Page 25 - 2025 Brighton VT Annual Report

Selectboard Report

2025 has come and gone and we are moving forward full steam into 2026! The past year has been
a whirlwind. We began the year facing the need to hire a new town manager. Under the town manager
form of government, we found that we were in need of hiring an interim manager until we were able to
hire a permanent person for the role. We evaluated several options, including hiring a firm to fill the role
as well as other options. In the end, with costs weighed and understanding that whoever was in the role
would need to take action immediately and would be challenged not knowing the details of some of our
urgent priorities, the board made a decision to promote Recreation and Economic Development Director,
Michael Strait, to the interim position. The board continued to contact parties who would be needed to
advertise and promote the job. After a time of not receiving the required information, evaluating costs
and knowing there were multiple Vermont towns facing the same dilemma, we evaluated Michael’s
performance and determined the best action for the town would be to make Michael a permanent town
manager. Since the promotion to permanent town manager, we have seen Michael truly rise to the
position. He has handled multiple challenges across multiple projects and continues to grow in this role.
The remaining staff have thrived under his leadership and we have seen significant improvements with
their deadlines and productivity.
With Michael firmly in this role, the selectboard has been able to begin the process of updating and
evaluating all of our town policies and will continue to work to update them over time. These are tasks
which have been pushed off for many years and many of our policies are out of date.

We do want to recognize all of the town staff and boards
for their amazing work over the past year. With the
reappraisal process, multiple other projects, training
needs, as well as a few broken pieces of equipment, the
staff have remained positive and even with additional
work, everything was completed close to or on time.
Thank you all for your contributions.

We also want to recognize the contributions of many
of the volunteers and organizations in town. With a
town as small as Brighton, so many of the things we Brighton Selectboard
see wouldn’t happen without volunteers. We urge From Left - Jeanne Gervais, Heather McElroy,
all residents and property owners to seek out the Bruce Webster, William Hawkins, Mike Testut
organizations in town which align with your desires and
either volunteer or become part of a board. Our success as a town and our future truly depend on our
most valuable assets, our people.

Here’s to a bright future and an exciting 2026!

Town of Brighton Selectboard

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