A Great Experiment

Canton First Selectman encourages local participation

Believe it or not, New England is a fairly unique place when it comes to governance. The town meetings that we regularly hold are a rare example of “direct democracy,” not just in the United States but around the world. Lawmaking by assembly goes back to Greece in the fifth century B.C., but according to a write-up from Weber University, most of that has fallen to the wayside. Over 2,500 years later, New Englanders are not moving away from their form of democracy, and some are moving for greater participation in making our government.

This year, Canton First Selectman Kevin Witkos wrote on the town’s website that the town would be holding its first ever “Town Hall Round Table” on the proposed budget. This is what he wrote in full:

“As the Town begins the journey on the road to a developed budget for FY 2025-2026, I wanted to let you know of a new ‘pit stop’ that has been added. Whether you follow your local government at meetings or not, each Board or Commission offers a portion of the meeting time (usually at the very beginning) dedicated to public comment, usually without dialogue. Once all members of the public have had the opportunity to speak, the public comment section is closed and the Board or Commission moves on to the next agenda item.

“On February 19, 2025 the BOS will hold its first ever ‘Town Hall Round Table’ on the proposed budget from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. at the Canton Community Center, Room B.

“What is the purpose of the Town Hall Round Table? This gathering will be one week following the budget presentations by the Chief Administrative Officer and Department Directors. The design and intent of the Round Table is to hear additional comments from the public and offer bidirectional communication between the public and town government. The BOS will answer questions from the public and take input on the town’s side of the budget, prior to adopting the FY20252026 budget. The budget then goes to its ‘next stop’—the Board of Finance.”

This thinking goes a step beyond what other towns and cities across the country have instituted with measures like Participatory Budgeting, a process in which the public get to decide how to spend a portion of the municipal budget.

At a time when people are looking for change and asking questions of their leaders more than ever, this level of transparency in government is nearly unheard of. In a comment to Patch.com, Witkos said that “The design and intent of the round table is to hear additional comments from the public and offer bidirectional communication between the public and town government.” Perhaps only in New England can you find this kind of revolutionary thinking.