BRATTLEBORO-Public hearings regarding changes to the town charter that have come to the Selectboard via petition will be held Tuesday, Jan. 27, in the Municipal Center and via Zoom, and Thursday, Feb. 5 at 6:15 p.m. in the Selectboard meeting room.
State law requires that the Selectboard hold at least two public hearings prior to voter consideration of the charter proposal.
The town has received two petitions signed by 5% of voters to amend the town charter. The petitions were received Aug. 4, 2025, and Sept. 9, 2025, and the requisite number of signatures was verified by Town Clerk Hilary Francis.
The board will open each public hearing to hear all comment on the proposed charter amendments, and the agenda for the Jan. 27 meeting calls for “presentations by the charter petitioners.”
Because the charter amendment was brought by petition, the Selectboard has no authority to make changes to its wording, according to a post on the Brattleboro municipal website.
The matter will be submitted to voters at the 2026 annual Town Meeting because that is the “next annual meeting, primary, or general election” before which the appropriate warnings can be made and for which early voting can be accommodated, according to the post.
Petition 1 includes two articles. The first asks voters if the representative form of the Annual Town Meeting should be discontinued, and the second asks — if voters approve the first article — whether voting should take place by Australian ballot at any annual or special Town Meeting to elect officers, approve the annual general fund budget, authorize major bonding/borrowing, all public questions, and charter amendments.
Petition 2 asks whether, if Representative Town Meeting (RTM) is discontinued, votes should then be by open Town Meeting. The Australian ballot would be used to elect town officers, as well as for decisions that legally require a vote on paper from the whole electorate.
What is the difference between Representative Town Meeting, open Town Meeting, and the Australian ballot?
Registered voters in each of three districts elect candidates to vote on the floor of Representative Town Meeting. This is intended to ensure fair geographic representation and “promote a seriousness and diligence on the part of the elected RTM members,” according to the town website.
Brattleboro has used this system since 1960 and is the only town in Vermont that does so.
In an open Town Meeting, any registered voter may participate and vote.
With an Australian ballot, some or all Town Meeting decisions are made by paper ballot, a process open to any registered voter.
When deciding matters by Australian ballot, an informational meeting sometimes precedes the vote, but not all voters are required to participate in or even observe the pre-vote discussion.
All questions to be voted on that ballot have been determined in advance.
This News item by Virginia Ray was written for The Commons.