About

An independent set of observations about small-town civic life, written by people who sit on too many committees.

Town hall meeting — Most of this was learned in rooms like this one.

This site is not affiliated with any town government, business association or organisation, and does not speak for one. It is a personal project.

The subject is deliberately narrow: coastal New England towns of a few thousand people, where the same handful of questions — vacancy, waterfront access, volunteer capacity — recur in every one.

Nothing here is sponsored, no business is promoted and no political position is advanced. Where a specific policy is discussed it is as an illustration of a trade-off, not an endorsement.

Corrections, especially from people who have actually run these institutions, are welcome and have changed several of these pages.