The Vermont open meeting law (1 V.S.A. § 310 through 314), in addition to creating a legally-binding mandate for deliberative bodies to conduct business in the open, is also designed to allow state citizens the opportunity to witness how state entities make decisions regarding local governance. One principle the law tries to maintain is ensuring people can easily access information about the workings of their respective governments. Another goal of the law is allowing the public to better understand why deliberative bodies make the decisions they do.
A common complaint about bureaucratic government procedures is that they often seem overly draconian, and no one feels guilty when they file a formal complaint with local government. Again, it certainly helps to know how the government operates and why it does what it does.
While the law might seem remote from the confines of a garage, there are some interesting ways you might use the principles of transparency embodied by the legislation in Vermont to create a more engaged community following for your niche vehicles. While car enthusiasts might not be required to engage in a total transparency agenda, you can still reap many benefits by applying the spirit of Vermont’s laws to your business.
For example, one of the best things you can do as a car owner is to ensure you appropriately communicate with buyers and sellers. There are several ways you can achieve more transparent communication in niche car communities.
Transparency can be somewhat subjective. For example, while someone might expect to see a car’s engine soot-free, present-day car culture is still so young that an “as-is” description could include a black smudge from where a previous owner left a smudge. Transparency in language is important for one reason: Many buyers feel burnt if they manage to get scammed for a used vehicle. Transparency in vehicle description can protect you and your purchase.
One way to help ensure you get a fair price on a vehicle is to have an authoritative editor come in and provide you with an objective assessment of your car. While some car enthusiasts might balk at the idea, the fact is there is a thriving market for third-party assessments.
Allotting a “cool-down” period during which potential buyers can inspect a vehicle before purchasing it can help your niche car community maintain a presence online.
Another way to limit hasty purchases and prohibitive sales is to host open meetings to discuss niche car markets or trends in the market at local car events. By inviting car enthusiasts and buyers, you can help limit the amount of hasty decisions rash buyers make. Hosting open meetings shows transparency and concern for the wellbeing of the buyer.
Some states require car show permits for one-off events or regularly occurring events. You’ll want to dig into the legal status of your state to ensure you don’t violate any car show event laws. While those hosting car shows should maintain a main channel for transparency, the same style of communication does not need to be maintained for customer event permits.
The Vermont open meeting law is one way you might build a customer-community relationship surrounding your car culture. By maintaining a hands-off approach as much as possible in terms of transparency, you might free yourself from undue liability. At the same time, continual transparency offers buyers and enthusiasts the opportunity to purchase cars with the knowledge that you care about their wellbeing.
Purchase vehicles from private owners harder than you thought? For more detailed information on Vermont’s open meeting laws, check out the “Exploring the Ins and Outs of Vermont’s Open Meeting Law” article.