Panton
Panton is a town in Addison County, Vermont that boasts a population of 677 (as of 2010) 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
Panton is a small town of only 677 people. They have one public meeting place in the town – the Town Hall. Due to renovations ongoing there, the meeting was held this year in the town garage. A large part of the meeting was devoted to discussions about renovations to the town hall. Article 8 was about repairing the handicapped ramp leading into the building, but many citizens wanted a public meeting place so that they could hold events for the community as well and someone proposed an amendment to add a kitchen during the project. One of our students who was collected data at the meeting wrote:
“Diana said that she supported the kitchen because she had lived in Panton for 35 years and barely knew anybody. She also commented that Panton hadn’t had an event since the 250th anniversary celebration of the town (in 2011), and during the event most agreed how nice it would be to do things like this more often. After Diana said that, I realized that the voters didn’t just want a new kitchen or better handicap access or working bathrooms – they were working towards a better community for a town that really only had one space to gather in. For a Vermont town that has an aging population, Panton is their world and the community that they care about. Small-town politics aren’t relevant. It is easy to think, ‘Really? You are that passionate about a building?’ But these meetings are, in my mind, the most direct form of change and community building.”
– Katherine Hellmer, UVM Class of 2021
The citizens of Panton also discussed replacing the cupola on the roof of the Town Hall and taking revenues from a local solar farm to defray the costs of the project. As a result of this lively discussion, Panton came in 4th on the Real Democracy Index for 2018.
Major Data Points
| Year | Peak Attendance | Attendance Rate* | Participation Rate | Real Democracy Score** | Population | Meeting Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 41 | 8.63% | 53.66% | 62.29 | 677 | 2:35 |
| 2011 | 37 | 7.91% | 78.38% | 86.28 | 468 | 2:31 |
| 2009 | 71 | 15.37% | 45.07% | 60.44 | 462 | 3:21 |
| 2004 | 74 | 18.32% | 39.19% | 57.51 | 404 | 1:56 |
| 2003 | 87 | 22.03% | 52.87% | 74.90 | 395 | 3:38 |
| 2002 | 82 | 20.76% | 45.12% | 65.88 | 395 | — |
| 2000 | 60 | 15.00% | 26.67% | 41.67 | 400 | 1:29 |
| 1998 | 50 | 12.82% | 84.00% | 96.82 | 390 | 1:55 |
| 1997 | 74 | 18.97% | 62.16% | 81.14 | 390 | 2:38 |
| 1994 | 68 | 18.84% | 64.71% | 83.54 | 361 | 3:54 |
| 1992 | 62 | 15.16% | 70.97% | 86.13 | 409 | 3:02 |
| 1991 | 83 | 21.56% | 59.04% | 80.59 | 385 | 3:52 |
| 1989 | 65 | 19.29% | 43.08% | 62.36 | 337 | 3:37 |
| 1988 | 75 | 23.89% | 64.00% | 87.89 | 314 | 3:40 |
| 1987 | 93 | 31.63% | 60.22% | 91.85 | 294 | 3:06 |
| 1986 | 82 | 30.04% | 62.20% | 92.23 | 273 | 4:03 |
| 1982 | 54 | 22.69% | 87.04% | 109.73 | 238 | 3:16 |
| 1980 | 47 | 19.67% | 63.83% | 83.50 | 239 | 3:45 |
| 1978 | 45 | 19.23% | 66.67% | 85.90 | 234 | 3:03 |
| 1975 | 47 | 18.95% | – | – | 248 | 4:47 |
| 1972 | 71 | 28.17% | 46.48% | 74.65 | 252 | 3:07 |
*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.