[Rich, 18:48]
I suppose one thing that should be addressed on a site like this is Town Meeting as an institution. Obviously, as a Town Meeting Member I have a (positively) biased view of the institution. However, I definitely prefer it to alternatives like a city council, where a mere nine to twelve or fifteen members have near total control over the municipality.

Power within TM is more diffuse (which I imagine is something that critics of TM may well hold against it), which I think is positive. A person trying to exert influence to get something done like a zoning change needs to convince on the order of 100 TMMs vs a mere five or seven or eight councilors. Further, since the perqs of being a TMM are near nonexistent (aside from personal pride, I suppose), I believe TMMs are less vulnerable to lobbying and special interest influence, since TMM status is in general far less meaningful/important to the lives of TMMs than councilor status is to councilors.

However, this diffusivity has its costs. While TM ultimately has the power of the purse, the by-laws, and zoning, an honest observer must admit that TM is often presented with fait accomplis by various boards, especially the Selectmen/Town Manager and FinComm (and state law guarantees SchoolComm's right to present TM with a fait accompli). I have often been frustrated with TMs tendency to spend a good deal of time nattering about an appropriation of a few thousand dollars while spending tens of millions without batting an eyelash. It will be interesting to see if that changes this year.

On a different note, my current thinking has me preferring the representative form of Town Meeting over the open form. I like the fact that the representative form essentially precludes people who generally pay no attention to TM from swamping the meeting to get their preferred action on their pet article. Doing so is their right in an open TM, of course, but I question the fairness of it and am glad that Arlington's TM is relatively invulnerable to such tactics.

In all, at least for a town like Arlington, I believe its current form of government serves it well and is certainly preferable to the city forms of government as well as to the open meeting form of government that one sees in most MA towns.