Selectboard Meeting Notes – Chair Encourages Civility For Herself; Loses It Over Rescue Comment; Budget Passes

selectboard may 1 2025

The Brattleboro Selectboard held a May Day meeting to discuss and pass their new budget, which takes the overall municipal tax increase down from 12.1% to 10.8%, shaving 1.3% from the budget rejected by Representative Town Meeting.

The public, those allowed to speak, weren’t very impressed.

Chair McLoughlin began by apologizing for being rude to young people at the previous board meeting. Later on, she shut down the meeting with gavel banging and demands for an adult to stop speaking about something she said could not be tolerated-  a discussion of Rescue Inc correcting the record. 


Finance Committee Resolution

The Finance Committee of Representative Town Meeting approved the following resolution at its 18 December meeting:

The Finance Committee is concerned that the Selectboard was unwilling to consider staff cuts during its December 17 discussion for reducing the FY26 budget, relying instead on cuts to services and deferrals to FY27. The Finance Committee calls upon the Selectboard to instruct the Town Manager to present to the Selectboard a list of potential staff cuts to consider for FY26 at its next meeting. We recognize that the concept of staff cuts is painful, but we believe that considering it is an essential part of the responsible management of the Town.


Selectboard Meeting Notes – Safety and Spending

brattleboro selectboard sept 14

The Brattleboro Selectboard is easing into budget season while wrestling with the safety of retuning to in-person meetings. They got an update on the Water Treatment Plant upgrade, paid for some emergency repairs, gave out a liquor license, and discussed Town Manager Elwell’s final Long Term Financial Plan.

There was more – there will be new stop signs coming to some corners, a discussion of ARPA fund possibilities was quick, and a discussion of blinking crosswalks took quite a while.


Brattleboro Selectboard Meeting Agenda and Notes – September 14, 2021

The Brattleboro Selectboard willl take up a number of water treatment plant issues at their next regular meeting. This includes emergency replacement of a blower and other emergency repairs for wells, a project update, and a loan application. The board will continue discussion of adjusting COVID rules, hear an update on ARPA funding, consider some traffic safety measures, and contemplate Town Manager Elwell’s final Long Term Financial Plan, FY23-27.