BRATTLEBORO-The first of two public hearings about citizens' petitions addressing changes to the town charter related to Representative Town Meeting (RTM) and using the Australian ballot method of voting was held Jan. 27.
Both sides of the issue stood their ground.
The first petition was filed with the Town Clerk Aug. 4, 2025 and requests the town consider discontinuing RTM and conducting certain town business - electing town officers, approving general fund budget, approving major borrowing, and all "public questions" - by Australian ballot.
The second petition was filed Sept. 9, 2025 and requests that if RTM is discontinued, the town instead conduct its business through open Town Meeting, with all registered voters eligible to participate.
A second public hearing is slated for Thursday, Feb. 5, at 6:15 p.m. in the Selectboard meeting room.
Once the public hearings conclude, the matter will go to voters at the 2026 Annual Town Meeting, where all voters can go to the polls and vote on the question.
Petitioners Tom Franks and Randy Blodgett spoke to their petition at the hearing. Franks told the group the Australian or, as he termed it, "secret" ballot was adopted in that country in 1854 because people were voting publicly and they were "vulnerable to intimidation and coercion," according to the Australian Election Commission.
"Australian ballot offers every voter the chance to vote," Franks said. "Other systems do not."
Three models of running the town
In Representative Town Meeting, registered voters in each of three districts elect peers to serve as representatives, and only elected representatives are allowed to vote on the floor.
In open Town Meeting, any registered voter may participate and vote; there is no in-between step of voters electing district representatives.
With the Australian ballot system, some or all Town Meeting decisions are made by paper ballot, and any registered voter may vote. When deciding matters by Australian Ballot, an informational meeting sometimes takes place prior to 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 are determined in advance.
In the past three years, 31 towns in Vermont have adopted the Australian ballot procedure, which predominantly replaced in-person Town Meeting during the pandemic.
Reducing barriers
Franks noted that one barrier was eligibility to vote at RTM, where one must be elected to participate. Other barriers include "schedule, location, and duration," he said.
"And then there's personality. . .the loudest voices in the room often say the most, and they prevail," he said. "Secret ballot protects people against that."
He said that he's heard predictions that there would be less participation under Australian ballot but he believes otherwise.
"It's open to everybody," Franks said.
Blodgett noted the Selectboard changed the RTM article to one that is on the ballot now so if approved, it will be effected immediately and the state ordinance by statute would change it to open Town Meeting.
"We want everyone to vote," he said.
Blodgett said that "March is as important as August, as important as November," adding that fewer than 3,000 people of the town's 9,000 voters vote in March. In comparison, "we average about 72% in November."
Millicent Cooley spoke via Zoom about the other petition, saying it's important to debate and discuss issues before voting. Open Town Meeting is the default option if RTM is ended, due to law and because it's widely used, she said, adding, "it should be something people choose or not choose. . . and not just feel this is an option they somehow ended up with because RTM lost."
"With Australian ballot you can only vote 'yes' or 'no,' you cannot amend articles," Cooley said, adding open Town Meeting is practiced by most towns in the state.
"You're looking at people in the eye when you say what you think," she said. "And I think that with Australian ballot it, too, is vulnerable, but it's vulnerable to social media misinformation - much more so."
She called open Town Meeting "the most direct form of democracy that there is in the United States, as far as I know."
West Brattleboro resident Neil Manders, a District 7 RTM representative, also spoke at the hearing.
"Madam Chair, I have sinned, and I would like to make a confession," he said to a rippled giggle through the room.
"Last year was my first year in terms of being involved with the RTM, and I represented a whole bunch of people, apparently, in West Brattleboro that I never talked to," he said.
"For the most part, I went to the meeting because I was already upset with taxes and the amount of the budget, and so I was taking my personal objectives to that meeting," Manders said. "And maybe I agreed with some of my neighbors, but for the most part, I was doing this on my own."
He went on to say he believes some representatives did make larger efforts to consult with their constituency but that he also heard from plenty who admitted they didn't.
"If we want people to know and get a chance to vote, we need to go with the Australian secret ballot in order to make that happen," Manders said.
Other speakers defended RTM for ensuring a quorum, allowing amendments, and fostering deliberation.
Concerns, however, included that RTM attracts one-issue candidates and lacks diverse viewpoints. Some noted a preference for thousands of voters deciding budgets over small, in-person meetings.
Counterpoints included that the Australian ballot yes/no votes reduce nuance and limit feedback about what to change, risking repeat budget defeats and delays, and make for some ambiguity for voters not following detailed discussions.
Blodgett summed up his and Franks' reasons for submitting the petition article.
"There are plenty of chances for informational meetings, caucuses, district meetings, coffee with your neighbor, coming to a Selectboard, joining a committee, going over and just talking to your neighbor, and writing the Selectboard, talking to the Selectboard," he said. "I've done it. Everybody can do it. Do they want to do it?"
Blodgett said that there are about 9,500 voters in Brattleboro and that about 6,500 show up for a national election, but that about 2,700 come out for a March Town Meeting.
"They're not disenfranchised. It's their choice," he said. "So they didn't come. So they abstained, which we've had happen at Selectboard meetings and at RTM meetings."
That's because "It's democracy," Blodgett said. "It's messy."
"All we're trying to do - and the people that signed our petition want to do - is have a say, not be second-guessed, not be told, 'We're going to do this to you because you're one of them,'" he said. "They just get to vote and move on, and we do our business as a town.
"Please, no matter what you think, show up and vote," Blodgett said.
Reconsidering RTM
The town Charter Review Commission is also advocating a move to open Town Meeting.
As required by the document, the Selectboard established a seven-member Charter Revision Commission, which is required to "review the language of the charter and the rights, powers, duties, and responsibilities specified therein. The commission may propose amendments and may redraft the charter in whole or in part."
Serving on the Commission are Chair Kate O'Connor, Vice Chair Maya Hasegawa, Clerk Joy Tournoux, Hannah Clarisse, Peter Elwell, and Denise Glover. The commission's proposed charter amendments were presented to the Selectboard Sept. 9, 2025.
If approved, RTM would be immediately discontinued and the RTM now scheduled for Saturday, March 21 would be replaced with an open Town Meeting in April.
Brattleboro is the only town in the state that uses RTM today. The current town charter was adopted on Feb. 16, 1984. It was last amended on June 27, 2023.
If neither charter amendment is approved, a town memo says, "open town meeting would continue unless and until there is a vote to switch to another form of town meeting in accordance with state law, or through a later charter amendment."
This News item by Virginia Ray was written for The Commons.