Brattleboro Commission Researches Vermont Town Governance Models

In 2024, Brattleboro's Charter Revision Commission undertook a comprehensive review of municipal governance structures across Vermont, examining 102 municipal charters to inform potential updates to their own charter. They issued a report with their findings on July 11, 2024.

The Research Process

The "Other Charters Committee," comprised of Denise Glover, Joy Tournoux, and Peter Elwell, reviewed all 102 municipal charters that have been approved by the Vermont General Assembly. The committee analyzed charters from cities, towns, villages, and special districts throughout Vermont, looking for provisions that might advance local self-governance in Brattleboro.

"We shared the workload; most charters were reviewed by one person and some were reviewed by two people," the committee reported. "We met intermittently throughout our review process to organize our work, compare notes on our progress, and collaborate on our findings."

Key Findings on Governance Models

The research revealed several predominant governance models across Vermont municipalities:

1. Council-Manager (34 municipalities): "An elected board makes policy and hires a professional manager. The manager advises the board on policy matters and is responsible for the municipal staff and for day-to-day operations." This model is used by seven cities, 21 towns, and six villages.
2. Selectboard (29 towns): "An elected board makes policy and also is responsible for the municipal staff and day-to-day operations." This form is most common in smaller towns with populations below 5,000.
3. Village Trustees (13 villages): Similar to the Selectboard model, where trustees are responsible for village staff and day-to-day operations.
4. Mayor-Council (3 cities): Used by Burlington, Rutland, and Newport. In Burlington and Rutland, "the directly elected mayor is both the top elected official and also responsible for the day-to-day operations of city government." Newport uses a hybrid model.

The committee noted that Brattleboro is the only municipality in Vermont that uses Representative Town Meeting, a governance structure more common in Massachusetts.

Governance Structure Variations

The research highlighted several important variations in municipal governance:

Type of Governing Body

• 42 towns explicitly state in their charters that they have a selectboard
• 21 villages have a board of trustees
• 7 cities have a city council
• 3 cities have a board of aldermen

Size of Governing Body

Most towns (24) have a 5-member selectboard, while most villages have either a 5-member (10) or 3-member (9) board of trustees. Cities generally have larger governing bodies, with four having 7 members, four having 5 members, and Rutland and Burlington having 11 and 12 members respectively.

Directly Elected Mayor

Eight cities have directly elected mayors, but only three (Burlington, Rutland, and Newport) use the Mayor-Council form of government. Four villages have directly elected presidents of the board of trustees. None of the towns have a directly elected selectboard chair.

Professional Management

The committee distinguished between municipal managers (who have individually vested authority as chief executive or administrative officers) and administrators (whose authority flows from the governing body):

• 34 municipalities have appointed managers (8 cities, 21 towns, 5 villages)
• 7 municipalities have appointed administrators (4 towns, 3 villages)

Representation Models

The "overwhelming norm" throughout Vermont is to have members of the governing body elected at-large. Only four cities (Barre, Burlington, Montpelier, and St. Albans) use ward or district-based representation.

Implications for Municipal Governance

The committee emphasized the importance of finding the right balance in charter design:

"We believe it is important for the Charter Revision Commission to strive for a 'Mama Bear' or 'just right' result in our Town of Brattleboro charter. The overly long, complex, and detailed charters are harder to understand and cumbersome to implement. The overly short and narrowly focused charters fail to seize the opportunity to empower a municipality with more local control than Vermont Statutes generally allow."

Context from Other New England States

Brattleboro's research also examined governance models across New England, finding that:

• Massachusetts: 86% use Town Meeting with Selectboard and Manager/Administrator, with 11% using Representative Town Meeting
• Connecticut: 63% use Town Meeting (often splitting legislative powers with Selectboard or Council), with 4% using Representative Town Meeting
• Maine: 90% use Town Meeting with various executive structures
• New Hampshire: 94% use Town Meeting with Selectboard
• Vermont: Nearly all use Town Meeting with Selectboard, with Brattleboro being the only municipality using Representative Town Meeting

Summary and Acknowledgment

The Charter Revision Commission's examination of Vermont's municipal governance structures represents a significant research effort. By reviewing all 102 municipal charters, the "Other Charters Committee" documented the various approaches to local government currently in use across the state.

Committee members Denise Glover, Joy Tournoux, and Peter Elwell divided the workload and met periodically to share findings and collaborate on their analysis. Their research identified the predominant governance models, variations in structure, and representation methods used throughout Vermont and New England.

Additional Resources

Brattleboro's Annual Representative Town Meeting will begin on Saturday, March 22, 2025 at 8:30 am in the BUHS Gymnasium.

Here is the Other Charters Committee Report, as well as the Other Charters Summary Table.

Read Brattleboro's current charter here.

The Charter Revision Commission will be hosting a public forum on Monday, March 31, 2025 at Brooks Memorial Library.

Below is a comprehensive two-part series on the history of Representative Town Meetings in Brattleboro:

• Part 1: https://www.ibrattleboro.com/culture/history/2014/03/representative-town-meeting-part1-origins-and-adoption/
• Part 2: https://www.ibrattleboro.com/culture/history/2014/03/representative-town-meeting-brattleboro-part2-reaction-repeal/

The January 2, 2025 episode of "Vermontitude" had guests from the Carter Revision Commission (different than the Other Charters Committee that produced the above research) where they discuss their work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rxp9YQUIsg