Local town officials in Vermont, whether paid or volunteer, have a tough lot. They take on many challenging tasks, and they frequently are criticized for their efforts.
Attorney Charlie Merriman, or Tarrant, Gillies, Merriman & Richardson, shared the following tidbit with participants at the 69th Annual Town Officers Education Conferences across the state…
Always bear in mind the constitutional goal underpinning our open meeting and public records laws: “Officers of government are trustees and servants of the people and it is in the public interest to enable any person to review and criticize their decisions even though such examination may cause inconvenience or embarrassment.” 1VSA§315
More than 1,000 local public officials participate on their Front Porch Forums in Vermont. As a citizen and tax payer, I’m grateful for their active participation… and their thick skins.
FPF co-founder Michael Wood-Lewis spoke on the air recently with two very engaging hosts…
• Common Good Vermont on Channel 17 Town Meeting Television
And more and more community newspapers and Vermont organizations’ newsletters and websites are mentioning Front Porch Forum to their readers as a great resource. Here’s a recent example…
Enter the 7 Words for 2014 FPF Raffle and win a sweet prize! Enter before noon Jan. 9… just submit a posting to your Front Porch Forum that contains EXACTLY seven (7) words and you’ll be in the running for one of these great prizes
• One Apple iPod Touch from Small Dog Electronics
• One overnight room at The Essex Resort and Spa
• Four passes to the Pump House Indoor Waterpark at Jay Peak
• One $50 gift card from Laughing Moon Chocolates
• Seven pints of SoYo frozen yogurt
• One-month family membership to The Edge
• Two tickets to Golden Dragon Acrobats on March 5 at the Flynn Theater
• One $115 gift bag of gardening gear from Gardener’s Supply Company: A puddle proof field bag filled with an array of gardening gear, including Pocket Snips & Pruners, Nitrile Gloves, Fiskars Trowel, set of Wooden Garden Markers, U Mark Garden Marker, & 12 packets of vegetable seeds
Thanks to our wonderful sponsors who contributed the prizes listed above.
I’ll post some of the entries here later see submissions from past years here. Happy posting!
P.S. Comments on this blog posting are welcome, but they will not enter you into the raffle. To enter the raffle, go to FrontPorchForum.com, LOGIN, then click SUBMIT POSTING.
UPDATE: Wow! Front Porch Forum members submitted more than 3,000 postings as entries into the 7 Words for 2014 Raffle. Thanks to everyone who participated.
Without further ado, the winners of the prize drawing are…
One Apple iPod Touch from Small Dog Electronics
• Matt Riley, Middletown Springs
Saw a snowy owl near Addison Sunday.
One overnight room at The Essex Resort & Spa
• Adele Sweet-Mcfarlin, Reading
Kissing nuns? Don’t get in the habit.
Four passes to the Pump House Indoor Waterpark at Jay Peak
• Pamela Campbell, Montpelier
Wanted: free plane ticket to anywhere warmer.
One $50 gift card from Laughing Moon Chocolates
• Saint Rosner, Marlboro
Why’s the sand wet? Because the seaweed.
Seven pints of SoYo frozen yogurt
• Jane Sobel, North Bennington
North Bennington walks vanquish cabin fever blues.
One-month family membership to The Edge
• Susi Taylor, Burlington
Life before Front Porch Forum was complicated.
Two tickets to Golden Dragon Acrobats on March 5 at the Flynn Theater
• George Brewer, Middlebury
For Sale, portable confessional, YES portable confessional.
One field bag full of gardening gear from Gardener’s Supply Company
• Amy Marcinko, Richford
Front Porch Forum is better than Facebook.
Vermont towns in the Upper Valley, as well as the Northeast Kingdom, now all have access Front Porch Forum.
Please share the news with folks you know in these parts of the Green Mountain State, including St. Johnsbury, White River Junction, Royalton, and many other locations.
People use FPF in other parts of Vermont to share catamount sightings (really!), recommend snow plow drivers, find lost cats, report break-ins, sell cars, give away dressers, and much more. And now every Vermont community has its own FPF to do the same.
Please join at http://frontporchforum.com
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