[A]s polarized national politicians sling mud, Vermonters from Alburgh to Vernon turned out at town meetings in hopes of finding common ground.
And, in the case of voters in Dummerston and Putney, funding it with tax dollars.
Residents of the neighboring Windham County towns gathered separately Tuesday to consider the joint purchase of a $2 million gravel pit “for use in constructing and maintaining highways,” the ballot said, if not also building a model of cooperation in an age of conflict.
“I want to commend Dummerston and Putney for not having to dissolve their selectboards to work collaboratively,” one woman said in a veiled reference to the state’s controversial push for regional school board mergers under its Act 46 education governance law.
That doesn’t mean the road to accord is free of rocks or potholes. Take the town of Johnson’s debate over a local “inclusivity statement” recently adopted by its Selectboard.
“The people of Johnson,” the statement says, “embrace inclusiveness and together we will build bridges to understanding, ensuring that all who live, work and visit our town feel welcome and safe. We reject racism, bigotry, discrimination, violence and hatred in all its forms. Together we commit to growing a cooperative, sustainable, and thriving community.”
Who could argue?
“I personally don’t understand how a small group of people with non-varying views can write a statement that is supposed to ‘speak’ for the town to the outside world and how an even smaller group of people (four Select Board members) can vote to accept that statement for the entire town,” one resident commented on the online Front Porch Forum. “It just seems quite ironic to me the process to create and adopt the ‘Town of Johnson Inclusivity Statement’ wasn’t very town-inclusive.”
In response, an advisory article on Tuesday’s agenda sought to encourage the Selectboard to replace the negative-focused “we reject” wording with a more positive-feeling “the things we embrace are kindness, gentleness, understanding, neighborliness, peace, tolerance and respect for and toward all.”
“Together,” a proposed revised last sentence concludes, “we can have a cooperative, sustainable and thriving community where everyone is honored and valued.”
As Selectboard member Kyle Nuse arrived for Tuesday’s floor meeting, it appeared the “we reject” and “we embrace” factions might find themselves in a push and pull.
“But what came about is why can’t we have both?” she recounts of the eventual unanimous vote to combine everyone’s language. “We can think differently and, in the end, come together. It was an incredible thing to witness.”
Several other municipalities used town meetings to promote kinder, gentler causes.
Cabot, population 1,437, was set to vote on a non-binding resolution declaring the town to be a “pollinator friendly community” for bees and butterflies.
Ryegate, population 1,107, dedicated its annual report to “community spirit” (although, three pages later, it informs that “unlicensed and off leash dogs continue to be a problem”).
Then came the gritty debate in Dummerston, population 1,777, and Putney, population 2,621, over the 32-acre Renaud gravel pit on shared Route 5.
In Dummerston, one woman was skeptical of the wording “for the purpose of extraction of gravel for the towns’ use in constructing and maintaining their highways and other lawful purposes.”
“What are these ‘other lawful purposes’?” she asked. “That sounds very vague.”
In Putney, one man wondered if the communities would divide up the lot.
“Is there going to be a line drawn in the sand?” he asked. “And if there’s a divorce between the towns?”
Local leaders didn’t offer an answer. Instead, they simply let residents approve the union in a nearly unanimous voice vote.
