Tim Wessel is running (again) for a one year seat on the Brattleboro Selectboard.
….
You again? (just kidding)
I’m baaaack lol.
Tell us a bit about yourself. Who are you and why are you running for a one year seat?
The people of Brattleboro have elected me to the Brattleboro Selectboard 4 times. I served on the board for a total of six years, from 2017 until March of 2023. During those years I worked hard to be a voice of moderation, of fiscally conservative values, and I became a well-known supporter of both our Fire and Police departments. I’ve lived and worked at my own video production business in Brattleboro since 2007. I live downtown with my wife and young son, and my older son has returned to Brattleboro as well. I am deeply invested in my community. I love Brattleboro.
In 2020 I led the board as Chair, and was the person at the helm as we were suddenly forced to conduct meetings totally online, and I’m proud of the way we became the first Selectboard to refine a fair and democratic online meeting format. I’m also proud to have served on the board that hired our current outstanding Chief Hardy of BPD, and for my work implementing the 1% local option tax, which saves property tax payers well over a million dollars per year.
I am seeking the one year seat because I’d like to get familiar again with how the board dynamic works together, and how fellow board members integrate with our Town Manager, John Potter. If it goes well I may seek another, we’ll see. Also, on the home front, my wife made it very clear that I was only authorized to run for the one year for now… she even refused to sign my three year seat petition! 🙂
Is there any particular issue that is motivating you to run? Why did you gather signatures?
My three top priorities for Brattleboro are to fight for a lower tax burden, to continue the progress we’ve made with BPD public safety initiatives, and to make Brattleboro a better place to live and work. We can do these things, but in order to do so we need a majority of the board to be in alignment with these values. I aim to be a consistently reliable voice for those who want to see Brattleboro thrive, within our means to do so.
And quite frankly, I feel I am good at serving as a Selectboard member, and unlike some other candidates I can “hit the ground running” and contribute to the success of our town. WIth so many uncertainties coming down from the national level, we need Selectboard members who have proven themselves in crisis, and I think voters know they are getting a reliable voice when they vote for me.
How would you quickly describe Brattleboro to someone who has never been here?
Brattleboro is a special place to live and work. It is vibrant and has a highly engaged citizenry, which can prove to be challenging at times, but during the best of times it produces a creative atmosphere that is unparalleled elsewhere in my opinion.
What problems do you see at the top of Brattleboro’s list in 2025?
As I said earlier, Brattleboro must address the rapidly rising tax burden, especially when compared to neighboring towns. We cannot afford to let our Town become even more of a “Hub town” while also not making it an attractive place to live. It is for this reason that I feel the tax burden and public safety (and perception of such) are the two top priorities for Brattleboro.
Have any new ideas for solving any of our problems?
You might say that my new idea might be to stick to some old ideas that I have always espoused. That first and foremost one of the principles of municipal government is to encourage private efforts and innovation without getting in the way. I’ve never believed that it was the Town’s role (notice the capital T there, meaning the Town Government) to be a direct business caretaker. That’s more a role for a chamber of commerce or our DBA. But what the Town can do to attract and retain businesses is provide a thriving environment where both people and businesses want to be. Essentially, whether you’re a business owner or a retail worker, you want a healthy, safe, and thriving downtown and surrounding area. That’s what Brattleboro CAN and SHOULD provide to all. Beyond that, many small businesses are victims of changing economic environments and taxpayers cannot be expected to support them through taxes, since many of us are also struggling to survive. The other best way to attract and retain businesses is to simply stay out of their way, make their participation in our community and the paying of their taxes easy, and we’ll be rewarded with employers who want to be here just like their employees do.
When you think of the future, how do you see Brattleboro?
I am generally a positive person, and when I look at possible futures for Brattleboro, I am very optimistic. If I were not, I would not be willing to invest the huge amount of energy and hours into serving once again. I see future Brattleboro as one that will take advantage in the resurgence of a national excitement for rail travel, and with our new Amtrak station, many more people will want to visit, AND many more people will choose Brattleboro to live and be able to work elsewhere, commuting by rail. While we may not see the Grotke Monorail project get started until well into 2050, I believe we will see more vibrancy and positivity around Brattleboro due to our new station. Similarly, the existing bridges will provide more access opportunities to one our greatest features, our beautiful river. We might not need shades except on the very sunny days, but I think Brattleboro has a bright future.
How do climate issues figure into your vision?
They don’t really, but not because I don’t believe we should have concern, but because I know the limits to the ways we can have an impact on the local level. I’ve never been a “climate activist” in my service to my community, but my record shows that I support sensible efforts to make contributions here at home that will mitigate climate impacts.
Looking back a bit, you were a major advocate of lowering property taxes by adding a 1% local option tax on many purchases. Property taxes are at record rates, and people have to pay 1% more for all sorts of things in town now. Did the Local Option Sales Tax accomplish what you hoped?
Frankly, yes, I continue to be a big advocate of the value of finding other sources for paying for things we need to pay for, especially when they are not connected to our property taxes. The 1% LOT brings in well more than a million dollars a year that is not coming from taxpayers, except through discretionary expenditures. At the time of arguing over this there was much “the sky is falling” predictions over this extra penny added to some items crushing our town’s retail economy, and none of those predictions have come true. In fact, because it also taxes those who order from Amazon and other online retailers from Brattleboro addresses, it has a small amount of “leveling” effect, since the Town reaps at least a little benefit from that money that is leaving local circulation.
