I recall feeling a sense of being part of an engaged and connected community at my first Vermont Town Meeting on the first Tuesday in March of 1990. Greensboro residents Jane and Sig had grand plans for a recycling center behind the old school building that then served as the town hall and two overflow classrooms for the elementary school. They showed us examples of trash that would be accepted. They had drawings of the layout. All they needed was a semi trailer to hold the materials being recycled and volunteers to staff it.
I had arrived in town the previous October to house-sit for the winter. Somehow the sense of community I felt overcame any reluctance I had to speak up as a new town resident. I had experience with buying trailers and volunteered to take that on. I then became Greensboro’s recycling coordinator without quite knowing how it happened and remained in the position for several years.
The sense of helping that I felt then is an important part of the Vermont Town Meeting tradition.
Town meetings first began in the New England colonies at the beginning of the 1600s. Puritans who came to America pursuing religious freedom created town meetings to discuss and decide on community-specific matters. The meetings were held in meeting houses, usually built at taxpayer expense to serve both religious and town business purposes. Town meetings were thus developed to preserve local autonomy and self-governance over issues such as religious freedom and tax laws.
In many Vermont towns the tradition remains. The process is simple: state your name, say what you will, listen to others in debate, vote. Because of town meeting we know each other better, and because we know each other better, we know what our community needs better.
Select board members in most towns are now elected by secret ballot, often referred to as an Australian ballot. In 1856 Victoria and South Australia were the first states to introduce a secret ballot, which explains why we call our voting method the Australian ballot. The system spread to Europe and the United States to meet the growing public and parliamentary demand for protection of voters.
Most Vermont Town Meetings happen the first Tuesday in March. Some have moved their meeting to the first March Saturday to make attendance easier for those who must work weekdays. Some hold an informational meeting prior to the first Tuesday in March, then vote some or all items by Australian ballot.
Town meetings are less than two months away. Towns are now finalizing budgets, setting agendas, printing town reports, and getting ready to publish warnings with information about when and where to meet and to vote.
There’s an opportunity for you to be a part of the process and The Hardwick Gazette is preparing to report on it. Between now and March 5, we intend to collect and share information from the 11 towns we cover, reporting on budget issues, sharing what select boards have to say about how the hard decisions about it were made, and giving select board candidates the opportunity to tell you why they would like to be your representative.
Be part of your town meeting and help direct your community’s future. You might even find a place to help your neighbors as I did.
Paul Fixx, Interim Editor
