Archive - Mar 4, 2010 - Editorial
Of the town meeting votes in Addison County this year, the most dramatic was the overwhelming decision among five Addison Northwest Supervisory Union towns to unify their schools under one overarching school governance board. The vote, which was the third in the past few years, passed with 63 percent in favor and 37 percent opposed.
Planning commission members in Bristol drew a line in the sand with their revised town plan, and voters boldly stepped over it.
By rejecting the town plan and the gravel extraction zoning ordinance by almost a 2-1 margin, town residents finally got their say on an issue that has dominated discussion for the past four years. The vote totals tell the story: Bristol residents voted 598-364 against the proposed town plan, and 627-349 against the gravel extraction zoning ordinance. That is overwhelming.
Could there be an easier job right now than writing for the “Daily Show with John Stewart”? The actual words spoken by the players and pundits in Washington need no embellishing to reach the level of satire. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry when I listen to them. If you are of a certain age you will remember the great 1976 film “Network,” in which the main character, a newscaster, implores his viewers to open their windows, stick out their heads and yell, “I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!”
One of Sen. Patrick Leahy’s principal responsibilities as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee is to shepherd President Obama’s nominees to the federal judiciary through the committee and on to favorable confirmation votes by the full Senate.
You gotta love Town Meeting.
Even if 90 percent of the discussion is about budget numbers that are as dry as a speech by Gov. James Douglas, there’s a certain Kabuki-like quality to the charmingly ornate process of gathering to discuss the town’s business.
And speaking of Gov. Douglas, he was again absent from his role as moderator, out of Vermont on state business. He’s now missed one-third of the town meetings going back to 2005, but Douglas ran again this year for the town moderator spot. It’s apparently the one office to which he knows he can still get re-elected.
