Will in-person town meetings Zoom away?

Town meeting in Huntington. Vt.

 From Robert Whitcomb’s “Digital Diary,’’ in GoLocal24.com

March is New England town meeting time, but this year many – most?  -- such proceedings have been virtual, by Zoom, etc. I suppose that in some towns the in-person meeting may never come back. That’s in part because so many people have gotten so used to inter-acting most of the day on screens, and attending virtual meetings is easier for many people than going there physically. But easier doesn’t necessarily mean better. (Is the  long lack of in-person encounters making some people more timid?)

I’ve attended town meetings over the years in various communities. It’s hard to beat the up-close-and-personal encounters and voting in person, if you’re looking for basic democracy. At many of them, votes are taken by voice or a show of hands. Seeing the body language, and hearing the informal chats before and after the meetings, the often entertaining free-form debates, the droll, sardonic remarks of the town moderators, and reading the  paper documents explaining the proposals to be voted on – all good stuff.

And there’s something seasonally heartening about town meetings. They come as winter is losing its grip, there’s a smell of thawing earth in the air and the sunlight is brighter. They’re a marker of spring.

The Town House of Marlboro, Vt., was built in 1822 to be used for town meetings, which had previously been held in private homes. It is still in use today.