Getting Involved in Milton Town Government

Note: I am not a Town Employee, all the information below is my perspective. Please contact the Town Clerk for the real information

The main ways to be involved in Milton Town Government are:

• Speak at a Town Government meeting
• Become a Town Meeting Member
• Serve on a Committee
• Run for elected office beyond Town Meeting

Speaking at Meetings and Contacting Committees

One way to have an influence is to let members of Town Government know how you feel. They may not do what you want, but they will be appreciative and respectful of your views

Town Meeting

Town Meeting is a large body that is the final legislative decision maker in town (see below). They meet several times a year in the High School auditorium. All are welcome, and there will be several hundred people in the room, both members and non-members.

Any registered voter may address Town Meeting. You must contact the Moderator ahead of time to let them know your intent and so they can confirm you are a registered voter. You can speak for up to 10 minutes and may do a presentation if you send it to the Moderator ahead of time.

Town Meeting is generally responsive to the concerns of residents affected by proposals. However, the large size (over 200 members) makes sophisticated negotiations very difficult. You might convince Town Meeting to vote Yes or No on your issue, but it will be difficult or impossible to make complex changes to a proposal.

To really influence an issue, it is best to speak to the involved committee long before Town Meeting.

Committees

All committees in town hold open meetings. This means you are allowed to attend and listen to any meeting with a few exceptions like confidential personnel negotiations. These meetings are posted ahead of time on the Town's webpage, and you can also contact the Town Clerk to ask what meetings are upcoming.

The larger committees in town (Select Board, School Committee, etc) have designated time in their meeting called "Citizens Speak". This is usually at the beginning and - as the name implies - any citizen may speak. The committee will generally not respond immediately (it might feel like you are talking to a wall), and generally respond at the end of the meeting.

The smaller committees usually do not have designated time. This is not because they don't want to hear from you - it's because they don't expect anyone to show up. If you ask nicely they will surely allow to you either give a presentation, or sit with them and engage in a back-and-forth discussion.

The committees are where the work gets done. If you feel passionate about an issue in town, attend the meetings and communicate with the committee members. This is your best chance to have your voice heard, long before Town Meeting.

If you can't attend a meeting, you can also contact a committee by phone or e-mail. If there is no contact info on their committee page, ask the Town Clerk.

Town Meeting

Milton’s legislative body is the Town Meeting. Think of it as a City Council with over 200 members.

Members are elected. There are lots of spaces so you have a good chance of getting a spot if you let your neighbors know you are interested.

In recent years:

• 33% of Town Meeting elections have not been contested - everyone who ran for a spot in that precinct that year got elected
• More than 10% of the Town Meeting elections were decided by one vote.
  • More than 30% were decided by five votes or less

To Run for Town Meeting

Town Meeting Job Requirements

Town Meeting meets at least two times a year. Often there is a four-night meeting in early May (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Monday) and a two-night meeting in mid-October (Monday, Tuesday) but the meetings can be longer or shorter. Meeting nights run from 7:30 until around 10:30, although it can go later. Meetings are in the Milton High auditorium, open to the public and televised on local access.

Before each meeting you will receive a warrant in the mail. This is a booklet with the issues we will be voting on at Town Meeting.

Read it.

Discuss the issues with interested neighbors and ask questions of relevant people in Town Government so you come to the meeting informed.

Committees

Much of the work in Milton Town Government is done by volunteer committees working with Town employees. Most committees are appointed by either the Select Board or the Town Moderator.

A list of the committees is here. Browse the list to see if there are any that fit your interests. All committee meetings are open to the public by law. If you'd like to observe a meeting, check the calendar to see which public meetings are coming up, or contact the Town Clerk to see how to contact the committee chair and ask when the next meeting will be.

Fill out the volunteer form (click here) so the town will know your skills and what you are interested in.

Currently (December 2018) there appear to be vacancies on the Audit Committee, Fair Housing Committee, the Personnel Board and the Town Government Study Committee, among others.

Elected Office

Milton Town Elections are the last week of April.

In 2019 the Town elected positions on the ballot will be:

• Select Board (2 positions)
• Town Treasurer
• Assessor (2 positions)
• School Committee (2 positions)
• Park Commissioner
• Board of Health
• Library Trustee
• Constable
• Cemetery Trustee (2 positions)
• Moderator
• Housing Authority
• Planning Board

To run for a position, pick up papers from the Town Clerk in March and get 50 Milton voters to sign it. Also, feel free to check the Town Clerk’s webpage to see who else has taken out papers and who has returned them.

Please educate yourself on the laws regarding campaign finances if you run for elected office.