BRATTLEBORO-Three candidates are throwing their hats in the ring for Selectboard at Annual Town Election on March 2, 2027.
Ruth Houle, a first-time candidate for the Brattleboro Selectboard, is seeking the three-year seat being vacated by Peter Case, who is not seeking re-election.
Incumbent Isaac Evans-Frantz and first-time candidate Ed Thanhouser are each seeking a one-year seat on the board. They will formally launch their campaigns on Saturday, Nov. 14 from 2 to 3:30 p.m., at Marigold, 157 Main St.
The candidates will speak at 2:30 p.m. Light refreshments will be provided. Attendees can purchase beverages and additional food at the restaurant.
Newcomer cites last week’s midterm election
Thanhouser said he was moved to run by the results of last week’s general election.
“I’m so inspired by the amazing people who put themselves on the ballot and the voters who supported them in this incredible, historic election last week,” he said.
“I want to do what I can to be a part of this effort: making Brattleboro and southern Vermont a more accessible, more affordable, and more resilient place — for myself, for my neighbors and for my kids,” he added.
Thanhouser, the organizer with the Green Mountain Democratic Socialists, said his priorities on the board would be helping working families lower their cost of living and making the town safer for pedestrians and cyclists.
He is a father of two and an educator who previously worked at the Brattleboro Retreat and now designs educational programming for Putney Student Travel.
Originally from Portland, Oregon, he moved to Brattleboro in 2022 from rural Japan.
Incumbent points to budgets, policing, parking
Evans-Frantz, who is seeking his third one-year term, said the board is working through a number of difficult issues this year.
“This is a moment for us to show up for Brattleboro,” he said. “As a member of the Brattleboro Selectboard, this year I’m helping our community tackle challenging topics.”
He listed that work as building affordable budgets, long-term financial planning, clarifying expectations for how the police department will interact with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, improving the town’s parking system, and making it easier for people to recover their belongings after homeless encampments are removed.
A lifelong Vermonter, Evans-Frantz is founding director of Action Corps, which he says is organizing Americans to defund the Iran War and to “reclaim and protect the National Guard.”
He is also active in organizing for the safety of LGBTQI+ people, has served as secretary of the Vermont Sierra Club’s executive committee, and has been an advisory board member of Freedom Forward.
“I’m excited for the new energy and community orientation that Ed Thanhouser will bring to our board,” he added.
For more information about Evans-Frantz, visit isaacforvermont.com.
‘Priced out of paradise’
Houle has been a Brattleboro resident for 50 years. She and her husband, Robert, who was born and raised here, are seniors who love to travel.
“I’ve traveled all over the world, and it’s great to come home,” Houle said by phone Monday. “I’ve heard people say about Hawaii that they’re being priced out of paradise. I love my little corner of the world, and that’s how I feel, so I’m jumping in head first to see what I can do to change things.”
Houle is a retired vice president for business development and director of sales and marketing for two companies and was a stay-at-home mom for many years.
She served as a Representative Town Meeting member for two years and currently sits on the Citizens’ Police Communication Committee and the Advisory Budget Committee. She announced her candidacy on Facebook.
“Brattleboro doesn’t have a revenue problem that can be solved simply by raising taxes,” she wrote. “It has a spending, priorities, economic-development and public-safety challenge that requires leadership. Brattleboro needs to live within its means while becoming a healthier, safer, more economically vibrant community.”
Houle went on to list her priorities:
• Lower the property-tax burden: “Make affordability a primary consideration in every budget decision and require the town to distinguish between what is needed and what is simply wanted.”
• Right-sized town government and spending: “Stop treating annual spending increases as inevitable; identify programs and services that can be reduced, eliminated, consolidated, or delivered more efficiently; work toward a sustainable level of spending before considering additional taxes or fees.”
• Grow the entire Brattleboro economy: “Focus economic-development efforts beyond downtown and attract businesses that expand the tax base, create jobs and bring customers into town.”
• Take back our streets: “Open drug use, public disorder, and unsafe conditions should not be normalized. Combine enforcement with existing treatment and social services, but make clear that public spaces belong to everyone. Clean, safe streets are essential to residents, businesses, and economic development. Make the distinction between compassion for people and acceptance of disorder very clear.”
She went on to say “before you characterize this as targeting people who are struggling, know that my concern is how town government responds to problems in public spaces, not whether someone is poor, homeless, addicted, or otherwise struggling. We can be compassionate without being permissive.”
In her statement, Houle concludes that her long-term goal is “a town that is affordable, safe, economically healthy, and financially sustainable.”
To learn more about Houle and her candidacy, visit her campaign Facebook page.
This News item by Virginia Ray was written for The Commons.