►
Description
For more information about upcoming Town Meeting Day 2023 coverage visit https://bit.ly/TownMeeting2023
https://linktr.ee/townmeetingtv
00:00:00 Introductions
00:00:49 Opening Statements
00:02:56 What have you learned from each other
00:05:07 Budget
00:08:39 Articles
00:18:58 Economic Development
00:22:59 Community Engagement
00:26:10 Closing Comments
This video belongs to http://www.cctv.org and published with permission under Creative Commons License CCTV Center for Media & Democracy Programming is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
A
All
right,
hello
and
good
evening
welcome
to
ongoing
town
meeting
Day
election
coverage
by
town
meeting
television.
My
name
is
Bridget
Higdon,
the
managing
editor
of
the
Essex
reporter
I'm
joined
here
this
evening
by
Andy
watts
and
Ethan
Lawrence,
who
are
running
for
the
two
open
seats
on
the
town
of
Essex
select
board.
Thank
you
for
joining
us.
If
you're
tuning
in
live,
we
welcome
your
questions
at
802-862-3966.
A
And
you
can
watch
town
meeting
TV
on
Comcast
channel
1087,
Burlington,
Telecom,
Channel,
17
and
217,
as
well
as
online
at
youtube.com
town
meeting
TV.
So
thanks
very
much
for
being
here
this
evening,
you're
both
running
uncontested
for
two
seats
on
the
select
board
three-year
terms.
Let's
start
with
some
opening
statements,
tell
us
about
why
you're
running
for
re-election
and
what
will
you
know?
What
do
you
hope
to
accomplish
this
year?
C
A
few
of
the
things
that
that
really
get
me
excited
about
the
psych
board.
But,
as
you
know,
and
many
others
know
when
I
started
last
year,
there
was
nobody
running
and
it
was
to
fill
an
expired
C.
And
then
this
year
I
was
kind
of
like
I
want
to
do
it
again
and
then
I
was
completely
shocked
that
there
was
nobody
else
that
wanted
to
to
jump
in.
A
A
A
B
My
hero
because
he
stood
up
and
he
he
he
said
what
he
wanted
to
say
and
he
didn't
back
down
and-
and
he
was
out
there
and
I've
a
couple
weeks
ago,
we
did
what
was
called.
We
call
it
a
Town
tour.
We
took
the
the
slight
board
members
two
at
a
time
and
went
and
visited
all
of
the
towns
in
you
know
getting
introduced
all
the
the
workers
where
they
work
and
what
and
what
kind
of
work
they
do
and
Ethan
and
I
haven't
been
the
same.
In
the
same
same.
C
That
was
I
was
glad.
He
mentioned
that,
because
I
was
going
to
say
that
that
was
when
we
had
our
our
tour
of
the
facilities.
I
was
sitting
in
the
back
of
the
of
the
room
in
my
head
and
I'm
thinking.
If
there's
one
person
that
I'm
gonna
go
on
this
tour
with
it's
going
to
be
ended
because
he's
been
around
the
longest-
and
he
has
you
know
a
huge
wealth
of
knowledge.
You
know
coming
onto
the
board.
C
A
We'll
go
on
to
the
budget
here
which
of
course
is
a
big
item
on
the
ballot.
It's
a
15.4
million
dollar
budget,
which
overall,
is
a
decrease
from
from
last
year,
but
it's
a
it's
an
increase
for
residents
because
of
Separation,
so
I'm
going
to
assume
that
you
both
support
it
because
you
have
put
it
together,
but
tell
me
a
little
bit
about
I
guess
why
you
support
it
and
what
to
you
is
important
about
it
for
voters
Ethan!
You.
C
C
The
town
has
a
has
a
system
that's
in
place
and
from
before
the
the
separation,
and
if
we
wanted
to
continue
to
have
the
same
amount
of
employees,
the
same
amount
of
services
and
everything
that
we
currently
have.
There
wasn't
just
you
know,
money
to
be
eliminated
without
eliminating
positions
and
people
and
good
workers
for
the
town.
A
C
I
mean
I've
had
this
conversation
with
with
quite
a
few
people.
One
of
the
things
that
really
stuck
with
me
was
that
every
hundred
thousand
dollars
was
was
a
percentage,
so
I
I.
My
argument
with
a
lot
of
people
was
to
defend
the
budget,
is,
is
2.2
million
dollars
really
worth
not
having
those
services
and
inflation
was?
Was
another
big
part
of
it?
You
know,
none
of
us
predicted
that
and
right
we're
all
feeling
it
at
home
as
well.
A
C
B
Yeah
I
remember
yeah.
This
is
this
has
been
through
this
several
times
and
I
recall
back
my
in
the
early
days.
In
my
early
days,
I
used
to
you
know
pride
myself
to
find
I
could
find
three
hundred
thousand
dollars
worth
of
stuff
to
to
cut
out
a
couple
years
later
it
was
only
sixty
thousand,
then
I
was
able
to
find
to
cut
out
this
year.
I
couldn't
find
anything
very
little.
