Town Meeting Day

I just walked home from the Town Meeting. Town meeting is a once a year event in Vermont, it falls on the same day every year. It is an opportunity for the people in the town to vote on the town budget, make amendments, budget proposals, say thanks to firefighters, etc. Most towns in Vermont have a town meeting. All the schools - preschool through law school, have the day off. The city workers have the day off. Lots of local businesses shut down so that workers and bosses alike can participate. Our town's meeting was held at the highschool, which is adjoined to the elementary and middle school. The temperature outside was negative 15 degrees, negative 25 with the windchill. Nonetheless I was glad to be walking to the school and not in a car because they were backed up to the center of town for the meeting. When I walked into the gymnasium (20 minutes late) people were holding up green cards over their heads. I immediately thought of an auction. Instead, they were voting on whether there should be a count or if the moderator was allowed to eyeball a close vote. 5 Keepers of the Peace got up from seats in the crowd and dissected the gymnasium to count the votes in their designated areas. The crowd was maybe 250 people, with probably 85% grey haired and over forty years. The rest was an eclectic bunch of law students and random townies.

The face to face interaction was probably the most incredible aspect of the meeting (Other than the fact that this was true Democracy in action). Anybody can comment on the town's budget. One person got up and asked why there was an increase in the firefighters' budget. The fire chief stood up and explained that the town didn't have a paramedic and that they were having to bring one in from the next town over and it was costing money. Some people asked about various group's requests for budget increases - if a group representative wasn't there in person somebody would motion to either eliminate the funding or cap it at the previous year's level.

There was a group of five sitting on a platform at the head of the auditorium. These five(the selectboard) are elected by the town to write the checks to various groups and make sure the town stays in the black. People in the audience asked them questions and made sure they could account for where all the money in the town was going. The moderator for the event looked like a cross between a farmer and Peter Kropotkin. He had been moderating our town's meeting for the last 15 or so years and did a good job making sure everyone knew what they were voting on and procedures, etc.

The lowpoint for me was when one community member said that she didn't understand that her opportunity to comment on the overall budget had already passed. The moderator took a vote for opening up the discussion again and the majority voted against it. At that point, I felt as though the majority had silenced something that should have been heard. Nonetheless, the lady stood up before the closing and said what she thought - that the select board had too much power and that they weren't being scrutinized enough for their spending and allocations. One select board member responded by saying that the budget had only increased by $6000 dollars while the overall budget was well over a million. Another audience member got up and assured the questioner that town members hold the select board accountable and described the accessibility of the select board. This made me feel a little better.

Some of the town members voiced concern by how few parents were at town meeting day, given all the voting on school budgets. There were complaints about work and one town member avered that there is a statute in place that says anybody who lives in a town with a meeting is required to have the day off. The moderator said he would look into it. I admit I was also surprised by how few 30 somethings were in the crowd. Because most of the audience was on a fixed income (retired), they may have been a little more hesitant to raise taxes or increase funding versus a parent who is employed. I wonder if the fixed incomes unduly influenced any votes.

Overall, the town meeting was amazing. The chance to see participatory democracy work at the local level was a unique experience. States like Montana that have small populations with tight knit communities (I'm thinking rural Montana) could certainly enact and benefit from something like town meeting day. Incredible.