Montpelier PEN: Issue #3 Town Meeting Day Elections & Mayoral Candidates

Calendar of upcoming Civic Engagement opportunities

Feb 15-March 7 Early Voting 

For this year’s Town Meeting election, people wishing to vote early must request early voting/absentee ballots; they will not be sent out automatically, as they were during the pandemic. Voters may obtain early voting/absentee ballots in any one of three ways: go to City Hall in person and get one; call the City Clerk’s office and request that they be sent one; or make that request on the following linked  early/absentee ballot request form.

Feb 15 Mayoral Debate sponsored by the Times-Argus

6:30-8 PM Live-streamed only ORCA You Tube Channel & Comcast Channel 1085

Moderated by Steven Pappas, Times-Argus Editor

Feb 15 Homelessness Task Force (HTF) Meeting 

11:30 AM-1 PM City Hall (City Council Chambers)

JoinZoom Meeting Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88444869614?pwd=aE96Vmc5Q00zcllBNDZUUE1FYzMwUT09

Meeting ID: 884 4486 9614; Passcode: 521109; One tap mobile: (646)-931-3860

Agenda items include: a presentation of preliminary findings and suggestions from Parker Advisors, consultants hired by the City and a proposal from an HTF member regarding the use of City ARPA funds for a permanent facility for the homeless

Feb 21 Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA) Campus Master Plan/PUD 

Continuation of the 2/6/23 Development Review Board (DRB) Final Hearing 

7 PM at City Hall (City Council Chambers) and on Zoom

Agenda materials and Zoom information not yet posted

Feb 22 City Council Meeting 

6:30 PM at City Hall (City Council Chambers) and on Zoom

Agenda materials and Zoom information not yet posted, but City Manager’s annual performance review is likely to be an agenda item and be carried out in Executive Session.

Feb 27 Candidates forums

12:30-2 PM  Mayoral candidates (sponsored by the Rotary Club)

3 PM City Council candidates

Both events will be moderated by Cassandra Hemenway, Managing Editor of The Bridge and will be held at City Hall (City Council Chambers) and live on ORCA Media

A Deeper Dive into Town Meeting Day Elections

Town Meeting Day voting begins as soon as the City Clerk receives printed ballots (which according to him could now be as late as February 15) and ends less than 3 weeks later (March 6). Yet, at this time, many voters probably know little or nothing about the various candidates we are being asked to choose among and, even if we as voters are aware of some of the Articles/Questions on the ballot, most of us likely have only a general understanding of some of the more oddly worded of them or what a vote of YES or NO for them actually means down the line.

This issue of PEN (#3) will provide readers with some sources of information about the three candidates running for Mayor. The next PEN issue (#4) will seek to to clarify the intent and implications of some of the ballot Articles/Questions that may not be clear to some voters and will provide some sources of information about the candidates in contested City Council races in District 2 and 3. 

If you are considering early voting, you might want to hold off doing so until you know more about all of the candidates and articles/questions on the ballot.

How and where to learn about the candidates for Mayor 

You can find out who are the candidates for each office on the City Voter Guide, which is a page of the improving City Clerk’s section of the frustratingly hard-to-use Montpelier City website.  On the City Voter Guide, you can also learn a little about the candidates by clicking on their names to read their own “candidate statements” (if and when they submit them to the City Clerk to post them there.) As of 2/12/23, you may find information on the City Voter Guide that has been submitted by two of the three candidates for Mayor: Richard Sheir (here) and Dan Jones (here). As an act of Public Engagement, please let the City Clerk know if you used the City Guide and found it to be helpful and offer any suggestions you might have to improve it.

Another source of information about the candidates for Mayor can be found in the most recent print issue (Feb 8-21) of The Bridge and its online version: Montpelier Mayoral Candidates Speak to Country Club Road, Infrastructure 

There will be at least two opportunities to see and hear the candidates: a February 15 live-streamed debate sponsored by the Times-Argus and a Rotary Club-sponsored forum on February 27. For currently available details on both, see calendar above.

Finally, in order to help voters decide for themselves which mayoral candidate they think would be best for the City, we did an Internet search for the past year and found the following local media clips, containing public statements made by the following three individuals (listed in last- name alphabetical order.)  

• Dan Jones in his own words (here) (here) (here) (here) (here) and a profile with quotes of his views here
• Jack McCullough: a profile with quotes of some of his views here
• Richard Sheir in his own words (here) and a profile with quotes of his views (here)

While some of us may wish that we had other choices besides these three old-ish, white, straight, cis-gendered men, these are the candidates we have. Voters are encouraged to learn as much as you can about them, to raise questions with them at the Mayoral candidate forum on Feb 27, and perhaps even to email them (or write letters to the editor) with questions or concerns you may have about their candidacies and ask for their responses.

Next Issue of PEN: Ballot Articles/Questions, City Council Races, and City Manager Annual Evaluation

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