The Brattleboro Representative Town Meeting ad hoc Futures Committee will meet on Wednesday, November 5, 2014 at 6:00pm in the Hanna Cosman meeting room at the Municipal Center.
Jan Anderson
Executive Secretary
Brattleboro Town Manager’s Office
(802) 251-8100
…
Ad Hoc Futures Committee Agenda
Wednesday, November 5, 2014 – 6pm
Hanna Cosman Meeting Room, Municipal Center
1. Review Open Meeting Law
2. Review minutes of 10/8/14
3. Review agenda for upcoming meeting
4. Discuss language of preamble and mission
5. Discuss language of structural constraints and recommendations. Please refer to minutes from meeting of September 10th for final language. Review Senni proposal re structural elements. Meeting members will submit additional drafts for consideration.
6. Develop next Meeting’s agenda.
7. Feedback on meeting process
Recent Minutes and a Stab at a Mission
”Minutes of the Adhoc future committee meeting- 9/10/14, 6pm-7:30pm. Selectboard meeting room.
In attendance: Gabe Weiss, Teo Senni, Emilie Kornheiser, Jerry Levy, and George Harvey
We did not have a quorum at the beginning of the meeting to approve the minutes of August 14th. We agreed to discuss at our next meeting.
After George arrived the committee went through a conflation of members’ proposed mission statements, drafted by Gabe. The following represents our efforts:
Preamble to proposal:
Due to the complexity of decision making in Brattleboro, and the enormity of global issues that impact Brattleboro, there is a need for more comprehensive long term study and planning in all areas of civic life. For this reason, the Futures Committee will act as a “think tank”, exploring and reporting in depth on pertinent issues concerning Brattleboro and Windham County, with the long term future in mind. This will be an independent committee formed of diverse citizen volunteers, charged with investigating systemic issues that affect Brattleboro’s future. The intent is to raise questions, appraise current conditions, determine realistic projections, garner public input, and offer guidance concerning global trends, our local economy, development and resource management, social justice, and the democratic process. The annual agenda of the Future’s Committee may include:
● working with the current Town Plan.
● Conducting research into national and global social-ecological, scientific,
and technological trends and their implications for Brattleboro.
● Investigating and proposing initiatives for strengthening community and advancing social justice.
● Exploring sources of town funding and innovative financial programs.
● Developing initiatives to encourage democratic participation and hold
representatives accountable.
As such the ad hoc futures committee proposes the establishment of the following:
The Brattleboro Futures Commission shall study Brattleboro’s economic, political, social and cultural conditions. It shall examine its history and traditions as well as its current circumstances, assets, resources and potentialities. The Committee shall consider the town in local, regional, state, national, and international contexts. Within this framework the Committee shall publish periodic reports and hold public meetings recommending directions and actions that may be used to guide Brattleboro towards a sustainable future. The committee will actively invite stakeholders, citizens, town meeting reps, and other town meeting committees to participate in their annual agenda setting and enrich the direction and outcome of the committees actions.
The adhoc futures committee then decided on an agenda for our next meeting:
To come to a final vote on the proceeding language and to begin a discussion of structural constraints and recommendations.
We adjourned at 7:30pm”