Clarendon
Clarendon is a town in Rutland County, Vermont that boasts a population of 2571 people (as of 2010). Based on data collected by an inter-collegial team of students, here are our findings regarding its Town Meeting process.
2018 Town Meeting
Summary of Findings
Clarendon was notable for having the lowest rate of attendance this year, coming in at 2.86% of registered voters. Of the attendees, only 42.5% were women, and of the participants only 19.01% were women. These numbers indicate what can happen when a town meeting only covers the budget and donations to local and statewide organizations. Additionally, the meeting was held in the evening, which hinders turnout considerably. The most notable part of the meeting was when State Representative Potter came in to field questions and was asked 10 questions about guns and school safety. This was not the only meeting where the issue of guns and school safety was raised, and town meetings can be the perfect place to have these discussions with the community. What the Clarendon town meeting shows is that people want to engage in important issues at these meetings. It would not be unreasonable, given the history of town meeting, that if we wanted to bring more life to this yearly tradition, we should put more notable issues in the warnings.
Major Data Points
| Year | Peak Attendance | Attendance Rate* | Participation Rate | Real Democracy Score** | Population | Meeting Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 54 | 2.86% | 38.89% | 41.75 | 2571 | 2:03 |
| 2002 | 77 | 4.10% | 29.87% | 33.97 | 1880 | 1:32 |
| 1994 | 116 | 7.17 | 36.21% | 43.38 | 1617 | 1:53 |
| 1986 | 92 | 6.51% | 20.65% | 27.16 | 1413 | 0:50 |
| 1980 | 125 | 9.89% | 32% | 41.89 | 1264 | 2:26 |
| 1979 | 189 | 15.48% | 21.69% | 37.17 | 1221 | 2:29 |
| 1977 | 178 | 15.86% | 26.40% | 42.27 | 1122 | 2:31 |
*Attendance Rates are calculated using the number of registered voters and peak attendance numbers.
**Real Democracy scores are calculated using attendance and participation numbers. For more infomation on them see the Data Overview Page
Student Involvement
Students help gather data and produce videos on town meeting. Lunch and mileage is paid for.