For opinion pieces on any topic.
Richard Evers is a write-in candidate for a District 3 Town Meeting Member seat. I have been well acquainted with Richard for twenty years and have always known him to be interested in and aware of town issues. He is thoughtful and uses good judgement. I recommend writing in his name for a District 3 Town Meeting Member seat.
Thank you.
Because the media are not perfect, there are three misconceptions that persist about the amendments and I would like to clear them up in these last days before the election.
First, the charter clearly shows how the representative town meeting (RTM) restricted the rights to call for votes. Anyone can check this our on the town web site: See brattleboro.org, click “Charter, ordinances” > “charter”.
The RTM did uselessly lower a signature requirement but at the same time authorized
themselves to vote first and block the petitioned article from the ballot. Their revision (charter article III 2 B)
says:
Speaking rhetorically about legalizing marijuana, I hear the repeating theme that VT needs to do it right, especially every time CO and WA is brought up.
But I have wondered of late, how it is that we can do it wrong?
The unbiased reports from CO especially, and WA all report the upshot results of marijuana legalization are very favorable by every indicator. Yet, except for the deranged Patrick ‘Druggy’ Kennedy’s so-called Smart group it’s not clear exactly what can go wrong.
Questions were sent to all three candidates running for Selectboard. As of Friday afternoon, neither Donna Macomber nor John Allen has replied.
If either answers the questions, we’ll post them here for the enlightenment of voters.
3rd White House Error message at “We the People” petition section of President Obama’s official government White House website. This has occurred at 1091 signatures on the Make Marijuana Legal petition, and it previously occurred at 1064 signatures on the Make Marijuana Legal petition, and before that it occurred when the petition had not reached the first 150 requirement.
A big, fat false flag is likely in the works, so the DHS can get its funding
A video purported to be by Somalia’s al-Qaida-linked rebel group al-Shabab urged Muslims to attack shopping malls in the U.S., Canada, Britain and other Western countries.
The masked narrator concluded an hour-long video by calling on Muslims to attack shopping malls, specifically naming the Mall of America, as well as the West Edmonton Mall in Canada and the Westfield mall in Stratford, England.
Brattleboro residents can vote on March 3 ( or by early voting now at the Town Clerk’s Office) about whether we should add a 1% optional sales tax here in Brattleboro.
This is a difficult issue because many fear it will hurt our downtown businesses and Brattleboro residents will also pay this extra 1% tax.( It won’t just be people who live out – of -town or out -of -state. ) On the other hand, it has been estimated that it could raise around $600,000 in extra revenue for the town.
I haven’t heard much public comment about this issue and I ‘d be interested to know what I-Brattleboro readers think.
At the top of the column it says “An error has” and then it states “Sorry there is a technical problem and this petition cannot be signed right now. Please try again n a few minutes. If you receive this error repeatedly, you may contact We The People to report the problem.
Well, this is the 2nd time the “MAKE MARIJUANA LEGAL!” petition at the White House – We The People section of the official Presidential website, has occurred. This really slows down collecting petition signatures! Funny, I don’t see this “Error” message on other petitions.
David Gartenstein is running for a one-year seat on the Brattleboro Selectboard. We asked him some questions, and his answers follow. Election day is Tuesday, March 3rd.
…..
– What lessons would you say you have you learned since joining the board?
Serving as a member of the Selectboard, and as Chair, have reinforced for me the vital importance of ensuring that everyone is heard with respect. We face many competing priorities in Brattleboro, and our goal should be to achieve what is best for the town and its residents given our limited resources.
I just received an email from the selectboard about town meeting.
“Town Meeting Representatives: — As you may know, the March 3 ballot contains three proposed Charter amendments. Attached for your information is the “Proposed Brattleboro Charter Amendment Information Sheet” that was prepared and endorsed by the Selectboard.”
Well, it was not “Information”, it was “Propaganda”. It was telling us to vote the way the Selectboard wanted us to.
I guess they have a right to do that, but we have an equal right to ignore it.
For the record, here are the 3 proposed amendments:
I hope all of you will turn out for the sole meeting the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will hold for public feedback on the proposed Post Shutdown Decommissioning Activities Report (PSDAR) Entergy hastily submitted to the NRC in December 2014. NRC meeting is February 19, 6 to 9 pm. Address and NRC notice is here: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/news/2015/15-004.i.pdf
PROPOSED BRATTLEBORO CHARTER AMENDMENT INFORMATION SHEET
Proposed amendments to Brattleboro’s Charter are on the March 3, 2015 ballot. The Brattleboro Selectboard asks you to consider the following when voting.
