Virginia Ray

In Brattleboro, a call to return Town Meeting to all the voters

Charter commission will discuss the details of ‘moving away from’ the Representative Town Meeting model

BRATTLEBORO-On June 4, members of the Charter Revision Commission voted 6-0 "to move away from" the Representative Town Meeting (RTM) model the town has used since 1961 and "towards" open Town Meeting.

The nuanced language differentiates a total rejection of RTM from the fact that commissioners are still investigating all aspects of a new open Town Meeting plan.

"We need to know what we're talking about when we say 'open Town Meeting' or 'hybrid' meeting," said Commission Chair Kate O'Connor this week.

On Wednesday, June 25, at 6:15 p.m. in the Selectboard meeting room and via Zoom, commissioners will meet to discuss a plan now being configured as to what an open meeting - which may include an Australian ballot - might look like.

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Brattleboro gets a ‘compromise’ budget after a second try

Representative Town Meeting members approve spending $24.97 million in FY2026

BRATTLEBORO-Representative Town Meeting members met in a special session on May 27 and approved a fiscal year 2026 budget of $24,971,305. Approval came on a roll call vote of 110–4 near the end of a two-hour meeting in the Brattleboro Union High School gymnasium, the site of the annual...

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Brattleboro, N.H. ponder future of two bridges

New funding will address pedestrian/bike flow near Malfunction Junction

BRATTLEBORO-Selectboard members are proceeding with caution about if and how the town might step up if the Anna Hunt Marsh Bridge is repurposed. "There are risks and liabilities, and we need to be mindful of them," said Board Chair Elizabeth McLoughlin. "And there are financial responsibilities. Hinsdale and Brattleboro...

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Sunday free parking likely to return to Brattleboro

BRATTLEBORO-Six months after the Selectboard put the brakes on free Sunday parking, plans are in motion to bring it back and to make other changes within the new parking system, which could result in "a better process for tourists, residents, and people coming downtown to shop," according to Highway and Maintenance Superintendent Darren Pacheco. The board met May 6 with Pacheco and Assistant Police Chief Jeremy Evans, whose department is now overseeing the parking system, to hear how things have...

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Brattleboro board hammers out new budget to send to Town Meeting

BRATTLEBORO-After eight intense meetings to draft a new budget, the Selectboard has voted to recommend a $24.97 million budget for fiscal year 2026 budget - a budget just 1.3% less than the one that Representative Town Meeting failed to pass in March. The Selectboard-recommended plan proposes a 10.8% increase in municipal taxes, but taxpayers can expect to see their bills increase by about 5.6% on the tax levy in fiscal year 2026 when the school district is factored in. If...

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Brattleboro Selectboard under gun to craft a revised budget by May 1

BRATTLEBORO-It's been a month of lengthy, intense Selectboard meetings since Representative Town Meeting (RTM) rejected the proposed fiscal year 2026 operating budget on March 22. The strain has showed. RTM voters rejected a municipal budget that would represent a 12% increase in town taxes, or an overall 6.2% increase in Brattleboro property owners' total tax burden, if you factor in the school district budget. With three newly elected board members whom many voted into office to bring new voices and...

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Area educators affirm commitment to DEI initiatives as state struggles with message

BRATTLEBORO-Windham County educators and community members have been quick to stand up for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices and programs in schools in response to a series of actions at the state level in recent days. On April 4, state Agency of Education (AOE) Secretary Zoie Saunders directed superintendents to certify compliance with federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, and national origin in federally funded programs, per the Trump administration's initiative. Specifically, Saunders...

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Brattleboro board begins its new look at old budget

Selectboard members were all ears at an April 8 "listening session" and spent most of an April 10 meeting discussing where and how to start to peel the budget onion, once again. "This is not going to be an easy lift, but Brattleboro is worth it," said State Sen. Wendy Harrison, speaking via Zoom, at the listening session. That meeting saw a full room of more than 40 residents along with an almost equal number in attendance on Zoom. "We...

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