BRATTLEBORO-The Annual Town Election takes place for all town voters on Town Meeting Day, Tuesday, March 4, and eight candidates are competing for three seats on the Selectboard.
The following overviews have been compiled with the help of information and responses from candidates gathered from the League of Women Voters. The Commons and the Brattleboro Reformer are both media partners in the nonpartisan organization's civic engagement efforts.
Two candidates vie for three-year seat
Oscar Heller is a Representative Town Meeting member and has served for six years on the body's Finance Committee, which he currently chairs.
He says creating the town budget is the single most important job of the Selectboard and he believes "we've gotten off track." Heller says he has a plan to get the budget back on track and his goal is to "guide us through the challenges."
A small business owner and a property taxpayer, Heller has been a landlord since 2018 but rented most of his life. He says he remembers "how challenging and powerless that could feel."
"I believe in the power of conversation and listening, and I know that the same people who take a hard line in public can be nuanced and thoughtful in private," Heller says. "We need to find a way to bring our defenses down a little and come together as a community."
Heller says he'd like the board to "take more of a leadership role on community issues."
"As an example, I'd like to create an empty storefronts task force focused on economic development, including two members of the Selectboard, representatives of local development organizations, and a member of the Planning Department," he says. "We could drive around town for an afternoon and come up with a complete list of empty storefronts, and reach out both to the property owners and potential tenants and start making connections."
Heller feels the same hands-on approach can be applied to other problems.
"We're going to solve our community problems with community solutions: people and organizations coming together to get to work. I think the Selectboard can play a valuable leadership role in that process."
Heller, who ran for the Selectboard in 2019 and 2023, agrees the town is divided on difficult issues such as crime, homelessness, and policing. He says he "doesn't want to see our town descend into a political mud fight just because we don't have a common enemy to unite us."
"We can't have a healthy community that's permanently divided on core issues like safety," he says. "The only sustainable path forward is to build a consensus. We have to find a way to work together."
Jill Stahl Tyler has three children, all of whom attended Brattleboro public schools. She feels her roots in the community are deep.
Among her 30-year experience of the town, she counts knowledge gained as executive director at Community House for 3½ years, eight years on the school board, many years fundraising and volunteering in local schools, eight years coordinating local international exchange students, leadership at Trinity Lutheran Church, serving as president of the Brattleboro Garden Club, volunteering with Gallery Walk and various other places in town, and writing a column for the Brattleboro Reformer.
Stahl Tyler says she choose to run because her "dairy farmer parents always said that if I wanted something to be different, I should get to work and help change it to be better.
"I chose the longer, three-year seat commitment because I know that this is a process that takes some time," she says.
Stahl Tyler says that overall, she believes the current board is "listening to the public and trying to respond to concerns," but she'd still change a few things. She would "make public comments easier, hear more regular reporting from staff, be clearer about budgeting process timing, review financial information monthly, and have more long-term financial outlook.
"If voters elect me to the Selectboard, you'll hear me asking the same questions I asked while on school board: What is the best quality of life we can provide? What can the Selectboard do to address the most significant problems affecting us as citizens? And how can we do that at a reasonable cost?" says Stahl Tyler.
She says it has "been difficult to watch" the town polarize on some important issues and her ideas to encourage constructive dialogue include that "before meetings, written public comments should be submitted to the Selectboard at one email address and all emails posted to the town website" and that board members seek answers to those questions from town staff members prior to the meeting.
'During the meeting, limited time would still be allowed for oral public comment," she says. "Every person [would receive] the same amount of time, and [would be permitted to] speak only once on each topic. Board members would take notes of any follow-up they want. After public comment, the board [could] choose how to respond."
Two one-year terms draw six candidates
Six residents are vying for two one-year terms on the board. Incumbents Franz Reichsman and Richard Davis are seeking re-election and Amanda Ellis-Thurber, Isaac Evans-Frantz, Cristina "Ina" Shayonye , and former board member Timothy "Tim" Wessel are challenging them for the seats.
Richard Davis was elected to the board for the first time in 2024.
