions when they are under consideration.

One point: I think the role of a representative is to listen to constituents and then make an informed decision. It should never be simply to do what the majority of voters say they want. Otherwise, we could (and should) govern by polling station and dispense with debate and deliberation.

Karl - Citizens ARE allowed to speak. This citizen was also given an opportunity to speak. He was only asked to sit down after he couldn't bring his topic to the article at hand despite repeated requests to do so.

I'm curious..I didn't get to see the meeting....without naming any names, was the speaker one of the two that were recently booted by Patch? (which is a triumph, IMO)

Thanks for the info, Susan!