trust fund babies get their way again

[rod anode]

in a large turn out in fletcher tonite for the aussie ballot meeting the trustfund babies win in a landslide vote for control of the town coffers and no aussie ballots... let the beatings begin!!!!!

[7F24]

I am not familiar with this vote, but I am curious....who are the trust fund babies?  I get the feeling they are people that voted different than you.

[swilliam]

Actually "Rod", I was at the meeting tonight with my husband.  I voted to move the school budget vote to australian ballot, and my husband voted to keep it as is on Town Meeting Day.  Last I looked, he isn't a trustfund baby.  Nor were alot of my neighbors and friends who voted it down. We are all just regular working folks.  Of course we are all entitled to our opinions. I think the meeting was a very helpful wake up call to Fletcher voters and hopefully there will be further movement on having Town Meeting Day and the budget votes on a day and time when more people can attend.  There were 142 voters at the meeting tonight compared to the usual 30-40 voters that vote on our school and town budgets.  The vote was 95 to keep the voting as it is currently and 47 to change it to australlian ballot. 

[mirjo]

I don't live in Fletcher, but I believe anything of importance like a budget should be done by Australian Ballot, because regardless of when town meeting is held, the numbers aren't going to change significantly. Fairfax changed TM to Saturday for the same reason a long time ago & it's very poorly attended compared to the number of people who actually vote.

[Stand Alone Defense]

I don't live in Fletcher either so this is just my opinion which most people don't care to hear, but here it is anyway.


I have to agree with Mirjo on this one.  It seems to me that a lot of people don't get a say this way and the ballot is the fairest way to do things.  Not everyone can give up a whole day for town meeting day even if it is on a Saturday.  A ballot takes a couple minutes to fill out and seems like it would be the most efficient option to me.

[Henry]

Ed, I have no idea what you are talking about - Let the translations begin!!

[fletchtb]

Last night Fletcher held two Special Town Meetings (School Board and Town Select Board) to discuss and vote on whether the town would adopt Australian ballot for a variety of decisions.

1. Will the budget be voted on by Australian ballot.
2. Will Officers be elected by Australian ballot.
3. Will all other public decisions be voted on by Australian Ballot (Town Meeting only)

Over 140 voters came out and voted in a 2:1 ratio to keep the Town Meeting format the way it was.

Leading up to the meeting there was a lot of good debate in the Town Newsletter. For anyone that is interested you can read the pro and con arguments at the following link: http://www.fletchervt.net/town-meeting.html.

I was a huge supporter of keeping things the way they are. I believe it is a fair system and leads to the most well informed vote possible in our town, which has only about 25% the registered voters of Fairfax. I would argue that it is no more inconvenient today to attend Town Meeting than it was 50, 100, and even 200 years ago. Attending the town meeting requires commitment, but I believe the commitment is justified when it deals with an expenditure that costs my family thousands of dollars a year.

In looking at the Town Meeting statistics on the VT Secretary of State website, Fairfax gets between 4-6% Town Meeting attendance and 20-24% participation in the vote. Fletcher typically gets between 13-15% participation at the traditional Tuesday meeting. With a little work we can improve that significantly. Our Town Select Board seem to clearly take home a message last night that an evening meeting would be more well attended than a Tuesday meeting.

I can understand that voters in Fairfax prefer their method. I know there are many voters like Henry who went to Town Meeting before Australian ballot was the method in Fairfax, but I would argue that most voters in Fairfax have never been to a Town Meeting that utilized the traditional format. Voters in Fletcher have the power to essentially exercise a line item veto on the budget in real time through our ability to amend the budget at the meeting. I have also noticed in Fairfax that occasionally good candidates in Fairfax do not get on the ballot because they missed a filing deadline (which is 6 weeks before the meeting). Voters then have to be reminded to write-in votes for a particular candidate. I feel the format in Fletcher is more effective as candidates are nominated the day of the meeting and all the voters have the opportunity to listen to the candidates positions. In addition, through the meeting process we often get a good opportunity to learn about a candidate's style, confidence, ideas, etc... through observing their actions in the meeting. I believe the Australian ballot method would put at risk the ability for Fletcher to get and retain good candidates for our offices.

I could go on and on about this subject, but I will leave it for now. I understand many voters in Fairfax will not agree with my position (neither did 1/3 of the voters in Fletcher last night), but for now the voters in Fletcher have spoken and I am comfortable with that. I am also grateful that the residents of Fletcher had the opportunity to discuss and vote on the issue. I respect those who created the petition and created the opportunity for us to meet. I also know that this is not the last time we will have this conversation in Fletcher.

Thanks,
Todd Baumeister

[Henry]

Very well written Todd - With supporters like yourself, I doubt Fletcher will ever go to the Australian Ballot, because if my memory serves me correctly, you vote on that from a Town Meeting.  I personally am quite happy with the Australian Ballot as my wife was unable to attend Town Meeting for years before she died, but was still able to express her opinion via Absentee Ballot, something Town Meetings do not allow you to do.

Was talking to Carleton Ferguson the other night at the Binghamville Church Supper and he gave me a number of the legal voters that were in Fletcher when he first moved there many years ago.  Can't remember the number, but think it was in the 200 range.

[mkr]

Sorry to hear it did not change.  I do not live in Fletcher, but I have a problem with a small group of town's people making decisions because people who can't afford to take time off for the town meeting, find babysitters, out of town for work, or healthwise unable to attend being the only ones allowed to vote on budgets and such.  I am SO glad Fairfax went to Australian Ballot as my father stated, my mother would not have been allowed to voice her opinion and the early years as a homeowner, I could not afford the time off to attend.

This is why I am not in favor of just a town meeting and why I believe Ed used the term trust fund babies.  Not the literal sense, but I get what he means. 

"I feel the format in Fletcher is more effective as candidates are nominated the day of the meeting and all the voters have the opportunity to listen to the candidates positions. "

If you can attend the meeting........ Effective for you, not the entire towns people.

Again, I don't live there, so just my opinion.

[fletchtb]

mkr, I understand and respect your point of view. I am especially sympathetic to my friend Rod and all ther other people in Fletcher who attend Town Meeting regularly but still feel Australian ballot would be better for our town. In the end, I think we will have to agree to disagree.

I will say one more thing in defense of the traditional Town Meeting format in Fletcher. Last night we had over 140 voters at the meeting, which was about 18% of the registered voters. With only another 20-40 voters we can achieve the same level of participation at the meetings that Fairfax gets with its polls open day. I believe that level of participation is achievable and I will work to make that happen.

Thanks,
Todd

[rod anode]

THATS WHAT I MENT that only the rich can afford to stay home and vote while the rest of us peasants tend the fields

[GamingWeasel]

For the first and probably the last time, (and regardless of the complete silliness of fear of "trust fund babies" wtf?),  I am actually agreeing with Special Ed that the Australian ballot should have been adopted.  It allows for greater particpation of voters, especially those of us who work some distance away from where we live and cant make it to meetings in our home town.

Living in Fairfax though, my opinion on the matter in Fletcher is of less consequence.

[fletchtb]

If Australian ballot is so effective and so convenient for the residents of Fairfax, why do less than 25% of voters take advantage of the opportunity?

To me that kind of number (although a slight improvement over the attendance we saw in Fletcher last night) is not compelling enough to make the switch from the traditional face to face approach that has been in place in Fletcher for more than 220 years.

I am convinced we can get into the 20% participation range in Fletcher with a little effort.

[rod anode]

speechless

[Mike Raburn]

I love Rugby!!!

And Fosters.

What?