'I have a proven track record of being able to solve problems efficiently while creating a climate of collegial collaboration," he says. "Using those skills during this past year I believe helped to contribute to the cooperative climate among Brattleboro selectboard members."
Davis has worked in the human service sector all his career, including 46 years as a registered nurse. He also has been involved in creating and running three nonprofit organizations, including the Windham County Heat Fund, which has raised more than $1 million in the past 20 years and has helped more than 2,000 people with winter fuel assistance.
He said he's running again because he feels he has "the background and skills to make commonsense, reasonable decisions that balance the needs of the community and their capacity to pay for services. I am not a one-issue candidate. I am running because I want to make Brattleboro the best possible town it can be."
Davis thinks the current board "has been able to work well together developing consensus on most issues" but needs to "develop better long-term financial planning."
Regarding town polarization, Davis believes the board "has provided numerous opportunities for public engagement on issues of concern to the community."
"Safety and economic equality, especially providing more affordable housing, need to be given high priority," he says. "High taxes make living in Brattleboro hard for many people. The town needs to develop a budget plan that looks a few years ahead so that we can be prepared for the future while anticipating the cost of running the town and also improving it. We do some of that now, but we can do a better job."
Davis notes it's been "a contentious year" in which residents have differed when it comes to safety, taxes, trash, homelessness, and policing.
"The Selectboard has addressed these issues, but solutions are never perfect," he says. "We were able to head off a 22% potential tax increase and got it down to 12%, which will still be difficult for many people. The downtown safety plan started to show positive results, and residents' views on the evolving safety plan need to be given priority."
As others are, Davis is pondering the human services allocation historically made by RTM.
"As our town, and many others, face ever-increasing taxes we have been forced to look at money we spend and try to decide if we can continue to support programs that we have funded in the past. The tradition of funding nonprofits is changing in many towns and some have eliminated this item entirely from their budgets and others have modified it," Davis says.
"As a Selectboard member, I feel compelled to look at all options for lowering taxes," he continues. "When I speak to local people. I often hear that older people are considering moving because of the high property tax burden. I think we should continue to support human service agencies, but I think we need to consider at what level to do that."
Amanda Ellis-Thurber has lived in Brattleboro for 30 years and operates a diversified farm business, Lilac Ridge Farm, with her family in West Brattleboro.
She has three children here and supported their efforts community sports and arts programs as well as volunteering in the town.
"My years of engagement and deep commitment to our community give me the foundation for reflection on the past with gratitude and more profoundly an understanding of the importance to plan for our future," she says.
"I've served on a variety of boards, both in Brattleboro and statewide: Brattleboro Farmers Market board, Windham World Affairs in the launch of the Peace Jam club at [Brattleboro Union High School], the Vermont Farm to Plate Steering committee, the Vermont Working Lands board, and the Vermont Farm Service Agency Committee under the Obama administration."
In addition to growing food, she teaches on-farm education to children and youth in Brattleboro schools and volunteers in the community.
If elected, Ellis-Thurber says, her goals would be "to support our middle class with housing availability and job growth, advocate and coordinate revenue sharing with the state to support community members most deeply in need, and decrease costs while increasing revenue through business growth for career-seeking young people."
"Many members of our community are fearful of tax hikes and the unaffordability of our town," the candidate says. "Long-term, strategic financial planning done collaboratively with the Selectboard, town manager and town departments, and committees - especially the Finance Committee, who has been working very diligently and has concerns for our financial future.
"Brattleboro's affordability is deeply intertwined with the vibrancy of our area businesses, our jobs, our housing," Ellis-Thurber continues. "We desperately need to nourish and build up our middle-income, working class in our town."
As to leading the town out of polarization, Ellis-Thurber says the role of Selectboard member is "to allocate funding towards municipal services in the most cost-effective way at a rate taxpayers can afford."
"Brattleboro has always been a caring community and I am proud of that and have worked toward that in the work that I do," she says. "Yet, in the past two years or so, we have strayed from kindness and respect in our community conversations, especially on platforms such as Facebook.
"Embittered grudges and polarized opinions need to be loosened in order to work together towards our future. We have a tremendous amount of opportunity in our community. We cannot let the noise of constant arguing get in the way.
