Warren
Member
What side do you fall on?
The Feds or The States?
Article here.
The snow fell hard in Windham County on Town Meeting Day, but it didn't stop voters from sending a loud and clear message across the country and, perhaps, around the world.
Ten county towns, along with dozens more around the state, overwhelmingly supported a resolution challenging the role of Vermont National Guard in the Iraq war. The measure calls on the Legislature and Congressional delegation to investigate whether the state's Guard is being misused. As the first initiative of its kind, organizers are hoping it will serve as a model for discussion throughout the United States.
In some Windham County towns, the issue prompted no debate at all and voters passed the referendum with nary a "nay." In most towns, though, residents took the opportunity to talk frankly about local impacts of the war.
Nearly 50 percent of the state's Guard is deployed right now, including Guard members from 200 of Vermont's 242 towns. That's 1,350 men and women.
Although not all 51 towns voting on the referendum Tuesday had reported their results at presstime, organizers counted 38 communities where some version of the resolution passed. It failed in three towns, including Athens. And it was passed in three towns, including Wardsboro.
"It's been very uneasy to talk about this war," said Ben Scotch, of Montpelier, who launched the referendum campaign. "What we accomplished today was the ability for towns to talk about this and experience a great feeling of relief. Now they know this isn't going to divide us, this isn't going to break our community up. I think there is a lot less nervousness now."
When the referendum was first proposed, Gov. James Douglas said he supported public debate, but emphasized that the question would have no basis in law, regardless of the response it garnered. On Tuesday, however, his position seemed to soften.
Spokesman Jason Gibbs said Douglas believes that the United States should finish the job in Iraq and bring the troops home as soon as possible.
"The governor strongly supports the National Guard troops and the sentiment that Vermonters expressed when discussing this resolution," Gibbs said.
Support around the county
The National Guard resolution may have brought people out and got more talking on Tuesday; this Town Meeting Day, there were no hotly contested statewide issues and few standouts in local debates.
In Dummerston, discussion of the resolution centered around its last bullet point, which asks President Bush to withdraw troops from Iraq "and return the governance of Iraq to its duly chosen and recognized government."
Some people wanted to eliminate the paragraph to make the statement stronger. Others wanted to add "specifically and especially the Vermont National Guard."
In response, some felt it was selfish to just ask for our own troops. In the end, the resolution was passed as written.
Dummerston residents were joined by out-of-state and even international observers.
The New York Times sent a reporter and photographer. And Shingo Egi, a New York-based staff writer for the Asahi Shimbun, a Tokyo daily newspaper, was also in the house, to cover the town's response to the resolution.
"Town Meetings have been reported in our paper before," Egi said. "Especially the nuclear freeze movement during the Cold War. Vermont is known in Japan as a liberal state which has this kind of good system that is very old."
In Newfane, residents shared their personal experiences with the war, and the state's Guard deployment.
A college professor talked about meeting with the family of one of his students on the eve of that man's departure for the Middle East. Surrounded by his wife and four children, the student asked his professor if he would perform his funeral rites, should it be necessary.
Another woman explained how she had signed a document committing to raising her grandchildren should her daughter and son-in-law, who are both in the Guard, die while they are deployed.
Both residents supported the article.
Voters in Putney felt compelled to tweak the resolution a little before voting on it.
Residents, in a voice vote, took the word, "young," from a line that described the Vermont National Guard as "young men and women," after someone commented that many of the National Guard are, in fact, in their 40s and 50s. After Putney residents made the resolution their own, they approved it by a wide, voice majority.
Jamaica voters, those who were left by the time the article came up, were quick to approve it.
Selectboard member Joseph Grannis had petitioned to get the article on the ballot. At Town Meeting, he stepped down from the stage, making it clear that he was not speaking for the Selectboard, and showed his support as an individual.
In Guilford, opinion was divided, though a clear majority still voted in favor, by voice vote.
Bill Fortune raised the question: "Is the National Guard doing the job they are supposed to do?"
Ian Kiehle commented that "if we want an accountable government, we have to send a message back to them."
In Brattleboro, voters took up the issue on Australian ballot: Of the 1,240 who turned out at the polls, 1,125 supported the measure.
Ellen Kaye, a Brattleboro resident who helped get the article on ballots, was thrilled with the approval rate.
"We're giving them (lawmakers) a wake-up call that they need to take people seriously," she said. "I think the Legislature should pay attention to a good number of towns that had something to say about this."
The referendum was also endorsed in Marlboro and Windham on Tuesday, and in Rockingham and Westminster at earlier town meetings.
Quiet opposition
Although the referendum passed handily in Windham County, there were a few residents who raised their voices against it.
John Feifel, who said he served in the National Guard for 24 years, spoke fervently against it in Newfane.
"This is a slap in the face to all soldiers that are there," he said.
Troy Revis, in Guilford, told voters, "If I get sent, I'll be happy to serve the state of Vermont."
World War II veteran Robert Gaines, also of Guilford, noted that in 1941, Vermont sent most of its National Guard troops to fight the war. He was part of the contingent that served for five years. He said he believes that it is appropriate for Vermont to send all of its National Guard to fight a war.
What happens now
The resolution asks lawmakers to study whether Vermont is disproportionately being affected by deployment to the Middle East, and it offers specific suggestions as to how officials can do this.
Organizers want the Legislature to form independent commissions to look at how many police officers, firefighters and teachers, for example, have been taken from communities to serve. They also want the Legislature to determine whether Vermont is still safe: With roughly half its Guard abroad, they wonder if the state would be adequately staffed in a natural disaster, or worse.
Scotch, who pushed this initiative from the start, was hopeful Tuesday night that these things will happen, in time. He was more hopeful, however, about the standard Vermont set for the rest of the nation on Town Meeting Day.
"I think people can take courage from us. We've provided a model for talking about the war in real terms," he said. "Vermont got it rolling. Now, it can keep rolling elsewhere."
Staff writers Kristi Ceccarossi, Mike Kalil, Carolyn Lorie and Howard Weiss-Tisman contributed to this report. Correspondents Richard Davis and Joyce Marcel also contributed.
The Feds or The States?
Article here.
The snow fell hard in Windham County on Town Meeting Day, but it didn't stop voters from sending a loud and clear message across the country and, perhaps, around the world.
Ten county towns, along with dozens more around the state, overwhelmingly supported a resolution challenging the role of Vermont National Guard in the Iraq war. The measure calls on the Legislature and Congressional delegation to investigate whether the state's Guard is being misused. As the first initiative of its kind, organizers are hoping it will serve as a model for discussion throughout the United States.
In some Windham County towns, the issue prompted no debate at all and voters passed the referendum with nary a "nay." In most towns, though, residents took the opportunity to talk frankly about local impacts of the war.
Nearly 50 percent of the state's Guard is deployed right now, including Guard members from 200 of Vermont's 242 towns. That's 1,350 men and women.
Although not all 51 towns voting on the referendum Tuesday had reported their results at presstime, organizers counted 38 communities where some version of the resolution passed. It failed in three towns, including Athens. And it was passed in three towns, including Wardsboro.
"It's been very uneasy to talk about this war," said Ben Scotch, of Montpelier, who launched the referendum campaign. "What we accomplished today was the ability for towns to talk about this and experience a great feeling of relief. Now they know this isn't going to divide us, this isn't going to break our community up. I think there is a lot less nervousness now."
When the referendum was first proposed, Gov. James Douglas said he supported public debate, but emphasized that the question would have no basis in law, regardless of the response it garnered. On Tuesday, however, his position seemed to soften.
Spokesman Jason Gibbs said Douglas believes that the United States should finish the job in Iraq and bring the troops home as soon as possible.
"The governor strongly supports the National Guard troops and the sentiment that Vermonters expressed when discussing this resolution," Gibbs said.
Support around the county
The National Guard resolution may have brought people out and got more talking on Tuesday; this Town Meeting Day, there were no hotly contested statewide issues and few standouts in local debates.
In Dummerston, discussion of the resolution centered around its last bullet point, which asks President Bush to withdraw troops from Iraq "and return the governance of Iraq to its duly chosen and recognized government."
Some people wanted to eliminate the paragraph to make the statement stronger. Others wanted to add "specifically and especially the Vermont National Guard."
In response, some felt it was selfish to just ask for our own troops. In the end, the resolution was passed as written.
Dummerston residents were joined by out-of-state and even international observers.
The New York Times sent a reporter and photographer. And Shingo Egi, a New York-based staff writer for the Asahi Shimbun, a Tokyo daily newspaper, was also in the house, to cover the town's response to the resolution.
"Town Meetings have been reported in our paper before," Egi said. "Especially the nuclear freeze movement during the Cold War. Vermont is known in Japan as a liberal state which has this kind of good system that is very old."
In Newfane, residents shared their personal experiences with the war, and the state's Guard deployment.
A college professor talked about meeting with the family of one of his students on the eve of that man's departure for the Middle East. Surrounded by his wife and four children, the student asked his professor if he would perform his funeral rites, should it be necessary.
Another woman explained how she had signed a document committing to raising her grandchildren should her daughter and son-in-law, who are both in the Guard, die while they are deployed.
Both residents supported the article.
Voters in Putney felt compelled to tweak the resolution a little before voting on it.
Residents, in a voice vote, took the word, "young," from a line that described the Vermont National Guard as "young men and women," after someone commented that many of the National Guard are, in fact, in their 40s and 50s. After Putney residents made the resolution their own, they approved it by a wide, voice majority.
Jamaica voters, those who were left by the time the article came up, were quick to approve it.
Selectboard member Joseph Grannis had petitioned to get the article on the ballot. At Town Meeting, he stepped down from the stage, making it clear that he was not speaking for the Selectboard, and showed his support as an individual.
In Guilford, opinion was divided, though a clear majority still voted in favor, by voice vote.
Bill Fortune raised the question: "Is the National Guard doing the job they are supposed to do?"
Ian Kiehle commented that "if we want an accountable government, we have to send a message back to them."
In Brattleboro, voters took up the issue on Australian ballot: Of the 1,240 who turned out at the polls, 1,125 supported the measure.
Ellen Kaye, a Brattleboro resident who helped get the article on ballots, was thrilled with the approval rate.
"We're giving them (lawmakers) a wake-up call that they need to take people seriously," she said. "I think the Legislature should pay attention to a good number of towns that had something to say about this."
The referendum was also endorsed in Marlboro and Windham on Tuesday, and in Rockingham and Westminster at earlier town meetings.
Quiet opposition
Although the referendum passed handily in Windham County, there were a few residents who raised their voices against it.
John Feifel, who said he served in the National Guard for 24 years, spoke fervently against it in Newfane.
"This is a slap in the face to all soldiers that are there," he said.
Troy Revis, in Guilford, told voters, "If I get sent, I'll be happy to serve the state of Vermont."
World War II veteran Robert Gaines, also of Guilford, noted that in 1941, Vermont sent most of its National Guard troops to fight the war. He was part of the contingent that served for five years. He said he believes that it is appropriate for Vermont to send all of its National Guard to fight a war.
What happens now
The resolution asks lawmakers to study whether Vermont is disproportionately being affected by deployment to the Middle East, and it offers specific suggestions as to how officials can do this.
Organizers want the Legislature to form independent commissions to look at how many police officers, firefighters and teachers, for example, have been taken from communities to serve. They also want the Legislature to determine whether Vermont is still safe: With roughly half its Guard abroad, they wonder if the state would be adequately staffed in a natural disaster, or worse.
Scotch, who pushed this initiative from the start, was hopeful Tuesday night that these things will happen, in time. He was more hopeful, however, about the standard Vermont set for the rest of the nation on Town Meeting Day.
"I think people can take courage from us. We've provided a model for talking about the war in real terms," he said. "Vermont got it rolling. Now, it can keep rolling elsewhere."
Staff writers Kristi Ceccarossi, Mike Kalil, Carolyn Lorie and Howard Weiss-Tisman contributed to this report. Correspondents Richard Davis and Joyce Marcel also contributed.