B
You
know
in
the
you
know
a
couple
hundred
dollars
kind
of
thing,
so
I
think
it's
it's
been
for
me
at
least
I
I
it
it
it.
It
I've
seen
growth
in
how
the
town
is
dealing
with
with
their
their
budget
as
well,
where
they're
really
only
asking
for
what
they
need,
and
especially
this
year
with
with
it
known
that
you
know
we
41
of
our
tax
base
is
gone
right
and
in
order
to
we
really
wanted
to
focus
on
keeping
our
services
the
same.
We
didn't
want
to
cut
anything.
B
We
didn't
want
to
lay
anybody
off.
We
did
eliminate
you
know
a
couple
of
positions
are
going
away.
The
you
know
we
no
longer
need
a
a
shared
manager,
so
there's
only
two
management,
you
know
senior
management
positions
and
then
the
town
clerk's
office
will
go
from
from
three
to
two
as
the
the
city
clerk
transitions
transitions
out,
but
I
think
it's
it.
A
Articles
article
6
adds
a
one
sent
to
the
tax
rate
to
fund
capital
projects.
Well.
Articles
7
through
11
are
Charter
changes
related
to
the
separation
of
Essex,
Junction
and
Essex
town
I
guess
talk
to
me
a
little
bit
about
these
as
well.
What
do
you
support
about
them
if,
in
all
of
them,
in
their
entirety,
I
assume
but
yeah.
B
So
so
to
clarify
something:
none
of
the
charter
changes
have
anything
to
do
with
separation,
the
the
I'm
starting
there.
Although
you
mentioned
you
mentioned
Capital
first,
but
it's
it's
a
it's
an
interesting
story
about
how
we
got
to
these
Charter
changes
in
that
a
resident
came
to
us
asking
for
the
ability
to
recall,
select,
board
members
right
and
so,
and
this
individual
said
well,
if
you
don't
do
anything
about
it,
I'm
going
to
come
with
a
petition
and
then
our
thought
was
well.
B
We
wanted
to
control
the
language
that
goes
in
there,
so
we
might
as
well.
You
know
go
forward
with
it,
and
so
we
established
and
we
decided
to
establish
a
charter
committee.
That
said,
we
might
as
well
look
at
the
rest
of
the
Chargers
or
any.
Are
there
any
other
things
that
it
would
be
nice
to?
Have
you
know
a
recommendation
that
they
were
given
was
to
go
out
to
the
Vermont
League
of
cities
and
towns.
They
haven't.
They
have
kind
of
have
a
it's,
not
really
a
catalog.
B
A
B
Initiatives-
and
we
didn't
think
that
we
could,
we
could
do
a
fair
job
of
vetting
those
in
the
time
we
had
because
they
came
to
us
December
6th
and
we
needed
to
finalize
the
town
meeting
Warning
by
the
end
of
January
yeah,
and
so
we
whittled
it
down
to
the
to
the
five
that
seemed
most
important
to
select
board
members
and
to
those
who
came
and
presented.
You
know
that,
were
you
know,
provided
public
input
at
the
meeting
and
so
again
they're
they're
they're,
not
not
at
all
related
to
the
separation.
B
The
you
know,
one
is
just
a
reorganization
of
the
charter.
You
know,
I've
been
on
the
the
select
board
for
nine
years,
and
I
still
have
trouble
finding
things
in
our
Charter,
because
it's
so
poorly
organized
and
I
think
I
think
that's
a
that's.
A
definitely
didn't
want
to
want
to.
You
know,
definitely
support
that
one
there's
a
change
in
there
that
allows
us
to
establish
fees.
You
know
during
covid
we
wanted
to
add
a
cause.
A
B
B
The
the
recall
provision,
one
of
the
controversial
things
to
the
about
around
that
one
is
how
many
people
it
takes
to
actually
recall
someone.
The
select
board
felt
very
strongly
that
you
needed
to
have
at
least
the
same
number
of
people
recalling
somebody
as
voted
for
some.
You
know
voted
in
the
election
where
they
were
elected,
and
so
that's
there
is
actually
somebody
the
person
who
came
to
us
asking
for
it
is
now
campaigning
against
it
because
of
that
provision,
I,
don't
remember
what
else
we
have
in
there.
B
The
transition
from
right
transition
from
a
zoning
board
to
a
development
review
board.
Most
many
many
towns
have
gone
to
that
model.
We've
talked
about
it
for
years,
it
was.
It
was
delayed
by
discussions
about
consolidation
and
about
merger
and
then
into
separation,
and
so
we're.
Finally,
at
the
point
we
want
to
do
it
and
then
the
controversial.
Well,
how
quickly
can
we
do
it
and
so
I
definitely
support
that
I
think
you
know
the
staff
recommends
it.
A
B
B
A
B
A
B
B
C
A
A
C
A
C
Four
years
before
we're
trading
them
in
and
then
you
know
the
amount
of
money
that
we're
spending
on
repairing
these
vehicles,
we
could
have
put
a
large
money
down
to
to
replace
them.
