For those of us who live in Vermont, electing our officials and conducting our town business is so simple and pleasant compared to how it is done elsewhere.
As news reports filter through of black teenagers being manhandled by a presidential candidate’s supporters at a southern rally, Vermonters queued up to vote and did so while talking to their neighbors and those in line.
There was no pushing. There was no shoving. There were no raised voices even. There are absolutely disagreements and issues that divide communities. But these are handled evenhandedly with respect and courtesy.
People in Warren are divided about their timber crib dam, but they managed to talk to each other about it, listened to each other and heard each other out. Can’t really ask for more than that.
There were five people running for two seats on the Waitsfield Select Board and not one of those five people said anything negative or mean spirited about any of the others. Not one negative comment. Their campaigns were focused on what they wanted to achieve and why. They talked about issues. What a relief.
Voters in Duxbury held an exquisitely polite Town Meeting this week in which they ousted a sitting town clerk, whose graciousness set the tone for the rest of the meeting – a meeting in which four new members of the select board were elected and seven people declined to served as a town auditor before one person finally agreed to serve.
School district consolidation, health care costs, marijuana legalization and supervisory union costs can all be contentious subjects and subjects about which good people can and will and do disagree.
Disagreeing isn’t the problem; disagreeing without respect is.
As we watch the spectacle that this year’s presidential primary has become, it’s a relief to be in Vermont. No pushing, no shoving, no politicians blocking access to polling places, no name calling, no threats, just a bunch of Yankees getting their work done.
