Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Yes, Yes, No, Yes, Yes

YesYesNoYesYes -- that's how I've voted on tally votes in Town Meeting.

Playing with the Tally Vote Database at InAmherst.com is great geeky fun. I plugged in my votes as my "preferred" votes, told it to sort by "rating", and BAM!

12 people voted the same way as I did.

2 people voted exactly the opposite way (Joan Logan and Merrylees Turner, neither of whom I know-- would we disintegrate into elementary particles if we shook hands??)

The most common voting pattern (39 people): Yes,No,Yes,No,No (almost opposite-- we agree that resident aliens should be able to vote in local elections).

I voted for the Finance Committee budget even though it was $100,000 higher (and I'm generally a cheapskate, especially when it's not my money I'm spending) than the Select Board budget. I was swayed by arguments before the meeting that sticking with the finance committee budget would avoid endless wrestling over how to "slice the budget pie."

Well, there's now $100,000 on the table, and I have a feeling there will be a LOT of argument over how to spend it. Except for War Memorial Pool; it seems everybody wants it to stay open.

No comments: