Greensboro
Greensboro is a town in Orleans County, Vermont that boasts a population of 762 people. 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
Although there were no major issues on the warning to draw out a crowd, Greensboro had the largest attendance rate of the towns we studied with 25.17% of registered voters turning up. The spirited part of the meeting occurred when State Senator John Rodgers came to speak to the town. At that point in the year in the aftermath of the Parkland shooting, the debate over gun control was gripping the country. Many of the citizens of Greensboro wanted Vermont to lead the way in tackling the issue, but Senator Rodgers was not as interested in doing so and the citizens took the opportunity to challenge him on that. Serina Pesinkowski, a student from Johnson State College who attended the meeting said, “The liveliest conversations/debates were over guns.” Although Greensboro scored well on attendance, their participation rate was low, leading to a Real Democracy score near the middle of the pack. One factor that usually affects the Real Democracy score is the rate that women participate in meetings, and in Greensboro in 2018 only 30% of the participants were women.
Major Data Points
| Year | Peak Attendance | Attendance Rate* | Participation Rate | Real Democracy Score** | Population | Meeting Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 149 | 25.17% | 20.13% | 45.3 | 762 | 5:15 |
| 2003 | 196 | 33.33% | 29.59% | 62.93 | 588 | 5:20 |
| 1996 | 118 | 24.58% | 44.92% | 69.50 | 480 | 3:16 |
| 1995 | 128 | 25.91% | 37.50% | 63.41 | 494 | 3:40 |
| 1989 | 108 | 22.13% | 57.41% | 79.54 | 488 | 3:57 |
| 1987 | 135 | 28.97% | 42.96% | 71.93 | 466 | 3:55 |
| 1984 | 131 | 29.24% | 39.69% | 68.94 | 448 | 2:49 |
| 1983 | 131 | 30.05% | 41.98% | 72.03 | 436 | 4:49 |
| 1982 | 190 | 44.92% | 38.42% | 83.34 | 423 | 5:17 |
| 1981 | 145 | 33.80% | 35.86% | 69.66 | 429 | 4:21 |
| 1980 | 140 | 32.18% | – | – | 435 | 4:14 |
| 1978 | 179 | 43.87% | 29.05% | 72.92 | 408 | 3:31 |
| 1973 | 168 | 41.69% | 29.17% | 70.85 | 403 | 3:10 |
| 1970 | 99 | 30.56% | 40.40% | 70.96 | 324 | 2:35 |
*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.