TEXT 4: NEW ENGLAND TOWNS

As you know, one type of municipality is the town. There is another kind of town, however, that is quite different from municipal town government. This local government is the New England town.

New England towns are among the oldest local governments in the United States. The first New England towns were settled during colonial times. In these years, the town included a settlement plus its surrounding rural territory. When danger struck, residents living in rural areas could go to the settlement for protection. The New England town government that developed thus included citizens from both urban and rural areas.

The most unique feature of the New England town, however, was its form of government. This still is true today. Tradi­tional New England towns are among the few governments that still practice direct democra­cy. A direct democracy, you remember, is one in which the people themselves lead the government, rather than electing representa­tives to do this for them.

In traditional New England towns, citi­zens lead the government by taking part in town meetings. These are meetings in which voters decide town policy, pass laws, and vote on business matters important to the town. The townspeople, for example, may consider issues such as whether to raise taxes, repair a certain road, or replace the streetlights.

Town meetings usually are held once a year. At each annual meeting, the citizens elect a board of selectmen. It is the duty of these men and women to carry out town business between town meetings. Other offi­cials elected might include a clerk, a treasurer, and a police chief. This traditional form of town government still is used in some New England towns today. Over the years, however, population growth and increased demands for local services have made the direct democracy of the town meeting less practical. As a result, many towns have turned to a representative town meeting. In this form, the citizens elect people to represent them at the town meetings. The townspeople themselves still can attend and take part in the town meetings if they wish.

In other towns, the citizens have discontinued town meetings altogether and have hired town managers to lead their governments. The managers carry out duties similar to those of county or city managers. New England towns such as Freeport, Maine, and Watertown, Massachusetts, are among several to adopt such a plan.

Date: 2015-01-12; view: 834