Town Meeting in Sandwich carries on an old, old Granite State tradition

SANDWICH — In the traditional style, the voters of Sandwich congregated at the central school on Wednesday evening. Their task: make sure the small Carroll County town keeps on running. 

Sandwich is included on an ever-shrinking list of New Hampshire towns that still run Town Meeting the old way. Voters gather all together — in Sandwich on Wednesday it was in a basketball gym that served as meetinghouse — and debate and decide on how the town should, or shouldn’t, spend its money.

In New Hampshire, towns can vote two ways: in SB 2 towns, a reference to Senate Bill 2, which passed in 1995, voters gather twice. In the first, to deliberate on the articles to be included on the Town Warrant, and again to submit their ballots, voting for each item. In the second, older tradition of Town Meeting — the sort that still occurs in Sandwich — includes a first day of voting on elected leaders, then a second day of debate and discussion, culminating in a line-by-line vote, in-person, on the Town Warrant. 

Voters sit in folding chairs in a semi-circle surrounding a stage, maybe 3 feet tall, the same sort which serves as a walkway for high school graduates at small schools around the country, and members of the selectboard flank the town moderator atop the platform.

In Sandwich, that's Jim Mykland. His job is to keep the meeting running, and he adeptly calls out notices, time limits, asks for motions and seconds, and finally, a vote on every item. A good moderator can use their pulpit to explain the intricacies of proposed legislation, too. He’s got assistants at his left, and they watch and record votes for or against each article. Residents of Sandwich raise white placards to signal their position on a given item.

“I will not recognize a motion to adjourn until the business of the evening is concluded,” Mykland said.

“I’d also like to thank, and I know on behalf of the town, all of you who serve on the various boards and commissions that make the town run,” he said. 

There were two items that captured the attention of voters more than others on Wednesday. The first, a proposed rebuilding of the town’s police building, which is old, apparently decrepit, and needs replacing. During Town Meeting, residents learned it's infested with rodents 

That warrant article asked residents to raise $1.175 million, and authorize issuing $475,000 in bonds, plus authorize spending $700,000 from the town’s Police Building Capital Reserve Fund. It required a two-thirds affirmative vote to pass. 

“That building is very inadequate for a police department,” Police Chief Karl Koch said Wednesday night. “It’s basically falling apart.” 

Selectboard member Joanne Haight told voters the discussion about replacing the building, which sits in disrepair, was years-long and included multiple requests for proposals and open houses. The old police building was originally a doctors office, and gifted to the town in the 1990s.

“Almost no maintenance has been done to that building,” she said. “That building needs replacing.” 

But resident David Patrick said he didn’t support the article.

“I think we should have a safety department under one roof,” he said.

Anne Glavin, a resident who said she spent 43 years in law enforcement in Massachusetts and California, said the time has come to replace the building. 

“I cannot believe how long this town has played with this issue,” Glavin said.

“This police department deserves it,” she said. “They’re still operating out of a building that probably should’ve been condemned a long time ago.”

That item passed by a healthy majority, 116 yes to 25 no. 

“That’s an 82% yes, so the bond question does pass,” Mykland said.

The second item was one that’s captured the attention of many across New Hampshire: should Keno, a gambling game played in restaurants and taverns throughout the state, be prohibited in your town?

“If you don’t want Keno in Sandwich, you’re going to have to vote 'yes,'” Mykland said. 

The people of Sandwich said yes, it should be banned, and so it is. They voted 121 to 15. There were some 150 voters there in total, though not every resident stayed the hour it took to close the ballot box on the secret-ballot questions, plus the 15 minutes it took to count them.

“So Sandwich is not a Keno town,” Mykland said. The crowd offered subdued applause. 

Those 150 voters represent roughly 11% of the town's voting population.

There was little fanfare or clamor in Sandwich on Wednesday, though the old style of meeting has an earned reputation for impassioned debate. It was the 263rd year of doing it then way there, a tradition older than some of these United States.

“We live in a small town; however much you may disagree with the person standing next to you speaking, remember that person may be plowing the road or your driveway,” Mykland said.