Need to find better way for town meeting

I was talking to a colleague in the State House last week, and she commented on how I’m always smiling, and another colleague who was standing there with us said, “She’s smiling, but she doesn’t take any shit.”

I just wanted you all to know that that’s the energy I’m bringing to work on your behalf: smiling and not putting up with any baloney. (This is also, by the way, how I approach parenting teenage boys and also dating as a 50-year-old.)

It was lovely to see people at town meeting on Saturday. I know some are upset that the switch to Australian ballot voting didn’t go through, and I know that some are relieved. I have mixed feelings on the issue: The more people who vote, the more our collective decisions reflect the will of people in town. But town meeting is such a nice tradition, and the ability to work on our budget as a community is special and empowering. 

So maybe we challenge ourselves, before next year, to come up with a better way to do it. How can we get more people active and interested in town issues? How can we get more people to participate in selectboard meetings, on voting day, and on all the various committees and boards that keep our town running? How do we help people feel like they have a voice, and that their opinions matter?

There are wonderful people at the Grange, and who work on recreation, at the library and in the PTO and the senior center and at our churches, who strive daily to maintain connections and create new ones amongst our neighbors. I urge you to find a place where you feel comfortable, get involved, stay connected, and maybe we can all work together to come up with a good solution that keeps town meeting but makes sure that everyone can vote. I’m happy to help any way I can.

We’re on break from the legislature this week — conveniently scheduled for working parents the week after school break — so there’s a small reprieve from the chaos, but we’ll be back at it next Tuesday for crossover week, where everyone tries to cram their bills through at the last minute and we’re eating trail mix for dinner at 9 p.m., and my feet hurt because I’m too vain to wear comfortable shoes.

So far, I have a 100-percent success rate with legislation for which I’ve been the lead sponsor, mostly because I only had one bill — setting up an animal welfare department last biennium. I hope to continue my record, but I’m really stepping it up this year, and I’m the lead sponsor for two bills. 

H67 is a bill relating to government accountability and oversight, and I’m sure many of you remember from my reporter days how obsessed I am with transparency and accountability. This bill creates a Government Accountability Committee that’s made up of legislators from all political parties and both sides of the chamber. The committee will have the responsibility to identify programs, commissions, departments or other government initiatives that might not be accomplishing what they’re supposed to. The hope is that, by identifying programs that are missing the mark on their intended purpose or their financial goals, we’ll be able to save time and, more importantly money, by reporting whether or not they should keep going or maybe just go away.

H244 is a bill that compels the state, in not all but in certain advertising and marketing efforts, to spend our money on Verrmont ad and marketing agencies, and advertise mostly with local news outlets. A robust local news presence is shown to keep municipal budgets lower, increase voter participation, increase public trust in government, and as a bonus, this legislation will funnel much-needed funds to local outlets instead of giving it to big tech companies like Meta and Google. I love local news and I love voter participation and I’m confident that this, like the accountability bill, will move forward with bipartisan support. You know, because I’m always smiling at people, so hopefully they’ll all be cool with my bills.

Thank you all so much for your continued engagement and please be in touch or 917-887-8231.