 Welcome to this evening's Montpelier City Council District 3 candidate forum. This forum is sponsored by the Capital Area neighborhoods, also known as CAN. CAN has been revitalized by the City of Montpelier and is supported by the Sustainable Montpelier Coalition. I'm Tom McCone, your moderator this evening. Social Connectedness is a key element in resilient communities and good communication and civic engagement are essential to making that happen. The purpose of this program is to foster such communication and civic engagement. In District 3, we have two candidates running for each of the two city council seats from that district. This evening's program provides an opportunity for those candidates to share why they are running to be on the council, and it gives you, the voters, the opportunity to ask the candidates questions. This is a forum for sharing ideas. It's not a back and forth debate. For those of you on computers, we suggest you select the gallery view. The view icon is at the top of your screen and the chat icon where you can submit questions is at the bottom. If chat isn't already showing, move your cursor there and it should come up. If you have a technical question during the program, please put it in the chat and the Zoom manager will try to answer it. In a moment, I will introduce the candidates. After that, here's our format. The candidates will each be given up to two minutes to make opening remarks and to tell why they are running to be on the council. We will have two Q&A rounds. In the first, we will ask candidates questions combined, compiled, excuse me, from those that were submitted in advance. In the second, we will ask candidates questions compiled from those submitted this evening in the chat box. We will end by giving each candidate up to two minutes to make closing comments. During the format, during the forum, audience members will be muted. Two people from CAN will collate questions to be raised in chat, being raised in chat, and we'll group them into questions for the second Q&A round. In order for us to have time to collate your questions, please submit them anytime up to the half point of the first Q&A. We ask everyone to be polite and respectful while using chat. Although we do not expect to need to do this, if anyone is out of line, they will be dropped from the session. Please note that Orca Media is recording this program and it will later be available on their website. All that said, let's meet our four candidates. Jean Leon and Jennifer Morton are running for a single year to finish out the two-year term to which Jennifer was appointed after Dan Richardson resigned. Harry Brown and Alice Golds are running for a full two-year term to replace Jay Erickson, who has chosen not to run for re-election. For opening remarks, we will go in alphabetical order. For closing remarks, we will go in reverse alphabetical order. During the questions and answers, we will vary the order so no candidate is always first or last on the list. So now we'll move to opening remarks and Harry Brown, you are first. Thank you so much, Tom. And thank you for the organizers of this event. I'm really appreciative of the opportunity to speak to everybody and I'm so glad that we're all here. My name is Carrie Brown and I live on St. Paul Street and I have lived in Montpelier for 26 years on St. Paul Street for 22 years. And I have two sons, one of whom graduated from Montpelier High School. The other one is a senior at Montpelier High School and they've been all the way through. They were both born here and have been all the way through the school system. And in my professional life, my job is executive director of the Vermont Commission on Women, which is a state agency that's been working since 1964 to advance rights and opportunities for women and girls in Vermont. And I have a long career in Vermont of working in gender equity in education, in nonprofits, in government. And I served on the Vermont Commission on Women before I was elected to be the director nine years ago. And in my much of my life in Montpelier, I have been a justice of peace. I'm currently a justice of peace. And I have to say that a lot of people think the most interesting thing about being a JP is being able to marry people, which is a lovely thing to be able to do but I actually get much more excited by things like the property tax assessment assessment appeals and election procedures and being part of all that. So there is, I definitely have an inner government inside me, and that is a huge part of why I'm interested in running for city council and being part of that. I'm really passionate in my belief that democratic government is just an ideal way for a community to express its values to kind of pull its resources together to make sure that everybody in the community has their needs met and that we are using our public resources to express the values of our community. So I am eager for an opportunity to participate in that and that is why I'm here. And then just one other thing I want to mention is that my husband is John Odom, who is the city clerk in Montpelier. And we have talked a lot about and I've talked with other city counselors to about the idea of is there any kind of conflict of interest and we have discussed the idea that when it comes time for the budget process that the city clerks budget could be pulled out of the city budget and so that I could recuse myself if I were elected from voting on that portion of the budget. So I wouldn't be voting on my husband's salary, which doesn't, which sounds like a conflict of interest to me, but other than that, I don't see anything. Okay. Thank you, Carrie. Alice Golds, your second. Good evening. My name is Alice Golds. I lived in Montpelier District 3 for 12 years. I'm a school crossing board at intersection of Bain and School Street by the Kellogg Hubbard Library. The reason why I'm running for AC on City Council is to represent the people of District 3. Most especially those who often felt they are either unrepresented or unrepresented on the council. I want to speak to the people about their concerns as well as what they believe are unmet needs of the community and bringing these concerns and needs to the table in order to help find practical solutions on behalf of District 3 residents. I want to say this is what the people need. Now, how do we make it happen? Thank you, Alice. And I should have mentioned, you know, since I let Carrie go a