FILE - In this March 6, 2012, file photo, officials preside over the annual town meeting in Bethel, Vt. The COVID-19 pandemic is disrupting New England town meetings in 2021, a tradition where citizens gather to debate and decide on local issues. AdBut others counter that the challenges of getting people together during town meeting, virus or no, restrict the number of people who can participate. “We need face-to-face, empowered deliberations,” said Middlesex town meeting moderator Susan Clark. AdIn Massachusetts, where some of the first New England town meetings were established in the 1630s, 300 of 351 municipalities continue to hold town meetings in some form, according to Secretary of State William Galvin’s office.