Keep Our Community Safe. We all want a community where children can play, businesses thrive, and people have the resources they need. 

Spend Brattleboro Tax Dollars Wisely. The selectboard’s proposed giant property tax increase burdens families as most of our incomes are not keeping up with these taxes. Isaac will bring fiscal responsibility to Brattleboro government, ensuring we all can afford to stay in our beloved town. Our town’s population is aging. To attract more families to Brattleboro, we need to get our taxes under control. 

Stand with All of Our Neighbors. Brattleboro can’t fix all the failures of state and federal governments, but we can do our part. Isaac stands with the 99%, advocating for safety and fairness to ensure no one is left out, and no one risks freezing to death.

Protect Brattleboro residents against the opioid crisis by reducing demand for, and supply of, drugs. On the one hand invest in social goods like housing, public transit, and social services. On the other, ensure landlords and the Town work together to stop disruptive drug dealing operations. Bolster support for the Town, law enforcement, and property managers in addressing drug dealing in local residences.

Exercise fiscal responsibility. Protect Brattleboro renters and homeowners. Ensure people can afford the rent and property taxes. As a homeowner and landlord, I believe in tenant protections, including guardrails on rent increases. As for property taxes, most residents’ incomes are not keeping up with the property tax increases. We can get property taxes under control by considering long-term budget costs when creating new positions and large-scale capital investments. In looking at where to cut expenses, we should first look at vacant positions, and construction projects we have not yet started, and then at executive-level pay and proposed raises. 

Grow and improve Brattleboro’s housing stock. Implement theBrattleboro Housing Action Plan, including: Work with developers to increase the supply of quality and diverse housing in Brattleboro. Create new funding sources and strategies to create and rehabilitate affordable and middle-income housing. Support residents in their efforts to find and retain quality housing. 

Protect against flooding of the Whetstone Brook and invest in the next generation. Through long-term planning, and cooperation between multiple entities, Brattleboro has made positive investments like the Whetstone floodplain restoration project across from Williams Street. Protect Brattleboro against future floods by making further investments in areas along the Whetstone Brook. Leverage existing resources to reduce climate emissions and protect the most vulnerable residents by advancing Brattleboro’s currentsustainability initiatives.

Build Confidence in Brattleboro Town Government. We all need clear information. The new parking payment system is a great example of the need for clear communication from the Town of Brattleboro. One simple idea: Ensure that every household receives a postcard with a link to a webpage to receive Town updates.

Engage the Vermont state government. Work closely with our Vermont legislative delegation to address the safety needs of Brattleboro residents. Engage Governor Phil Scott in addressing the needs of Vermonters in our community who are struggling. The governor should visit Brattleboro to develop paths forward. 

Take Brattleboro’s potential and give it some love. Uplift work addressing safety in Brattleboro like One Brattleboro and the Situation Table, which bring together town government, law enforcement, and non-profit service providers for action. Support mutual aid and community-led responses to extreme poverty like the distribution of hot meals and essentials like first aid and medical supplies by Ian and April, a local couple that had been living out of a tent and that now has a newborn baby and is utilizing the motel voucher program. Build on creative approaches to addressing crime like theBrattleboro Food Co-op’s innovative response to shoplifting, and increase places that welcome people who are struggling most.