A 47% voter turnout is a good sign. Still an opportunity as it was only 47%. Where were the others? Wasn't this important enough for them to take a few minutes from their day to cast a vote?
The anonymous town forum was active with a small crowd. Many public officials avoided participation because of the anonymous factor. If folks don't have the decency to identify themselves, they don't deserve an answer. I walked a fine line as I did answer some anonymous comments here. I would much rather have talked or emailed with the individuals but they chose to avoid disclosing who they were. We managed to keep the discussion civil and stick to the arguments. I had also tried to join the town forum but multiple requests for access remain unanswered today.
What helped create passage this time? I think it was two factors:
- The young voters (and students who were not able to vote) utilized MySpace and FaceBook to help spread the word, and equally important, get their parents out to vote.
- There was less unanswered questions about the numbers. There were still questions and there still is a lack of trust amongst a good amount of the population but not enough this time to sway the vote.
- Start early
- Get clarity on the numbers
- Present the case to make it real for the folks to understand
- Create an online forum for open and honest discussion amongst identified Franklin residents
Great suggestions. Your blog was a breath of fresh air.
ReplyDeleteI would add one other comment. Since all towns face the same financial problems, it is time to start looking to common solutions. Perhaps Franklin can work out a deal with Medway for use of their fire station (on Village St.) in exchange for using our library. Towns need to start working together for the common good.
Anonymous, thanks for stopping by. I agree with the cooperative approach. It has been mentioned during some of the Town Council meetings and the current environment does not foster such cooperation. But it is still a good idea. Labor bargaining agreements are one are of contention. Legal liability is another area. Both I think should be resolvable but it will take time and effort to do so.
ReplyDeleteMr. Sherlock
ReplyDeleteI assume you are writing about the Franklin Common at TownCommon.net since it is the only active forum dedicated to serving only the citizens of Franklin.
I found your following statement to be both confusing and inaccurate:
"The anonymous town forum was active with a small crowd. Many public officials avoided participation because of the anonymous factor. If folks don't have the decency to identify themselves, they don't deserve an answer. I walked a fine line as I did answer some anonymous comments here. I would much rather have talked or emailed with the individuals but they chose to avoid disclosing who they were. We managed to keep the discussion civil and stick to the arguments. I had also tried to join the town forum but multiple requests for access remain unanswered today."
The community forums called TownCommon are not anonymous, they require a valid email account and logging of the IP address that we hold in secure and confidential databases.
We do not allow public display of a member's email address for simple internet security purposes. The sad reality of the internet is that spammers are constantly harvesting forums for email addresses to sell. That includes the Official Town of Franklin website where people must leave an email address to ask a question, which was the inspiration for one of our more popular "anonymous" services we offer our members: our "Ask the Town" sub forum.
During the override debate, the amount of readership and visitors far surpassed any stats the official Franklin town website has ever had. We were hardly active with a small crowd. In fact, we had to work with our ISP to correct several overloaded situations during the time leading up to the vote.
We also had very civil debate from members who represented both sides of the topic, many of whom are well known in the city of Franklin.
We had municipal workers, teachers, town officials, including the chairman of the school committee, town administrator, and the superintendent of the schools: all passing along factual information pertaining to the ballot question.
While I see you tried to join on March 1st, you never responded to the verification email and we have not had any communication from you since. All you need to do is join again and answer the verification email within 72 hours.
So much for the inaccuracies.
Now for the confusion regarding your point.
When you tried to join our site, you created a user name that was not your actual real name.
You criticize those who post anonymously stating they don't deserve an answer, yet you answer anonymous posts on your own blog.
To clarify our position, Towncommon is a gift to the people of Massachusetts and has no position or motive other than conversation and debate in order to create an informed voter.
As a person casts a vote without signing their name, we allow members to post views without needing to attach their name. At TownCommon.net, it is the words and not the identity that has the import as long as members respect each other. Which to the credit of all required very little moderation on our part to keep the peace. You and I both know that is not the case in most forums.
I feel your criticism about anonymous posting is neither consistent, nor shows appreciation for those who took time out of their lives to support this recent override on our forum.
You are most welcome to join under any name you choose and join in the debate. If you continue to have problems our contact link is on the bottom of each page and will immediately generate an email to us.
Since we have not received communications from you to date, I was hesitant to answer your blog entry. If you are writing about some other forum that is not dedicated to the citizens and topics of Franklin, then please accept my apologies in advance. It is difficult to ascertain the subject of your point when you speak in anonymous terms.
Respectfully yours,
Mike Doukas
TownCommon Forums
Thanks, Mike. Your own reply is inconsistent. I attempted to create an account with the same user name I use here. I did not receive the confirmation email and made multiple requests to the administrator to find out why. None of those were answered. There was no other contact alternative available that I found.
ReplyDeleteI'll try again.
Anyone who knows me knows I'm not one to mince words. There was something I wrote that was not inconsistent, it was untrue.
ReplyDeleteApparently a software upgrade designed for better security from spammers changed our normal setting that enabled nonmembers to be able to use the "Contact us" feature.
My thanks for the heads up on that issue. It has been corrected.
I'm not sure what email address you used to try to contact us but if you have troubles in the future, the link found on the bottom of each page will allow contact via a valid address.
Many times a spam filter will prevent our verification email from being received. I checked the notification function and it appears to working fine. Make sure if you have a filter active it allows emails from TownCommon.net.
Let's not sidestep the more important issue of having to know an identity in order to have a civil discussion. We had both sides of the ballot position stating very valid points with respect towards all.
I do not live in Franklin anymore and thus have no need to take a side. But I did read what people were writing. It seems both sides, even those who stated they voted for the override, share some of the same concerns in spite of how they voted.
I have a lot of faith in both the officials and the citizens in Franklin to work together to find solutions. At least that's been my experience from when I was active in town. That's why Charlie and I started TownCommon.net, to give folks a place where positions could be share, tested through civil debate, and factual information could be refined.
For example, when the question of how many overrides had occurred in the past, the answer was found on the forum, posted by a member who goes by the handle of "Ben Franklin".
To your question of why the number of voters was less than 50%, the beginning of the answer will be found after the weekend when we publish the district reports of voter turnout. A very telling statistic bound to create discussion. I hope you will be inclined to be involved.
Mike Doukas
TownCommon.net
Mike,
ReplyDeleteI did finally get an account successfully created.
I am interested in seeing what you have on the voting results. The precinct totals were available Tuesday night and posted here
http://steves2cents.blogspot.com/2007/05/vote-tally-override-52207.html
And of course, the discussion will continue. One override is not solving this town's financial problems.