BRATTLEBORO — Saturday’s annual Town Meeting is set to propose a no-confidence motion against local leaders who’ve pushed for a municipal takeover of ambulance coverage after residents approved a budget they thought would fund their former longtime provider, Rescue Inc.
“Whereas, the Brattleboro Selectboard voted to end the contract with little notice to the public,” says part of the nonbinding resolution emailed to meeting representatives who, unlike in other towns, are elected. “Resolved: That Representative Town Meeting expresses its lack of confidence in the manner in which the Selectboard decided this.”
Last year’s Town Meeting approved a 2022-23 municipal budget with a $285,600 line item that taxpayers expected would extend a nearly six-decade contract with the private nonprofit Rescue, the region’s largest and longest-serving EMS agency.
“As we look ahead, our members and staff remain dedicated to our 56-year tradition of providing exceptional emergency medical care and transport in the region,” Drew Hazelton, Rescue’s chief of operations, wrote in last year’s annual report. “We are excited to be able to continue providing these services.”
But unbeknown to residents, then newly hired Town Manager Octavian “Yoshi” Manale had reopened contract talks his predecessor had completed. A month later in April, the since-departed administrator sat alongside the five-member Brattleboro Selectboard as it unanimously approved a surprise municipal takeover plan with little public notice or debate.
Not a single constituent voiced support at that meeting or anyone since, recordings show. Instead, a group of residents, pointing to a recent Seven Days cover story citing Rescue as a state model, stood outside the polls this month holding such signs as “Resuscitate Rescue — Select New Board,” leading to the election of two new members.
Robert Oeser, a retired correctional officer who has spent the past year questioning the EMS decision, announced the no-confidence motion after Tuesday night’s selectboard meeting.
Earlier, as Oeser and the two newly elected candidates watched, outgoing selectboard member Jessica Gelter called for removing the regional approach used by Rescue from further municipal consideration.
“The model should be taken off the table,” said Gelter, contending that proposals based out of the downtown fire department would offer faster service.
The full selectboard ultimately voted Tuesday night to explore all options this spring and summer before deciding on a plan this fall, all while setting aside $1.75 million of the town’s $2.7 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds to pay for potential EMS startup costs.
Shortly after the meeting, Oeser unveiled his no-confidence motion.
The resolution, set for introduction Saturday during “other business,” will argue that the selectboard approved the EMS switch last April “without allowing for adequate public input.”
Local leaders still haven’t shared any of the facts or figures that prompted them to approve the change, which they said would reap up to $700,000 in insurance revenue but actually could wind up costing taxpayers almost that much annually, according to a recent feasibility study.
The motion, in addition to expressing a “lack of confidence,” calls on the selectboard “to set up a process to determine the future of EMS in Brattleboro that is transparent, takes into account the opinions of town residents, and includes utilizing the services of a mediator or other neutral outside negotiator to re-engage in discussions with Rescue Inc.”
“We need to mend that relationship,” Oeser told the selectboard Tuesday night.
Brattleboro is set to hold its first in-person Town Meeting since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. The session is scheduled for Saturday, March 25, at 8:30 a.m. at the Brattleboro Union High School gym, with live coverage available on Brattleboro Community TV.