Meeting Legitimacy

A town hall meeting has no official legitimacy.

Therefore, the only legitimacy that can come from a meeting is the legitimacy that the participants have as residents of the community, the orderliness and fairness with which the meeting conducts itself and the clarity with which the meeting articulates its results.

It is important that the decisions made by the meeting show a high level of agreement for them to have a high level of legitimacy. The process by which a decision is made is, therefore, important.

Decisions should be accompanied by the written endorsement of the mover and seconder of the motion and by the count of in-favours, undecideds and opposed.

Town hall meetings will gain legitimacy through time if they consistently produce thoughtful results that are the consequence of fair and democratic decision making.