Nash: Vote Yes On Article 2 - Bedford Votes on Tuesday

On Tuesday, March 12th, thousands of voters will have the opportunity to Vote YES on Article 2, and finally Put the Budget on the Ballot in Bedford.

Article 2 revises the town charter, defining the move to official ballot voting for Bedford's Town Budget. Every other item requiring voter approval has been on a ballot for decades. School budgets, town ordinances, bond issues, and electing local officials are all on the ballot. It's time for the the town budget to be on the ballot too.

A handful of defenses are used to cling to the antiquated town budget approval process that drew 59 people last year. The most disheartening, and dismissive, is the claim that the sparsely attended nighttime meeting represents the best of what town governance has to offer and is the cultural centerpiece of Bedford's political tradition.

In fact, Bedford's civically engaged community gathers by the thousands each March to have their voices heard. We join our friends and neighbors in the collective act of exercising our right to vote. Hundreds of our students participate in Bedford's "KidVote". The Girl Scouts, 4-H, and the Lion's club, are just a few of the many community groups that gather at the polls as we congregate and weigh in on issues that matter. Bedford's civic center of gravity, our collective political tradition, is embodied on the second Tuesday of March. Overwhelmingly so. By the thousands.

Bedford's tradition is to vote on Tuesday, using a ballot. It's where Bedford comes together to celebrate our civic rights and duties. It's where we have been. It's where we are. The town budget should be there too.

Vote YES on Article 2, March 12th. Put the Budget on the Ballot.

Jay Nash