On a national holiday, you’d think local government offices would be completely closed to the public. And you’d think a City Council or Town Selectboard that would normally hold a meeting that day…wouldn’t.
However, a town in Rutland County breaks the mold, and it illustrates one way our region is unique. The Town of Chittenden operates a little differently from what anyone who doesn’t live there might be used to.
Its Selectboard gets together on the second and fourth Mondays of every month, even if those meeting dates should fall on a national holiday. Memorial Day wasn’t enough to keep the board members apart.
Selectboard Chair Gary Congdon says that’s pretty much how the town has always done things, and there may not be any other communities in the Green Mountain State that do the same.
“None that I’m aware of,” Congdon said. “I mean, I’m sure there are some that are, but we don’t pay much attention to what other towns do unless it affects us.”
Christmas is the only holiday for which the board makes an exception. That means the last time it had to reschedule a regular meeting was December 2017, when Christmas most recently fell on a Monday. The board met on Wednesday of that week instead.