little bit longer on her opening statement, if any of you would like to go a little longer, we can do that too at a fairness. Okay, so Jean, you're next. Hello, everyone. First, I'd like to say I want to thank the Capital Area Neighbourhoods can for hosting and coordinating this first annual public forum. I think it's an essential and just a prime example of the reach out community engagement that this community needs. So thank you, Ken, for doing this and putting it together and organizing it all. It's greatly appreciated and this way the public could get involved as well and raise their concerns. I've been a Berlin Street resident for six years now, I've been in Central Vermont for about eight, 10 years, give or take. I have two children, 17, 14, two girls, amazing. In another school district that they're here half the time. I've been involved in my community engaged with the Central Vermont Recycling Center and Solid Waste District and collaboration. And I do a lot of volunteer work there. I'm also a Ken neighborhood leader up in this district. I'm also on the Development Review Board for a few years. So I'm really passionate about where I live and the concerns of the community and our residents and to be a proactive voice and reaching out and really addressing their concerns. I'm also a local business owner and I'm also an independent contractor, artist, I'm a Jack of May trades but And so the question is like why I'm so busy and so involved and what why doing this right. Well, it's like any relationship ones in you have to really commit dedicated care and love. Most importantly, and I'm prepared to do so. Thank you for for this again. Okay, thank you gene. And Jennifer Morton, you're next. Thank you. I need a day mind Jesus quick. And it should not be an addition because my name is Jennifer. I am a nation of a and it is traditional for my people to respectfully address myself to the public in that way so I just introduced myself to you in my tribal language. I am running for city council because I really want to use my voice for a positive impact to help enhance Montpelier for me and my family, the indigenous community and BIPOC community of Montpelier and my neighbors and also to model for others the importance of sharing their voices. I want homeownership for those earning less than $40,000 a year, especially for working families and single moms. I have lived in Montpelier for seven years. I've lived in the same apartment for seven years, and I will continue to live in this apartment until there is affordable housing in Montpelier my children both go to school at Union and Main Street and my husband is from Vermont I'm from Southern California and we chose to raise our children here because of how small the community is and he had a great childhood and I want my children to have that as well. I have been working as a social worker for the last 20 years in Portland, Oregon, and here in Vermont, I've worked at the Washington County Youth Service Bureau, the family center, sorry, the family center of Washington County and now I am the COSA coordinator at the Berry Community Justice Center. I spent four years on the Vermont State Commission of Native American Affairs, and I'm really proud of the work that we did. And I really look forward to serving my community and being a voice for folks that live on the other side of the river and aren't homeowners. And that's all. Okay, thank you Jennifer. So now we're going to move on to the questions and the introductions and we were doing the planning on this we're debating whether two minutes was enough time for your opening remarks so we and we were going to go to three minutes anyway so we ended up fudging on the two minutes a little bit on the on the questions. We do have a lot of questions and there are four of you to answer. So we would like it if you tried to do a good job of sticking to the two minutes and when you get the 30 second or 15 second warning if you could try to wind it down and you will have the opportunity and you know when you're answering other questions that may be something you can come back to that you didn't finish and you can also do that in your closing comments later on. So in this next section. The candidates will have up to two minutes to answer each question and candidates may use the full two minutes, or they can use less than that if they want to they can pass on a question if they choose to. You've already seen the timekeeper putting up reminders at 30 seconds and 15 seconds and then at the end of the two minutes and we'll continue doing that. Through that reminder if you'll you won't know all the questions we have yet but if there are questions that you want to put in chat I can see we already have some comments in there. If you want to put anything in chat you can do that at any time. I'll give you a reminder of that in a little bit but after the first two of the candidates answer this question. The first, well actually after the first couple questions actually will be to the midpoint of the of this part and we'll have to close off questions. So in this section for the first question, it will be Jennifer Leon Alice and Carrie that'll be the water. So the opening question for you and these questions are all questions that were submitted to us. From the public after announcements of the of this form. So, how would you go about understanding what district residents are most concerned about. Thank you. Um, you know when I was going around getting signatures to run this first time. I made a promise to my neighbors that I would come back and if I was elected for real that I would come back and spend time with them. You know, in a safe way. And that is my plan moving forward is to go around to as many neighbors as I can to actually have a talk to see what their concerns are especially in my apartment complex, there's a lot of families that live here. So my other plan is to have my email available it already is I posted on front porch forum today, and I welcome any kind of conversation from my neighbors. I really want to know what's important to them because I'm just a voice, and I want to uplift my neighbors, it's not just about me it's about everybody. Thank you, Jennifer. So candidates and if you want me to repeat question. Everybody gets the same question but if you want me to repeat it. Let me know. So Jean, you're next. I'll spend hours on this one, but I'll keep it brief. The public communication. I mean, it