Town Meeting Tidbits #3: Why Care About Child Care?
Parents: please note: Pre-registration tor Town Meting Child Care is required by Feb. 21 (before school break).
And everyone: Here’s an interesting fact about Vermont’s town meeting tradition: when it comes to representation of women, town meeting is one of the most inclusive legislative bodies in the country.
Currently, while women make up about half of our population, women make up only 19% of the U.S. Congress and 20% of theSenate – the groups that fashion and pass the American budget and raise the taxes to pay for it.
At the Vermont level, things equalize a bit more: women make up 43% percent of the House and 30% percent of the Senate in Montpelier.
Although that’s still not half, perhaps Vermont’s percentage of women leaders is relatively high (2nd highest in the U.S.) because of training at the local level. Because here, the body that deliberates on the local budget and taxes to pay for it – the town meeting – is generally nearly 50% female. In fact, in Vermont women regularly comprise a majority of the citizens who make the laws for their town. This has never been true in any state or national legislative body in the entire history of the United States.
Child care helps. Studies of Vermont town meetings show that when the average town offers child care, there is a measurable increase in meeting participation – especially among women.
That’s why we’re so happy that Community Connections will once again offer child care for our meeting. Email James Chartrand , the registration information is on the Community Connections page of the Rumney website: http://grades.wcsuonline.org/rumneyweb/commconn.htm
Remember, Middlesex Town Meeting will be held at Rumney Memorial School on Tuesday, March 4 starting at 4:30 pm. The polls will be open for Australian ballot voting from 10:00 am – 7:00 pm.
"Town Meeting Tidbits" are brought to you by your neighbors on the Middlesex Town Meeting Solutions Committee. See you at Town Meeting!
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