In Northampton, 122 acres of farmland has been saved. The USA is losing 6,000 acres of open space to development every day. Europe offers a model on how to protect open space. Details on the Northampton deal are at:

https://www.kestreltrust.org/vollinger-farm-in-northampton-conserved-for...

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The Brattleboro Home Depot and its vast parking lot have been vacant for 17 years. Kesha Ram Hinsdale is the first woman of color to serve in the Vermont senate. On June 9, she told the Valley Post, "One of the most meaningful changes we could make to our education finance system is to tax property vacancy. Right now, there’s often more financial incentive to leave a commercial or residential property empty than to rent it. In over 80 towns across the state, the 'non-homestead' property tax rate is lower than the homestead property tax rate, meaning second homeowners pay less than permanent residents. That’s hollowing out both our main streets and our backroads. Empty storefronts and unoccupied homes erode the vitality of our communities and shrink the tax base that supports our schools. Rather than racing to consolidate schools or cut programs, we should be modernizing our tax code to reflect the actual drivers of inequity and revenue loss. The money is there — it’s just too often sitting behind shuttered windows and underused properties while school budgets take the hit.”

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Having just finished enacting a dramatic increase to the size of the town's police force, the Brattleboro select board is scheming to jack up the fees it charges protesters.

Newfane, Vermont is less than two miles from Brattleboro, town line to town line, as the crow flies. The select board is like a mayor and city council combined. Dan DeWalt served on the Newfane select board for three years. On June 13, he told the Valley Post, “These are protests, not parties or celebratory parades. Charging people to exercise their free speech rights to combat tyranny is a limitation on that speech.... If they ask for voluntary contributions, fine. But I know that worrying about costs was one of the factors that caused (the group) Indivisible to cut back on their 'parade' route (for the June 14, 2025 Brattleboro No Kings march) and is causing them all kinds of angst and hesitation, thus stifling dissent.”