has to improve for years. There's already been just the disaster and as far as, you know, this internal issue with with failing to communicate properly with residents getting out certain messages. I mean, just as an example, the website is not it's very outdated, not very clear. So for me, as far as like I've been a Ken neighborhood leader, I think collaborating with Ken and the potential that can has to really improve and engage with residents and so then at least council members could then go to those Ken leaders and get valid information rather than going to thousands of people. I've gone door to door I've talked to I'm constantly doing public engagement and talking to to many generations that have been here short term or long term. I want to implement a polling system, a survey system. I want to implement a newsletter. I want to encourage can to. I want to visit Ken neighborhoods. At least four times a year and get together with those leaders. A monthly newsletter I think is essential. Of course, my emails always been available. It's, I've sent out mailers to, to every voter resident in this district so most have my, my information and, and, you know, and I'm responding to the emails is essential and Okay. Thank you. Good. Thank you, Jean. Okay, Alice. The way I say that question. Yes. How would you go about understanding what district residents are most concerned about. I speak with them and arrange a range of time that I be able to meet with them. Because I speak to a lot of, I speak to a lot of people as working as working as a school crossing guard. So I get to know some of their feedback of what they think. Yes, and I would be willing to speak to speak to the people and represent them as best as I can. Okay, thank you, Alice and Carrie. Yeah. So we have some great tools with the internet with from porch forum and social media and email and so I would, I would use all of those as much as I could. But then I also think that hopefully we could find some ways to have some kind of gatherings like it might be through zoom maybe as the weather gets better things get safer it could be in person so we can just have district three folks come together with the district three counselors and have just kind of some open discussions, share a cup of coffee that kind of thing. But then also there's, there are always people who are going to be interested in connecting with city counselors, but there's a lot of people who that's just not going to be on their radar at all they're never going to think to reach out they're going to look at for email and send us an email. And so I'd be interested in trying to find other ways to connect with the people in our community and and we have a lot of great community partners in my pillar that we can reach out to folks like the Community Justice Center, another way Washington County Service Bureau, schools, students, you know that's really a voice that we don't get to hear too often and so I would try to find ways to connect with those folks to get more information about what people's needs and desires are. Okay, thank you Carrie. For the second question, the order would be Jean, Jennifer, Carrie, and then Alice. And that question. Maybe a little bit more difficult. So what would you want the city council to do about homelessness, housing insecurity, and access to affordable housing. Please share an example of a model housing development that you that you would that would have your support. So Jean. A good question asked and out there and a lot of people's minds. It's a reality that we face and an issue that kind of became really relevant a few years ago when the task force was established and I attended some of those meetings and I did my own sort of outreach and research talking to actually homeless in our community and the importance of I mean it's a very challenging situation and we have to tackle it one person at a time luckily it's still small enough to do that that action is needed we house homeless animals and treat them better than we do humans and in certain situations I mean so there's a lot of ideas we need first is a is a location to provide there so there's temporary solutions and there's long term solutions. As a long term I'd like to see a site, a realistic site where we could develop. There's the idea of palette housing. I like the idea of tiny homes. So, to give these folks a place to charge your phone a place to use a bathroom a place to shower a physical address. So then the social workers the existing departments could really associate and help each individual case, having a residence is such is so valid and we can go from there on a short term solution. And I want to talk in suggestion of insulated tents to get folks out that we definitely need the public, a place for them right now put their belongings and, and have a public bathroom, God say. Okay. Thank you gene. Jennifer. So my work in Oregon, within the homeless youth continuum we had a there's an amazing programming out there that I think could absolutely happen here in Montpelier, where there would be one centralized location for folks to come and get wrap around houses, where there would be showers food available access to phones storage and ideally housing, because people need more than just a roof over their head they need support they need, you know, to regain the tools to be able to continue moving forward. Once that, you know, temporary situation is over so I really feel that we need a one stop place where folks can get all their needs match in one centralized location. All the social workers would be there. And I think it could be a really beautiful thing and it could even happen at the old building over on Berry Street. Thank you, Jennifer. And Alice. I would want to see the council figure out a way. How they can, they can problem solve to address this matter. And the examples are many, many of different options. It can include public housing, mixed housing, tiny housing village villages. For example, Barry has two tiny houses. Okay. Thank you, Alice. For the third question, we'll, we'll start with Alice. Alice. Carrie. