All two-hundred-and-forty Amherst Town Meeting seats are up for re-election this year; I'm one of 41 candidates running for election in Precinct 9 (the top 24! vote-getters will be elected).
Yes, it is kind of a crazy way to run a Town; I've never bothered to see if there's been any serious research into whether the form of Town government actually makes a difference to their success. I suppose even defining "success" would be hard; New York City is arguably the most successful US city, but I wouldn't live there if you paid me to.
If you're an Amherst voter, go to the Sustainable Amherst website, print out their handy 2012 election guide, and then go vote on Tuesday.
Good luck Gavin - nice to see someone else who has taken the time to be involved in local politics.
ReplyDeleteIn my case, it was a neighborhood council of Los Angeles. These councils have almost no power except to "advise" our elected city representative. And yet, in my election I got around 300 votes - similar to your election.
The take home message is that residents of Los Angeles are woefully under represented. Our elected city council members represent more than 270,000 people each. There are are 15 city council members for around 4 million people. Each one is king of his district and rules accordingly.