In his campaign against the Pro-Democracy Amendments Mr. Gartenstein said he wants to provide guidance for the town. Town charter gives the selectboard a list of duties “not committed by law to the care of any particular officer . . .”. “Guidance” and “ideas” are not on their list. The charter assigns guidance of the office of town rep: the rep town meeting is “. . . a guiding body for the town and a source of ideas . . . “.
Mr. Gartenstein may want to provide public education, but that is not their job either. That is assigned to another office, the school directors. These are just excuses to interfere with the democratic process described under the charter “Powers of the People”
BTW
The restriction on petitions came into effect in 2012. Here is a brief review of restrictions on free speech since then:
> Feb – April 2014: Revised charter prevents people from petitioning new article about PFP or budget (Earliest vote would be this March)
> May-2014: public not allowed to speak of PFP at informational hearings on revised budget.
> May 2014: Reps not allowed to speak of PFP at their special meeting to vote on revised budget. (The board justified this on the grounds that the PFP would be addressed quickly after the budget vote. This year the “Reformer” reported twice that the board delayed any decision on the PFP.)
> Jan 29, 2015: SB allows its members to speak re PFP and budget, and then Gartenstein forbids further discussion of PFP in connection to the budget
Mr. Gartenstein has the right to express his opinions like any other voter. But now he is using the selectboard to illegally amplify his own opinions and force them onto the public.
Kurt Daims for Brattleboro Common Sense
