Select board candidates address racism, social justice in online forum

February 19, 2021  |  By Emmett Gartner

UPDATE: Organizers had more questions from viewers than there was time for in the forum so they sent them to the candidates afterward. Candidate answers have been posted to the group’s webpage under “events” where the video can also be found.

Five of the six candidates for the Waterbury Select Board participate in an online forum hosted by the Waterbury Area Anti-Racism Coalition on Feb. 17. Top, left to right: Mark Frier, Scott Culver, Dani Kehlmann; bottom: Brock Coderre, moderator Maroni Minter, Noah Fishman. Screenshot.

Candidates for Waterbury’s Select Board fielded questions on race and social justice in an online forum hosted by the Waterbury Area Anti-Racism Coalition on Wednesday. 

The forum was the second of two events held by the organization to familiarize voters with the people behind the names on their Town Meeting Day ballots.

Voters will fill three select board seats in the March 2 election: two one-year seats and one three-year seat. The three-year term is the spot currently held by interim board Chair  Mark Frier who is running for one of the two one-year positions. Candidates Dani Kehlmann and Scott Culver are seeking the three-year term. Culver is also on the ballot as a candidate for a three-year term on the Harwood Unified Union School District board. 

The one-year seats are in contention amongst Frier, incumbent Katie Martin, who is seeking her second term, and challengers Brock Coderre, and Noah Fishman.

Moderator Maroni Minter, a Waterbury resident and WAARC leader, relayed questions submitted by the public that included whether candidates acknowledge the existence of systemic racism in the American economy and what the phrase “Black Lives Matter” means to them.

Five of the six candidates attended the forum held via Zoom video conference. Martin was absent due to work obligations. They spoke earnestly about their plans for spreading equity and confronting racism in Waterbury.

The first question focused on how to identify and stop racist actions and promote justice and inclusion in the community.

Dani Kehlmann, who is the director of the Waterbury Area Food Shelf and has been a Waterbury resident for seven years, suggested anti-racism training for local officeholders and an investigation into how racial disparity might play a role in town services such as town fees, health outcomes, and citations.

Kehlmann also promised to lead by example when it comes to modeling anti-racist behavior and encouraged the community to hold her accountable if she missteps. 

“It is the responsibility of local leaders to name the problem and actively be a part of change,” Kehlmann said.

Frier traced his background from growing up in Chicago, going to Perdue University, and moving to Vermont to work at Burton Snowboards before switching career paths to restaurants. He’s now a partner in several area restaurants including The Reservoir in downtown Waterbury. 

He pointed to his experience on the select board where he became interim chair in November after former chair Chris Viens stepped down from the leadership role. Viens came under fire for comments he made regarding addressing racism in policing during a general election candidate forum where he was a candidate for one of the two state House seats representing Waterbury.  

“I will continue to do the work I’ve done for the last five years, listening to the community and responding accordingly,” Frier promised.

He pointed to recent steps the town has taken along these lines such as adopting a declaration of inclusion and flying the “Waterbury Stands with Black Lives Matter” banner. He said he looks forward to new steps such as creating a community mural with a theme of inclusion. 

In addition, Frier suggested that reviewing future police initiatives will be important. Waterbury disbanded its police department in 2018 and its three-year contract with the Vermont State Police for coverage ends June 30. Town officials have not yet negotiated a new contract and Municipal Manager Bill Shepeluk said during a recent budget work session that he had not heard whether the state was interested in continuing the arrangement. “How we model our police department is a big conversation that has to be had,” Frier said in the forum. 

For Brock Coderre, his run for select board is his second bid for public office. He was a Republican candidate for the Washington-Chittenden state House District in 2020. He and Viens, however, both came up short in November as voters re-elected incumbent Democratic state Reps. Tom Stevens and Theresa Wood.

Looking to the local race now, Coderre encouraged guided conversations on racism and charting a path forward with community input. “Education is key,” Coderre said. “People hate things they know nothing about. People don’t respect other cultures because they haven’t taken the time to learn them.”

Waterbury native Noah Fishman who co-owns Zenbarn restaurant and Zenbarn Farms with his brother Ari, explored a theme similar to Coderre’s. “We can certainly elevate our level of dialogue and try and address any decisions through a lens of social justice and racial equity,” Fishman said.

Longtime youth sports coach and candidate Scott Culver is retired from the Vermont Agency of Transportation and now works at Engelberth Construction. The Waterbury native emphasized the significance of electing a select board member who residents know and trust to lead difficult conversations on racism. 

“Relationships are extremely important when it comes to making crucial decisions to affect everyone’s health and well-being,” Culver said. “It takes communication, teamwork, and understanding to create a community that prospers.”

The questions that followed grew more personal and introspective, one of which queried candidates about whether leaders should be held accountable for posts on social media.

Culver, in a nod to the heated online debate surrounding the renaming of Thatcher Brook Middle School, which was unanimously supported by the Harwood Union school board last week, confronted this topic head-on in his answer.

“There are some people on [Facebook] that I am very disappointed in their take and the way they have presented themselves on a media level,” Culver said. “When you start hearing the words ‘old townies’ and ‘key citizens’ and ‘what it’s going to cost,’ that’s all negative energy that we don’t have time to deal with. We’ve dealt with negative energy for years and years and we need to go in the opposite direction.”

Frier also weighed in on contentious events in town government.

“I had a conversation after some issues this summer with a speech at a select board meeting and I think that the really important thing that came out of it was the opportunity for education,” Frier said. “We have to remember that, as leaders, our words do matter and they should be thoughtful.”

The candidates offered candid details when asked what “Black Lives Matter” means to them and what steps they have taken to educate themselves on Black or indigenous people of color’s experiences with racism and justice.

Fishman contemplated difficult conversations surrounding BIPOC experiences he’s had with his own family recently. In his answer, he acknowledged that he hadn’t truly understood the scope of racism’s impact until recognizing the pain that his wife, Marlena Tucker-Fishman, who is Black, has especially felt this past year because of it. He was also forthright in discussing the meaning of Black Lives Matter and how it should be interpreted, saying,

“It’s not this academic debate over what BLM means anymore. Let’s get our sh*t together, it’s time to do something different. We can’t accept this anymore.” 

Other candidates shared a variety of steps they have taken in educating themselves on BIPOC experiences. Coderre, for example, was quick to reference his campaign for state office and the conversations he had with voters during his run. “Asking people first-hand how they feel about [racism] from their own experiences has been very helpful and very eye-opening, instead of just reading about it from a book,” he said.

Kehlmann summarized a different approach. 

“I have been reading a lot of books, not only because there’s good, important information [in them], but because I want to work to take the burden off of BIPOC folks so that I am doing the work,” Kehlmann said, adding, “It’s important to hear their stories and talk to those folks, but we have to ensure that we are not putting more burden on people who have been oppressed and burdened for centuries.”

The forum ended on an upbeat note. “I think we’re all on the same sheet of music, I think we’re all looking for the same basic goals,” Culver reflected. 

 The candidates expressed their appreciation for the opportunity to share their ideas and backgrounds and said they were looking forward to the upcoming Town Meeting Day election on March 2.

“We’re on the cusp of change as a society in many directions,” Coderre said. “These are exciting times.”

This forum held on Wednesday, Feb. 17, was recorded and the video is posted online on the Waterbury Area Anti-Racism Coalition’s Facebook page and on its website. Organizers say they hope to add to the website posting by Feb. 21 answers to follow-up questions that they could not fit into the forum timeslot as well as answers from candidate Katie Martin who was unable to participate live.