Brattleboro holds the state’s first representative Town Meeting in 1961. Photo by Harry Asbury/Brattleboro Reformer Think of Vermont Town Meeting and you might picture the everyman standing up and speaking out in Norman Rockwell’s iconic 1943 painting “Freedom of Speech.” But in the New Frontier year of 1961, Brattleboro eyed a different model for its future: The state’s first “Representative Town Meeting.” Aiming to engage a changing electorate distracted by the arrival of color television and Interstate 91, the southeastern hub established the equivalent of its own local legislature and elected a select number of residents to dissect, debate and decide municipal spending and related matters. “It will certainly be watched with great interest by a number of other towns in the state,” the Rutland Herald wrote in an editorial titled “Brattleboro Experiment.” “That could be worth a wider application.” That said, the model has remained the state’s one and only for 65 years — only to now face retirement after voters decided last month it was too restrictive (the margin was a narrow 1,216-1,157) and should be replaced. What comes next is sparking its own debate. Some residents want an open-to-all Town Meeting so everyone can participate. In March, they won support for their plan by a 1,457-841 vote.  Others are seeking to move all municipal decision-making to ballots that can be cast in advance or at the polls. Last month, they scored approval for their competing proposal by a 1,362-945 margin. Local leaders, questioning what to do after the passage of two different options, are set to consider both ideas this spring as they contemplate a long-term solution. In the meantime, they’re set to revert to a traditional Town Meeting on Saturday to adopt an annual budget the way they once used to. Brattleboro gathered like other communities from its first documented session in 1768 until the 1950s, when one of its state legislators, Robert Gannett, proposed a $500 study of the representative model for all interested municipalities. The Vermont House rejected the idea. But Brattleboro, facing declining attendance, took up the task itself. “Here we are, a town that is the most alert, progressive and economically successful of any town or city in Vermont and once a year, on the most important date in the year, we look like an awkward, gawky lad with hair in his eyes and britches extending just below the knees,” the Brattleboro Reformer wrote in a 1958 editorial. The concept of a representative Town Meeting — inspired by some three-dozen communities that use it in neighboring Massachusetts — allows the electorate to designate a group of residents to, in effect, do everyone’s homework in reviewing municipal spending. “The elected representatives,” the Reformer wrote, “would not only know what they are talking about but would represent the rest of the voters with whom they had previously hashed out the matters at stake.” Residents approved the representative model in 1960 by a 1,293-749 vote. Preparing for an inaugural session in 1961, local leaders invited NBC’s “Today” show to capture “a unique and modern version of Town Meetings.” The television crew declined. But a crowd of more than 100 elected locals filled every seat. “Consensus was that it was a darn good meeting,” the Reformer reported. “The new form of government got off to a good start and interest among the townspeople was at a higher pitch than ever before.” Such enthusiasm continued, even as Brattleboro moved its representative model online during the Covid-19 pandemic for the only state-sanctioned virtual Town Meetings in 2020, 2021 and 2022. But in recent years, a growing number of residents have complained the system doesn’t give them the chance to vote. Brattleboro Town Meeting Moderator David Gartenstein presides over a pandemic-era online session in 2022. Photo by Kevin O’Connor/VTDigger Under Brattleboro’s charter, the town will return to an open meeting until leaders deliberate on whether to ask the state Legislature to approve a shift to the polls. Brattleboro isn’t alone in weighing the issue. Nearly 40% of Vermont communities now decide municipal spending through ballots, up from 28% in 2019, the state’s elections division reports. Nearby Marlboro, for example, last held a Town Meeting in 2020, with about 90 of its 700 voters in attendance. Adopting ballots upon the pandemic, turnout rose to 300 residents in 2021 and close to 400 last month. But even with increased participation, meeting loyalists continue to try to bring back the tradition. “The feelings are big,” Marlboro Town Clerk Forrest Holzapfel said. Brattleboro is set to revert to an open meeting to adopt a 2027 annual budget on Saturday at 8:30 a.m. at its high school gymnasium. Organizers familiar with the 150-representative model don’t know how many of the municipality’s 9,000 registered voters will participate. “We’re setting up as many seats as we can,” Town Clerk Hilary Francis said of a space with 400 chairs, 400 bleacher seats and an overflow area for 400 more. Rather than waste money printing too many annual reports, organizers will post QR codes so residents can find the information online. “We’re trying to be both budget-minded,” Francis said, “and accommodate any person who wants to participate.” Read the story on VTDigger here: Once billed as the future of Town Meeting, the ‘Brattleboro Experiment’ is ending. ...read more read less