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. Don't forget. That's okay. My checklist. I love Jennifer's idea of the place where lots of resources are concentrated. I'm really interested in the idea of the current rec center soon to be old rec center on Berry Street. Love that idea. And I think, you know, when it, this is not a question that really can be answered in two minutes, obviously, but some, some kind of key principles are that the situation is different. People are homeless or insecure in their housing for all kinds of different reasons, and they, they have different ideas about what would be helpful to them. And so we can, we can't get very far if we're just going to make decisions for other people on their behalf so we really have to find out what is it that you need, what do you want, what can we do to help you. I think it's possible that I think we need to operate from all the time. And then there's the whole other question about folks who have a place to live, but it's too expensive for them, or they, they need a bigger place but they can't possibly get it or maybe they're renting and they'd like to own but they can't possibly afford to buy a place because the housing has gotten so outrageously expensive in Montpelier and so we need, obviously we need more housing and we need housing that people can afford to pay for and there's what I'm really interested in finding out more about is what kinds of influence can the city have over what sort of housing ends up happening here and so for instance if somebody wants to, if a private developer wants to build an apartment building, what, where are the believers that the city can pull to say some of this needs, some of these units need to be affordable units or some of these units need to be two or three bedrooms so that families can live here and so that the kind of housing that is getting built in Montpelier expresses the needs that and the desires that we have for the kind of community that we have and that we want. And, and I, I need to know a lot more about this I have a feeling that there's what I can learn so far there's not a whole lot that the city can do about that but I think that there are things that the state can do and I think that there are collaborations that we might be able to influence to make some changes there. And do I am I out of time, you're out of time. Okay, I'll stop. Okay, sorry, Carrie. So that I that I'm almost missed you, I would have missed you there so in the for the third question will have Alice Carrie. Jennifer and Jean. And this the third question. What is your view on Montpelier's increasing property taxes. So, Alice, you get to go first on this one. I think the property taxes are really high for Montpelier. And I think we should look at other communities, how, how their rate, how they're rating their taxes. And I think that pillow is the highest highest accent in the whole state of Vermont. Okay, thank you Alice. Carrie. Yes, well, obviously Montpelier taxes are really, really high. They're just so high. And no one's going to argue with anyone about that. And we are, you know, there's a lot of complex reasons for that. But it was we're supporting an infrastructure and a city that serves a lot more than just the 7800 or whatever it is who actually live here. And so I'm pretty interested in seeing if there are other ways to help support that. I mean, I know that the city has found lots of other ways to support that beyond just the property taxes on its citizens but that's the direction that we need to keep moving in. I'm very appreciative that we have the income sensitivity at the state level I think that really helps a lot, a lot of people but it's not, is not enough. So, anytime think when the city council is considering raising taxes. They need to understand who exactly that's impacting and how that's impacting them. So, and I'm not sure that that's always something we really, we really know. And so I think that's important. I also think that we might have a lot more success if we start by asking ourselves. What is it that our community needs, and then figure out how to pay for that, rather than starting from the point of how much money do we have that we can raise from taxes and what can we do with that. So it's, so it's kind of a flipping the budget process around and I think that we might do a lot better with that. Okay. Very Jennifer. I'm going to be real quick. I'm not a homeowner so property taxes are a new thing for me I know nothing about them, other than that they're extremely high here in Montpelier and I've heard so many people share with me that it's getting to the point where a lot of people can live here anymore. And that really makes me sad because there's a lot of people that have invested their entire lives here and now there are elders and they're not able to keep up on their mortgages so you know I really want to learn more about property taxes and what each homeowners property taxes is going for you know I'm learning all this this is brand new and I really want to learn from my community members. So if I become a homeowner, it will be a much more. Well it's already an important thing but it will be even more important for me to understand what the things we decide on in city council, how they affect financially, the members of the community. Okay, thank you Jennifer. Jean. Hi. So, the one word to answer that question is outrageous. I think we already know what the community needs as far as you know, there's a lot of it. And of course it's addressed in the budget and, you know, from decaying infrastructure to roads to affordable housing to keep the departments, you know the essential necessities to sustain the city. But there is a long term long time. Systemic issue, which is when something for a long period of time in a system doesn't stays the same or there's no improvement and so from current to previous council members, these budgets continue to get approved and rather than looking at it with realistic creative means to lower the taxes rather than, you know, there has to be the time and the energy to really emphasize on how we can reduce certain costs and waste, you know, those needs versus the wants. It's like, I get, if I get a call from a 80 year old senior that lives in a 400 square foot home, why is she paying $3,800 in property taxes a year? So it's driving out a community. It's making it least affordable. It affects everyone who owns a property and now with inflation and the way the market is, it's going to get difficult if we don't carefully really examine, re-examine, reinvent and really reform. Thank you, Gene. A reminder to people in the audience that you can be putting questions into chat. And I haven't read through all of them, but I've seen some questions in there that are not on our list of questions