There are many situations in which “he who speaks loudest gets heard.”
But the existing governing structure of Amherst is representative Town Meeting, a government structure in which “he who gets to speak at all gets heard.”
I am thankful to the current and past Town Meeting members for their service. I believe that many of them take their responsibility to vote their conscience to heart. But they don’t represent me, and what speaks to their consciences isn’t my needs, nor is it anything that I can systematically or reliably have an influence on.
So I will be voting March 27 for a government that is answerable to me as a voter.
Deborah Lee Leonard
Amherst