Almost three-quarters of Vermont’s 246 municipalities will replace March town meeting rituals with Covid-19-safe elections, and the rest plan to postpone local debate and decisions until outdoor gatherings this spring.
“It’s all pretty new and crazy,” Town Clerk Diana Peduzzi said in Woodbury, population 934, which will switch from its traditional first-Tuesday-in-March floor meeting to a one-time-only Australian ballot.
At least 175 communities will vote on or around March 2 using state pandemic guidelines, according to a VTDigger survey, with only a handful attempting some sort of in-person gathering.
Stratton, as an example of one exception, has scheduled a meeting for March 2 with such protocols as opening all the town hall windows and allowing its 230 residents to vote from the parking lot.
“One of the benefits of a floor meeting is that we can decide whether we will delay the meeting by adjourning to a date and time specific if necessary,” Stratton Town Clerk Kent Young said.
But a vast majority of municipalities, following a state recommendation that “town meetings are strongly discouraged this year,” are opting for mailable ballots.
“Everyone is very sad to not have the in-person town meeting with the potluck lunch, displays and information tables, bake sale, Girl Scouts selling cookies, dog registrations and fresh cinnamon rolls and coffee,” Town Clerk Heidi Racht said in Huntington, population 1,864, “but this is a pandemic, and we must be sure to take care.”
Huntington residents are known for amending agenda articles, such as reducing the general fund budget by 5% or raising the school budget to replace all the windows at once. But the town decided not to reschedule this year’s meeting, so it won’t upend its timeline for setting the tax rate and sending out bills.
“We could find ourselves in the same position of needing an indoor meeting, due to weather,” Racht said, “and we didn’t want to push everything out.”
That hasn’t stopped at least two dozen communities from postponing meetings or balloting until spring.
Stamford, population 964, has sparked headlines for fighting the state’s Covid-19 safety guidelines. It nonetheless will follow precautions and move this year’s meeting to April.
“We hope that the weather will be nice enough to hold it outside,” Town Clerk Lori Shepard said.
Other communities scheduling or studying April meetings or ballots include Marshfield, Plainfield, St. Johnsbury and Winhall.
Those pursuing May meetings or ballots include Barnard, Belvidere, Brookfield, Hartland, Holland, Jamaica, Londonderry, Sharon, Sheffield, St. George, Tunbridge, Wardsboro, Weston and Whiting.
Those pursuing June meetings or ballots include Baltimore, Eden, Jay, Troy and Waterville.
Adding to the confusion: Municipalities and their school districts aren’t necessarily voting on the same day. Kirby, population 615, will cast ballots March 2 for an education budget, then gavel in a traditional floor meeting just long enough to elect a moderator who’ll accept a motion to adjourn everything else until May.
Election officials are urging locals to check both the timing of all meetings and votes and whether they have to request an absentee ballot, as not all communities are mass-mailing them as the state did for last fall’s elections.
Officials also are allowing municipalities to hold broadcast information sessions, although online town meetings themselves are mostly prohibited because of concerns that organizers don’t have the ability to open participation to all locals yet close it to outsiders who aren’t eligible to vote.
That’s why Landgrove, population 111, is replacing its traditional floor proceedings and potluck with a “Zoom information hearing” and Australian ballot.
“It’s not the same community feeling,” Town Clerk Chrystal Cleary said. “We hope next year it will be safe to gather and reconvene again as usual — just when we’re all tired of winter and ready for sugaring and community in spring.”
