By Chris Mays, Brattleboro Reformer
BRATTLEBORO — Conversations in the community inspired co-sponsors of a petition that led to an upcoming vote to see if residents want a mayor.
Co-sponsor Dan Yates, president and CEO of Brattleboro Savings & Loan, said he has spoken with people for a number of years about whether the town should consider a mayoral form of governance rather than the current system.
"Yet, nothing has ever moved forward to have that question answered," he said in the Brattleboro Community Television studio during an interview with local reporters, which is available on brattleborotv.org and will be aired on cable starting this week. "So Dick [DeGray] and I and some others had a discussion and said, 'Let's find out what the people of Brattleboro think about this.'"
After securing enough signatures, the petition was submitted and an article on the March 3 ballot reads: "Shall the voters of the town of Brattleboro advise the Select Board to amend the Brattleboro town charter to replace the Select Board with that of a mayoral form of governance?" The vote is advisory only and will not bind the town to anything.
Yates said an affirmative vote could trigger a reconvening of the town's Charter Review Committee to look at replacing the Select Board, Representative Town Meeting and town manager with a mayor and a council.
DeGray recalled the committee talking about having a mayor before the charter was last updated in 2013 but the question never went to a community-wide vote.
"The committee decided that this wasn't a direction we wanted to go," he said.
Both co-sponsors voiced interest in serving on the committee if it reconvenes for this purpose. DeGray anticipates it would take a couple of years before the charter review process is completed, and an update would require approval from the Vermont Legislature.
Yates said he favors what is referred to as a "strong mayor," someone who is the administrative and political leader of the town working with council larger than the current Select Board. He envisions the council having equitable representation from the three districts used when electing Town Meeting members. He said a mayor might have "the authority to run the town the way a CEO has the authority to run a company."
DeGray sees a mayoral system offering more stability.
"Right now, the town doesn't really have a vision," he said. "It has goals that the Select Board sets up yearly. But next year's board is certainly not compelled to follow this board's goal or any other policy that they have jurisdiction over. So that can change year to year and I don't think that's good policy, so to speak, for the town."
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DeGray said he has heard from citizens who have been unhappy with the way things have gone at Representative Town Meeting, where the municipal budget and other articles are considered. Yates said a council and mayor would take over roles historically ascribed to Town Meeting members in Brattleboro.
"There's no reason you would not continue to have a public forum biweekly or however often the town council meetings would be held," he said, "therefore ensuring the voters have the opportunity to come and speak before the governing body."
Brattleboro would become a city if the community adopted a mayoral governance system. DeGray said he is looking into what benefits that may bring.
Cities usually are defined by their population size or importance, Yates said, describing Brattleboro as "an important town."
"We are the first town when you come into the state of Vermont," he said. "We have three interstate highway exits. We are the economic hub of Windham County and perhaps stretching across county lines and into other states as well. We are an employment center."
Town Manager Peter Elwell told the Reformer the 2010 census and estimates since then indicate Brattleboro has a population of about 12,000 people. On Thursday, Town Clerk Hilary Francis told the Reformer Brattleboro has 9,479 voters.
DeGray said six cities in Vermont have populations with less than 10,000 people: Barre (9,052), Montpelier (7,855), Winooski (7,267), St. Albans (6,918), Newport (4,589) and Vergennes (2,588).
The proposal has nothing to do with Elwell or any of his predecessors, DeGray said.
"This is just about a different form of government and more accountability in my eyes," he added.
Yates said he would be "thrilled" if Elwell served as mayor. Both co-sponsors said they do not intend to run for mayor.
Addressing concerns raised in recent letters to the editor about how the petitioning process went down, Yates said a person in between jobs was paid $15 an hour to help collect signatures outside the Brattleboro Food Co-op and the post office. He cited a tight deadline to submit the petition and it being the holiday season as challenges.
Reach staff writer Chris Mays at cmays@reformer.com, at @CMaysBR on Twitter and 802-254-2311, ext. 273.
If you'd like to leave a comment (or a tip or a question) about this story with the editors, please email us. We also welcome letters to the editor for publication; you can do that by filling out our letters form and submitting it to the newsroom.
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Vote on mayor seeks community's opinion - Brattleboro Reformer
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