Published on March 3, 2010

BROWNINGTON -- The Brownington school budget was a highly controversial issue at the annual Town Meeting on Tuesday, when the principal and business manager of the Brownington Central School stepped forward to answer some questions.

Town Moderator Pat Davis asked the crowd of roughly 150 people to allow Principal JoAnn Vana and business manager Heather Wright to answer questions relating to their proposed school budget of $1,277,831.

“I object!” said Brownington resident Harvey Cleveland.  “I object because we have three members on the school board who should know what the heck is going on.”

People in the crowd claimed that Angie Falconer, one of the three school board members, had been on the board long enough to know the answers to some of their questions without help.

“I’m not an accountant,” said Ms. Falconer.  “That’s why we have Heather.”

Despite Mr. Cleveland’s opposition, Ms. Vana and Ms. Wright were allowed to speak.  After some discussion the school budget was passed for the requested amount.

There was also some controversy about who would be elected for the four open school director positions.  The three newly elected directors for the Brownington elementary school are Paul Raybold, Chris Myott, and Armand Brunelle.  The director elected for a two-year term for Lake Region Union High School was Bob Walker.

For the elementary school positions, a secret ballot was used.  Because of how close the race was and the high number of candidates for the positions, it took multiple rounds of secret ballots to narrow it down to the winner in each case.

Voters also were asked to decide whether or not they should adopt the Australian ballot to decide on the school budget.  This was not well-received by the audience.

“You’d be allowing uneducated voters to make decisions about your school and community,” said newly appointed school director Chris Myott.

However, not all the reactions to the proposal were negative.

“What is wrong with bringing in some more people who have maybe thought about things we haven’t?” said Brownington resident Terry Curtis.

Despite strong reactions on both sides, using the Australian ballot for the school budget was voted down.

During the Town Meeting, the proposed highway budget was a sensitive subject for many.  The town was asking the voters to approve a $328,700 budget.

“This is marginally higher than what was spent last year,” said Pat Davis.

Some people in the audience believe that the money is not well-spent.  Bob Walker claimed the road commissioner, Louis Glodgett, was not effective as much as he delayed responding to phone calls.

The discussion ended in the passing of the requested budget amount.

The general budget was also passed by voters with little debate.

Voters also decided to switch the time of the Town Meeting from its current time in the morning to 6:30 p.m. for the 2011 year.  This was met with mixed feelings from the Brownington residents.

Vermont employers are required to give their workers time off for town meetings, but they are not required to pay them for that time.

“Would it hurt to do it once and just try it out?” said Brownington resident Cecile Curtis. “A lot of people just can’t afford to take the day off.”

Representatives Bob Lewis and Scott Wheeler spoke to the town residents about the state of the economy in Vermont.

“I wish I could tell you that we have all kinds of money and not to worry about your taxes, but that’s not the case,” said Mr. Lewis. “Act 68 doesn’t work.  Nobody understands how it works.  It’s going to drive us out of our own state.”

Mr. Wheeler stressed the importance of staying informed of what’s going on in politics.

“Pick your candidates well because when they are there, they are going to do what they damn well please,” he said, “We’re supposed to represent the people, not the party.  Abandon the party.”

Newly elected town officials include Jerry Chapdelaine as selectman, and Reginal Glodgett and David Chase as listers.  Also, Louis Glodgett was re-elected as road commissioner.

Despite all the theatrics during the meetings, some residents took solace in their handicrafts such as knitting, embroidering, and beading.