© 2023 Vermont Public | PRIVACY

Public Files:
WVTI · WOXM · WVBA · WVNK · WVTQ · WVTX
WVPR · WRVT · WOXR · WNCH · WVPA · WBTN-FM
WVPS · WVXR · WETK · WVTB · WVTA · WVER

For assistance accessing our public files, please contact hello@vermontpublic.org or call 802-655-9451
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
Available On Air Stations

Town Meeting Day in depth: Vermonters vote on issues from school budgets to snow plow names

Looking down the aisle in the town hall in Strafford on Town Meeting Day, with a high ceiling, ornate blue trim against cream walls and packed rows of voters on either side, sitting in wooden benches.
Tony Talbot
/
Vermont Public
More towns are returning to in-person Town Meetings in 2023, but the question of voting by ballot or via floor vote—like this busy vote in Strafford from 2012—continues to be discussed in many communities.

Town Meeting Day is just around the corner—for many Vermont towns, it's Tuesday, March 7. This hour, we'll hear about important votes and ballot items under consideration and check in with town clerks, moderators and more about what voters will decide on at their town meetings.

Our guests are:

  • Susan Clark, longtime Middlesex town moderator, discussing the changing nature of Town Meeting
  • April McCullum, digital editor at Vermont Public, discussing the online Town Meeting Day guide and Town Meeting bingo
  • John Odum, Montpelier city clerk, discussing the capitol city mayor's race and budgets
  • Charlie Papillo, Colchester selectboard member, and Glen Cuttitta, Colchester's director of Parks and Recreation, discussing a multimillion-dollar recreation center being voted on
  • Rep. Joseph Parsons, vice chair of the Newbury selectboard, which is asking residents to vote on a letter to state officials opposing plans for a new juvenile detention facility in the town
  • Tom Galinat, town clerk and treasurer in Peacham, where voters return for their first in-person meeting since the COVID-19 pandemic to vote on a snow plow name, among other issues

Broadcast live on Monday, March 6, 2023, at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.

Have questions, comments or tips? Send us a message or check us out on Instagram.

Mikaela Lefrak joined Vermont Public in 2021 as co-host and senior producer of Vermont Edition. Her stories have aired nationally on Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Weekend Edition, Marketplace, The World and Here & Now. A seasoned local reporter, Mikaela has won two regional Edward R. Murrow awards and a Public Media Journalists Association award for her work.
Connor Cyrus joined Vermont Public as host and senior producer in March 2021. He was a morning reporter at WJAR in Providence, Rhode Island. A graduate of Lyndon State College (now Northern Vermont University), he started his reporting career as an intern at WPTZ, later working for WAGM in Presque Isle, Maine, and WCAX Channel 3, where he covered a broad range of stories from Vermont’s dairy industry to the nurses’ strikes at UVM Medical Center. He’s passionate about journalism’s ability to shed light on complex or difficult topics, as well as giving voice to underrepresented communities.
Originally from Delaware, Matt moved to Alaska in 2010 for his first job in radio. He spent five years working as a radio and television reporter, radio producer, talk show host, and news director. His reporting received awards from the Alaska Press Club and the Alaska Broadcasters Association. Relocating to southwest Florida, he was a producer for television news and NPR member station WGCU for their daily radio show, Gulf Coast Live. He joined Vermont Public in October 2017 as producer of Vermont Edition.
Andrea Laurion joined Vermont Public as a news producer for Vermont Edition in December 2022. She is a native of Pittsburgh, Pa., and a graduate of the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies in Portland, Maine. Before getting into audio, Andrea worked as an obituary writer, a lunch lady, a wedding photographer assistant, a children’s birthday party hostess, a haunted house actor, and an admin assistant many times over.
Tedra joined Vermont Public as a producer for Vermont Edition in January 2022. Before moving to Vermont, she was a journalist in New York City for 20 years. She has a master’s degree in journalism from New York University.