Category Archives: Politics

State Rep. Uses Front Porch Forum to call for Boycott

Posted on Friday, October 24, 2008 by • No comments yet

Matt Ryan reported for the Burlington Free Press today…

Vermont campaign signs along Vermont 15 in front of the Essex Junction Shopping Center have prompted a departing state legislator to call on citizens to boycott businesses within the center — even though the businesses’ managers said they had nothing to do with the signs.

Rep. Peter Hunt, a Democrat from Essex Junction, wrote in a post on Front Porch Forum on Oct. 17 that he would stop shopping at Aubuchon Hardware, Rite Aid Pharmacy, Sherwin-Williams, Quality Bake Shop or “any of the individual store (sic) who have taken this political stance as long as they have these signs on Pearl Street.”

“I am disappointed that these business (sic) have chosen to a (sic) political stance to support candidates from one party,” Hunt wrote. “This is completely out of line.”

He concluded with, “I hope all of you will also shop in other stores.”

More than a dozen FPF subscribers have responded on our service, none in agreement with Rep. Hunt’s call.

“A real lesson in civics”

Posted on Monday, June 30, 2008 by • No comments yet

A Front Porch Forum subscriber in Burlington’s Hill/Old North End area wrote in today for her husband and herself…

Congratulations! Thanks to the interaction on Front Porch Forum, Bill and I had an amazing exchange with Kesha Ram and Chris Pearson regarding their candidacy for state representative. Listening to them both was A REAL LESSON IN CIVICS.

“This person is MAD!!!!”

Posted on Monday, June 23, 2008 by • No comments yet

People often ask how Front Porch Forum has grown so rapidly in such a short amount of time… it’s almost all word-of-mouth.  Neighbor tells neighbor.  Here’s a posting from a South Burlington neighborhood forum today that serves as a good example…

Re the notice about the appraisal increase… one of my neighbors did receive a notice like this.  This person is MAD!!!! I am forwarding this to her, and encouraging her to join Front Porch Forum!

While we do see people come on board in reaction to a problem like this, it’s much more common for folks to join because they hear it’s a great way to connect with neighbors and plug into neighborhood news.

Can’t beat an informed electorate with a stick

Posted on Thursday, June 12, 2008 by • 1 comment

The good people of the Town of Westford are engaged in a running debate about deciding some local issues, like the school budget, via traditional town meeting vs. Australian ballot.  Front Porch Forum has hosted many well-conceived postings about this from a variety of angles.

I was struck by Mary’s posting on the FPF Westford Neighborhood Forum today where she hammered home the importance of citizens getting educated on the issues before weighing in, whether it’s at Town Meeting or a ballot box.

She went on to say…

Front Porch Forum is an excellent tool for distributing information, but obviously it does not reach everyone in town.  Which leads to sending out much information to the public to prepare them for what they are voting on.

I will say between info mailed, The Forum and added meetings helped out tremendously with preparing us for the [failed school] unification vote.

An idea to share:  check with your neighbors and see if they belong to Front Porch Forum.  If not, highly recommend they join.  If you know of elderly people who do not use computers, offer to print out the forum postings once a week or every other.  They would probably love to read this info and people’s postings.

About one-third (270) of Westford households subscribe to Front Porch Forum so far, with more joining every week.  Last month, FPF published five issues of the Westford Neighborhood Forum per week, each issue comprised of about five postings from residents.

Future of Vermont June 19

Posted on Friday, May 23, 2008 by • No comments yet

Glenn McRea of the Snelling Center for Government posted the following on his neighborhood’s Front Porch Forum today…

The Future of Vermont is is an important opportunity coming up.  The Vermont Council on Rural Development is sponsoring a series of statewide forums on the “future” of Vermont.  Front Porch Forum is an important part of that future as a vehicle and a connected community.  I hope people will put this on their calendar and come and talk about FPF and other vital issues about the future of our Vermont community.

Forum on the future of Vermont – City Hall Auditorium in Burlington, from 6:00 to 8:30 on June 19th. Please check out the website at http:/www.futureofvermont.org to learn more, to take an on-line survey, or to contribute ideas electronically to this statewide dialogue.

Thanks Glenn!  I plan to attend.

