Reading voters will have a chance to decide on town clerk and treasurer, as well as a new selectboard member, at this year’s annual Town Meeting
Reading’s 2026 annual Town Meeting will take place via Australian ballot at the Reading Town Hall on Tuesday, Mar. 3, between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. The informational session will take place Saturday, Feb. 28 at 9 a.m. at Town Hall.
Article 1 calls for votes on the following offices, all of which are currently uncontested races: town moderator (1-year term), town clerk (3 years), town treasurer (3 years), selectperson (3 years), trustee of public funds (3 years), trustee of public funds (2 years), cemetery commissioner (3 years), library trustee (5 years), library trustee (2 years), library trustee (1 year), MVSD schoolboard (3 years), and MVSD schoolboard (2 years).
Selectboard candidate Michael Sanderson is looking to fill the selectboard seat currently held by Bob Hartnett, who is stepping down after three years of service.
Article 4 asks voters to approve the appropriation of $796,270 to be raised by taxes. This represents a 10.8% budget increase over last year, according to selectboard chair Robert Allen.
Of the budget increase, Allen told the Standard, “We have created a budget that will allow us to hire an additional highway employee. If it doesn’t pass, then of course, we have to go back to the drawing board and have another vote. But the reason for a good portion for the increase is for the additional highway employee.”
Articles 5 and 6 propose the appointment by the selectboard of a town treasurer and town clerk, respectively. As Allen told the Standard, these articles may confuse voters, and so it’s worth explaining their purpose. “We have something that may be a little confusing to some residents, and that is Calista Brennan is on the ballot for town clerk. She’s been town clerk for years, and she’s on the ballot for both town clerk and town treasurer, which [are] the offices she’s held.” Articles 5 and 6, Allen said, ask for the appointment to be given to the selectboard, who would then hire someone for town clerk and treasurer. Brennan’s name is on the ballot “just in case those two articles — or one of them — should get voted down for whatever reason,” said Allen.
For more on this story, please see our Feb. 12 edition of the Vermont Standard.
