We ve got the town to a divided mind on the subject, a 50-50 split in the town right now. It s probably going to be shifting in our favor as time goes on, because the town meeting is being perceived more and more as the playground of less than five percent of the people. By the time you get to the end of town meeting that may be one percent. At that particular time is when they have all the land and bylaw-type issues brought for action. Town meeting is not a level playing field for the citizens of the town.
Most people don t even bother to go anymore because they view it as a losing proposition.
It s my contention, and that of some others, that voting at the polls will make a difference. That s been demonstrated in places like Vermont and a few other places where it s been put in place. They ve been fighting us tooth and nail simply because it means a threat to their power structure. We ve found that we ve been able to function very well with a very minimal budget. We ve had some good support from some members who were able to provide funds for some of the more expensive mailings and things like that.