“Daniel Quipp, chair Brattleboro Select Board, Feb. 27
To the Editor: When my term as a Select Board member ends in one month’s time I will have served for six years during some of the most challenging years Brattleboro has seen. In this last year I have served as chair of the board and was responsible for running our meetings in a year where we have seen increased anger, polarization, and a lack of trust in government. Some of the things that people are feeling can be laid squarely at the feet of the Select Board – myself included – and this election provides an opportunity for change.
There are eight candidates running for the three open seats and I believe that all of them have shown themselves to serious people worthy of your consideration. I am writing to you all to talk about two candidates who I believe have demonstrated a refreshing thoughtfulness in their approaches to the challenges facing our community: Cristina Shayonye and Oscar Heller.
Cristina Shayonye is running for one of the two one-year seats. I have gotten to know Cristina this year through her participation in Select Board meetings and community organizing. Cristina’s moral clarity and critical thinking have been on display in her work around homelessness, public safety, and the town’s budget. In talking to her it is clear to me that this is someone who will fight for Brattleboro, rather than a particular ideological position. As a young parent in town she can be a voice for a part of our community that struggles to attend meetings and be represented on boards. Cristina is articulate, fierce when she needs to be, and genuinely committed to solving problems.
Voters can judge for themselves by reading the candidate interviews in this newspaper, watching the debate from Feb. 12, and listening to interviews on the Vermonitude podcast. Brattleboro is lucky to have such a good slate of candidates to choose from, and I am excited for fresh perspectives to make their way onto the board.”
Our Selectboard should be as diverse as our town. As a low income working parent I will bring a voice to the board that has not been represented. Working families are vital to Brattleboro. The child care crisis, the opioid crisis, and the housing crisis can make it feel impossible to raise a family here. Our town’s governance cannot continue to focus on one crisis at a time while the others grow out of hand.
I am concerned with the growing political divisiveness in our town and I believe that we need to stop fighting each other and start fighting the opioid crisis, and solve the housing crisis. However, our municipality cannot solve these crises alone. It is my top priority to strengthen the working relationship between our town government and our state legislatures, all the while, making sure the voices of the residents we serve are centered. This will help our town access much needed state support and funds, relieving the Brattleboro tax payers of the unsustainable financial burden of being a hub town with a disproportionate amount of needs as home to the state’s largest psychiatric hospital.
As a resident, I’ve been frustrated when trying to participate in our local democracy. When I’ve asked The Town for more opportunities to be heard and to be informed, the response is “come to a Selectboard meeting”. A Selectboard meeting is not a public forum – it is also not a community conversation. I believe we can strengthen our local democracy by creating more pathways for meaningful public engagement BEFORE policy is enacted.
Cristina “Ina” Shay–Onye says the Selectboard “should be as diverse as our town, and as a low-income working parent,” she pledges to bring a “vital yet underrepresented voice to the board.”
Her qualifications include a year on the Finance Committee. She has an Education Specialist Credential with a specialty in accessibility and background in environmental and biological science.
Shay-Onye’s current line of work involves “reimagining and creating infrastructure for housing, education and other basic needs.”
“I am running because a critical mass of residents do not feel represented by the Selectboard, and I want to broaden the priorities of our town’s leadership by bringing the voices of low-income, working families and individuals to the center of the conversation.”
For Shay-Onye, one of the town’s most pressing issues is “a lack of transitional support for folks who are released from the [Brattleboro] Retreat and the motel voucher program [the state’s General Assistance Emergency Housing Program].”
“There is a gross lack of options available for those who are struggling to get back on their feet and this directly leads to more homelessness and an unsustainable burden on our emergency services,” the candidate says.
“We need transitional housing, drug treatment options, sober living options, and then, of course, homes that low-income residents of Brattleboro can afford,” Shay-Onye says. “As home to the largest psychiatric hospital in the state and shelter to hundreds of Vermonters temporarily living in motels, our municipality must advocate for more state support.”
Shay-Onye also says the crafting the town budget is the board’s biggest job.
“As a current Finance Committee member, I will arrive on the board already well-versed in the details of our town finances,” she says. “In recent years there have been changes made to the fiduciary responsibility of board members, and I do not think those changes have served the taxpayers well. I will advocate for the return of monthly line item reports from each department to be reviewed by the Selectboard, and the return of long-term financial planning.
“Our current Selectboard has abandoned long-term financial planning for our town even though this is a fundamental part of financial management,” Shay-Onye says. “Our funds for emergency use have been depleted, and there is currently no plan to replenish them.”
She says she is “particularly concerned about this after learning that Brattleboro does not have resources ready to mobilize in the event of an emergency. On the board, I will prioritize our town’s emergency preparedness.”