BRATTLEBORO-During their April 1 meeting, Selectboard members heard passionate appeals from the public regarding downtown crime and public safety issues, which accounted for more than $675,000 in unbudgeted expenses in the last fiscal year.
"Excuse my French, but people are shitting on my basement floor and breaking into our building," said Daniel Systo of Brattleboro. "I've found hypodermic needles, fentanyl, and heroin. I've cleaned up multiple times out back on Arch Street," he told Selectboard members.
Expressing urgency for quick action, Systo stated, "Something needs to happen tomorrow" to address the escalating public safety concerns in the town.
While the board agreed to focus on police services in upcoming budget discussions, Cristina Shayonye, of Brattleboro, urged board members to consider more than just policing when discussing public safety.
PUTNEY-The town needs 80 new rental and owner-occupied homes over the next five years to meet the demand for new housing and to replace its aging housing stock, according to the recently released Putney Housing Needs Assessment and Action Plan. "The lack of new and available housing means that...
BRATTLEBORO-With night temperatures dipping below freezing and an estimated 80 unsheltered people in the area, community members are calling on the town to open an emergency overnight shelter. At a Jan. 23 meeting of Brattleboro's Community Homelessness Strategy Team (CHST), Cristina Shay-Onye, a Brattleboro resident, urged the town to...
BRATTLEBORO-Standing on the sidewalk next to 9 Canal St., a multi-family apartment building above the Brattleboro Food Co-op, Windham & Windsor Housing Trust (WWHT) Executive Director Elizabeth Bridgewater points to a wooden trellis running up the side of the building. "People are climbing up the trellis and entering the hall window that occupants unlock," she said. WWHT co-owns and manages the 9 Canal St. property, which includes 12 one- and two-bedroom apartments. The units are permanently affordable, with rents ranging...
Five former and current state legislators who have worked on housing are calling on Gov. Phil Scott to declare a state of emergency to address Vermont's homelessness crisis. They say the crisis demands leadership and a coordinated approach at the highest level. "Vermont's homelessness crisis is an ongoing emergency just as was the flooding that hit Vermont in 2023 and 2024," said former state Sen. Vincent Illuzzi, R-Essex-Orleans, at a Dec. 23 press conference in South Burlington. Former state Sens.
-The state's housing crisis will be a top priority in the upcoming legislative session, and housing advocates from southeast Vermont want legislators to hear their concerns. At a Dec. 9 Legislative Briefing, members of the Housing Coalition of Southeast Vermont - housing creators, housing service providers, economic developers, planners, landlords, and those who shelter people without homes - shared some of the challenges they face in their efforts to eliminate homelessness and increase housing in the area. State Reps. Mollie...
BRATTLEBORO-At a standing-room-only meeting at Academy School on Dec. 12, Representative Town Meeting (RTM) members voted 76–55 to rescind the town's recently adopted Acceptable Community Conduct Ordinance. Cristina Shay-Onye, District 8, made the motion to disapprove the ordinance, arguing that if enacted the ordinance would violate Constitutional rights and expose the town to expensive lawsuits. She urged town representatives to vote to disapprove the ordinance. Referencing the ordinance's "Behavioral No Trespass Zones," which include Brooks Memorial Library and the Brattleboro...
BRATTLEBORO-"It's not about ordinance or no ordinance," said Mel Motel, co-director of Restorative Justice Programs at Interaction: Youth Services and Restorative Justice. "It's about a third way. What can we build instead?" Motel was one of five panelists who proposed alternatives to the town's recently adopted Acceptable Community Conduct ordinance at a Nov. 18 public information meeting at Brooks Memorial Library. Opponents of the ordinance have obtained signatures from the 5% of registered voters necessary to trigger a Special Representative...