HARTFORD — Two members of the Selectboard face opposition at Town Meeting this year as seven candidates are running for three slots on the board. Revitalization, housing and the hotly debated “Welcoming Hartford” ordinance related to immigration are all issues on candidates’ minds.
At Town Meeting on March 3, voters will have to choose between current Selectboard Vice Chairman Dick Grassi and political newcomer Alicia Barrow, a sales and leasing consultant, for a three-year seat.
For two two-year seats, voters can pick from a pool that includes Quechee resident Lannie Collins, Upper Valley Aquatic Center director Joe Major, former Selectboard member Sandy Mariotti, former Public Works Department administrative assistant Joan Ponzoni and incumbent Kim Souza.
Selectboard member Jameson Davis, who has been on the board since 2018, is not seeking reelection. He declined to comment on the reason in an email last week.
Going into the race, some candidates are divided on one key issue: whether to support the Welcoming Hartford Ordinance. Introduced last summer, the ordinance would govern communication between town employees — including police — and federal immigration authorities.
Supporters have said that it could help protect undocumented people by limiting the information Hartford police can give to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Opponents argue that it could violate a federal law that stipulates local governments cannot prohibit police from sharing a person’s immigration status.
Grassi, who has long opposed the ordinance, said it would essentially require public employees to violate federal law.
“It puts all town employees at issue and all volunteers within the community at issue,” Grassi said. He added that it puts taxpayers’ money at risk, because violating federal law could mean losing federal funding.
Mariotti, who said she doesn’t support violating federal law, stressed that she’s worried about the “discourse and unrest” that the ordinance has created within the local community.
“I agree that there is an issue, but I feel like if we’re going to attack it, we should do that at the federal level where it belongs,” she said.
Collins echoed both Grassi and Mariotti on Monday, saying at the ordinance could result in “potential extreme cost to the taxpayers” and adding that he doesn’t believe it would provide the protection supporters think it would.
But Major, a supporter of the ordinance, said he’s given the legislation a lot of thought and believes the federal law itself is in violation of the Tenth Amendment, which says that unless power is given specifically to the federal government, it belongs to the state.
“I keep coming back to the Constitution, which supersedes everything,” he said. “When I come back to that, I’m in favor of the ordinance.”
When asked whether she supports the ordinance, Barrow said she believes “in giving people a voice” and said that the public should feel comfortable talking to police without fear.
Souza, who has been on the board during discussions regarding the ordinance over the past year, said she supports it “in principle.”
She said if voters decide not to approve the ordinance next month, she’ll continue looking at “improving the methods that we have for working with community members … including undocumented members.”
Part of that includes boosting transparency and accountability, Souza said, adding that she would be in favor of a rule that requires Hartford police to notify the town manager and the Selectboard if they communicate with federal agencies like ICE.
Ponzoni said she would have to take a closer look at the ordinance before making a decision on whether she supports it.
The proposed ordinance isn’t the only way the candidates differ; many of the Selectboard hopefuls have come to the race on platforms that range from building a closer community to overseeing revitalization projects.
“I think that our town has lost sight of what Hartford was and we need to get back to some Hartford goals,” Collins said.
One of those goals, he said, is a return “public civility” at meetings.
He also said that part of his platform focuses on fiscal responsibility. He pointed to an ordinance at the upcoming Town Meeting that will ask voters to approve a bond for a $3.3 million pool, saying that while he supports a pool, this particular plan has “cost overruns that could be trimmed.”
Major, who moved to Hartford from Baltimore in 2018, said he’s running to give back to the community that has welcomed him. He said his focus is on continuing to revitalize areas like White River Junction by addressing parking issues and investing in businesses and infrastructure.
“We have to find a way to keep our young people here by having jobs for them and making Hartford an attractive place,” he said.
Ponzoni echoed Major’s interest in investing in White River Junction, saying that she’s supportive of the growth and new businesses that have moved into the neighborhood.
Souza also brought up infrastructure investment as a key focus in her candidacy. She said she’s been proposing some public-private collaborations with developers and discussing private investments to increase parking in White River Junction.
She added that she’d also like to see more compact residential development in downtown White River Junction “ideally with affordable housing requirements.”
For Grassi, at least part of the focus is on infrastructure issues like Fairview Terrace, parking availability and upcoming road construction projects. He said he’s eager to help oversee several planned projects on Sykes Mountain Avenue, including the construction of two traffic circles, which he believes could cause “major” traffic disruptions for two to three years.
“We’re trying to ensure that everybody is working together on the same page so it’s the least intrusive,” he said.
Mariotti has a different focus. She said she’s largely concerned with combating drug addiction in White River Junction — a problem she sees firsthand as a nurse at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.
“It’s close to my heart,” she said.
For Barrow, the question of what she would address as Selectboard member has a broader answer. A resident of Hartford for 13 years, she sees a disconnect between the five villages that make up the town and recognizes the “need for more unity in (the) community.”
At Town Meeting, voters will also be asked to approve a $17.38 million municipal budget, which marks a 2.2-cent increase in the town tax rate, bringing the new tax rate to just over $1.01 per $100 of valuation, according to Town Manager Brannon Godfrey. That would translate to $2,529 in municipal taxes for a home valued at $250,000.
An earlier warning, published in January, put the budget at $17.24 million, but it was changed after town officials noticed an error in the calculation, Godfrey said. He added that officials corrected the ballot and town warning last week and they will hold another Town Meeting in April for a special vote to validate that there was an error in the original warning, and to confirm the $17.38 million budget.
In addition to the budget, voters next week will be asked to approve a number of articles including $81,750 for Advance Transit and $25,000 to the Hartford Community Coalition for community support and education for mental health concerns.
They’ll also be asked to authorize a $2.7 million Tax Increment Financing project to fund infrastructure improvements like sidewalk, road and parking projects.
And the long-debated pool project, which would require a $3.3 million bond to install a public pool to replace the closed Sherman Manning Pools, will also be on the ballot.
On the school side, the proposed $40.6 million budget would result in education spending of $17,847 per equalized pupil, a 5.7% increase over the current school year. If the school budget is approved, the homestead tax rate would increase by 5.5 cents, to $1.71 per $100 of valuation.
For homeowners who don’t qualify for Vermont’s income sensitivity program, that translates to a $138 tax increase on a home assessed at $250,000.
School Board members Nancy Russell and Peter Merrill are unopposed for two School Board spots.
There will be a floor meeting at 10 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 29, at the Hartford High School gym to vote on various minor items of business, including setting the pay rates for members of the Hartford School Board and Selectboard. The municipal and school district budgets will come before voters at the polls from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 3, at the high school.
Anna Merriman can be reached at amerriman@vnews.com or 603-727-3216.
Correction
Ballot voting for Hartford Town Meeting and the annual School District Meeting will run from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Hartford High School on Tuesday, March 3. An earlier version of this story gave an incorrect time frame for when polls will be open.