Brattleboro voters are encouraged to watch the Brattleboro Selectboard Candidates Forum on Tuesday, February 23 from 6-8 PM to learn about this year’s slate of candidates. The event is being presented by iBrattleboro.com and BCTV and will be live streamed to Comcast channel 1085 and BCTV’s Facebook page.
It’s a virtual forum this year, held via Zoom.
The Brattleboro Selectboard held a meeting to set dates for three Representative Town Meeting informational sessions. They approved liquor licenses, made appointments, certified highway mileage, and began design work on a shiny new parking lot.
Candidate for Selectboard Gary Stroud dropped out of the race, citing health issues that would prevent him from doing all that was necessary to be on the board.
Jessica Gelter is running for a one-year seat on the Brattleboro Selectboard.
Tell us about yourself….
I’m an artist, a nonprofit executive, small business coach, and an engaged citizen. For many years, theater has been my way into conversations about politics, conflict, and the human condition. In 2016, I got involved Brattleboro’s Planning Commission because I wanted to learn how our local government systems work and play a role in crafting our town’s future.
Evan Chadwick is running for a one-year seat on the Brattleboro Selectboard.
Tell us about yourself….
I have lived in Brattleboro since 2006. I graduated from Keene State with a bachelors degree in social science. I then enrolled in a 4 year legal clerkship at the the law office of Thomas Costello. I took the bar in 2012 and began my own law firm now named Chadwick and Spensley PLLC. We have three offices located in Brattleboro, Pittsford and Randolph. A large part of our practice is prosecuting police brutality cases against cities such as Burlington and Saint Albans. For seven years I was the head boys basketball coach at Bellows Falls Union High School. Last year I served as the freshmen coach at Brattleboro High School.
The Brattleboro Selectboard is likely to add a Charter Amendment to the Town Meeting Warning that would eliminate the need for future Charter changes to approved by the state legislature.
The board will hear an update on the Water Treatment facility project, continue finalizing their FY22 budget for RTM consideration, and will continue their discussion of the Community Safety Review Committee’s recommendations. You can bring up other items not on the agenda during Public Participation.
The Brattleboro Selectboard approved of a few items for their FY22 budget recommendations, raising the amount for paving and agreeing to the increases for BCTV and Human Services. They also continued their discussion of the community safety report, and will continue to continue that discussion next week and in the future.
Outstanding FY22 budget issues will be discussed at the next regular meeting of the Brattleboro Selectboard. How much paving should be done? Should board members get more compensation? Should one local media outlet (BCTV) be favored with funding from taxpayers? How much should Brattleboro spend on Human Services?
The board will also continue discussion of the Community Safety Review report and extend a contract for financial services. You can bring up other items not on the agenda during public participation.
Marginalized populations of Brattleboro were a common theme for the Brattleboro Selectboard at their first meeting of the new year. They struggled with Human Services funding requests, then listened to an extended overview of the Community Safety report.
Everyone is encouraged to read the full report then return next week for more discussion of this and other topics.
2021, for me, marks 20 years of watching the Brattleboro Selectboard.
I first turned the show on when we moved to Brattleboro in 2001. At first, it was to learn about Brattleboro and what was going on here, but soon the experience evolved more into watching something akin to a soap opera.
The show has the regular cast of characters: Town Manager, department heads, and support staff. They stay on the show season after season with few changes, though major roles get recast from time to time. New roles have been introduced, too: the Assistant Town Manager, the Human Services Director, and the Sustainability Coordinator are examples.
To kick off the new year, the Brattleboro Selectboard will hear a report and recommendations from the Community Safety Review Committee. The board will also consider an increase to Human Services funding, contemplate mailed ballots for Town Meeting Day, and call for volunteers to serve on committees.
Shall the voters of Brattleboro be allowed to vote to opt-in to retail sales of cannabis? The Brattleboro Selectboard will decide it the question will be asked on March 2 ballots at their next special meeting.
They’ll also accept a planning grant and continue with their review of the FY22 budget, which is a great time for Representative Town Meeting Reps to pay attention and report back to all of us about what the budget will contain.
The Brattleboro Selectboard voted 3-2 in favor of a rental housing ordinance that limits the amount landlords can collect upfront from new tenants. It takes effect in February.
The board was unanimous in the support of monsters.
There is a monster on the agenda for the next regular meeting of the Brattleboro Selectboard. It’s a channel monster grinder in need of some love and attention.
The board will also discuss non-monster items, such as the 2nd reading of the rental housing ordinance, a radio tower agreement, a new solar site designation, and more of the FY22 budget. You can bring up other items not already on the agenda, be they monster or non-monster, during public and monster participation.
Tuesday’s meeting of the Brattleboro Selectboard featured discussions of rental housing, downtown, marketing, tax exemptions, and a new Amtrak station. And the meeting, again, was very long.
Goodbye, Archery Building. At their next meeting, the Brattleboro Selectboard will be voting to tear down the old train yard building to make room for paved parking spaces.
They will also hear another first reading of the proposed Rental Housing ordinance, hear updates on community marketing and the Downtown Brattleboro Alliance, consider tax exemptions for five properties, and continue with their review of the FY22 budget. If you are so inclined, you can add to the agenda by bringing up other items during public participation.
Brattleboro Selectboard meetings have become very long. Too long, really.
It isn’t the number of items on the agenda. Even a short agenda can lead to a very long meeting.
Holding the meetings online might be part of the problem.
First, it adds time to each meeting to explain how to participate. It adds time to invite people to speak and wait for them to work out technical issues. Almost every virtual meeting has delays due to the meeting being virtual. Sometimes they are short delays, but they add up.
The Brattleboro Selectboard will hold a special meeting on Tuesday, November 24, 2020, using Zoom (with no physical location due to the ongoing social distancing requirements of COVID-19). The Board will convene at 5:15pm and is expected to enter into executive session to discuss the negotiating or securing of real estate purchase or lease options and the appointment or employment or evaluation of a public officer or employee, and to enter into deliberative session to deliberate on the Hinsdale Bridge takings and eminent domain matter involving the lands of Tullius on Left Bank Way. The Board will reconvene at 6:15pm for the business portion of the meeting. The attached agenda contains information about how to access the meeting remotely, including the required “passcode.” Information about how to connect to the meeting is also posted on the homepage of the Town’s website. ASL interpreters will be available for deaf and hard-of-hearing community members.
The Brattleboro Selectboard will attempt their first “consent agenda” at their next regular meeting. It is an effort to move things along at a slightly quicker pace than before by grouping items that are simple and require no discussion.
Bigger issues for Tuesday’s meeting include an update to inform the board that Community Development Block Grants cannot be used for direct aid to tenants, SeVEDS will give their annual update and appeal for funding, the Energy Committee will offer up their revised goals, and the FY22 budget exploration gets underway with a discussion of revenues, capital projects, and capital equipment needs. You can bring up other items not on the agenda during public participation.
Tuesday’s special meeting of the Brattleboro Selectboard was mostly about money, but also a bit about scheduling. These was also a good summary of how the sustainability coordinator position has evolved in year one.
Tired of long Brattleboro Selectboard meetings? You aren’t alone. At their next special meeting the board will consider using a “consent agenda” as a way to potentially speed things up on a trial basis for the next few months.
The board will also take up a few other matters that slipped through the cracks recently due to… long meetings. They’ll hear about a plan for sustainability, financial reports, the revised Long Term Financial Plan, and will et a schedule to hammer of the FY22 budget. You can bring up other itmes not on the agenda during public participation.
