BRATTLEBORO-As three newcomers prepare to take seats on the Selectboard, at least one outgoing incumbent isn't surprised.
"Any incumbent was going to lose," said Franz Reichsman of the March 4 town election results. "You raise people's taxes like that, and there's going to be some blowback for sure."
Adding, with some humor, "I didn't expect to win, but I didn't expect to be dead last," Reichsman went on to say, "this was an anti-incumbent, anti-Selectboard vote."
Coming on board to take two one-year seats are Isaac Evans-Frantz, who garnered 1,261 votes, and Amanda Ellis-Thurber, who received 995 votes.
Incumbents Reichsman, who received 452 votes, and Richard Davis, who received 476 votes, were not successful in holding those seats. Unsuccessful bids were also made by former Selectboard member Tim Wessel (903 votes) and newcomer Cristina Shayonye (709 votes).
In the other race on the board, Oscar Heller defeated Jill Stahl Tyler 1,412 to 961 for the three-year seat vacated by current Chair Daniel Quipp, who chose not to run for re-election.
"First of all, congratulations to the winners, Isaac, Amanda, and Oscar, who now have gotten what they wished for," Reichsman went on to say. "Hopefully they were careful in their wishing and will find satisfaction in the challenges that lie before them.
"And second, the fact that the two incumbents in the race finished dead last shows the degree of general unhappiness with the Selectboard and our recent actions, particularly with regard to the property tax increase we sent to Representative Town Meeting for action. All of us on the Selectboard voted in favor of the budget despite whatever reservations or misgivings we may have had," Reichsman continued.
"It's going to be interesting to see what RTM does with it on March 22," he said.
Property taxes are expected to increase by 12.1% over this year if voters approve the Selectboard's recommended $25,184,081 million fiscal 2026 town budget at the March 22 Annual Representative Town Meeting (RTM).
Davis declined comment at this time.
Heller, who has made several unsuccessful runs for the board, is chair of the RTM Finance Committee.
"I'm honored and humbled by the support I've received, and excited to get to work," he said. "I'm particularly looking forward to collaborating with the whole board to improve our budget process and long-term planning and to develop a shared vision for Brattleboro. I'm confident we'll be able to work together well and hit the ground running."
Ellis-Thurber, who lost her bid to unseat State Rep. Emilie Kornheiser in the August Democratic primary, is co-owner of Lilac Ridge Farm in West Brattleboro. She was appointed during the Obama administration to Vermont's 10-member U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency board.
She did not reply to The Commons by press time.
Evans-Frantz, the executive director of Action Corps, "a non-partisan grassroots initiative to build power in solidarity with people around the world," ran unsuccessfully against Peter Welch for U.S. Senate in the 2022 primary.
"I am proud of Brattleboro voters who showed up on Election Day in higher numbers than for recent municipal elections," he said. "In the months ahead, I look forward to working with fellow new Selectboard members and the rest of the Selectboard, Representative Town Meeting, and our fellow Brattleboro residents, to strengthen our town."
Evans-Frantz went on to list his priorities, which include resuming "the multiyear financial planning practice the Selectboard conducted prior to the pandemic."
He also lists improving the "process to secure no-trespass orders against visitors causing harm to neighbors and putting them at risk"; developing a plan to shelter unhoused residents by "leveraging existing buildings, human resources, and state funds; growing and improving the town's housing stock by working with developers and creating new funding sources and strategies; protecting against Whetstone Brook flooding; investing in the next generation; and building confidence in town government."
The new Selectboard will hold its organizational meeting on Monday, March 24 at 6:15 p.m. in the Selectboard Meeting Room at the Brattleboro Municipal Center, 230 Main St.
This News item by Virginia Ray was written for The Commons.