Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Survey Design topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Concord study group narrows survey, plans October launch to weigh meeting reforms
Summary
The Town of Concord’s Town Meeting Study Committee’s Experiences Subcommittee agreed to refine a shorter town-meeting survey and to hold hearings this fall on reforms — including remote participation and electronic voting — with a plan to open the public survey October 1 for about a month.
The Town of Concord Town Meeting Study Committee’s Experiences Subcommittee on Monday agreed to trim a proposed public survey and pursue focused outreach and hearings this fall on reforms intended to improve participation in town meeting.
Eric Moore, who opened the meeting, said the committee is “thinking that we’re gonna open the survey October 1, and I think keep it open for a month.” The subcommittee embraced a shorter instrument to maximize completion while reserving follow-up questions for more engaged respondents.
Why it matters: The committee is preparing recommendations for the select board and wants stronger evidence on which changes would increase attendance and improve meeting experience. Members said the survey should help distinguish residents who are interested but constrained from those who are simply not interested.
Members debated two drafts: a broader “survey 1” on local democracy and a narrower “survey 2” focused on town meeting logistics and experience. Katie Bresnick, who offered a rewritten, shorter questionnaire, said she favored concision to boost completion: “cutting down the length made sense in my perspective.”
The subcommittee discussed a modular approach: a short first module open to all with optional branching to a longer part for respondents who opt in. Participants warned that running multiple waves or complex follow-ups would require staff or consultant resources the town may not have, and urged prioritizing questions that will directly inform the committee’s recommendations.
Members also debated which demographic and behavioral items to keep for analysis — age bands, years living in Concord, family caregiving status and attendance patterns — and whether to collect screening information about voter registration. The group emphasized avoiding overly technical language and using brief context blurbs where needed so respondents understand what changes like “referendum town meeting” or “electronic voting” would entail.
On substance, the survey will probe two types of interventions: accessibility changes (scheduling, family-friendly settings, multiple nights) intended to make it easier to attend, and experience improvements (rules for debate, consent calendar, discouraging repeat speakers) intended to improve the meeting for attendees. Committee members agreed to keep separate measures of perceived value and perceived time spent on meeting elements so the committee can recommend specific trade-offs.
Next steps: Katie Bresnick will revise survey 2 into a new draft and recirculate it; the committee plans to place the revised draft in the logistics subcommittee packet and reconvene in two weeks to finalize the instrument and the schedule for public hearings.
