| Where are all the women in government here in Franklin County? You certainly see enough of them behind desks, working for a wage, maintaining the functional underpinnings of every day life in our towns and villages.
How often have we heard: "things would fall apart around here without her?"
But where are the women in elected and appointed government positions? Though they represent half of the county's population, you can count the number of women in those positions on a single hand. The bigger the town, the more conspicuous the absence of female participation.
The City of St. Albans has an all-male city council, and an all-male planning commission. Yet, at a recent council meeting we heard how invaluable and versatile has been the thirty-year service of, Jane Kiser, the paid Community Development Manager.
"Things would fall apart around here without her."
The Town of St. Albans has an all-male selectboard, an all male development review board, and with the notable exception of Chairwoman Cheryl Teague, an all-male planning commission. Cheryl is something of a marvel IMHO, for her unwavering intellect, patience and tact.
The story is very much the same in Swanton. Women occasionally crop-up among officials in some of the smaller towns of Franklin County, but they remain a dismal few. They serve on development review boards, which are, for the most part, charged with enforcing the decisions made by higher officials. |
