A lot about Town Meeting has changed over the years, says Sheila Doherty, but not her enthusiasm toward the event.
As a grade-school-age girl sitting in the nonvoting section at her first Town Meeting, Doherty watched with curiosity as adults deliberated over instituting a leash law and a mosquito-spraying program.
That sense of wonder returned last spring when Doherty, a rookie town moderator, watched from the stage as residents voted against the recommendation of town officials and town counsel and approved the purchase of a Blanchard Street farm.
The 13-acre property, which had traces of pesticides in the soil, is now considered by the town to be a valuable asset.
"I'm a political scientist by education, and it was so amazing to see that process," said Doherty. "Just to watch the dialogue and the discussion and discourse, you could just see people reasoning through the right decision. And they made it, and that's what Town Meeting is all about."
Doherty, the daughter of long-time town moderator Jim Doherty, will run unopposed March 25 for the position her father held for nearly three decades. Last year Sheila Doherty beat out four other first-time moderator candidates to become town moderator.
"I'm grateful that I don't have any opponent and hopefully that's something of an endorsement," said Doherty. "It was an interesting meeting for me (last year). It's obviously so very different than sitting in the audience."
Now, even with a year's experience running Town Meeting, Doherty doesn't expect the role of moderator to become any easier this year. An anticipated multi-million-dollar operating deficit will be the financial backdrop for Andover voters.
"I honestly believe last year for me truly was the honeymoon meeting," said Doherty. "The issues this year are imminently more pronounced. The division of a number of factions in town is significantly more polarized.
"I think if there isn't an agreement with the budget before Town Meeting, the people in the town are going to have to decide what we want to spend money on," said Doherty. "That can get very heated. I think this meeting has the potential of being more difficult to moderate."
Doherty said her goal as moderator is to have the event run smoothly, but also to have people in the audience believe they've had their say and had all of their questions answered.
"We need to be encouraging people to put in check the emotion so that level-headed decisions can be made, whatever those decisions are," said Doherty. "Discourse is fine, but it must be civil. I will not allow it to be personal. People must understand that this is a forum for moving the town's business forward."
Doherty said each Town Meeting has it's own tone.
"The tone is critical," said Doherty. "I think the tone of the meeting is something the moderator can effect."
She said she was curious to find out what 2008 Town Meeting will offer and anticipated the budget, big-ticket items and town bylaw changes would attract much debate.
"Any time you change a bylaw, there's going to be discussion about why, how or when you're going to do it," she said.
Doherty has already attended several contentious public meetings surrounding the budget this year as a spectator.
"If that's going to be a microcosm of what we'll have at Town Meeting, I'm going to be using the gavel a lot," she said. "It's a tough year financially and so many things have a price tag associated with it. I think people coming to Town Meeting should really do themselves a favor and read the finance report."
