BRIDPORT — Inside the walls of its Community Hall on Tuesday, members of a small Addison County town appeared to be safely tucked away from the fire of political contention burning around the country.
About an hour west of where Vermonters turned up in droves to protest the appearance of Vice President JD Vance at Sugarbush Resort days before, participants of Town Meeting Day in Bridport politely debated — and approved — all of the 30 articles they voted on from the floor.
A majority of the articles asked town residents to support social services provided by local organizations and town departments through funding requests that ranged from $30,000 for the Bridport Fire Department to $350 for Addison County Readers, Inc.
Residents discussed several of the requests before approving them. One deliberation focused on a $1,500 funding request from the Addison County Restorative Justice Services, which had increased from $400 in 2024.
Moderator Tim Howlett called on an audience member who said she’d attended the selectboard meeting when the organization had made its case, and that it seemed “very persuasive.”
“But you’re right,” she said with a shrug. “It’s $1,100 more.”
Others raised their hands to speak. The program “has always saved a lot more taxpayer money” than it’s spent, one resident said.
Corey Pratt, a member of the Bridport Fire Department, said his daughter has interned with the organization “and has decided that it does so much good that she’s actually changed what she was planning on doing for a career.”
Someone proposed an amendment that would have shaved Bridport’s contribution to the organization from $1,500 to $1,000. The residents voted once; the amendment failed. They voted again and approved the full request.
For other amendments, participants simply lauded the organizations that requested funding.
“I’m getting old. I’m not as strong as I used to be, and it’s nice having some young muscle to help carry people out of the house,” one resident said of the local fire department.
Hints of federal and state political drama entered the room only a few times, when residents wondered whether federal funding cuts and freezes could impact an expensive and long-running project to replace culverts under a nearby road (probably not, according to the road foreman), and when Sen. Ruth Hardy, D-Addison, gave updates from the Statehouse. (Her announcement that lawmakers were not planning to move forward with the clean heat standard, a controversial energy policy, elicited some cheers.)
Near the end of the meeting, residents considered the town’s budget, a grand total of $1,765,090, most of which would be raised through property taxes. Residents mulled a few line items they hadn’t voted on — $500 to the Addison County Humane Society, for example — before making a collective decision.
“Any other questions on the budget?” he asked a silent crowd.
“Wow,” he said. “I appreciate the support.”
Read the story on VTDigger here: At Bridport Town Meeting, political debate remains polite.