Town Meeting Day 2021 | Scenes from the polls
12:56 p.m. — Economic anxiety behind this ‘no’ vote for Winooski budget
76-year-old Anita Valley says she is impartial to the items on the ballot.
However, she did vote against the proposed town budget.
“I’m just kind of money thrifty right now, and I think everybody is,” Valley said. “They put so much into the school, you know...enough is enough.”
Although Valley says that she doesn’t miss Town Meeting Day, she has gone for several years in the past.
Dylan Hertzberg after voting at the Winooski Senior Center. (Natalie Charron/Community News Service)
12:31 p.m. — Educator votes against F-35s in Winooski
Dylan Hertzberg after voting at the Winooski Senior Center. (Natalie Charron/Community News Service)
It was a cold yet sunny day in Winooski while voters casted their ballots at the Winooski Senior Center.
23-year-old After School Counselor Dylan Hertzberg voted to ban the F-35 training in Winooski.
“It’s just really a headache and I feel bad for all the people who own homes here for years and have to hear that every single day,” Hertzberg said.
Hertzberg acknowledges that he didn’t feel fully informed on the ballot items in Winooski.
“I feel that in general, I knew more about what was happening in Burlington than I knew about what was happening here in Winooski,” Hertzberg said.
Hertzberg said that it’s a shame that Town Meeting Day wasn’t in person this year. He is a former UVM student who studied abroad in Denmark. While abroad, a Danish professor cited Town Meeting Day “as this cool and unique thing in Vermont that doesn’t really happen anywhere else in the world,” Hertzberg said.
Hertzberg is optimistic that Town Meeting Day will happen again in the future.
11:50 a.m. — Winooski voters support a renter for City Council
Winooski voters were met with cold, windy weather mid-day at the Winooski Senior Center while casting votes for Town Meeting Day.
38-year-old social worker Mike Fife and 36-year-old fundraiser Erin Barnaby voted for Dallas Wheatley for city council.
“I think they have some good left-ish politics, and it’s nice to see potentially a renter represented,” Fife said.
Although Fife and Barnaby aren’t particularly passionate about the items on this year’s ballot, Fife would like to see a change in the police budget.
“I would like if they reduced the police budget a little bit to be honest, we’ve got a pretty high per capita police budget,” Fife said.
Barnaby says that it is sad that there wasn’t an in-person Town Meeting Day this year.
“I think the town meetings are really important and it’s a really important part of Vermont and Vermont community,” Barnaby said.
Although not native to Winooski, Barnaby is originally from Vermont and has attended Town Meeting Day every year.
