For opinion pieces on any topic.
Dependent Care reimbursement forms for the Brattleboro Town Meeting will be available at the meeting on April 11 at Brattleboro Union High School gymnasium, near the Clerk’s table. Funds are limited and not guaranteed for everyone who makes a request. This is managed in partnership with United Way.
Dear Paul Dame and H Brooke Paige, Lord knows I drive a “pray as you go daily” 1999 Chevy which is convenient when it needs repairs because the Vermont junk yards are full of parts. I believe in Recylcing, even when it comes to cars. BUT IT GETS 13 M.P.G.
Noticing that the greatest amount of development in Brattleboro in the last year were miniature properties, the Brattleboro Selectboard has decide to shift the tax burden from the voters of town to the inhabitants of the miniature properties. Voting along party lines, the measure was approved at their most recent meeting.
“We hereby resolve that property taxes will henceforth be paid only on miniature properties within the Town limits,” read the Clerk before the unanimous vote.
Residents of District 9 will continue their discussion of Town matters in advance of Town Meeting (which is Saturday 11 April) in another of our periodic get-togethers. The District 9 forum will occur at 6:30 pm on Tuesday 31 March in the Community Room of the Brooks Memorial Library (3rd floor). For more information, contact Robert Oeser (robt.oeser@gmail.com) or David Levenbach (fideladelphia@gmail.com; 413.559.1533).
NO KINGS? Then STOP MAKING KINGS! It’s our tax laws that need to be changed!
You pay taxes to the IRS and then the US Congress votes to give your hard earned tax dollars to their choice of corporations as “subsidies”. Your money is going to the choice of corporations selected by the US Congress, not to all of them, just to some of them. About 400 corporations receive the most of your tax dollars, millions or billions each. Not all corporations receive SUBSIDIES. The corporations selected by a vote of the U.S. Congress to receive subsidies are making a fortune by using your hard earned tax dollars to create products they sell internationally, but they keep all the profits for themselves and don’t give you a share. STOP MAKING KINGS!
Residents of District 9 will continue their discussion of Town matters in advance of Town Meeting (which is Saturday 11 April) in another of our periodic get-togethers. The District 9 forum will occur at 6:30 pm on Tuesday 31 March in the Community Room of the Brooks Memorial Library (3rd floor). At the suggestion of one of the participants at the last forum, we invite suggestions as to matters that should be scheduled for the agenda. Send your preferred topics to convenors Robert Oeser (robt.oeser@gmail.com) or David Levenbach (fideladelphia@gmail.com; 413.559.1533).
During Town Meeting Day, held on March 3, 2026, Brattleboro voters discontinued Representative Town Meeting. Representative Town Meeting, which had been originally scheduled for March 21, has been canceled, and Open Town Meeting will replace it on April 11.
At Open Town Meeting, all registered voters who are present can discuss, debate, amend, and vote on the town budget and on other binding and non-binding items. Below are some helpful dates and documents to review prior to the meeting.
Newly-elected Brattleboro Selectboard members were sworn in by Town Clerk Hilary Francis. Amanda Ellis-Thurber, Isaac Evans-Frantz, and Nell Mayo join Oscar Heller and Peter Case on the board.
The new Chair of the Brattleboro Selectboard is Oscar Heller. “Thanks for trusting me with this position.”
The Vice-Chair is Amanda Ellis Thurber.
March 4, 2026 Motion to Discharge S. J. Res. 104, a joint resolution to direct the removal of United States Armed Forces from hostilities within the Islamic Republic of Iran. ROLL CALL VOTE: Yea 47, Nay 53
This means the majority of Members of the United States Senate voted to CONTINUE the WAR WITH IRAN because they voted against (against = Nay 53) removal of U.S. Troops from Iran.
Good afternoon,
Please see attached for Brattleboro’s Official Town Meeting Day election results. The winners are in bold.
WSESD official results will be released from the Central School District office as they are ready.
Thank you,
Hilary
Thurber, Evans-Frantz, Mayo
Yes, Yes, Yes
Please see attached for Brattleboro’s Unofficial Town Meeting Day election results. These are the results from the ballot tallies, not including write-in votes, The projected winners are in bold.
WSESD results will be released from their central office once they have the results in from all voting towns.
Note that these are numbers that were crunched after a VERY long day. I will reiterate that they are UNOFFICIAL.
Thanks to the amazing poll workers and the American Legion who made today possible! We had a lot of voters coming through the doors – 28% for Town Meeting Day (similar to last year). The day was smooth and safe!
