On Town Meeting Day one Vermont community banned activist flags on school grounds, 24 communities approved retail marijuana, and various candidates who dug in on key issues saw victory or defeat.
Democratic Mayor Miro Weinberger barely maintained his office as just 129 votes separated him from runner-up and City Council President Max Tracy. Also, mostly familiar faces remain in the liberal-leaning Burlington City Council, and voters approved all seven ballot items.
“Brave Little Town” lawn signs in abundance around the area are urging local voters of the Addison Central School District to vote “yes” in letting Ripton School out of the district.
As Town Meeting Day approaches, the Burlington GOP has released a statement making clear to voters that ballot initiatives that push green energy in homes will raise the cost of heating, and new eviction bans will mean fewer rentals while wealthy homebuyers benefit.
The Colchester School District’s budget proposal is increasing by about $2 million this year, driven by hard-to-negotiate health care and transportation costs. District leaders say they were wary of increasing costs further during a pandemic.
Residents of the Town of Essex will be voting on a new charter that would merge the town and the Village of Essex Junction.
Two seats on the Winooski City Council are up for election this Town Meeting Day — and five candidates will by vying for the top spots. All candidates are competing for the two seats, and voters may cast votes for two candidates. The two who receive the most votes will win a seat on the council.
On this year’s ballot, Fairfax voters will be asked to weigh in on a proposed $3.5 million town budget — an increase over last year that is largely due to an increase in population, town officials say.
On Town Meeting Day, voters in Milton will choose between a variety of candidates who wish to serve on the Milton Selectboard. The town has both a one-year and three-year seat up for grabs.
On the Town Meeting Day ballot, Waterbury and Duxbury voters will decide whether or not to allow the sale and production of cannabis within their towns. The law requires individual towns and cities to “opt-in” by a public vote to determine if they want to allow retail sales and production.
Some of the major changes in this year’s proposed budget are a $13,588 increase to the fire department budget, and an increase in town board spending, with a majority of that increase being toward an increase of the zoning and planning salaries. There is also a roughly $12,000 increase in the allocation towards buildings and grounds.
Among other ballot initiatives for Burlington on Town Meeting Day, voters will decide whether to allow ranked-choice voting for all city council races.