Tuesday December 3, 2007
By KEVIN O'CONNOR
Rutland Herald Staff

The future of Vermont is coming.
Tuesday.
To Rutland

The Council on the Future of Vermont will hold a public forum Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at Rutland's Paramount Theatre to hear residents' concerns for coming decades. The nonprofit Vermont Council on Rural Development has formed the Council on the Future to conduct "a once-in-a-generation review of where Vermonters believe our state is headed and what we want to be."

To learn what matters most to people, the council will host public forums in each of the state's 14 counties over the next year to ask such questions as: What does Vermont mean to you? What common values do Vermonters share? What are the important qualities that Vermont must protect or maintain in the face of change?

The council wants to hear from a wide range of people from different age, educational, social and economic backgrounds. "Everyone is invited," program manager Sarah Waring says. "This is a discussion for all Vermonters, and the results need to include the ideas and values of all Vermonters."

Brian Keefe, a vice president at Central Vermont Public Service Corp. in Rutland, is one of the council's 18 volunteer members.

"The changes that have occurred from my parents' upbringing to today, as my children grow up, are absolutely astounding," Keefe says. "This is a chance for many people to step back, put voices to those changes and imagine where things might be a generation from now."

The council kicked off its forums last month in Randolph and is scheduled to meet in Bennington Jan. 3, St. Albans Jan. 24, Hyde Park Feb. 13, North Hero March 6, Newport March 27, Island Pond April 17, St. Johnsbury May 8, Middlebury May 29, Burlington June 19, Barre July 10, Hartford July 31 and Brattleboro Aug. 21. The council will seek additional comment on the Internet before releasing its findings in early 2009. People seeking more information can contact Waring at 223-6098, e-mail cfv@sover.net or log onto the Web site kevin.oconnor@rutlandherald.com