Town Leaders, Of the constituents who have called or emailed me in the last three days, 80% have issues with the unemployment insurance system and concerns about the delay in the federal stimulus checks promised weeks ago. We know tonight that the federal stimulus checks to households making less than $75,000 will be delayed several more days as the as the IRS reconfigures their printing so that the name "President Donald J. Trump" can appear on the left side of the payment. First, the Vermont Secretary of Agriculture released this directive on Friday which requires the continued closure of farmers markets. The directive also states that "while farmers markets are temporarily closed, farme

Town Leaders, This week my attention has been glued to working on our state's connectivity crisis. There are communities in VT where over 40% of households lack sufficient access for a teacher or a student to participate in remote learning activities. Through a patchwork of efforts by the Department of Public Service, nascent Communications Union Districts, private wireless providers, and electric utilities some households will get relief. Many will not, and efforts will need to adjust as to how to focus federal dollars most effectively to connect the 8%-10% of VT households that have little/no access and the additional 15%-17% whose access is unacceptably slow. Here is some information t

Town Leaders, As the pace of COVID changes affecting local towns steadies, I am tempering the pace of these updates as I get information I believe relevant to your community work and leadership. Here are some things that have come across my radar in the last 48 hours: First, if you have an animal control officer in town, they may be interested in the work of the Vermont Disaster Animal Response Team (VDART), which helps VTers plan for their animals care in the event of a disaster or prolonged illness. VDART has a website with planning and assistance resources. Second, I am including here a link to a short video regarding how to prepare to receive and utilize emergency funds from the federa

Disclaimer – The budget numbers included below are changing week to week. They are included here to provide a picture of where we are at present. They are likely to get worse before they get better. The impacts of the COVID-19 virus will be far and wide and will cause havoc throughout Vermont’s economy. The recently enacted federal relief packages will provide financial support when we desperately need it. But that money comes with strings attached. The federal bill was written for all 50 states, and Vermont is unique among them in many respects. Trying to get the money from federal buckets to where it’s needed most in Vermont will require dexterity and creativity. What’s more, information a

Town leaders, Not a huge amount of updating yesterday, so I chose to spare your mailboxes. Below is some updated information for your weekend reading: First, Friday the Secretary of State's office announced a directive allowing a municipality to postpone municipal elections because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Here is the announcement from the SOS's office. This may affect the school budget vote in Strafford and the Tracy Hall renovation project re-vote. Second, I came across this document directed at school financial managers. If you've already seen this and are receiving it, great. Looks like it is being updated once or twice a week to address FAQs in school finance. Third, the Attorne

Town leaders, First, I've spent more time on Zoom calls in recent days than I care to admit. I have also heard from the legislature's IT staff that security for Zoom calls has been an issue in some instances (not yet in the legislature) where calls get "hijacked" by an uninvited participant. If you are conducting Zoom calls, particularly for public business, you might want to look at this Zoom security tutorial. It's written for non-techie Luddites like me. Second, a couple of education items to share this evening. The legislature's Joint Fiscal Office has issued a summary document highlighting some of the extreme challenges that will be faced by the state's Education Fund and, in turn,