Brattleboro became the first town in the state to ban single use plastic bags under 2.25 mil in thickness. It was the culmination of nearly a year-long effort of citizens and officials, and was adopted by a split-decision of the Brattleboro Selectboard.
Brattleboro’s Town Manager revealed the results of his summer explorations of issues of diversity, inclusion, and equity. He got generally good reviews for the summary of his report, but more than a few requested some additional specifics be included. Brattleboro seems to be in a good position to make progress over the long term, but benchmarks and budgets might help.
The pesky panhandling sign returned in a semi-uncertain form, with wording in question and sponsoring organizations and services asking for their logos to be removed. The private effort was to be a collaboration, but appears to have offended a few too many.
The board also signed a statement in support of other climate agreements being signed around the globe. (For Kate O’Connor’s sake, I’ll say here that Brattleboro has been working on climate issues for a long time, is committed to action, and will continue to be so.)
All this, and possibly more.
The Brattleboro Selectboard held an extensive discussion of diversity, both in Town hiring practices and the community at large. It was a start and step toward something probably positive, though the goals and steps to get there remain to be more fully developed.
Emergency repairs at the pool and the Harris parking lot were the other big items on the agenda, but the long diversity discussion made for quick summaries of these and other smaller matters due to a late hour.
