BRATTLEBORO-We are longtime residents of Brattleboro and have followed and appreciated David Gartenstein's public service for many years, including his time as Representative Town Meeting moderator and as member of both the Brattleboro School Board and the Brattleboro Union High School Board, the Development Review Board, and the Charter Revision Commission. We have also known him as a fellow Representative Town Meeting member.
All of this participation shows David's deep experience and his commitment to public service in our town.
David has specifically raised two issues in his campaign that we want to highlight.
One is that Brattleboro serves as a "hub town," paying for services such as roads, fire, and water which are also used by people who live in surrounding towns and come to Brattleboro to shop, to work, for medical care, and for other social services.
As a result, our tax rate is far higher than the rates for taxpayers of surrounding towns who use, but don't pay for, these public services.
David would like to go to Montpelier and address this issue by exploring other ways to raise revenue for Brattleboro to cover these additional costs and thus reduce the tax rate for our residents.
A second specific interest of David's is the need for expanded mental health services and drug rehabilitation. In his 20 years as deputy state's attorney, he sees the natural connections between the criminal justice system and the mental-health-care systems. He believes housing must include drug rehabilitation and mental health care services.
We hope that other voters from Windham-9 will consider joining us in supporting David's candidacy.
Peter Fallon and Elizabeth Tannenbaum
Brattleboro
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