Website Launched for Hampton Town Meeting Info

From: Carolyn Fetter Feb. 20, 2015

http://intheknowhampton.org/

Why the need for this new resource

• The Town Meeting form of government asks voters to approve a broad range of town-related issues.
• The sheer number of Articles (49 in 2015) makes it challenging for the average voter to be up to speed on what is being requested.
• The descriptions in the Warrant Articles usually do not include background or rationale – if they did, the already long ballot would be much longer. In the case of the Zoning Articles, it would be impossible to represent what the Ordinance looks like now and how it would change.
• Deliberative Session is a good place to get background information and to hear both sides of each story. There is so much information presented at the all-day session, however, that it is not easy to absorb it all – even for those who attend in person or watch on Channel 22.
• As a result of these practical considerations, a voter really cannot rely on the ballot alone. However, it is a rather large task to hunt down the background and rationale for each of the many Articles on the typical Hampton ballot.
• There are both Town Boards and private groups who will tell you how to vote. There are few (if any) resources to bring all the information together so that a thinking voter can make his or her own decisions.
• People in town have mentioned that if they don’t understand an issue, they either vote “no” or they leave it blank. That is an understandable approach if one does not know what they are being asked. Many others may refrain from voting at all. But a non-participatory voting public is not supportive of the Town Meeting form of government.

How the website was developed

Carolyn Fetter has for years been frustrated by the lack of voter resources. She attended Deliberative Session and made notes about what the proponent of the Article said and what opponents said. She later used the taped version of Deliberative Session to refresh areas she might have missed. For the Zoning Articles, she obtained publically available documents from Town Hall. Where available, she obtained links to websites that give more information. She used the fiscal numbers in the ballots to translate each article into the cost for the average homeowner in Hampton. She pulled all of this together to give voters as much information as possible so each person can make his or her own voting choices.

How the website works

intheknowhampton.org There is no cost to use the website and there are no ads. A visitor is encouraged to sign up for email updates – so that any changes can be passed along. However, no account is required to use the website.

The material can be studied online, or a visitor can download and print documents for review.

Types of resources available:

• A pdf of all the Warrant Articles, what they mean, and what proponents and opponents say about each one.
• A separate “My Choices” sheet lists all the Articles by title and number so that the voter can mark his or her selections and bring that sheet to the ballot box.
• All of the Zoning Artilces have a copy of the Ordinance and how it will change if the Article is approved by the voters.
• Links are provided where available, which currently include a link to the FEMA Floodplain map overlaid with a map of Hampton (from the Town’s website), a link to more detailed information about Article 38 (Grist Mill dam) and a link to more detailed information about Article 47 (Ice Pond dam).
• Although the pdf includes a comprehensive list of all the material, there is a section of the website that talks about a couple of Articles per day. This will appear be sent to the emails of anyone who signs up for email updates on the website.
• For those who wish to comment, a corollary Facebook page has been set up: facebook.com/InTheKnowHampton

Submitted text and courtesy photo