With the flurry of cancellations and postponements in the area, would it be smart to postpone Brattleboro’s Representative Town Meeting?
On one hand, Brattleboro hasn’t had any confirmed cases. And there is a bit of time pressure on representatives to pass the budget before the fiscal year ends. Perhaps it would be best to get this out of the way early and hold it as scheduled. If a school gym could be used, chairs could be placed six feet apart for social distancing. Perhaps a loophole will allow for passing articles in bulk. Maybe it could be held outdoors. Maybe representatives could vote by mail.
On the other hand, a gathering over over 100 people in a confined area for an extended period could be risky. Many representatives are older. Some may have travelled to a risky location. Why not play it safe and put this off until we know things are safe? We’d feel rather foolish if anything DID happen because we pushed through despite concerns for safety.
What say ye?
Town Meeting Question
Brattleboro is not isolated from Covid-19. We do not have any confirmed cases because there is no proper amount of needed followup as in monitoring all those people who came into contact with the confirmed case from Dartmouth. A Confirmed Covid-19 Dartmouth employee broke quarantine and went to White River Junction for a meeting.
https://nypost.com/2020/03/04/coronavirus-patient-ignored-self-isolation-order-to-go-to-business-event/
There is not sufficient testing to be confident that Covid-19 is not in Brattleboro. Many of the town reps are over 65 yrs old. My call is to not hold a public meeting. If it is held, there are older folks who will feel an obligation/responsibility to attend against their own best interest. Let’s protect our older dedicated town members and not ask them to choose to go or not. In this cyber-age certainly we can find a way to have a mail in voting system, or even postpone the general town rep meeting until we are set up for a cyber meeting of sorts.