"This new Selectboard year of planning, budgeting, and envisioning needs to be future-oriented and lean in to the awesome community resources that we have here in Brattleboro," Ellis-Thurber says. "Time to work together for positive change and prosperity."
Isaac Evans-Frantz was born and went to school here and says he is "deeply committed to the people of Brattleboro."
"I have brought people together across political divides nationally and achieved policy change. I'm ready to do that in Brattleboro," says the candidate, whose election team "has been knocking on doors all over Brattleboro."
"Residents are telling us they are concerned about the Selectboard's proposed property tax increase of more than 12%, drug trafficking, and lack of shelter for people who are sleeping out in the cold," he says. "We need a Selectboard member who listens to residents and brings people together for a stronger Brattleboro, for policies that actually work."
If elected, Evans-Frantz pledges to "spend wisely; we need a budget that taxpayers can afford; keep us safe; I will continue to call for tools to stand up to drug traffickers in our neighborhoods; and save lives."
"We need to strengthen local solutions that support one another and shelter our neighbors," he says.
To improve the Selectboard's stewardship of the town, Evans-Frantz says, "the status quo is not working for many of us. Just look at the Selectboard's budget, which, if passed, is going to require a tax hike of more than 12%. My paycheck is not increasing by 12%. It's not even increasing by 3%. The board created this budget with total disregard for the Representative Town Meeting Finance Committee's input. This is why I spoke out at the Jan. 21 Selectboard meeting and asked them to disapprove the budget."
Evans-Frantz says "effective action" is needed to address the increased violence and need for food, shelter, and health care in Brattleboro.
He says that the Acceptable Community Conduct Ordinance - first passed by the Selectboard and then rescinded at a Special Representative Town Meeting convened by voter petition - was "was created without buy-in from providers of services required by the ordinance and without looking at unintended consequences in towns where similar ordinances were enacted."
"After hearing reasons for and against the ordinance, the Representative Town Meeting overturned it, but the Selectboard keeps pushing it," Evans-Frantz says. "People in power repeating votes until they get the results they want. That's not democracy."
To build unity and consensus, Evans-Frantz says, the board and town management "can secure support from a wider variety of key stakeholders before bringing forth policies for votes."
"Board members and town administrators can individually meet with community groups and leaders that are expressing concerns about proposed Selectboard policies," he says. "The board should seriously consider the input of people whose lives and work will be most affected by their policies."
Franz P. Reichsman came to Brattleboro in 1970 and moved here permanently after finishing his medical training in New York City in 1986.
He retired as an emergency room physician in 2016, then worked part-time for a few years as a hospice doctor. Reichsman has served on the Selectboard for two years. He had previously chaired the Representative Town Meeting Finance Committee for five years.
"In the process, I've learned a lot about how town government works and how to get things done," Reichsman says. "This knowledge and experience provides a platform for defining our objectives and reaching our goals."
The candidate says his main concern is with the budget process.
'I think it's essential for us to be looking to the future in as much detail as is practical, in order to avoid problems and pitfalls that lie ahead," he says. "Failing to anticipate will almost inevitably result in costly inefficiencies and budgetary difficulties that could have been avoided. Tightening up our budget process should be a top priority for the new Selectboard."
For Reichsman, communication is key to "maintaining civility in our political process."
'Creating opportunities for people to express their opinions and to learn from others is the glue that will hold us together," he says. "I've made an effort in this regard by holding 'office hours' every Wednesday and Friday to give people a Selectboard communications boost. Everyone is welcome to stop in and tell me what's on their mind, and I hope to see you there soon. (Hours are at The Works on Main Street on Wednesdays from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. and Fridays from 8 to 10 a.m.)
"In addition, the voters of Brattleboro have an excellent opportunity to more directly address issues relating to acceptable behavior and drug use in the downtown area. The Selectboard has included advisory questions on these topics for the ballot on March 4. If people get out and vote, they'll be able to register their thoughts on specific issues as well as vote for the candidates they support."
Cristina "Ina" Shay-Onye says the Selectboard "should be as diverse as our town, and as a low-income working parent," she pledges to bring a "vital yet underrepresented voice to the board."
