My Take on the HCA Discussion at the Select  Board Meeting
March 18, 2024
By Laurie Gray

I am part of the LRHA (Lincoln Residents for Housing Alternatives).  This week we collected 313 signatures for a letter requesting that the LRHA be able to give a 10 minute presentation at town meeting.  This was discussed at the select board meeting Monday night   If you were there and heard it differently, please speak up.

The moderator stated at the beginning that she was asked by two different groups to give presentations, and that she is inclined to give both groups 5 minutes at the microphone (not the podium).  She is leaning towards not allowing slides.  The LRHA is one group, and the other group is a proponent of Article 3.  I'm not sure they stated the name of the group but the leader/spokesperson is Jonathan Soo.  It is unclear to me if they gathered signatures.

There were probably 20+ comments.  Many pointed to the fact that there is a lot of division in town and many people felt unheard after the December meeting.  This is our chance to heal this division-- just by allowing people to feel represented and heard.  Proponents of option C/now article 3 had an outsized voice in December.  If everyone's voice gets reasonable representation at this town meeting our Democracy is better.  People are visual learners and slides are important.  It is also important for people to be able to ask questions of the LRHA and allow them to answer.  The moderator is stating she will think about this issue.

The counter argument was that this is not the way it has been done in the past.  Can any group gather signatures and get podium time?  Some felt that only elected or appointed officials should get podium time because they are "vetted" and have open meetings.  Others noted that usually presentations at town meeting are promoting the warrant.

Others have noted that the RLF and others that have spoken at town meeting do not have open meetings and are not town committees.  It was noted that for the school building vote there was a presentation opposing that warrant, so allowing dissenting opinions to present has precedent.

It was also discussed whether all committees have the opportunity to speak, or only those in favor of the warrant.  It was stated that all committees could speak if relevant.  Similarly it was asked if the dissenting members of the planning board could speak.  That will be discussed at the planning board meeting tomorrow.