Tuesday Is Town Meeting Day. Don’t Forget to Vote!

Civic engagement lives in the Green Mountain State, where Vermonters will head to the polls Tuesday to decide everything from road maintenance budgets to one man’s quest for a town culvert inventory. 

Brattleboro residents will vote on whether they’d like their selectboard to pursue a downtown behavior ordinance. In Plainfield, voters will decide whether to change zoning to make a village expansion project possible.

Across the state, financial pressures — including an 11.9 percent increase in employee health care benefits — are forcing some Vermont school districts to make dramatic personnel cuts in hopes that voters will green-light their budget proposals. Vermont-NEA executive director Jeff Fannon told legislators earlier this month that if school budgets pass as warned on Town Meeting Day, roughly 300 to 400 positions statewide would be eliminated.

Meanwhile, many towns will consider whether to spend millions of dollars on wastewater management upgrades. The biggest ask is in Burlington, where a $152 million wastewater bond will be considered. That’s in addition to $20 million for drinking water infrastructure improvements sought in the Queen City. Public works officials say the projects are necessary to keep water systems running and prevent spills into Lake Champlain.

Also on Burlington’s ballot are three contested city council races with the potential to sway the balance of power on the council, which has been led by a Democratic majority for the past two years.

In the South District, Democratic candidate Ranjit “Buddy” Singh is up against Progressive opponent Jennifer Monroe Zakaras. In the East District, Progressive Kathy Olwell is facing off with Democrat Allie Schachter. And in the North District, incumbent Mark Barlow, a Democrat, faces a last-minute write-in challenge from former city councilor Ali Dieng, an independent.

If you haven’t registered to vote yet, it’s not too late. You can still do so on the Vermont Secretary of State’s website or at your local town clerk’s office.

Seven Days reporters will be reporting the results of races we’ve been covering.