for tonight so far. So, you know, please, please continue putting questions in for the, we'll be able to take them for a few more minutes. So we have a chance to compile them before we get to the second round. So for the next question, we'll go with Kerry, Alice, Gene and Jennifer will do that order. And that question, this is the fourth question. What would you want to get the city council to do to improve the quality of life in your district? So this is an interesting question because I feel like the quality of life is pretty great in a lot of ways. And so the question is what could make it a lot better. And I think that there are, you know, I live in St. Paul, on St. Paul Street, which is like the weird little thumb of District 3, right? Most of District 3 is over on the other side of the river and then there's a little bit that kind of sticks into downtown. And so, so I'm really thinking about what are the things that are that are happening over there and traffic is a big one that comes to my mind. I know that the folks on Berlin Street have been really wanting traffic to slow down and it has, I believe it has slowed down the speed limit is lower. Hopefully that has helped traffic backing up from national life and trying to, you know, leave through neighborhoods that are not really designed to accommodate commuter traffic. But that are taking commuter traffic right now. I think that's something important to look at. And then also, general walkability of this is true for the whole entire city, but there's some part of our city that have great sidewalks that are kept really clear and it's easy to walk around and lots and lots of parts of our city that don't. That'll have a sidewalk for a little while on one side of the street. And then it disappears and that or you have to cross back and forth. And so I'd really like to kind of take a look at that and think about how do we make that the every part of Montpelier be a place that you can get around on foot and not have to rely on a car to get every single place. Okay. Thank Carrie Alice. Yes, what would you want to get the city council to do to improve the quality of life in your district. I don't want them to listen to that. I want them to listen to the people and hear what the people wanted and needed and try to come up with ideas of how we can make that happen by solutions problem solving. Like, for example, like with traffic. And I also find with, with, with the four way intersection, it's fairly hard for people to get in and out of Montpelier driving. There's a whole lot, a lot of things I'd like to see different like the clean cleaning. I see that for cleaning in Montpelier with the snow cleaning. And I feel that big concerns that that the council needs to look at and consider. Okay, thank you, Alice. Were you done. Yes. Okay, thank you. Jean, you're next. I think Alice made one valid point there. Councils cannot ignore the residents they represent. Simple as that. I mean, there's, there's a lot of personal perspectives. I can give you an example. There's 200 people in a area or 500 people voters residents in the community want a sign yellow. And they go to council they want to sign yellow but a council member doesn't like yellow, he likes the white side. So he doesn't vote on the yellow because he likes white, but this isn't about him. It's not about personal perspectives. It's about the residents and what they're trying to say. So I was involved in a two year in a project here in Berlin Street to reduce the speed of it because that was the number one concern. It was extremely hazardous. I'm going to go to Jennifer right now. And I, it took two years for that to get on the table until I pushed and pushed it through. I went door to door gave basically the hearing dates, so people turned out hundreds of people turned out with data, gathering data, sharing their concerns and how hazardous how dangerous to reduce the speed limit. Well, council members didn't vote on it, regardless because some council members decided they couldn't do that speed in this area where there are other areas that were 35 at one point, you know, in the throughout the years it was finally reduced. So, I mean listening and really valuing the concerns to provide safety transportation. I want to like to restructure the districts to because the concerns in one district might be different than. Right. Thank you gene. Okay, and Jennifer. The roads. I'm sorry. I love you Montpelier but the roads are atrocious I don't know how many flat tires I've gotten my neighbors have gotten. And I know it's part of living somewhere where it snows and the roads get plowed and potholes get made but the fact that there are so many massive potholes and I think about Phelps and how Phelps Street is just this frost heave, you know, it's just it's just the local roads to travel. And I feel like that that is something that we should absolutely center because it snows here and that's not going to go away. I also feel like traffic, you know, during rush hour, when schools are getting out when people are leaving their places of business, we're small, little city with a lot of people in it and the traffic issues are growing they've grown so you know those are two things that I know that my neighbors have mentioned to me that they would like to see change that would make things a lot better for them. And again with the walkability I think that is becoming more and more a concern for my neighbors and I've talked to some of them about that as well. I love that the new walking path that that opened recently. And I think that if we could extend that you know my kids like to walk downtown from this side of the river and I let them. But I let them with a gritting, you know, motherly fear that you know somebody's going to come flying through going up Berlin and you know nailing my children. So, I really think that, again, thinking about the safety and the walkability and, you know, the speed limit on Berlin. Just, just follow the instructions please you know we all live here together, and we all care about each other and it's not hard to do oh I saw stop sorry so I'm going to stop. Okay. Thank you Jennifer. I imagine that people who are watching this at home and having the same reaction that I'm having that sometimes I want to jump in to say, and so that that these these are good topics that that people brought up ahead of time. So the next question. It's a complicated one, and it could have as