In a mock Town Meeting on Thursday, over 200 seventh graders at Veterans Middle School debated and ultimately voted to reject expanding Marblehead’s seasonal leaf blower ban. The question will come before Marblehead voters at Town Meeting, which begins Monday.
(Check out the Current’s 2024 Town Meeting Guide HERE.)
The mock Town Meeting, held in the school’s Performing Arts Center and moderated by Town Moderator Jack Attridge, aimed to give students a taste of the direct democracy the town’s citizens engage in annually.
After researching the issue and writing persuasive essays, students presented arguments echoing those surrounding the real Town Meeting warrant article. Proponents cited the environmental and health impacts of gas-powered leaf blowers, with one student arguing, “Gas leaf blowers emit enormous amounts of carbon and gas, the same as an 11-hour car drive from Marblehead to Florida, and cause respiratory problems such as asthma.”
Opponents, however, raised concerns about the economic burden a ban would place on landscaping businesses and homeowners.
“Battery powered leaf blowers are not a solution,” one student contended. “Switching to battery powered would be a time consuming and expensive transition for landscapers.”
Some students proposed compromises, such as slightly extending the existing ban period or incentivizing a shift to electric equipment usage. One argued, “A summertime ban on gas powered leaf blowers is all that we need. Landscapers can do lawn maintenance during the summer without gas power, and when the big cleanup arrives in fall, they will have the power needed to blow away the problem.”
Assistant Superintendent Julia Ferreira emphasized that the true value lay not in the specific result, but in connecting students with the town’s democratic tradition and modeling engaged citizenship.
“This is a direct connection, not only to the core values that we hold here at Veterans Middle School, citizenship being one of them, but that this is our goal as educators – to prepare students as citizens for the world and for the town,” Ferreira said.
Social studies teacher Connor Frechette-McCall explained that the mock meeting, beyond teaching civics, supports curriculum being taught in the classroom.
“It connects to our content standards. In ancient Greece and in our modern democracies, there are two main foundations — the role of citizens to be informed and to be active,” he said. “That’s what we’re hoping to inspire and actually show with the seventh-grade students today.”
Attridge provided a brief history lesson on the centuries-old tradition of Town Meeting.
“Citizens of Marblehead have gathered to form the legislative body of the town since 1649,” Attridge told the students. “It is a humbling thought to consider that the original inhabitants of Marblehead organized 375 years ago, to collectively and democratically manage the affairs of the town. A tradition which began some 124 years before the American Revolution remains our governance structure to this day.”
Attridge noted that many, including Thomas Jefferson, have referred to Town Meeting as “the purest form of democracy.” He quoted Jefferson’s 1813 letter praising the institution as “the wisest invention ever devised by the wit of man for the perfect exercise of self-government, and for its preservation.”
Attridge emphasized the extraordinary power the citizens of Marblehead wield through the annual gathering.
“It’s pretty amazing that the citizens who live in the town have control over pretty much everything that happens within the town,” Attridge said. “One of the most important things that we do at Town Meeting is vote upon the operating budget of the town. The bills can’t get paid unless the town gathers and approves the funds, which is $115 million this year.”
Attridge expressed hope that the immersive experience would inspire the students to carry forward the 375-year tradition of direct democracy. While the middle schoolers’ vote on leaf blowers won’t change town policy, it aimed to provide a glimpse into their future roles as engaged citizens, shaping the community that Attridge said they will inherit.
“We want students to picture themselves moving forward as active citizens,” said Ferreira. “Getting this direct experience with the democratic process hopefully brings that aspiration to life in a powerful, tangible way.”