TOWN MEETING TERM LIMITS
Brattleboro’s Town Meeting is both participatory and representative democracy. Up to 155 residents get elected and gather annually to make budget and policy decisions for the Town. It is anti-democratic to ban Brattleboro residents from Town Meeting because they have attended 6 years in a row. Term limits would bar many residents who now attend Town Meeting, and the institutional memory they bring with them would be lost. Right now there are 25 open Town Meeting slots, so anyone interested in joining already can. Term limits actually could empty out Town Meeting so there would not even be a quorum.
On Monday, February 23rd, at 5:00 PM, all West Brattleboro businesses are invited to discuss business and economic development ideas with Brattleboro and Windham County development organizations. Representatives will be present from Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation, Brattleboro Area Chamber of Commerce, Windham Regional Commission and the Town of Brattleboro.
The meeting (which was postponed from the original date two weeks ago due to a snowstorm) will take
place in the central conference room at the 55 Marlboro Road building and is being organized by the West Brattleboro Association. (55 Marlboro Rd. is the long building with Central Appliance at its right corner. Use the front center door and head to the back.) Light refreshments will be provided.
The Brattleboro Selectboard has drafted and is considering adopting and mailing the following “Fact Sheet” related to the proposed Charter changes on the upcoming March ballot. The mailing to all residences will cost under $3000.
Below you’ll find an attachment that included the draft text being considered, as it appeared in the Selectboard meeting materials for their February 17 meeting, to be held later tonight. If approved, you will also get a copy in the mail.
Bipartisan initiative would boost Vermont’s biomass industry
Burlington, VT—This afternoon in Montpelier, Rep. Peter Welch announced bipartisan legislation that would make it more affordable for Vermonters to install wood heating systems in their homes or businesses.
The Biomass Thermal Utilization(BTU) Act would expand the existing renewable energy tax credit to include wood, or “biomass thermal,” heating systems. Welch made the announcement at National Life Group’s Montpelier campus. The company installed a wood heating system in 2010 that has reduced its carbon footprint by 45 percent and heating costs by 50 percent.
First a little background :
Tom Wheeler, was appointed by Obama, to be the FCC chairman. He could not be more of a corporate insider. Prior to this post Tom was the CEO of the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association for 12 years. Before that he served as president of the National Cable Television Association, a cable lobbying shop. “He’s beloved in the telecom industry.”
Early/absentee ballots for Annual Town and Town School District election to be held on March 3, are now available in the Brattleboro town clerk’s office. Anyone wishing to vote prior to March 3, may apply for an early/absentee ballot until 5:00 p.m. on Monday, March 2.
Early/absentee ballots may be voted in person in the clerk’s office, mailed to the voter by the clerk’s office, picked up by the voter or delivered to the voter’s residence by two justices of the peace. All voted ballots must be received by the clerk before the polls close on election day in order to be counted.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 12 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was at the White House today when President Barack Obama signed legislation to address suicides among veterans.
“This bill says loudly and clearly that we understand suicide among veterans is a national tragedy and it begins the process of addressing the problem,” said Sanders, who headed the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee when the panel late last year passed the measure.
Twenty-two veterans a day, on average, take their own lives. “The suicide rate, especially among young veterans, is tragically high and we have to do everything we can get these veterans timely access to the quality of care they have earned and deserve,” Sanders said.
Washington, DC – This morning, President Obama sent Congress a plan to authorize the use of force against ISIS. Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) gave the following response after reviewing the proposal:
“Congress has been ducking its Constitutional responsibility to authorize this war so I am pleased that the President is now forcing Congress to do its job. However, I cannot support this authorization as written. It leaves in place the Bush-era open ended authorization that led to so much harm.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 11 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) issued the following statement today after President Barack Obama formally asked Congress to authorize a military campaign against the Islamic State terrorist group:
“The Islamic State is a brutal and dangerous terrorist organization which has murdered thousands of innocent men, women and children, including Americans. It must be defeated.
“I voted against the war in Iraq because I feared very much the destabilizing impact it would have on the region. Today, after 13 years in Afghanistan and 12 years in Iraq, after the loss of almost 7,000 troops and the expenditure of trillions of dollars, I very much fear U.S. involvement in an expanding and never-ending quagmire in that region of the world.
