Now, #Roommates, when we think of ways to describe the ideal leader, the word “GOAT” may come to mind, but it looks like one Vermont town took the goat thing too literally.
The people of #FairHaven have elected an actual goat as their mayor and last night, the town came out to celebrate Lincoln the goat as she was sworn in. Sis even had to take an oath, followed by a footprint of approval on town documents, according to @wcax.
Mara Lincoln will serve as mayor for a year until it’s time to elect a new mayor. She was nominated by the children of Fair Haven and then voted on by the kids.
The idea to elect an animal for mayor came from the town’s manager. He said he thought it would be a fun way to raise money for the school so that the kids can get a new playground.
He also saw it as a way to get children to start thinking about local politics.
On election day, the children of Fair Haven took to the polls with their parents and had their very own ballot with 16 candidates ranging from all sorts of animals including cats and dogs. Lincoln reportedly won by just three votes.
The school is hoping to make the voting process an ongoing thing for the children.
“What I’m hoping is they took away a little sense of civic pride, you know, taking part in the community, going down to the voting places on voting day. I hope that they got excited about it went down and took part,” said Fair Haven Town Manager Joseph Gunter.
Unfortunately, the fundraiser only raised about $100, even though their goal was about $70,000. Officials plan to continue to raise money to reach the goal, as well as apply for more state grants to help fund it in future years.
But Lincoln’s owner still sees the election as a good thing.
“We were really pleased to see it was a civics lesson for the students and that they could be involved and decisions made in the town and it something that we hope to continue in the future getting the kids voting with their parents on a regular basis,” said Christopher Stapleton, Lincoln’s owner.
Roommates, what do you think of having a goat, or any animal for that matter, serve as mayor of your town? Let us know!
TSR STAFF: Christina C! @cdelafresh
