Tonight's Selectboard meeting was action packed for the hour and a half (and 13 agenda items) I sat through. It was a strange meeting. The big item on the bill was the Downtown Improvement District and a number of people showed up to talk about that. But that was not all.
Before we even got to agenda item 9d, Joerg Meyer stood up during Citizen Participation to blast the Selectboard for its exclusionary practices of late. He argued that the Board has consistently been quick to enact proposals that boardmembers personally like (such as the DID), but slow and functionally obstructionist when the proposal is brought by the people (as with the police civilian review board and special election petition, where, Meyer argued, the Board found ways to legally circumvent the will of the people). In closing, he said to the board "Arent' you ashamed of yourselves?" and reminded them that they are elected to serve the people, not their own interests. It was an electrifying start to the meeting and it some of us took several agenda items to recover.
Fortunately, the next agenda item was the Arbor Day Proclamation, which lightened the mood considerably. Everyone likes trees.
The Downtown Improvement District brought a number of comments and questions from the floor. Dora Boubolis, who was later not to be selected as alternate on the Development Review Board, spoke for the DID skeptics when she brought up constituents of the DID who may not be members of the decision-making body, which is BABB. She and others were concerned that the people paying the special assessment tax to fund the District (through higher rents) would be shut out of the decision making process on how these proceeds are spent. Jim Maxwell, attorney and advocate for the arts community, echoed this concern, saying "There are a lot of constituents of the DID who want to know how to be part of the process." He stressed the large contribution the arts community makes to downtown.
The Board's response to questions about citizen involvement was that if the people wanted to be involved they should get involved, that there had been information meetings and the tenants should have attended, and that the people who were represented would likely be those who showed up. Jerry Remillard clarified the process which is simple: the Board will continue to work on the ordinance, which is not yet finalized, until it is satisfied with it. Then there will be a public hearing for the townspeople to have their say. At the conclusion of the hearing, the Selectboard will vote on the ordinance and then it will go to Town Meeting for final approval.
So here's how the DID is slated to work: The Downtown Improvement District will be funded by a special tax assessment paid by property owners in the Downtown District. BABB will be the designated downtown organization for the DID and its board will make decisions on how DID money is spent. BABB has a 25 member board consisting of 20 boardmembers elected by BABB members at large, and 5 ex officio members representing the town, Windham Regional Commission, Marlboro and others. BABB membership is open to anyone -- whether they own property or businesses or not -- who is willing to pay a $25 annual fee. Some 80 downtown property owners are automatically members and do not need to pay the fee. All members vote on board representation, and the board then votes on the budget. This is how the people will be represented in the DID, as it is currently formulated by the town and BABB.
During one interesting moment, assistant town manager Barbara Sontag mentioned that BABB received public funding. Tom Franks, Director of BABB, was quick to refute this statement. As it turns out, BABB has received $40,000 in town discretionary funds on at least one, if not two occasions, over the last few years. While not technically tax revenue, the source of this funding is money available for a variety of purposes and was not earmarked specifically for BABB. This brought up the question of BABB's quasi public status. Essentially, BABB, a private organization, will be receiving publicly-raised tax money to spend at the discretion of a board that is open to anyone with $25 and enough clout to get elected.
Parties interested in the DID can head down to Centre Congregational Church Wednesday, May 4 to take part in the community meeting and discussion of the DID at 6:30 pm.
Other topics of interest: The federal government has cut funding for Section 8 housing to the tune of ten vouchers, and the Brattleboro Housing Authority is doing what it can to avoid having to outright cancel some people's housing vouchers. They've closed their waiting list and have imposed a temporary freeze on rent increases for Section 8 units. Several people wondered if there was something more that could be done beyond simply cutting back services. The director said she would ponder the question.
And leading off, Jerry did town news, which is always fun. People will be glad to hear that the much vaunted and now sort of ho hum Whetstone Pathway is going to be finished any time now. All they have to do now is landscaping, benches, and painting the fake brick... Apparently some commercial potential is starting to open up for the first floor space in the 'Transportation Center.' The town is looking for a realtor to find just the right tenant(s) for that space and is already receiving inquiries. And, as it turns out, Brattleboro is a great arts town and got named one of the Top 25 Arts Destinations in American Style magazine. I believe the town gets a plaque for that.
In other news, Spoon says some 20 bus stop signs have been installed along the Bee Line route.