In a letter to the editor on Nov 15, two of the Hartford selectmen were criticized for wanting a ballot vote for several articles coming up at a special town meeting.

I am one of those selectmen, and the reason we wanted to change from an open town meeting to a ballot vote was to allow more town residents to have a say in important decisions. Many are not able to attend the town meetings due to work requirements or health reasons.

I feel it is wrong to deny those people a say in their town government because they cannot attend an open meeting. Many residents were in favor of the change, but we decided to stay with the open meeting because of legal questions about the change.

As so often happens in small towns, the decisions that affect everyone are made by the few people that can and do attend town meetings. I think it’s too bad that the rest of the town is then excluded from having their say.

Scott Swain, Hartford

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