Federal Economic Stimulus Check Spent Locally

Posted on Thursday, May 15, 2008 by • No comments yet

Peg from Shelburne sent a financial contribution to Front Porch Forum today along with this note of explanation…

I’m trying to put some of my “stimulus” cash into good causes since the gov’t apparently does not know how to do so.  Plus, without Front Porch Forum, I would not have had so many neighborhood folks come to my yard sale over the weekend (and hence have so much extra cash in my pocket!).

Much needed and much appreciated, Peg!  Every dollar received by FPF gets plowed back into the service.

Grassroots Candidates use Front Porch Forum

Posted on Monday, March 31, 2008 by • No comments yet

At its best, Front Porch Forum simply provides a venue for some pent up community issue to bubble up and get addressed. This may be the case in a part of South Burlington, VT recently where neighbors discussed an opening on the City Council…

“I have been concerned that our neighborhood does not have adequate representation in the City and have considered running for it… This is a huge window of opportunity for someone from our neighborhood to take a leadership position in city government, given the attention this newly conceived plan deserves. You need only 30 signatures, and the deadline is mid-April. Our neighborhood needs to be a voice in the discussions shaping the future of South Burlington.”

Then neighbor Liz weighed in…

“I couldn’t agree more… but am also unable to adequately represent our neighborhood at this time.”

And she laid out some of the issues facing the neighborhood (e.g., airport expansion).

And then, lo and behold, neighbor Meaghan jumps in with both feet…

“Dear Neighbors – Because I feel it is so important for someone from our neighborhood to run, I’ve decided to give it a go. My husband and I have agreed, and I’m grateful to him and to our children for supporting me and moved that they are encouraging me in this effort. They, too, love this city and see this step as an investment in the future. If I succeed and am elected as City Councilor, I plan to use this Front Porch Forum as a means to hear your ideas and to communicate with you. This process can start now. And, if someone else wishes to run, I see this as a positive sign for our neighborhood and our city. So please do.”

Please vote for us! And help spread the word… one vote per email address.

Read/add comments.

“Army of Davids” use internet tools against unwanted development

Posted on Tuesday, March 4, 2008 by • No comments yet

The Planning Commissioners Journal blogs today that…

Free, new media have empowered neighborhood groups tremendously. A decade ago, anyone wanting to oppose a rezoning or a development had to go door to door or make scores of phone calls to get people to meetings. Time and distance greatly constrained what people could accomplish.

But now an increasing number of neighborhood groups are using tools like Yahoo or Google groups, which allow e-mail messages to go out instantly to group members — and only to group members — so quickly that neighborhoods are now as agile as their industry opponents. Neighborhoods are also using free blogs to give them a public face and to archive public documents.

I think this new “Army of Davids” power is very apparent in Greensboro, where developers have lost recent rezoning battles (or given up before they started) in response to neighborhood pressure. It looks like they’re going to lose a few more.”

— David Wharton, “And They’re Getting More Organized All the Time” (Dec. 4, 2007, on his A Little Urbanity blog about living in the middle of Greensboro, North Carolina)

People put Front Porch Forum to use in this way too… dozens of times in the past year or two.

Town Meeting and Front Porch Forum

Posted on Monday, March 3, 2008 by • 1 comment

When my wife, Valerie, and I created Front Porch Forum a year and a half ago, we had a simple mission in mind… to help neighbors get to know each other better and foster the sense of community at a very local level.  We haven’t tried to dictate what people write about… we just wanted folks to sign up and put this free service to work.   And they do!

So we didn’t know what to expect with our first real experience with an election cycle.  Wow!  Front Porch Forum has been awash with comments, announcements, endorsements, analysis, opinions and more for the past month or two.  Here are some numbers (rough estimates)…

  • 8,000 households subscribe in Chittenden County  (including 30% of Burlington)
  • 130 neighborhood forums hosted locally
  • 1,400 postings/month typically

Moran Plant Redevelopment Proposal (City’s pitch)

  • 150 people posted
  • 500 households reached on average by each of these posting

Burlington City Council Races

  • 100 people posted

Chittenden County School Board Races

  • 90 people posted

Presidential Primaries

  • 25 people posted

Lots of (mostly) great discussion.  Many people have told me that they are glad to hear their neighbor’s views on these matters.  Others though have said that they are looking forward to getting this Town Meeting Day behind us… soon enough!

About Blog

Ghost of Midnight is an online journal about fostering community within neighborhoods, with a special focus on Front Porch Forum (FPF). My wife, Valerie, and I founded FPF in 2006... read more

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