A Peak Town Fair
Survey results from Town Fair 2022 have just come in, and I am pleased to see so many compliments and ideas for future Town Fairs. While we can’t take credit for the stellar autumn weather or peak foliage (many attendees did thank us for those though), the VLCT team does deserve credit for pulling together another great convening. As Richmond Selectboard Member Jay Fuhr said: “I thought it was very productive and I especially appreciated the opportunity for networking and meeting people.”
Unsurprisingly, I laughed a lot during Town Fair. I still chuckle thinking back to the VLCT’s Annual Awards Night and Variety Show – where we had three professional comedians share some reflections on municipal government. They were all wonderful, but Josie Leavitt, a member of the Grand Isle Selectboard, spoke from the heart as she poked fun at some of the absurdities municipal officials have to put up with. If you missed this year’s dinner, don’t worry: we intend to make this an annual tradition.
For nearly 60 years, Town Fair has been the go-to place to absorb knowledge. While we will continue offering training at Town Fair, we want this event to focus on peer-to-peer learning that inspires and recharges. Many attendees shared how impressed they were with VLCT’s 2022 Lifetime Achievement Award recipients, Bill Shepeluk of Waterbury and Carl Rogers of Barre Town, who have a combined 65 years of municipal management experience. They both have helped shape your VLCT. And State Treasurer Beth Pearce and Vermont State Representative Laura Sibilia have advanced municipal interests for more than a decade each. I was overwhelmed by how much all four awardees appreciated the recognition from VLCT. Their emotions reflect the value elected leaders and our members put on your opinions.
In case you missed this announcement at Town Fair: we will launch the Federal Funding Assistance Program in the coming weeks and have hired a second full-time staff member to help Federal Funding Assistance Program Director Katie Buckley connect you to those dollars.
Prior to the laughter and poignant moments, members adopted a new VLCT Municipal Legislative Policy as part of the VLCT annual meeting. Over the summer, more than 50 municipal officials worked to draft the policy that will serve as our guide star for the next year. VLCT will build proactive legislative proposals based on this policy – including proposals to address the housing crisis, to help communities recruit and retain new police officers and first responders, to make remote public meetings possible after the pandemic, and to create a new municipal revenue sharing program.
VLCT staff curated 20 different training sessions at Town Fair. I heard especially favorable reviews from attendees of the workshops on recruiting new employees, equity, and housing. I was overwhelmed by the number of members attending the workshops on infrastructure and federal funding – a clear message that our members want more support around the federal dollars flowing from the recently passed Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, American Rescue Plan Act, and Inflation Reduction Act. In case you missed this announcement at Town Fair: we will launch the Federal Funding Assistance Program in the coming weeks and have hired a second full-time staff member to help Federal Funding Assistance Program Director Katie Buckley connect you to those dollars.
A day after Town Fair, I was scrolling on social media and saw that Killington had fired up its snow guns right after we put away the Town Fair banners. I was grateful they waited until after Town Fair to usher in winter. But it is a great reminder that we have work to do before the snow melts. Town Fair 2023 is less than a year away.