Australian Ballot Vote on March 4, 2025

Thank you to everyone who helped plan and manage the Town Meeting Reimagined process and to everyone who participated in the January 23 budget discussion process, whether through livestream, Zoom, in person at the high school or by watching the MMCTV recording online at https://youtu.be/0Wq2LDh6EAA.

The Jericho Town Meeting Reimagined Taskforce is planning to meet February 20 and again on March 10 to listen to feedback we receive by then and share our own observations about the budget discussion meeting on January 23 and the entire three-step Town Meeting Reimagined process. Please remember the last and perhaps most important step – the Australian Ballot vote on March 4!

We estimate that, as of January 29, more than 230 people attended the January 23 meeting or watched it online. The count may be under-stated, because there could have been more multi-person Zoom logons or livestream attendees than we were aware of, and the in-person count reflects a moment in time. But the count includes 78 in person at Mount Mansfield Union High School, 51 on Zoom real-time, 75 through MMCTV live stream real-time and 28 through MMCTV’s posted YouTube recording of the livestream. Only those attending in person or on Zoom could participate in voting, asking questions, or making a motion. More people attended the meeting than any of us could see from our own individual vantage points.

Please share any comments about what you observed or experienced, along with any suggestions for improvements in our survey form or to any member of the Town Meeting Reimagined Taskforce. Or, email either co-chair, David Barrington (David.Barrington@uvm.edu) or Gaye Symington (gsym@together.net).

We have already received valuable comments—some of them granular, related to sound systems or voting procedures—and some of them broader comments about the process of building a budget and creating ballot items. We look forward to talking about how to improve both the granular tools and the general process for the 2026 budget process and public ballot items.

I want to emphasize, the final step in the budget process is the Australian Ballot vote on Town Meeting Day, Tuesday, March 4. Polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. You can request an absentee ballot from Jericho Town Clerk, Jessica Alexander (JerichoVermont@yahoo.com).