two different parts I'll read it in just a moment. Even though we have a two minute limit. If you think this needs more. I'll, I'll be flexible on this. It's a hot topic about the elk elk's property, but in this for this next question. Jennifer, Jean, Alice and carry that'll be the auto will be going in. So, Jennifer you'd be first. So the question is this and it does have two parts. If the bond issue for purchasing the elk's property passes. What types of uses, would you envision for it, or, and what kind of process, would you propose for developing that vision, part one, or if it doesn't pass. What would you propose the city do about a recreational center that could better serve the whole community. So that's really it's two, two big questions. So if you do need to go over two minutes, I won't be fussy. So, thank you. Appreciate that. So, if it passes. This is something obviously that we've been talking a lot about in city council and within the community. So what passes my hope is that and this is what I am pushing for and I pushed for the language to be changed on the bond for this is housing. I think housing should be the priority. I know that my council mates. Everybody has their own thoughts and their districts have their own thoughts, but housing is an issue here, and it's going to continue to be an issue and there's not a lot of places to build on. So affordable housing, you know, they don't have to be these grandiose homes we could do condos we could do, you know, a mixed bag of housing and create a nice neighborhood for people to move into to be homeowners and to be more invested in Montpelier. I also think, you know, having, I know there's this is a hot topic but having more places for people to be outdoors. I know we live in Vermont, I know it's a green, beautiful state. But, you know, I live in an apartment and when I want to go out for a walk, I have to go to North Branch or, you know, other places I don't I can't just like walk around my, I live on a hill, and a hill that continues to go up where it goes right down into the city so I'm having more green space for people to get away, I guess, even though the city is not big. That that is my hope if it passes that we will center housing. And as far as if it doesn't pass. I think we need to update the recreation center or have another space for our children to go to my kids have been attending camps at the rec center. You know, I know they try hard, but there's just only so much they can do the building isn't safe. You know if you're in a wheelchair you can't access it if you're on crutches it's really hard to get around. I really think that having another rec center somewhere for families, and for, you know, everybody who lives in Montpelier to enjoy needs to be built somewhere and that would be something that I would push for. Thank you, Jennifer. Jean. And again if anyone wants me to read the question again. This is a long one I'm happy to do that. This is a hot topic right now and I'd like to address this and why it's such a hot topic and councils, approving to to put this bond on them. And also just irresponsible in the sense where rather than putting it a questionnaire on the ballot as to if people kind of like they did with the hotel garage situation I mean rather than putting it on a bond. Why not ask it in a questionable format. Before we jump the gun with a, again, lack of communication and a lot of misinformation that's out there. The management has to do better in communicating and having better dialogue with with the residents to to be clear on explaining what the bond is. And with the potentials. So I mean I'm currently mixed on this topic. If it does pass it does definitely. I believe that the property could create with creative and responsible budgeting it create a, it could be self sustainable. The part of the land could be leased for recreation in your tennis court. I think a part of it has, you know, we need affordable housing so so the mixed use ideas great and then another part. And then in thirds. So the would be recreation use as well. My kids do attend the soccer camps at the rec fields. I play basketball and sometimes that are Barry Street rec center is overly filled. It's not safe. It's outdated, but there's been that's been addressed and even public hearings and would cost just about the same amount as probably less to renovate that building versus building another one so there's a lot of it's challenging and there has to be better dialogue and communication to to get the facts and and all the potentials for this property. Okay thank you Jean. Alice you're next. Yes, if the bond issue for purchasing the Elks property passes. What types of uses, would you envision for it, and what kind of process would you propose for developing that vision, or if it doesn't pass. What would you propose the city do about a recreational center that could better serve the whole community. My first answer is more affordable housing, great affordable housing, including people who are on house. And then if it doesn't pass, then look for other ways that I was thinking I was also thinking about the very recreational center. And I was thinking, Well, why can't they, they, they use that to help the homeless or, or not homeless, the unhoused, people who are, who are unhoused, and also to see a way that they can, they can also include recreational for the community. And now, we don't know really doesn't have no place for people that are unhoused and low income. And I sort of, I sort of know about, I sort of know about what it's like for people that aren't that are on house when I talk, I'm a school crossing but I talk to them. It would be nice if they, if they could have some like that here in Malpillia or the unhoused and also maybe consider how we can have a community center for the community. Thank you. Okay, thank you, Alice. Carrie. So I'm a big supporter of this purchase. I hope that it does pass. I think this is a really great opportunity for Montpelier to have some control over a nice big piece of land and therefore be able to have some say over what happens on it. And so if it does pass I hope that we really take advantage of that and think about what is it that we most want to see there and try to make that happen for me, affordable housing as I think everybody else has mentioned is really top of the list and earlier we had a question about a model affordable housing development and there's in the town where I grew