Vote Your Choice Special Issue

Hello, lovely Hive members. I am so happy to be writing to you on this gloriously perfect Thursday afternoon. My windows are open, and I am trying to ignore the tinges of yellow and red forming on the trees behind my house.

In case you’re new around here (Welcome!), the Buzz is engaged in a pilot sponsorship with the civic platform, VoteLight, to create TownVote, a way for you to provide feedback to your elected officials on their work in office. TownVote allows Burlington residents to vote their choice on issues affecting them at the local, state, and national levels. Three general classes of people can join: media outlets like the Buzz, elected officials (currently this is open to the Select Board, School Committee, and Planning Board), and voters.

Anyone in any of these groups can create an issue, which can then be voted on by the voters in your area. Learn more details about this system here and in VoteLight’s privacy policy, but tl;dr: You do need to sign up because your information is used to match you with your correct locality.

That was a quick and dirty summary, but do read the introductory stories if you want to know more about VoteLight, TownVote, and why we think this might be a good partnership.

Today, there are three new issues for you to vote on. These issues are taken from the Town Meeting Warrant and, while less controversial than the school issue (which you can still vote on!), will generate a lot of conversation.

Today, TownVote is an exclusive offering for paying Hive members, but it has the potential to expand if it is well received and deemed useful by users. So, as always, please send over your feedback!

Issue 172: Should the In-Person Quorum Requirement to Conduct Municipal Meetings be Waived?

Issue 173: Should Town Meeting Members be Able to Opt-In to Electronic Delivery of Materials?

Issue 174: Should Hybrid Participation for Town Meeting be Written Into Burlington's Bylaws?

I hope to have one more for you within the next couple of days, but I’m eager to see your thoughts—both on these question and the platform as a whole. After you vote for these issues, feel free to browse local and state issues for which you might want to provide input.

See you tomorrow!

Nicci