Blog#237- 3/18/25
ATTACK FROM THE LEFT
By
Richard Davis
Disguised as socially responsible budget cutting, the anti-government juggernaut has come to little Brattleboro, Vermont. Don’t be fooled. This is the 2025 version of the Trojan Horse. Our town only has 12,000 people but recently factions have formed to override the decisions of the selectboard as well as trying to push back on an increased police presence after safety issues were identified.
What appears to be a sizeable faction does not want to see the town pass any kind of ordinance that would restrict socially unacceptable behavior because they feel it would unduly target the more vulnerable people in town.
In addition, they want Brattleboro to continue to be an outlier in relation to towns in Vermont as well as around the country by allocating two percent or more of the overall budget to support human service organizations. That amounts to over $400,000. Most towns have either eliminated this support or cut it drastically.
The town was facing a 22% increase in property taxes and the selectboard cut that to 12% with the help of town departments. Some unfilled positions may not be filled, but no cuts to existing positions were in the new budget.
It is easy to call for cuts to a budget from a comfortable distance. We are seeing this play out on a national level and the effect is devastating. I’m not saying that we have a local version of the Trump-Musk cabal, but what is being proposed by this new faction may end up causing a great deal more harm than good.
So far, no one in the faction has called for the elimination of specific positions. A Finance Committee report does provide information for consideration but there are no specific examples of what those cuts should be.
If this new so-called socially conscious faction is to have any credibility it must show the people of Brattleboro how they are going to cut four or five million dollars from a $25 million dollar budget so they can say that they have lowered the tax increase to an acceptable level.
The faction seems to be willing to give a higher priority to the very low income and homeless population than to other socio-economic levels of townspeople. The currently proposed budget has attempted to keep everyone on equal footing, but that is not good enough for the faction.
Is it worth cutting a tax increase from $300 for the average person to $100 by eliminating positions in the police department, the fire department, the department of public works and town offices so they can say the tax rate is acceptable?
Those who call for increased budget cuts should be required to talk to the families of town employees and tell them their husband and father is losing his job and that their children will have to relocate to a new school and make new friends.
Some of the newly elected members of the selectboard have called for creative ways to manage the budget and one has even gone so far as to mount a campaign to have Representative Town Meeting members reject the proposed budget in order to try to make cuts that have been supported by the faction.
I hope Brattleboro does not become an example of a Trump-Musk like attack from the left, but only time will tell. Stay tuned.
Interesting choice of words.
I know you are a writer and chose them very specifically.
Trojan Horse, “our town,” faction, so-called socially-conscious faction, the faction, the faction, the faction… seems like rather divisive language. (We’ll excuse the sexist “tell them their husband and father is losing their job” business. )
No job is guaranteed for life except a Supreme Court justice. Town of Brattleboro does not have “job guaranteed for life” for any staff.
The list of complaints is all enabled and allowed by the Brattleboro Charter:
– can RTM members change the budget amount suggested by the selectboard – YUP!
– can RTM members fund human services – YUP!
– can RTM care about high costs to residents? YUP!
– can RTM reps try to convince other reps to reject the budget? YUP!
– do they have to talk to staff to tell them “daddy” is losing a job. NOPE!
These are all perfectly democratic options allowed by the Charter that guides Town governance. No tricks or sneakiness. There’s no unelected body sneaking around making cuts – all RTM reps were elected.
These are allowed by the Charter because sometimes the Selectboard is perceived to have made errors, like this year, and RTM has ways to make corrections if they so choose.
Maybe they won’t. Maybe RTM reps love the work of the selectboard and are eager to implement the genius plan presented this year.
Or maybe they can’t afford to have property taxes go up by over 12%.
Also – an attack from the left? Are you sure?
…
I still think RTM should have a committee to create the budget and to leave the selectboard out of it. That way reps with financial expertise could work on the budget year after year if other Reps thought they did a good job. Think of it like a Finance Committee Plus. The Selectboard could focus on town governance, like they do in towns in MA that have RTM. (Brattleboro’s version of RTM not doing the budget is an aberration.) If a selectboard member wanted to work on the budget they could join RTM’s committee.
Mr. Davis is afraid of democracy.
What I hear in Mr. Davis’ comment is only paranoia and fear-mongering. As Mr. Grotke points out, there is nothing illegal or secretive about recent actions on homelessness. (except the Town’s illegal prosecution against the BCS shelter. See brmse.org .) Mr. Davis is generally scared, and particularly he’s scared because RTM voted to overturn a selectboard decision. So, he tries to invalidate that vote. (!) Does this remind you of someone ? .
Democracy
Amazing how you know what I am thinking. That’s a lot of power for one person to have. I base my comments on the reality I see, not the one I try to construct in my mind.
Hearing from Residents
Last night, March 19, there was an informal meeting of residents and RTM members from Disatrict 9.
Concerns expressed were that $1M was taken from the Unassigned Fund Balance and $2M from the Revolving Loan Fund and that the number of (FTE) employees increased from 125 in FY22 to 149 in FY25 and FY26. The Grand List and population are not increasing
It was argued that the use of the unassigned fund balance is not appropriate for items that are not true emergencies. Responding to a flood, using funds to build a retaining wall to halt a washout or demolishing a building which has been destroyed by fire are true emergencies. The reduction of the fund from the recommended 10% of budget to about 4% places the Town at a disadvantage, should a true emergency arise.
Similarly, the use of the Revolving Loan Fund (RLF), while “under the exclusive control of the Selectboard” has been stretched to include items beyond the funds purposes. At the end of FY24, the RLF was at $2.6M. The Selkectboard made expenditures from the fund resulting on a current balance of $476K.
The importance of addressing downtown safety is a laudable goal; however, it cannot be approached in a way to prejudice the Town’s financial position. Currently, there is a “Police Department Substation in the Municipal Center …, [repurposed from 1,700 square feet on the first floor, at a] cost well under the $80,000 allocated ….” p. 54 of the Town Annual Report. [A resident at the meeting also suggested a trailer could be used as a mobile substation; perhaps a less costly and more flexible alternative.]
Typos
Pardon my typos 🙁