Small-town government in action

Dave Atkins wanted to see how his town government worked, so he attended a meeting of Westwood's Economic Development Advisory Board last night. He learned quite a bit about the Westwood Station project (big retail/residential proposal for the land next to the Rte. 128 Amtrak station) and a proposal by Clair Mercedes and Porsche to use some land for getting cars ready for customers. He writes:

... The meeting was far from high drama; I think you have to be kind of a poli sci geek to be this interested. But it was amazing to watch the deliberative political process really work and to watch a group that had no official power exercise what influence it did have in a way that preserved its integrity and made an impact. ...