GREENSBORO – A longstanding Vermont tradition, town meeting day typically falls on the first Tuesday of March. Among its many functions, the day encompasses elections for local entities, the approval or rejection of budgets and the voting of ballot items for matters such as infrastructure projects, procedural matters, or the sale of town owned property.
photo by Raymonda Parchment
Such matters are sometimes accompanied by points of contention, a fact conveyed by Select Board member Bobbi Nisbet at the start of the day.
Nisbet, who joined the board last July, began by recalling her morning; walking her golden retriever in the early hours before town meeting, she was then informed that a town employee received a complaint via email intended for the board.
“It was eleven pages long.” Nisbet said. She described the letters’ contents, alleging multiple errors and omissions in the town report among other criticisms. Nisbet withheld the author’s name for privacy. She continued, “The board has had a rough year. They’ve been subjected to a lot of harassment, bullying and many letters from anonymous people who we don’t know who it is.”
When she joined last July, Nisbet said she felt she had an opportunity to be an objective observer. She reflected on her service thus far, commending the board for their extra efforts.
“I can list all the issues the board has dealt with outside of running the town, but I won’t do it now. As a board member, I have been available to anyone who called or emailed. I have spent up to an hour and a half, with multiple people in this room, working on their concerns, providing accurate information.” Nisbet said, “I told them all, I will listen, but I will not be your sounding board anymore. I am still available. The person that wrote this letter never called me or any other person on the board. He chose to rather call me out, accuse me, and in one case use a threat.”
Nisbet said, while the town report is not perfect, they are all doing the best they can. She acknowledged the financial expertise of the author, saying “No one can dispute that. It is still a free country, and I hope it remains that way.” Discussion on the second article, taking action on the annual printed town report, followed Nisbet’s remarks.
It was then the aforementioned author identified themselves to the room at large. “My name is Gary Cirosta. I wrote the letter.” He began. Circosta said that ,having received and gone through the town report, he felt that he should distribute his thoughts and concerns to people in town.
Circosta said according to state law, the audited financial statements are absent from the report.
“I’m not sure if anything we’re doing today is legal. I’m not sure if anything we’re doing today is binding.” He said. Circosta said he’s raised this issue before during his time on the select board. He went on, “We have the same town clerk and the same town treasurer. That issue is not new. If anyone here can tell me if anything in this meeting is binding, I’m curious.”
Greensboro resident Bridget Collier then addressed the room, saying “Now Gary wasn’t being too anonymous here, but I for one would rather these things were dealt with in a more traditional way by people talking and not sending out unpleasant messages.”
Collier said she too received an anonymous letter, and said she wouldn’t respond to an anonymous request to meet.
Chair Eric Hanson responded to both Collier and Circosta’s concerns by providing some background. “In October of this year, we lost our town treasurer and zoning administrator Brett Stanciu. She’s still out on medical leave, and hopefully she’ll be back next month. Brett was working on the auditor’s report for 2024 and also the budget for this town report. When she left, we scurried and asked for help.”
Hanson said help came in the form of Jennifer Lucas and John Schwezier. “I reached out by email to Gary Circosta to ask him to help with the budget, but I did not receive a response. We did the best we could on the budget . . . It’s a prudent and responsible budget. There are mistakes, typos and other things in the verbiage in the town report, but the budget is sound and responsible.”
Hanson said in regards to Circosta’s question on the audit, the board sought out the Vermont League of Cities and Towns, “Although an annual auditor’s report is required, there is no statutory requirement for the voters to do anything about the report, and no specific consequences if the town does not accept it. There is simply no legal requirement that the voters have to accept the report at town meeting.” He said.
According to Hanson, they intend to have the 2024 auditors report done as soon as Stanciu returns, while others continue to work on it.
“We hope that some of the suggestions that Gary Circosta made, which are accurate, get incorporated in next year’s budget.” Hansen concluded.
An earlier version of this story misspelled Eric Hanson’s name and the photo caption has been corrected to identify the voting as by paper ballot, not Australian ballot.
Raymonda Parchment is a Hardwick Gazette reporter. She recently graduated from Vermont State University - Castleton with a Bachelor’s Degree in English. She is a strong supporter of freedom of speech, and the right to publish information, opinions, and ideas without censorship or restraint. She is a lifelong lover of the written word, and is excited to join the team as a staff member.