I support Amanda Ellis Thurber for the 3 year seat on the Brattleboro Selectboard. She’s been a farmer for years, was a founding member of the Brattleboro Area Farmers Market and she has been working with numerous regional organizations on issues revolving around sustainability of the farming economy and community. Amanda is pleasant and respectful to every community member. More important she has an open mind, is willing to ask questions and work to solve problems.
When former Town Manager Peter Elwell wrote a letter to the editor he expressed concerns about fiscal mismanagement. For Peter who was always measured and reasoned during his tenure in that position to raise the alarm to that level should cause one to look carefully. He steadfastly guided Brattleboro and managed the town’s finances well. Upon his departure Peter left the Town of Brattleboro in decent financial standing.
Pentagon announcement: Vermont Air National Guard and F-35 strike fighter jets are on their way to WAR. Please note that F-35 strike fighter jets are dual capable to carry nuclear bombs.
In other news, the Lunar Eclipse will occur early tomorrow morning, and then we will have the full moon in Virgo opposite Sun in Pisces. Virgo can be a cold calculated sign, great for precision missiles.
Pass the vomit bag.
Interview questions were sent to all candidates for Brattleboro Selectboard; for the first time, not everyone bothered to return answers (there is still time).
Here are the links to candidate interviews in one handy spot of those who chose to participate so far:
In her Reformer commentary, “I won’t be silenced,” Elizabeth McLoughlin claims to be committed to the Town’s “stability, safety, and fiscal health” and, so, wishes another three-year term on the Selectboard. When it comes to stability and fiscal health, Ms. McLoughlin has been a forceful member of a board that delivered an 11.4% Town property tax increase last year and is presenting a 6.3% increase for next year. Even so, we ran a deficit in FY24, and there may have been a deficit also in FY25—we don’t know on the last because the formal audit which is normally available in the fall won’t be completed until May or June.
Selectboard Chair Elizabeth McLoughlin made some grossly false charges against former Town Manager Peter Elwell in her piece in the Reformer on February 17. Why? Could it be because he had the temerity to express concerns about her impacts on town finances and on the atmosphere of town politics? McLoughlin’s disproportionate and misleading response seems to prove his point.
McLoughlin says Elwell favors defunding the police. He doesn’t. She says, correctly, that at one point the police department was down to 13 officers but fails to acknowledge that, in his capacity as town manager, Elwell hired Norma Hardy, the police chief who rebuilt the department and who developed and implemented the Downtown Safety Action Plan that McLoughlin supported. She implies that he seeks to create a new Community Safety Department with over $100,000 a year for an executive director. Not so.
Ken Fay is running for a three year seat on the Brattleboro Selectboard.
Introduce yourself. Who are you and what would you say are your qualifications for the job?
I’m Ken Fay running for the 3-year term on the selectboard. I believe that my qualifications for the position can be divided into two sections – what I have done professionally throughout my adult life as well as my life experiences. As a CPA with an MBA who has worked in finance and accounting and as a finance director for nonprofits as well as for an Alaskan municipality, I have hands on experience with municipal government. The towns in Alaska while smaller in size than Brattleboro had many of the same fiscal challenges – including that of doing more with less. Since graduating college in 1983, I have had 49 life events – 29 moves and 20 changes in employment. Having no children and never been married has allowed me that flexibility.
Issac Evans-Frantz is an incumbent running for a one year seat on the Brattleboro Selectboard.
Introduce yourself. Who are you and what would you say are your qualifications for the job?
My name is Isaac Evans-Frantz, and I’m the clerk of the Brattleboro Selectboard, running for re-election for a one-year term. I was born at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital and raised in West Brattleboro.
I bring a strong understanding of municipal finances and a willingness to dig into the details. I’ve consistently asked hard questions, advocated for responsible budgeting, and stood up for democratic processes, including voting against budgets I believed placed an undue burden on taxpayers.
Below is some helpful information for the March 3rd Town Meeting and WSESD School Board Director Elections.
Absentee Ballots
Absentee ballots for these elections were mailed by request. Please make sure to follow the instructions provided with your ballot, including:
Signing the certificate envelopeand ensuring your ballot/s are insidethe certificate envelope.
Using ablack pen to mark your ballot.
Do NOT use a markeras it can bleed through to the back of your ballot, requiring a replacement ballot.
WSESD you may vote in all town’s races for School Board.
Only vote for the number of seats available. Voting for more than the number indicated in that race will result in an overvote, and that vote will not be counted.
