Spoon Agave has served in numerous positions in Brattleboro town government, including on the Selectboard. He is a Representative Town Meeting member from District 8.
BRATTLEBORO-I have called Brattleboro home for the last 37 years, during most of which I have been quite civically and socially engaged. Until now I had never heard the claim that Representative Town Meeting was not representative.
Has something changed?
I've given this question a lot of thought and done some investigation. Resources include my complete set of town reports back to 1992, with scattered editions stretching back to 1974, containing the agendas and minutes of every meeting as well as the names of all representatives and elected officials and a rich history of each year.
When my tenure as an RTM member began in the late '90s, about two-thirds of the membership were middle-aged white-male property- and business owners and professionals. Of the latter, they were typically lawyers, finance people, landlords, and such. Many of the other third were their wives.
On the rare occasion back then, when a couple did not vote the same way, a mirthful chuckle would ripple through the crowd. Most of the decisions in those days were decided by votes in the order of 130–10. There was unity!
* * *
In the late '90s, RTM began changing. One began to find some of the counterculture/back-to-the-land/artist-and-generally-creative types that migrated here during the '70s. By this time, they had been residents for 20 years or more and were taking a deeper civic interest in town affairs and gaining seats in RTM.
It also may be that the burgeoning progressive politics in Burlington was casting influence down this way. It was the beginning of the Bernie Sanders and the Progressive Party era. In short order, two of Brattleboro's three state representatives - elected by all the voters in a district, not just RTM members - ran under the banner of the Progressive Party.
Over these years, the changing RTM membership lists also included ever more women. Today, the body is virtually a 50-50 spilt.
In 2005, Brattleboro burst into a full-blown financial crisis. In 2006, the dynamic and crackling Audrey Garfield was elected to the Selectboard, and in 2007 two more progressive liberals joined the board.
In its wake, RTM continued changing, albeit less noticeably, as it was a far larger body. Over the next 10 years, most of the old guard were also retiring from service or simply dying off. A new generation was filling their seats.
Then, in 2016, Trump was elected. Suddenly fearful of the future, many residents joined or elevated their involvement in a wide variety of civic, social, and political groups.
Soon enough, an observant, concerned, and energetic person, Ann Braden, also a good organizer, created an event for the Windham County Action Network (WeCAN) that pulled all the groups together for a day. The Spring Into Action Fair was designed to help people "find out how to plug in to work effectively and sustainably for the kind of world you want."
At the end of that day, representatives from most of the groups met to brainstorm next steps. A community calendar sprang to life. At that same meeting, an impassioned statement pointed out that in a democracy, all power belongs to the people.
In our community, the body exercising that power was Representative Town Meeting. If activists desired a voice in their community and participation in determining its future, they had to win a seat.
The next year a few did. Then more over the next few years. Soon, there was meaningful representation from a different segment of the population. The usual 130–10 decisions became 85–55, and after a few more years, outcomes were often unpredictable.
* * *
It is worth noting that although RTM has become more representative, it remains a distance from being fully so. One huge and critical sector unrepresented are the poor, working or not.
Otherwise, this broader representation at RTM brought a wider range of interests, backgrounds, and concerns to the floor. It was natural and inevitable that the broadening of backgrounds and perspectives would lengthen discussion.
New faces included more people in the creative economy, as well as more teachers and people in social services and nonprofits. They were often also renters, and for the first time nearly a full half of the town population, tenants, were no longer being represented by their landlords but had a voice of their own.
The new, younger RTM members were less affluent. Thus, even though a large majority of the RTM body were still homeowners, decisions no longer automatically favored that class.
Many property and business owners were dismayed to discover their personal interests were not necessarily assumed as paramount. There was also a hefty increase in members from the LGBTQ+ community and a few more people of color.
Many among this new and diverse wave were also entering with a refreshingly serious sense of civic responsibility. Working from this heightened sense of obligation, they discussed and studied issues.
They were coming to Town Meeting prepared. They did their homework and worked within the democratic process to persuade their fellow citizens. They provided data, analysis, and a clear picture. They made good arguments. They were raising the level and quality of discourse.
Their hard work and good information were impressive, and more and more often won the day and the support of the majority. This could not better exemplify the essence, intention, and highest values of strong democracy.
Question No. 1: Is Representative Town Meeting actually representative?
In short, other than the low-income sector, RTM has never been more diverse and representative than it is today.
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