Please join neighbors on Thursday, February 29, at 6 p.m. at the Willey Building third floor for light fare and dessert, conversation about Town Meeting Day decisions and the chance to get questions answered by neighbors with different visions of the future.

We've got tough issues on the ballot for Town Meeting. No matter how the votes come out, we'll still be neighbors afterward. It's hard to make difficult decisions and it's no fun to choose when you still might have questions before voting your ballot.

A group of residents met at the Cabot Library after reading All Those in Favor: Rediscovering the Secrets of Town Meeting and Community by Susan Clark and Frank Bryon. We talked with Susan Clark and deliberated about preserving the best of in-person Town Meeting while celebrating Australian Ballot, which doesn't permit on-the-spot deliberation and fine-tuning Articles as we did in the past, but does allow at least triple the number of residents to participate in decision making.

The selectboard's legally-required Information Meeting on all Australian Ballot items is on Tuesday, February 20, at 7 p.m. in the Willey Building and the School Board's legally required Budget Information Meeting will be Monday, February 26, at 6:30 p.m. in the school library. Your neighbors invite you to dessert and further conversation on Thursday, February 29, the week before Town Meeting, to share neighbor perspectives. We selected three Australian Ballot articles to focus on, and we've invited the authors of those articles to explain what a Yes vote will accomplish and ramifications of a No vote, and we'll hear from community members who will be affected by those proposals. Then the floor will open to all questions, one at a time.

The Articles we've chosen are CABOT AMBULANCE, TOWN TREASURER and the SCHOOL QUESTIONS. Light fare and homemade desserts will be available at 6 p.m. Ambulance discussion will begin at 6:30, Town Treasurer information at 7:00 and the School issues at 7:30 p.m.

This is a gathering by community members for community members. We'll have a Zoom option if you can forego the yummy desserts. We hope you'll join us to share ideas and questions with your neighbors, and we plan to offer the recording afterwards for anyone who wants to catch up on the dialogue or review what was said.

Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6331160345?pwd=UHFVQTN4ZTh6TUhSMUJ4Q21SdjVoZz09

May 24, 2024, 3 to 6 PM

May 25, 2024, 11:30 AM to 1 PM

May 25, 2024, 3:30 to 5 PM