I thought providing a little information about our upcoming Town Meeting Day would help inform Cambridge Town community members and hopefully lead to greater attendance from a wide cross-section of our community.

The following comes from the VT Secretary of State's website and Wikipedia.

Town Meeting Day (Tuesday March 4th) is a state holiday.

The purpose of town meeting is to elect municipal officers, approve annual budgets and conduct any other business. Many towns vote on matters of substance (e.g., budgets, elected officials, etc.) by secret (paper) ballot (also known as Australian ballot). However, there is no state law that requires towns to vote by Australian ballot; several towns still conduct all business "from the floor" (voice vote).

Cities and towns are governed by either a city council or a selectboard. They are fully empowered to act on most issues and are generally referred to as the municipality's legislative body. But all town budgets (and those of other independent taxing authorities) must be approved by vote. Explaining the local government's budget request to the voters is the principal business of Town Meeting. Voters at Town Meeting may also vote on non-binding resolutions, and may place items on the ballot for the following year's meeting.

According to the Vermont Secretary of State's Citizen's Guide to Town Meeting, Vermont gives state employees the day off on town meeting day. Vermont law also gives a private employee the right to take unpaid leave from work to attend his or her annual town meeting, subject to the essential operation of the business or government. An employee must give the employer at least seven days notice if he or she wants to take advantage of this right to attend town meeting.

While I have repeatedly heard from folks in Cambridge that they have difficulty attending all or part of Town Meeting for various reasons, I encourage everyone that can, to attend this forum of direct Democracy. Several items of importance to the future direction of our community are discussed and voted on only by voice vote during the meeting. The only way to have your vote counted on these items is to be present at the time. Town Meeting begins promptly at 10am. Showing up a few minutes early is encouraged.

And please remember, you must be on the voter checklist in order to Vote. If you are not on the checklist or are unsure if you're on the checklist, you can call the Town Offices (644-2251) or stop by between 8am-4pm weekdays (above the Jeff Post Office) for more information. The last day to be added to the checklist in time to vote at Town Meeting is February 26th.

The Town Report (scheduled to be mailed out early next week) and last week's issue of the Transcript also have more information about this year's Town Meeting.

I hope to see you there!