PAWLET — Daniel Banyai, owner of the Slate Ridge firearms training facility, submitted paperwork yesterday to run for a seat on the town’s selectboard — a group he has clashed with for several years.
If he were elected, Banyai would join a board that has hired an attorney and filed suit against him. The town has argued in court that Banyai’s operation is unpermitted, and therefore unlawful, in a residential area.
Last week, as part of that case, an environmental court judge issued a preliminary injunction demanding that Banyai cease operations at Slate Ridge until the court issues a final ruling.
Banyai has often used the hashtag #curruptpawlet on his social media posts. Last April, he invited his Facebook followers to attend and protest a selectboard meeting to advocate for Second Amendment rights. In his post, he asked any who joined him to bring weapons and trauma kits. The meeting was ultimately held virtually due to Covid-19.
He also posted the names of town officials, along with “home addresses to follow stay tuned,” in a comment under a post that says, “Vermont’s governor calls his own state’s people irredeemably racist.”
Three selectboard members’ terms will expire this year. While John Malcolm, vice chair of the board, is running again for a one-year term, board members Edgar Cleveland and Charles Weeden declined to run again.
Four candidates filed for both three-year and one-year terms, including Banyai, Estella Leach, who previously ran for state representative, Martin Kravitt, a local architect, and Rich Hulett. His wife, Mandy Hulett, received a final stalking order against Banyai after a judge ruled that his posts on social media were threatening.
Maureen Brown is running only for the three-year term, and Jessica Van Oort, who chairs the Pawlet Planning Commission, is running only for the one-year term. Those planning to run have until Wednesday evening to withdraw, at which time the list of candidates will be finalized.
Typically, people running for office are required to collect voter signatures to qualify as candidates, but to prevent door-to-door signature collection during Covid-19, candidates only needed to fill out a consent form.