up in Massachusetts has a intense housing crisis and about 15 years ago. They got kind of innovative and they bought a piece of property at a reasonable price that you know somebody was trying to sell it an affordable price, and they built a really beautiful development on it that's all affordable housing but it does not look like your typical affordable housing it looks like townhouses, it's townhouses it looks like condos it's really really beautiful and it works because the city owns the land. And they contracted with a private development company with experience and building affordable housing to build and manage the housing and so I'm really interested in finding ways that the city can work collaboratively and retaining some level of ownership not just sell it off and hope for the best but to really enter into a partnership to get the kind of housing that we actually want and that kind of goes back to what I've seen before about finding ways to influence where we can are wreck needs I, I mean my kids have really benefited from rec center programs over the years, I would love to see something. If we built like a big fancy pool state of the art that was a real draw from lots of other communities. That sounds really interesting to me. It's another place that I mean short of that I think we have to be really thoughtful about where our priorities are and what we actually want to put our resources into. Okay, that wasn't a real stop you know, but, oh, oh, sorry. And I just, you know, yeah. Thank you. So, for the next question will be a gene, Jennifer, Carrie and Alice. And this question. What are the top three most pressing critical matters were currently unmet needs being faced by city residents. And how would you propose that the city best address these. So the question is asking about the three most pressing needs for the city, and how you would propose addressing them. What are the, you, is that me. Yes, both pressing. Yeah, this one has two parts to. So yeah, what are the three top critical needs matters and being faced by a city residents. And how would you propose that the city address these. I'll try to keep the top three. Yeah, top three needs. Yeah, portable housing property taxes. Homeless, you have a homeless issue in our town. So all these we discussed and we could talk about it in depth and detail. Recreation is not on top of that. So the traffic problem in this district in this area of the majority of the district is a major concern that I hear all the time. And, and since we helped reduce the speed limit here. It was promised that it would get back on the table well I was three years ago and it still hasn't been readdressed so need to get that concern and issue taking care of right away. Because people, my kids also like to walk into town people. It's hazardous, especially in the winter, and especially people are flying through here ever since they opened the Fisher bridge. This neighborhood had a two years of actually feeding like a real quiet calm neighborhood. They opened the Fisher bridge. It's the dynamics of this neighbor has changed again. And it's just a shortcut to get to cross over to the next town and people are just really speeding through here, excessively and so the enforcement that they promised hasn't happened. The specific lighting lights and traffic calming hasn't occurred. So safety is an essential getting the plan in action immediate plan in action to address the homeless issue and responsible budgeting to help reduce taxes, rather than increase taxes to improve our quality of life here. Okay, thank you gene. Jennifer. Um, obviously my first thing is going to say I'm going to say is housing affordable housing housing for our unhoused community members, whatever that looks like. Although that will take time there is not a quick fix for that. And I only say that because I've been working with houseless communities for over 20 years. I've been homeless. I understand that struggle and there is no quick fix. So we need to get a plan that is solid that will work within our small town. And will not raise property taxes in order to build something infrastructure. I am constantly reading about pipes bursting and you know I worked at the Washington County use service Bureau. When it was on Elm Street and it was in an old building and you know there's flooding issues on Elm Street and I just you know it, it gives me a little bit of, you know, cringe, you know thinking about how old the pipes are here and you know, I want to live here for until I die and only 50 so we got to do something about the old infrastructure that we have and I know that costs money. And again, you know I'm not a politician and I'm learning all of this so I'm learning how to understand how things are paid for for the city and how that affects the people that own homes in town and bonds. I feel like there's so many things but affordable housing infrastructure and and housing are unhoused community members those are the things that I feel like are really pressing right now and property taxes are in there as well but again like I said, that's something I'm still learning and I don't want to speak on something that I don't fully completely understand I don't want to make promises that I can't come through it so thank you. Thank you Jennifer, Carrie. Yeah, I'm following Jennifer around saying yes I agree with what Jennifer saying. Yeah, housing and infrastructure are both huge and, and the housing one is, it's really tied to kind of the general affordability of our community and the kind of real danger here I think we're starting to see a dynamic of significant income inequality happening, and people with a lot more money, having an undue influence on the housing market, and houses that are being bought for the purpose of bringing them out as Airbnb is and not as places for families to live. And I'm really worried about that really worried about this. I feel like we're on a road to where this is we're already starting to see problems I'm afraid that's going to get worse and so we need to look at things like affordable housing but we also need to look at housing just for people who don't fall into that affordable housing category, it's still too expensive to buy a house here or to rent here for a lot of people and so what is what we can do to address that. And then that we have so many people who are living unhoused right now in Montpelier I mean this is something that's just so different than