R-210 Page 1 of 1
2024
No. R-210. House concurrent resolution honoring Harry Roush for his four-plus decades of exceptional municipal public service in the Town of Washington.
(H.C.R.156)
Offered by: Representative Demrow of Corinth Offered by: Senator MacDonald Whereas, on matters of public protection and safety and emergency relief, as well as
broader administrative affairs, no one in the Town of Washington has contributed more than Harry Roush, and Whereas, Harry Roush’s illustrious community service began in 1982 when he joined the municipality’s fire department, and in 1989, his technical expertise and wise judgment resulted in his appointment as the department’s chief, a role he continued until 2001, and in 2024, he remains a volunteer firefighter, and Whereas, in 1996, this distinguished public servant became the town’s Enhanced 911
contact person; from 2004 to 2017, Harry Roush served in the broader role as Washington’s Emergency Management Coordinator, a post that included acting as Washington’s FEMA
administrator after Tropical Storm Irene; and, more recently, in the pandemic context, he was the town’s American Rescue Plan Act reporter, and Whereas, beyond these emergency-inspired roles, Harry Roush has been entrusted to
serve in numerous other town leadership positions including as a lister for many of the past
41 years; a justice of the peace and board of civil authority member (from 2011 to the present); a planning commission and board of abatement member (from 2013 to 2023);
and, for the past 11 years, as the Washington Moderator, in which capacity he has adroitly ensured decorum and order at town meetings, and Whereas, as if all these duties did not keep him sufficiently busy, since 2015, Harry Roush has held the office of assistant town clerk, and although he officially retired in 2022,
the town requested that he return to the office in March 2023 to mentor the new Washington Town Clerk, and Whereas, Harry Roush was named Washington Citizen of the Year in 1998, but, 26
years later, his record of municipal achievements is far longer and more illustrious, and at
the 2024 Town Meeting, the Town of Washington is again honoring Harry Roush with even more emphatic special praise, now therefore be it Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives:
That the General Assembly honors Harry Roush for his four-plus decades of exceptional municipal public service in the Town of Washington, and be it further Resolved: That the Secretary of State be directed to send a copy of this resolution to
Harry Roush.
VT LEG #374966 v.1