The
vast majority of local school budgets were approved on Town Meeting Day. Officials
say voters supported the budgets because school boards did a good job in explaining the need to increase spending this year.
Tropical Storm Irene devastation lingers in many of the Vermont communities it overwhelmed more than six months ago, and it influenced voters’ decisions this week.
Voters from four
southern Vermont towns have voted to disband their separate school
boards and form the state’s first Regional Education District, or RED.
Democrat Miro Weinberger has been elected the next mayor of Burlington,
defeating Republican Kurt Wright and Independent Wanda Hines. Weinberger is Burlington’s first Democratic mayor in more than 30 years.
Voters in
Tinmouth turned out in force during Town Meeting Day balloting to decide how they
vote to compromise between secret ballots and open floor votes.
Montpelier voters have rejected the
idea of implementing a local tax on rooms, meals and sales. It appears voters followed the lead of the Capital City’s business community, which campaigned heavily
against the local option taxes.