12.1% seems like an enormous property tax increase for taxpayers. Thoughts?
It’s an insane increase. When I served for 6 years, we never sent a budget to RTM that had any more than a 4.5% increase, and I remember sweating bullets over that one. Most years it was around 3%. It’s just not sustainable, and I hope that we can get it down even more at RTM, but of course that is not part of my possible role on next year’s Selectboard.
Could we get better budgets if we reversed our current system and instead had Representative Town Meeting create the town budget and let the Selectboard approve it?
No, that’s a terrible idea. Creating the budget is an intense process with mountains of knowledge and learning needed to even be able to understand how it all works together for our community. Only a Selectboard can commit to that amount of time and energy.
Do you expect the advisory vote on human services funding to give you good feedback? Was it smart to limit the question to human services funding and not other parts of the budget, say staffing or program cuts?
I look forward to that advisory vote, most definitely. But let’s remember that it is intended as an advisory vote for RTM, not the Selectboard. And yes, it was wise to limit it to Human Services because that part of our budget is left to RTM to wrestle with – it’s not the Selectboard’s role currently.
In your view, would it be better to have a central indoor location for people to use needles for drug injections, or should we keep things as they are currently (ie, any locations around town, out in the open)?
No it would not. It would be better for the town, our community, and those suffering from substance use disorder to be supported in recovery efforts instead. I will not support taxpayer funds going to support people injecting dangerous and illegal drugs. There is nothing “safe” about an injection site.
Are you satisfied with Brattleboro’s support of its farming community? What’s working and what can we do better?
Interesting question! I’m a supporter of the farming municipal tax breaks we are able to give to our working farms, so I’m sure they would say those are working well for them. I’m not sure what else we could do for our farms, but I’d be excited to brainstorm about that more!
Are you satisfied with public engagement in town matters? Is local democracy strong?
Yes local democracy is strong, and people definitely feel that using their voice is worthwhile, and I think Town government has historically been fairly responsive. Personally, I would like to see some of the energy poured so often into protests and discussions around national issues be channeled into local concerns. We had much more engagement in Selectboard discussions around the budget this year than in previous years, but it tended to be single-issue interest. I’d like to see more “budget nerds” come out to all Selectboard budget meetings, because that’s where the rubber hits the road so to speak.
The Community Safety Review Committee recommended, generally, that we should aim to reduce policing and increase human services in Brattleboro. Do we respect the work of committees?
The CSRC process was fraught with problems from the start, some of which I pointed out back then and some have only been highlighted with hindsight. As well-intentioned as some of them were, many of the recommendations were out of touch with the reality of what the Selectboard has control over, has legal ability to change, or attempted to “graft” national concerns onto our local situation. Should reducing policing and increasing human services be an aim? Sure, but you don’t do that without first grappling with the very real issues we experience here in Brattleboro, and the recognition that much of the pressures such as drug use and drug trafficking come to us from outside of our small town. Do we respect committees? Yes, but when they are advisory committees created by the Selectboard themselves, no one should be surprised if some ideas do not get much traction when presented to a board whose job it is to deal with real-world situations.
On a more positive note, I wish that some of those who are annoyed by the lack of follow-through on some of the recommendations could see the parts of those ideas that have made it through to Chief Hardy’s policies. She has embraced the idea of having unarmed officers assisting with keeping the peace downtown, for instance. And her department’s excellent integration with so many good community partners such as HCRS, Groundworks and Turning Point, is something that should be celebrated by all. Municipal funds and people power are being harnessed to help people, and that is a good thing that I want to see more of.
In 2022 you said the town made a mistake raising selectboard compensation. “More money does not equal a better Selectboard.” Will you be making any motions to reduce compensation at RTM, or encourage others to do so?
I will be completely honest and say that the small amount of stipend (in comparison to a part time job for instance) does make a difference when I consider Selectboard service, mainly because I am once again in a spot in life where my video business is down a bit, and every little bit will help. So while I continue to believe that paying more or less will not greatly affect the quality of Selectboard service, I am content to leave it up to the wisdom of RTM once again. I would not support another rise however, given our current financial pressures.
Recommend some books, movies, and/or music for us…. what is interesting you lately?
My wife and I are both big fans of SLOW HORSES, starring Gary Oldman, just amazing. Also THE DIPLOMAT. On a lighter note maybe looking forward to TED LASSO returning, and also the return of ANDOR. I’ve been drawn towards circling back to some classics lately with books – Stephen King, Ray Bradbury, Kurt Vonnegut all on the list. My wife, young son, and I all became Swifties post-pandemic, but that has now calmed down a bit and once again I listen to a lot of Beatles music… and Beck once again! Also as always, I spend 3% of every day dreaming of my next trip to Walt Disney World.
Is there anything you’d like to mention that hasn’t been asked?
I just want to remind voters that I am a forward-thinking, hard-working, and time-tested public servant. One who is open to listening, enhancing respectful dialogue, and dedicated to positive progress for all of Brattleboro’s residents. No other current candidate, or sitting board member, has as much experience with how our Town government works. I truly believe that no other candidate has more incentive to bring those increases down than myself. It’s true that I will only be one of five on the new board, but don’t you want at least one proven fiscal watchdog fighting for you? I ask for your vote so that I may continue that fight. Thank you!
What’s the best way for voters to reach you?
For now, I think email is best at:
Thanks for spending time with iBrattleboro.com
I appreciate the opportunity, and apologies for my tardy election-eve response! Lots going on here at the Wessel household.
