Gov. James Douglas, acting as Middlebury’s moderator, tried to stop a vote on a resolution calling for President Bush’s impeachment and withdrawal of troops from Iraq at the town’s annual meeting Monday night, according to several residents who attended.
Douglas argued that the two resolutions, which were brought up under the “new business” portion of Middlebury’s town meeting, were not warned and therefore only a discussion, but not a vote, could occur, according to witnesses.
But the governor, who has been the town’s moderator for two decades, later allowed the votes to go forward after it became clear that nearly everyone in the room supported the measures.
“It became clear that no one was going home until they had the chance to discuss the resolutions and vote on them,” said David Rosenberg, a political science professor at Middlebury College who attended the meeting. “And being a good politician, he allowed the vote to happen.”
Both resolutions later passed by wide margins in voice votes.
-Dan Barlow
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