How to make a Citizens' Petition
Citizen petitions provide a way for people to add an article to a Town Meeting Warrant.
Deadline for Warrant Article Submission
The deadline for submission of Warrant Articles for the 2026 Annual Town Meeting is April 1, 2026. The Citizen Petition Form is HERE and petitions must be hand delivered to the Selectboard Office at Town Hall. Please do not drop your submissions in the drop box outside of the building.
The Citizen Petition Guidelines will help guide you through the process:
"How to Develop Your Petition for Best Results," written by one of Bernardston's residents!!
I recently attended a town meeting—something that I admit I’ve rarely done in the past—and there was an article that ended up being passed over, because the question, as constructed, could not be resolved at that meeting. I did sympathize with the petitioners, but I recognized pretty quickly where the petition had fallen short. While it met the town’s requirements to be put on the agenda (Warrant), the petition did not suggest a solution to the problem, and it also did not provide background information, such as previous trends that would point to an unexpected change or to a solution.
This got me thinking: How do people create petitions that will result in satisfactory outcomes? I’ve done some digging and pulled together some information that should help people to create the very best petitions!
The first thing to do is to clarify what you want changed and then get your wording and backup documents together. Is there an old budget or other financial documents you can get copies of? Are there people in the field covered by the petition that can provide letters/comments that might help your cause? Develop a clear solution or a set of options that you feel will resolve the issue. I would suggest having your main issue, and then two or three
solutions that aren’t exactly what you want, but that would support the change. Many times, it’s not possible to directly or immediately fix the primary issue, but there are often steps that can be taken toward that end. Make it easy for the person who will receive the petition to help you. Make sure you know the applicable law: town, county, and state level, and in some cases, even federal law. The law may be structured in such a way that there is no straightforward path to achieving your goal. If that turns out to be the case, you can refine your goals and break them down into effective steps.
Find out who the best person to present the petition is. For example, in the case of the town meeting, we all learned that the issue at hand is controlled by the Commonwealth and that not much, if anything, can be done at the local level. Sometimes, this can be difficult. If that person can’t be located or is not accessible, find out who the next best person would be. Work with the appropriate authorities to develop your item, get the wording right, and ensure that it can be included in the agenda for any upcoming meetings where I might be addressed. Wording is very important, as is having whatever backup documentation you can provide. Many towns and counties provide some documents, like budgets and previous meeting minutes to the public via their websites or upon request.
The bottom line is that, in order to have your petition be successful, you need to gather all of your tools, as you would for any other task. The process should be approached as if it’s a job. Proper research, writing, collection of signatures, and working with your local authority to have your issue heard takes time, so it’s best to make sure that enough time is being taken to present a bulletproof case!