As usual, writing for myself and not the board or town. Budget and Candidates Night is the night of Monday Feb 24th, 7-10pm, at the high school auditorium. I hope to see you there!

Below are the questions for board candidates that I would be keen to hear their answers on. Perhaps they could answer here. If they want to respond at greater length, I encourage them to post elsewhere and provide us a link here. Anyone who doesn’t have another place to post is welcome to email a response to me, and I’ll publish it at my website. (I would of course post a link here.)

• The town’s housing and homelessness committee will soon present the board with a potential survey for Hartford property owners to describe rental housing they may manage. This survey could be voluntary or mandatory. Would you vote to make this survey mandatory for property owners? Do note that, unless it’s mandatory, it’s unlikely that Hartford could adopt any rental regulations beyond the current health and safety code.
• Would you recommend Hartford alter the boilerplate police policy (the “FIPP”) to comport with the Welcoming Hartford Ordinance?
• If faced with a proposal, like I was, to cut the road paving budget by $300,000, would you have voted in support of my motion to cut the police budget by $100,000 in order to share the cuts more equally across departments? (The $100,000 for police was slated for a staffer that had not yet been hired; it wouldn’t have resulted in a layoff.)
• Would you have voted to accept the Gaza Ceasefire Resolution proposed to the board by a dedicated group of community members?
• Do you support the efforts of the newly formed clerical workers union in town government?
• Would you support at least “Option C” of the Bugbee Center proposal? (This option is a thorough remodel, short of a full rebuild.) Here’s the board packet thst contains the proposal: https://www.hartford-vt.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_02182025-2914
• What would you like to see on the street level of the forthcoming Coolidge Block redevelopment?
• Americans often take vacations to visit societies around the world that build almost exclusively walkable areas. (It turns out that all humans love these areas.) Scholars understand that what took the U.S. in the other direction in the 20th century—actively preventing walkability—was the influence of big money interests on governments, mixed with racism. Hartford was largely built at the densities of the rest of America, car nearly always required. Would you spend your political capital to help create a truly walkable center (or three)? Would you vote to spend town money to map our water and sewer lines, so we know where we can build more densely?