Brattleboro is abuzz with rumors that Selectboard member Joerg Mayer will be announcing his retirement from the selectboard at tonight's swearing in ceremony. This would open a seat on the selectboard one day after Brattleboro elections were held.
According to the BrattleboroTown Charter:
"A. When a member of the selectboard resigns, is removed from office, dies, or is removed from the checklist, the office shall become vacant."
and
"C. When a vacancy occurs on the board, the remaining selectboard shall fill the vacancy by appointment until the next election. If there is more than one (1) vacancy, the board shall call a special election to fill the vacancies for the remainder of the terms. Such election shall be held not less than forty (40) nor more than sixty (60) days following the occurence of the vacancies."
Other than that bit of guidance, it has been said that town tradition is to appoint the next highest vote getter. If this is true, Audrey Garfield would be the candidate with the most number of votes.
There is no deadline for the selectboard to make this appointment, but it would make sense that it would happen relatively quickly to ensure smooth governance of the town.
If you'd like to find out more, you might consider attending tonight's swearing in ceremony. It's the "Brattleboro Selectboard – Organizational Meeting" at 6:15pm in Selectboard Meeting Room at the Municipal Center on Main Street.