PLAINFIELD — Voters will decide if they want to end the longstanding tradition of a floor meeting form of governance and instead weigh in on all town business by Australian ballot during this year’s town and school meetings in Plainfield.
Currently, Plainfield residents elect town and school officers via Australian ballot the second Tuesday of March. The following Saturday, they gather at Plainfield Village School for floor meetings to address all town and school warrant articles, including budgets.
More than half a dozen Upper Valley towns in New Hampshire still hold floor meetings, including Cornish, Grantham and Lyme. Last March, Enfield voted to switch to Australian ballot voting.
This year’s ballot voting is scheduled to take place Tuesday, March 10, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Plainfield School gym and the floor meetings are scheduled to take place Saturday, March 14, beginning with School Meeting at 9 a.m. and Town Meeting at 1 p.m.
Plainfield resident Maria Guzman submitted separate petitioned warrant articles, with at least 25 signatures from other voters, to both the Plainfield Selectboard and the Plainfield School District School Board, requesting a vote on New Hampshire state law RSA 40:13 — commonly known as SB2.
“We’ve been a minority rule town since I’ve moved here over 30 years ago,” Guzman said in a Jan. 21 recording of a public hearing about SB2.
She added that there are people with children or who work on Saturdays who cannot attend the town and school meetings, as well as those who are older and may lack transportation.
“They paid the taxes, but they’re not given a chance to come vote and say their piece,” she said.
If 60% of voters at this year’s floor Town Meeting vote in favor of adopting SB2, it means all town business would be decided via Australian ballot. Residents would be able to weigh in on and amend proposed warrant articles during a deliberative session that would take place prior to Australian ballot voting on the second Tuesday in March.
SB2 also introduces a default budget, which is the same amount as the previous year’s budget and includes “debt service, contracts, and other obligations previously incurred or mandated by law,” according to the New Hampshire Municipal Association, a nonprofit organization that advises communities in the state.
All three Selectboard members oppose the change, according to a draft of the warrant posted to the town’s website. During the public hearing, Stephanie Schell, the town’s health officer, said she has told residents she would come and get them to bring them to Town Meeting to participate.
“There’s many opportunities to get them there and support them there,” Schell said during the recording of the meeting. “It’s their want to be there.”
Town Administrator Steve Halleran also opposes the proposed switch to SB2.
“Plainfield has a long history of highly valuing traditional Town Meeting,” Halleran said in a phone interview. “It’s a pretty unique form of government when you get to be your own legislator.”
He also expressed concerns about deliberative sessions, pointing to Croydon where in 2022 residents drastically reduced the school budget.
“It’s the deliberative session where things go badly with Senate Bill 2,” Halleran said, adding that he was concerned not as many residents would attend deliberative sessions as they do Town Meetings.
Of Plainfield’s approximately 2,500 residents, roughly 10% attend Town Meeting, Halleran said. Typically, a similar number of people vote both by ballot and during the floor meeting, he said, although those numbers can fluctuate.
Plainfield School Board Chairwoman Jenny Ramsey said the three-member School Board also opposes switching to an SB2 style of government and wants to stick with the traditional School Meeting format.
“We believe that it allows for better communication, answering of questions and even flexibility of what the town decides because people are all in the room together and deciding at the same time,” Ramsey said in a phone interview.
Plainfield School eighth-graders provide child care to families who need it, Ramsey said. She also added that the dates for the town and school meetings are announced ahead of time, which can provide flexibility to people who work weekends and need to take a day off to attend.
“It could be a really good personal day opportunity to come and govern your town,” Ramsey said. “The need for people to be informed before they vote should probably be the number one reason for why they should keep the school and town meeting in the same format it is at the moment.”
Guzman also submitted petitioned warrant articles requesting the town and school adopt formal budget committees under New Hampshire state law RSA 32:1.
Currently, the town and school share a finance committee, which advises the Selectboard and School Board on budget items, while leaving the ultimate decision-making authority on the proposed budget with those boards.
Under a budget committee style, committee members would be responsible for preparing the town budget, according to the New Hampshire Municipal Association. It also limits the amount of additional money that can be added to budget articles to a 10% increase.
The Selectboard and School Board both oppose adopting a budget committee. The measure needs a simple majority of votes to pass.
The Selectboard will hold a hearing on both petitioned warrant articles at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Philip Read Memorial Library, located at 1088 Route 12A. It can also be streamed on Zoom via the town’s website, plainfieldnh.org.
The School Board will hold a hearing on both petitioned warrant articles at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 17, at Plainfield Elementary School, located at 92 Bonner Road. It can also be streamed via Zoom at plainfieldschool.org.