2008 Woodie Awards
Town voters carry out tradition
Middlebury residents attend annual Town Meeting
Christine Fisher
Issue date: 3/9/06 Section: Local News
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This past Monday night, the town of Middlebury faithfully continued a centuries-old tradition by holding its annual Town Meeting in the Municipal Auditorium, located across the street from the Blue Hen.
According to Vermont law, "a meeting of legal voters of each town shall be held annually on the first Tuesday of March for the election of officers and the transaction of other business."
Such is the legal basis for Town Meeting, a truly Vermont tradition that dates all the way back to 1762, 15 years before the state of Vermont was even created, when the first was held in Bennington.
The practice of Town Meeting, in which citizens vote directly on issues instead of electing officers to do it for them, is unique to Vermont and other New England states. As Professor of Political Science Bert Johnson points out, "different cultural, geographic, and economic reasons" dictate that other states' local governments instead use elected representatives, such as city councils or mayors.
Although only legal voters may actually actively participate in Town Meeting, a handful of Middlebury College students were also in attendance to listen as town residents spoke out about and subsequently voted on the issues that most concern them.
With Governor Jim Douglas '72 acting as moderator, Town Meeting lasted about two and a half hours, as it operated smoothly and efficiently according to a set protocol known as Robert's Rules of Conduct.
The meeting proceeded as townspeople voted on a series of seven articles outlined in the Town Meeting Warning, which, by law, must be publicized at least 30 days before Town Meeting to enable people to peruse the agenda and determine if they agree or disagree with certain proposals.
This year's approved articles include the new town budget of $6,086,783 for the fiscal year 2007, the purchase of new vehicles for police and sanitation departments, a new billing plan for tax collection which allows for payment to be made in three separate installments and the addition of a $.01 surcharge to the Town Land Use Trust Fund to fund future conservation projects.
According to Vermont law, "a meeting of legal voters of each town shall be held annually on the first Tuesday of March for the election of officers and the transaction of other business."
Such is the legal basis for Town Meeting, a truly Vermont tradition that dates all the way back to 1762, 15 years before the state of Vermont was even created, when the first was held in Bennington.
The practice of Town Meeting, in which citizens vote directly on issues instead of electing officers to do it for them, is unique to Vermont and other New England states. As Professor of Political Science Bert Johnson points out, "different cultural, geographic, and economic reasons" dictate that other states' local governments instead use elected representatives, such as city councils or mayors.
Although only legal voters may actually actively participate in Town Meeting, a handful of Middlebury College students were also in attendance to listen as town residents spoke out about and subsequently voted on the issues that most concern them.
With Governor Jim Douglas '72 acting as moderator, Town Meeting lasted about two and a half hours, as it operated smoothly and efficiently according to a set protocol known as Robert's Rules of Conduct.
The meeting proceeded as townspeople voted on a series of seven articles outlined in the Town Meeting Warning, which, by law, must be publicized at least 30 days before Town Meeting to enable people to peruse the agenda and determine if they agree or disagree with certain proposals.
This year's approved articles include the new town budget of $6,086,783 for the fiscal year 2007, the purchase of new vehicles for police and sanitation departments, a new billing plan for tax collection which allows for payment to be made in three separate installments and the addition of a $.01 surcharge to the Town Land Use Trust Fund to fund future conservation projects.