Vote NO on Question 1

Stay in Your Lane

Thoughts on Question 1

‘Stay in your lane’ is a catch-phrase we hear often these days. It means ‘don’t tell me what to do, back off!, who do you think you are’. It is used by those who believe themselves to be in a superior position.

On April 23, Wakefield will be voting on Question 1, which proposes to undermine our citizen Referendum rights. The late Selectman Phyllis Hull was the person who placed the referendum option in our Charter over 20 years ago. I’d bet she’d be up in arms if she were able to see how some want to erode it now.

Here’s how it works: any registered Wakefield voter can try to bring an article passed at Town Meeting to a town wide vote via a citizen referendum petition. This allows all Wakefield voters a chance to be heard on the issue; both those who attended and those who did not attend Town Meeting get an opportunity to vote. This gives a much broader representation of Wakefield voters than the 1% or so who attend Town Meeting.

Like any election, there is never a guarantee which way the vote will go. That is up to the voters.

The proposed changes in Question 1 would increase the number of required signatures on a citizen referendum petition by 133%, from 200 to 2.5% of registered voters, or about 460-500 signatures! Further, the changes to the time allowed to submit the signatures could actually result in less time.

Those who have worked to collect referendum petition signatures know that it is a difficult and exacting process, as it should be. However, if passed, these changes would make it highly unlikely that any citizen referendum would result in a town wide vote. That is the true intent of Question 1, and why Town Hall is supporting these punitive changes. Do you suppose there would be such a coordinated effort to make it harder for citizens to achieve a referendum vote if the results of the recent referendums had been to their liking? Think about that. These are the folks who are supposed to be representing us, not actively working to thwart citizen efforts!

Referendum votes are rare. In more than 20 years, we’ve had only five, and two were initiated by Phyllis Hull herself. Out of the 977 Articles that have been heard on the town meeting floor in the last two decades, 972 of them never saw a referendum.

For those who feel that their Town Meeting vote “doesn’t count’, I say this: all votes count. If being asked to re-vote on an issue once every few years is too much of an imposition, then we have bigger problems in Wakefield than can be solved by a Charter change.

Question 1 isn’t really about Town Meeting or signatures. It is about power. It’s an attempt to keep Wakefield citizens in their lane by making it harder for them to challenge Town Hall.

I hope you will join me on April 23 in protecting the checks and balances in Wakefield. Vote NO on Question 1 to keep the power in the hands of the people where it belongs.

Bronwyn Della-Volpe