So,
okay,
the
charter
changes,
were
really
an
all
in
all
effort,
like
Andy
said
it
was
crunched
in
at
the
end,
the
charter
committee
itself
was
one
of
the
biggest
accomplishments.
C
C
A
So,
let's
see
we've
covered
lots
of
topics
here
already
I've
got
another
little
Off
Script
question
for
you
and
that's
I'd
love
to
know
what
kind
of
Economic
Development
you'd
like
to
see
in
Essex
town.
If
any,
now
that
you
know,
we've
got
the
town
on
its
own,
where
what
sort
of
growth
would
you
like
to
see?
I
know
you
about.
You
talked
about
balancing
the
natural
environment
with
with
growth
and
and
business.
C
C
C
One
of
the
huge
things
that
that
I
mean
I've
been
in
4-H
since
I
was
five
years
old,
I'm,
not
anymore,
because
I'm
too
old
right
get
my
kids
and
and
I've
been
around
farms
and
and
I
grew
up
on
a
dairy
farm,
and
it
was
really
hard.
You
know,
I
I
watched
a
dairy
farm.
You
know
go
from
being
a
huge
success
to
a
non-existent
dairy
farm
anymore
and
there's
there's
some
substantial
sustainable
farming
out
there
and
a
lot
of
it
is
based
around
agritourism
and
Essex
is
the
perfect
place
for
that.
C
A
C
We
attract
five
or
six
communities,
two
Essex
just
because
of
a
supermarket
right.
So
if
we
can,
you
know
have
more
of
the
you
know
the
Harvest
festivals,
and
you
know,
farmers,
markets
and
and
stuff
like
that.
There's
there's
just
so
much
growth
that
it
can
benefit
the
town
as
well.
As
you
know,
use
some
of
the
land.
I
mean
not
not.
A
lot
of
land
is
set
unused,
but
if
you
drive
through
Essex,
there's
quite
a
few
beautiful
fields
and
you're
like
what
you
know,
what.
C
But
yeah
I
mean
that's
I
love
to
see
small
business
growth.
I.
Think
Essex
has
done
a
really
good
job
with
the
commercial
side
of
the
business,
but
I
think
at
a
certain
point.
We
need
to
assess
you
know
where
we
are
where
we
want
to
be
and
what's
our
goals
moving
forward
as
as
a
whole,
you
know
as
a
town
so
I
think
that
falls
into
the
rewriting
the
town
plan,
they're
working
on
right
now
and
then
kind
of
just
hearing
from
the
from
the
public
yeah.
B
A
B
B
B
A
A
And
you
both
sort
of
mentioned
here
in
this
last
segment,
about
getting
Community
engagement
and
hearing
from
the
public,
whether
that's
through
this
town,
plan
process
or
other
ways
and
I
know
that's
something
that
the
that's
the
something
that
the
select
board
has
discussed
recently
is
like.
How
do
we
get
more
Community
engagement?
How
do
we
get
people
to
attend
meetings?
A
C
A
A
B
I
wish
I
had
an
answer:
I,
don't
know
if
there's
yeah
ever
ever
since
separation
was
approved,
slackboard
meetings
have
gotten
very
quiet.
Very
few
people
are
coming
yeah
again
we
often
hear
the
same
voices
and
I
don't
know
I.
You
know
the
the
town
plan
process,
they've
I've
heard
that
they've
done
some
had
some
they're
having
various
times
various
locations
trying
to
get
people
to
come.
A
B
A
B
So
I
told
our
Town
staff
to
put
me
on
the
rotation,
so,
okay,
so
because
so
you
know
this
month
will
be
the
the
chief
of
police.
Then
you
know
so
just
to
get
into
the
rotation
trying
to
get
more
people
involved
more
exposure
out
there,
but
I
guess
the
other
thing.
I'm
I
I,
neglected
to
say
that
I
mentioned
to
say
when
we're
talking
about
when
I
asked
people.
A
A
C
C
A
C
There
is
a
I
I,
don't
know
the
right
word
to
say
this,
but
the
proposed
four
vote
right.
So
we're
going
to
be
proposing
that
we
we
have
to
do
it
as
a
four
vote,
because
the
way
that
it's
written
but
we're
proposing
to
move
all
future
business
to
Australian
ballot,
so
that'll
be
that'll,
be
a
four
vote
and
then
the
only
other
thing
that
could
be
voted
on
the
four
would
be.
Somebody
could
change
the
no
could.
B
B
C
B
The
budget
to
Australian
ballot
without
thinking
about
the
fact
that
that
only
moved
the
budget
right
and
it
kind
of
came
to
light
when
the
legislature
was
talking
about
whether
to
extend
the
ability
for
municipalities
to
have
remote
town
meeting,
they
explicitly
said
you
cannot
have
a
ballot
vote,
asking
the
question
whether
or
not
to
move
all
business
to
the
ballot.
It
has
to
be
a
floor
vote,
and
so
so
that's
why
we're
we're
doing
that
vote
this
time,
and
an
important
thing
to
note,
though,
is
that
you
can.