BRATTLEBORO-On June 4, members of the Charter Revision Commission voted 6-0 "to move away from" the Representative Town Meeting (RTM) model the town has used since 1961 and "towards" open Town Meeting.
The nuanced language differentiates a total rejection of RTM from the fact that commissioners are still investigating all aspects of a new open Town Meeting plan.
"We need to know what we're talking about when we say 'open Town Meeting' or 'hybrid' meeting," said Commission Chair Kate O'Connor this week.
On Wednesday, June 25, at 6:15 p.m. in the Selectboard meeting room and via Zoom, commissioners will meet to discuss a plan now being configured as to what an open meeting - which may include an Australian ballot - might look like.
O'Connor, Vice Chair Maya Hasegawa, Hannah Clarisse, Peter Elwell, Denise Glover, and Joy Tournoux make up the current Charter Revision Commission.
The group was formed pursuant to the Brattleboro charter, which states that the Selectboard is to appoint a Charter Revision Commission every 15 years to review the town charter and propose amendments.
The commission has been meeting for 2½ years, reviewing every detail of the charter.
After the group formally defines what a new meeting would look, all Brattleboro voters will be informed and asked to vote by Australian ballot.
Voters would first need to decide whether to eliminate the RTM structure and a second to decide whether accept a new charter.
When it comes to a town-wide vote, many recommended changes in addition to the voting process will be taken up, like eliminating extraneous language, removing language related to the former town school system, and changing language to better define roles in town governance, such as that of the town manager.
A charter change would require approval by the state Legislature.
What's the difference?
Currently, RTM has 152 members, including 140 voting elected Town Meeting representatives (43 RTM representative in District 7, 48 in District 8, and 49 in District 9).
The town charter calls for three RTM voting members for every 180 voters capping out at 40 members. Sometimes, that number needs to be prorated, according to town clerk Hillary Francis.
Also included in the mix are five Selectboard members, the town clerk, the town treasurer, the moderator, three state representatives, and a state senator, provided they live in town. The other Windham County state senator does not live in town.
RTM has traditionally been held the third Saturday after Town Meeting Day, the first Tuesday in March.
With Representative Town Meeting, registered voters in each of three districts elect peers to serve as their representatives, and only the elected representatives are allowed to vote at the meeting.
This was ostensibly enacted to ensure geographic balance in the distribution of participants.
"It also is intended to promote a seriousness and diligence on the part of the elected RTM members who have the privilege of representing their fellow residents in approving the town's annual budget and making other significant Town governance decisions," the town website also explains.
"There has been active and ongoing debate in Brattleboro about whether the limited access of RTM actually results in a level of seriousness and diligence greater than OTM [open Town Meeting] participation in other towns," the website continues.
"Also, for the past decade or more, there have rarely been more candidates than available RTM seats. This results either in a de facto OTM (where all who want to participate are able to participate) or in some registered voters being 'caucused in' as representatives by a vote of only the existing RTM members, not by a vote of all the registered voters."
Brattleboro is the only town in the state of Vermont where only people elected to do so may participate in a physical meeting.
In open Town Meeting, practiced throughout New England, any registered voter may participate and vote and there is no election of district representatives.
This is said to enable broader participation and avoid concerns related to filling vacant seats, but some say it also eliminates the assurance of balanced geographical distribution of Town Meeting participants.
As the town website explains it, "Some people have expressed concern that OTM also allows groups of people who are interested in one or two particular matters (rather than being more broadly interested in overall Town governance) to 'pack' a Town Meeting with organized support for those limited matters."
Not all local decisions take place this way. All registered voters may vote by the Australian ballot in elections and other financial decisions that bring the entire voting body to the polls.
Listening to residents
After listening to those who have taken polls and weighed in at myriad meetings to discuss the matter, O'Connor said opinion varies about how to fix what's wrong but a common thread is that it's not working as-is.
"For us, it's more about making a system that's accessible and available to everybody; that's what we've heard," said O'Connor, noting the public input solicited over the 30 months the Commission has been meeting.
"What we've heard is one common thread: that people want some common system that's accessible to everybody," she said.
O'Connor said folks' definitions of "accessible" run the gamut, as do suggestions about what form of annual meeting - where the annual town budget, capital expenses, and town bylaws are decided - should be employed in Brattleboro.
Dozens of emails have been sent to the Commission ([email protected]). Many advocate ending use of RTM, one saying the town should "return to a more democratic process of making important decisions for the town," O'Connor said.
Many writers note feeling ill-represented - one saying he has received more visits from "religious proselytizers" than from his RTM representative. Another points out that stacking the deck for an issue can also easily be accomplished by an elected RTM representative. Most comments appear in favor of the Australian ballot method of voting.
All Commission meeting recordings and supporting documentation can be found at brattleboro.gov/charter-Commission.
This News item by Virginia Ray was written for The Commons.