ABOUT US
Fairness First is a coalition of Essex residents seeking to end at-large representation on the Essex Selectboard, in favor of district-based seats.
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Fairness First was inspired by a recent school merger that provided equal representation among the two Essex districts -- 4 seats to Village reps and 4 to Town-outside-the-Village (TOV) reps -- on the Essex Westford School District (EWSD) Board.
After collecting 1,083 signatures from Essex residents, our proposed charter change —3 Village reps and 3 TOV reps — was placed on the 3/3/2020 ballot.
Because 61% of the voters townwide said YES that day, the size of the present 5-member Selectboard will increase by one seat, once the legislature approves this charter change.
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What's Wrong With the Way We've Always Done It
The current at-large model supposes each Selectboard member can understand and represent all-at-once the interests of 22,000 people living among a variety of settings: downtown, suburban, rural.
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In reality, Selectboard members take up and vote for issues they are most familiar with, meaning whichever half of town controls the majority of the un-even-numbered seats will also control the direction of policy-making and budgeting.
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As Fairness First co-founder Irene Wrenner puts it, “Watching these meetings is like sitting through repeated hockey games, in which one team always has a power play, and the other team never gets the puck!"
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Surveys and focus groups providing feedback on the proposed merger indicated participants’ support for equal representation.
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With approximately equal populations inside and outside the Village, Fairness First believes a new, even-numbered board format will provide equal and fair representation -– and foster improved relations within local government, whether the two budgets fully merge or not.
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Fairness First believes that equal teams negotiating on behalf of same-sized constituencies will better determine the best way forward for Essex with all getting an equal say.
