Thank you for your April 27 article summarizing the results of the unconventional April 26 Farmington annual town meeting.
The referendum format was apparently popular. Poll workers told me the normal attendance at a town meeting might be 80 people, but it appears from vote tallies supplied by the town that as many as 276 voted on April 26. I found it strange that your article noted only that “Turnout was light, with 130 voters … a little after 1:30 p.m.” Why not report the end result, and acknowledge a robust participation?
Your article noted that voters approved an unusual article that calls upon elected officials in Washington to enact meaningful climate legislation, specifically cashback carbon pricing — by a margin of 201-75. Although it included the interesting information that nearby Chesterville had voted down a similar article, it omitted the related fact that Vienna, by a margin of 50-11, and Starks, by a margin of 32-15 both passed such articles in their 2021 town meetings.
These results might be seen as evidence of a remarkable degree of concern among area voters for effective and equitable national climate legislation: carbon pricing that compensates all households and helps us make the required energy transition in the near future.
In these times of cynicism and disappointment it is heartening to see that civic participation is alive and well in Farmington.
Cynthia Stancioff, Chesterville
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