The Bethel Town Meeting Solutions Committee seeks to improve and increase participation in town meeting .
Our goals for the 2015 season are:

1- to facilitate a discussion on December 11th and electronically here on the Bethel Front Porch Forum, on all issues concerning town meeting,

2- to make information available in print and on the Town of Bethel web page http://townofbethelvt.com/ on how to participate in local government.
The Town of Middlesex already has a lot of good information, most of which pertains to Bethel too. See http://middlesexvermont.org/about/local-democracy/
We could use some help getting these documents ready to be posted on the Town of Bethel web page.

3- to arrange for child care at the 2015 town meeting, and

4- to arrange to have some food at town meeting, perhaps like the pies that were donated last year and that we enjoyed after the meeting.

Upcoming Forums in several formats

We’d like your participation in a discussion on how we can make town meeting more accessible, functional, pertinent and interesting. We will be holding a forum on all topics concerning town meeting over the next month in several formats – email, phone, letter (submit your thoughts to Bethel Town Meeting Solutions Committee, Bethel Town Clerk, PO Box 404, Bethel, VT 05032, betheltownclerk@comcast.net, 234-9722), on this electronic forum, and culminating in an evening discussion on Thursday, December 11th at 6:30 at the Bethel town hall. The meeting on the 11th will feature a short presentation by Susan Clark, the Moderator for the Town of Middlesex, discussing similar efforts in their town.

The forum on December 11th at 6:30 pm will be a dessert potluck, but bringing a dessert is optional. People of all ages are welcome to participate in these discussions.

Topics we might discuss include:

--Food - whether to include food, like the pies last year,
--Child care needs,
-- Where to hold town meeting,
-- What time it should be – 10 am, or mid or late afternoon so that folks could enjoy a supper and stay on for the school meeting at 7 pm,
--Parking,
--Access,
--Atmosphere/ambiance/character of the town hall and the gym and how they help or hurt the town meeting experience,
--How to increase attendance,
--How to increase participation at the meeting,
--How to get off from work to attend (state law says everyone can attend, although you must give your employer/supervisor 2 weeks notice),
--How to get issues onto the agenda (the ‘warning’) for town meeting,
--How to discuss town issues at town meeting, and at other places and times of year as well, so that we are all involved in decisions affecting the Town.

So please begin our discussion here by offering your thoughts --they don’t have to be set in stone -- your musings or concerns are welcome. Press the REPLY TO FORUM button to share with everyone. Let’s have a lively, fun discussion of all issues that concern us about town meeting and participation in Bethel government.

In a time where we don’t have control over a lot of things in our lives, we do have control of what goes on in our town meeting. Participation is quite easy, especially if you know the steps and if you practice speaking up about your concerns and opinions. We are dedicated to explaining the procedures and offering an in-person and an electronic forum for you to share your opinions.

If you’d be willing to help with any of these tasks of doing some web work, arranging child care or facilitating food, we’d love to hear from you. Please contact one of us.

Eric Benson ebac1@comcast.net
Victoria Weber wdimock@sover.net
Jean Burnham betheltownclerk@comcast.net or 234-9722

Thanks! We are all looking forward to town meeting furthering the democratic process in Bethel.

Victoria Weber

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