Her qualifications include a year on the Finance Committee. She has an Education Specialist Credential with a specialty in accessibility and background in environmental and biological science.
Shay-Onye's current line of work involves "reimagining and creating infrastructure for housing, education and other basic needs."
"I am running because a critical mass of residents do not feel represented by the Selectboard, and I want to broaden the priorities of our town's leadership by bringing the voices of low-income, working families and individuals to the center of the conversation."
For Shay-Onye, one of the town's most pressing issues is "a lack of transitional support for folks who are released from the [Brattleboro] Retreat and the motel voucher program [the state's General Assistance Emergency Housing Program]."
"There is a gross lack of options available for those who are struggling to get back on their feet and this directly leads to more homelessness and an unsustainable burden on our emergency services," the candidate says.
"We need transitional housing, drug treatment options, sober living options, and then, of course, homes that low-income residents of Brattleboro can afford," Shay-Onye says. "As home to the largest psychiatric hospital in the state and shelter to hundreds of Vermonters temporarily living in motels, our municipality must advocate for more state support."
Shay-Onye also says the crafting the town budget is the board's biggest job.
"As a current Finance Committee member, I will arrive on the board already well-versed in the details of our town finances," she says. "In recent years there have been changes made to the fiduciary responsibility of board members, and I do not think those changes have served the taxpayers well. I will advocate for the return of monthly line item reports from each department to be reviewed by the Selectboard, and the return of long-term financial planning.
"Our current Selectboard has abandoned long-term financial planning for our town even though this is a fundamental part of financial management," Shay-Onye says. "Our funds for emergency use have been depleted, and there is currently no plan to replenish them."
She says she is "particularly concerned about this after learning that Brattleboro does not have resources ready to mobilize in the event of an emergency. On the board, I will prioritize our town's emergency preparedness."
Timothy "Tim" Wessel has served on the Selectboard here for four terms, for a total of six years, from 2017 until 2023.
"During those years I worked hard to be a voice of moderation, of sensible values, and I became a well-known supporter of both our fire and police departments," he says.
Wessel chaired the board during the pandemic, when meetings were forced to be conducted online.
"I'm proud of the way we became the first Selectboard to refine a fair and democratic online meeting format," he says.
Since 2007, Wessel has lived in town and has operated his video production business, Vermont Films Group, Inc.
"I am deeply invested in my community," he says. "I love Brattleboro."
Wessel calls himself "a forward-thinking, hard-working, and time-tested public servant; one who is open to listening, enhancing respectful dialogue, and dedicated to positive progress for all of Brattleboro."
Regarding the current board, Wessel says it was faced with "some tough decisions and challenging situations with cost increases."
"I do feel that the board had a responsibility to look at all the ways to reduce the tax burden, including staff cuts," he says. "No other current candidate or sitting board member has as much experience with how our town government works. And no one has more motivation to bring our tax increases back down to what they once were.
"In the six years I served, we never went above a 4.5% increase. No other candidate has more incentive to bring those increases down than myself. It's true that I will only be one of five on the new board, but don't you want at least one proven fiscal conservative fighting for you?"
Regarding town polarization, Wessel says board members "must do their absolute best to be above the fray that is so rampant at this time, both at a national and now local level."
"From a board perspective, it all comes down to concentrating on good policy, and ignore the personal attacks that come at them, and refuse to engage in such attacks," he says.
"If the focus is on the whys and hows of local policies, common ground can be found and we can move forward, even when folks come from wildly different personal philosophies," he says.
"The first question must be 'What can we agree on here?' and build from that question, so that trust is built with a community that you are truly representing your constituents, even if you disagree on policy details," Wessel says.
The League of Women Voters of Vermont invited all the candidates in the Brattleboro March 4 election to speak directly to voters through answering a set of questions. The questions were created with our media partners, the Brattleboro Reformer and The Commons, to create a fair, impartial, and locally relevant online forum. The League had final say on the questions asked. To see the full unedited responses received from the candidates, as published on vote411.org, visit commonsnews.org/issue/802/candidates_lwv.
This News item by Virginia Ray was written for The Commons.