Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger
Essex voters rejected a proposal Tuesday to consolidate the town government in Essex and the village government of Essex Junction.
However, the question that has loomed over town politics for over a half-century is still far from settled.
The slim 17-vote margin — with 3,751 against and 3,734 in favor — has prompted some merger-supporting residents to consider a formal request for a recount.
If that fails, residents are preparing to submit a petition to reconsider the merger question. That would essentially force a revote sometime later this year.
It’s also possible the Essex Junction board of trustees, the oversight body for the village, could take action toward a separation from the town or other solutions to address a status quo it views as untenable.
Essex Junction is a village within the town of Essex, with its own municipal government and about 11,000 residents. The town and village combined have about 22,000 residents.
Essex Junction property owners currently pay taxes to both the village and town governments, which has been the primary grievance for merger proponents. Property owners outside the village pay taxes only to the town government.
“There are many possible options — not just merger and separation — which need to be discussed and explored,” said Andrew Brown, president of the Essex Junction board of trustees, in an email. “More importantly, I believe we village trustees need to hear from and engage village residents in this process — we cannot go at this alone.”
Essex has overturned a merger decision through revote before: A November 2006 vote in favor of merger was undone in early 2007 by a rescission vote following backlash from some residents. Both margins were around 200 votes.
Tuesday’s results delivered a double blow to the merger effort: Not only did the merger fail, but Elaine Haney, chair of the Essex Selectboard and a vocal proponent of the merger, lost her reelection bid by four votes to Tracey Delphia, who had previously expressed dissatisfaction with the merger plan. The election shifted the balance of power on the Essex Selectboard.
Haney has already requested a recount, which will be held Monday, March 8, according to the Essex clerk’s office.
With Haney off the board, Andy Watts, a moderate voice on the merger issue, would become the board’s senior-most member and a likely candidate for board chair.
“Given that the [merger] vote was so close, I think the next best step is to start talking about where the compromise needs to come to get a better deal, and that may be a very high hurdle,” Watts said. “Unless one side or the other is willing to compromise that, it’s insurmountable.”
The chair oversees board meetings and has control over the tone of ongoing discussions but does not hold executive power. Even so, merger opponents like Ken Signorello are optimistic about a board helmed by Watts.
Signorello, a local businessman who lives in the town outside the village, has drafted his own “separate-and-share” plan, which he sees as a solution that addresses the needs of both the village and the town.
Under his proposal, the village and the town would become separate entities with their own governing bodies. Residents of Essex Junction would pay taxes only to the village government but wouldn’t benefit from town services. The communities could then decide to share certain services that have already been consolidated.
It’s still too early to judge the potential of a separation vote, which under Vermont rules must be initiated by the village. But Signorello is keen to insist on a “new direction” for Essex.
“Old solutions that other towns and villages have tried, they’re just not right for us,” Signorello said.
