We now have all interviews for Brattleboro Selectboard candidates available, and Tuesday is the day to get to the polls and vote if you haven’t already done so. Here are the links to candidate interviews, the candidate forum video, representative statements, and general election information. It is all to help guide your last-minute voting decisions.
Selectboard Candidate Interviews, alphabetically:
Kurt Daims is running for a one year seat on the Brattleboro Selectboard.
Tell everyone a bit about yourself… who are you?
I was born nearby and travelled widely. I worked for inventors, started my family and loved the ocean in San Francisco. In 2002 I came to Brattleboro with my family. I devoted myself to raising and home-schooling my daughters and to public service. I hope to consolidate the power of the people in town government and help Brattleboro become town that acts as a member of the community of towns and cities As director of the non-profit Brattleboro Common Sense I taks the credo “Think globally: act locally” for an aggressive, pragmatic grass-roots politics, which I believe is needed to save an endangered world.
A community forum is scheduled on Saturday, February 29, starting at 10:00am, at the Brooks Memorial Library to address the recent vehicle break-ins in Brattleboro. Although the forum is not a Selectboard meeting, it is expected that a majority of Selectboard members will attend; however, no Selectboard action will be taken at the forum.
Jan Anderson
Executive Secretary
Ian Goodnow is running for a one-year seat on the Brattleboro Selectboard.
Tell everyone a bit about yourself… who are you?
My name is Ian Goodnow. I grew up in Essex, Vermont and graduated from the University of Vermont in 2014, with degrees in Political Science and Russian Language. I’m currently enrolled in the Vermont Law Office Study Program, which is an alternative way to become a lawyer in Vermont. Instead of law school, I moved to Brattleboro to study under Tom Costello at Costello, Valente and Gentry P.C. I am also a Justice of the Peace and through that role serve on the Board of Civil Authority and am the alternate on the Developmental Review Board. In my free time, I love backpacking, eating dumplings with Ruth, my fiancee, and talking about movies.
There is an old saying about how, when asked to explain what one means by what one says nine out of ten people will become angry or silent. The one who does not become offended or feel attacked but rather is stimulated and eager for an opportunity to engage and learn would be a person like Oscar Heller, candidate for a one-year Selectboard seat.
The desire and ability to listen and learn is also a strong indicator of self-confidence and thoughtfulness, both of which are very apparent in Mr. Heller. He will bring a particularly strong understanding and voice concerning the most unabated, vexing and critical issue of our time: climate change and all its inseparable aspects.
A link to the Selectboard Candidates Video…
Oscar Heller is running for a one-year seat on the Brattleboro Selectboard.
Tell everyone a bit about yourself… who are you?
My name is Oscar Heller. I’m a programmer and graphic designer with my own web design business called 10F Design. I serve on the energy committee and the finance committee, and I’m a town meeting rep for District 3. The energy committee played a big role in successfully convincing the Selectboard to create the new sustainability coordinator position, and I also served on the hiring committee for the position.
David Schoales is an incumbent running again for a three year seat on the selectboard.
Tell everyone a bit about yourself… who are you?
Do you have any special powers or skills to offer?
Daniel Quipp, and incumbent, is running for a a one year seat on the selectboard.
Tell everyone a bit about yourself… who are you?
Like many people around here, I wear a few different hats. Obviously, one of these is my Selectboard hat. I hope to earn the voters’ trust to wear it for another year. I have two jobs – I work for SEVCA and help people keep their lights on and homes heated through our crisis fuel program and I work as a community organizer in southern Vermont for Vermont Interfaith Action. I also wear my community radio hat. I’m currently the president of the WVEW 107.7 FM board and also host a weekly show playing new alternative music called ‘Brand Spanking New’ (Thurs, 6 to 8 pm). When I’m not doing one of those things I’m probably either hanging out with my wife, eating sandwiches at Amy’s, playing tennis or reading and drinking warm beverages.
Elizabeth McLoughlin is a current member of the Brattleboro Selectboard and is running for a three-year seat.
Tell everyone a bit about yourself… who are you?
About a dozen years ago, I chose Brattleboro, together with my family, my Mother-in-Law, our jobs, and our whole lives– we moved to Brattleboro, where our youngest daughter attended BUHS. This move, after many years of visiting family in Brattleboro, was a happy choice. My husband and I both started small businesses. I own a planning and environmental consultancy business. I volunteered for a number of Town and civic committees, most notably: the Planning Commission, The RTM Finance Committee, BASIC, the Skatepark Committee, and the Empty Bowls Dinner Committee.
My Selectboard service is an outgrowth of the understanding I gained participating and contributing to these civic committees.
The Brattleboro Selectboard held a quick meeting to approve the FY21 budget, Town Meeting warning, and Representative Town Meeting warning. They also discussed a planned sidewalk for the new Hinsdale Bridge and changes to RT 142.
During public participation, citizens questioned the police chief about the recent uptick in vehicle break-ins.
On Election Day in March, Brattleboro voters will have the opportunity to tell the Selectboard to consider replacing the five-member Selectboard with one mayor.
The complete wording of the article which will appear on the ballot: “Shall the voters of the Town of Brattleboro advise the Select Board to amend the Brattleboro Town Charter to replace the Select Board form of governance with that of a mayoral form of governance?”
I encourage voters to reject this proposal for a number of reasons.
Can you please post a reminder that petitions for Brattleboro Town Officers, Windham Southeast School District (WSESD) Board Members, and Town Meeting Members are available at the Town Clerk’s office. Town elections will be Tuesday, March 3 at the American Legion, and the Annual Representative Town Meeting, Saturday, March 21 at the Brattleboro Area Middle School.
The Brattleboro Selectboard discussed some final issues related to the FY21 proposed budget, approving raises for non-union employees but delaying pool improvements for up to a decade, and settled on a final number that… increases property taxes.
The Current is going away, to be replaced entirely by spotted Moovers. All this and more…
Another timeless Brattleboro classic – the sock puppet Selectboard winter holiday special: “An Extra Special Selectboard Winter Holiday Thing.”
The Brattleboro Selectboard will hold a special meeting on Tuesday, December 10, 2019, at 6:15pm in the Selectboard Meeting Room at the Municipal Center. ASL interpreters will be available for deaf and hard-of-hearing community members.
At their special meeting this week, the Brattleboro Selectboard decided to reverse a decision they made just last week and instead remain IN a second, national opioid lawsuit. A lawyer told them opting out wouldn’t be so smart.
Health and safety issues at local apartments, an effort to reduce the speed limit in West Brattleboro along Route 9, and discussions of the FY21 Police and Fire budgets rounded out the special meeting.
The Brattleboro Selectboard will hold a special meeting on Tuesday, November 26, 2019, at 6:15pm in the Selectboard Meeting Room at the Municipal Center. ASL interpreters will be available for deaf and hard-of-hearing community members.
It is a night for lawyers at the next regular meeting of the Brattleboro Selectboard. They plan to enter into one or more opioid-related lawsuits, settle a lawsuit with Penny Witherbee, and even start off the night with an executive session that has additional pending or probable civil litigation.
Green Street parking changes, financial updates, a review of proposed FY21 capital projects and equipment, some grants, and appointments will fill out the agenda. You can bring up other items during public participation.
Some members of the Brattleboro Selectboard appear to be having private communications during public meetings.
On a few recent occasions, some Selectboard members have looked at their phones, read some form of communication to them, and have made comments about it. Just the other night, Daniel Quipp said that Tim Wessel had texted him. Until that point, no one knew that Wessel was a participant. He had been presented to the room as absent.