when I moved here 20 years ago and I'm not completely sure of all of the reasons why but this is a really tough nut to crack and there are no easy answers I've seen, I've seen other communities struggle with this and not succeed at solving it. But I so maybe we have an opportunity to kind of get here in the beginning and say we don't want to be 50 years from now we don't want to be a place where nobody who has a regular job can actually afford to live and so what are we going to do about that. Thank you Carrie. Alice. The three issues are affordable housing, unhoused, that includes unhoused, the people that are unhoused, traffic is a big one. And lighting, because it's very hard to see it at night time. And the traffic, the traffic is like that is very backed up as I work as a school crossing guard, I see the traffic and and sometimes it's hard to stop the traffic, where I have to use, I have to use my my whistle my electric whistle to stop the traffic as I work as a school crossing guard in New York with the honor with the unhoused. In one of my, in one of my answers, I would recommend housing first for them. And, for example, a pathway and to have a relationship with with with the people that are house. That was part of my, my answer I was trying to get that in to help to help them because I have, I have to help. I have to try to help the homeless people. I try to give them resources. So I guess that's something that that could help that would help. But the traffic needs, they need to do something about the traffic and the traffic light and the lighting is a big is a big problem. That needs to be considered. And we would have the problem to solve that too. Thank you. Okay, thank you Alice. We are switching into questions that have have come in through the chat box this evening. We'll get to as many of these as we can we won't be able to get to all of them I don't think, but so for this next question the order will be Alice, Carrie, Jennifer, and Leon. So, and some of these are essentially follow ups to some things that have been addressed before were different versions of it. The budget priorities, recreation, affordable housing, school buildings, homelessness, water treatment plant streets and water and sewer mains. No, so just quite a list there but essentially it's what are your budget priorities. So, Alice, you're first on this. Look at the budget. And to see how we can make how we can what we need for each for each area. So, so that we can bear equal on the budget. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Thank you Carrie. What's your priorities. Well, so that list of things I wouldn't cross anything off that list. Those are all important things that the city. The one that really bleeps out is, this is our theme for the night I think affordable housing is one that we have not really had as a top priority, the least not to the point where I think it should be so I'd really like to see that move up to be a really top priority for the council in the coming years. Okay. Thank you Carrie. Jennifer. Like we're an echo chamber, I'm going to just keep going with affordable housing. It's, it's the, it's the base of, of, you know, feeling safe is having a home and it's a beautiful little place and you know, the first time I will be first moved here and the first Valentine's Day with the Valentine's Day bandit, my heart exploded and I am not that corny of a person but I fell in love with this town because of that and I want to stay here and I want other people to stay here so affordable housing and protecting our waters. I'm an indigenous woman in a water protector. It is something that's super important to me and you know making sure that our water is safe and clean is also a priority for me. Okay. Thank you Jennifer Jean. Yes, I would not exclude any, any of those issues of the budget. I mean the aging infrastructure is addressed in the budget. I think a lot of the issues currently lie in the departments and there's a, you know, and also looking at the post COVID reality. I think we have to reinvent ourselves as a city or weigh things out. Reducing taxes can help relieve the burden and can help create affordable housing for those who already have housing. I think having also a private, public engagement to all these potential sites that have been on the table for years to really have a realistic engagement and plan to start developing these areas that have been vacant for so many years and save this past year is one of them. Up here in the Berlin Street area, north to the area, there's already several locations. So, also, and just as a follow up, I think in whether we get involved in purchasing lands for recreational use or mixed use because I think it's great for housing and controlling the city does have a degree of policy for developing projects. So we do have a level of policy that could accommodate such possible development. For the next question, we'll go with it to be Carrie Alice, Jean and Jennifer and getting on to some questions that aren't that don't deal with money. Maybe not. In some ways, everything does with money, but how could you work with the city to encourage all of us to use our cars less walk more and use the public trans use the public transportation more frequently. Great question. So we talked a little bit about this earlier with sidewalks, and I saw john snow put in the chat that the city is working on chipping away at adding those sidewalks, which is great. Glad to hear that. I think our public transportation. If it's really good people are more likely to use it, you know, and so. And it's not, I think we have to be willing to, and I think we are doing this to be willing to make the investments in stepping up the public transportation is available and then attracting people to it and not wait for a demand for it. Because I think if it's there, it's a kind of, you know, people that they will come but it has to be good and it has to be has to be faster and an easier in some cases and then just hopping in your car. And I think the jury is, is out on this new pilot that we've got the my ride, but I think that it's, it's promising. And so I think I think more investments in that and I'm not a giant fan of punitive measures to try to prevent people from using their cars, you know, like increasing parking fees or anything like that that's just not general my approach it. I'm not opposed to, to having additional parking for cars because people are going to be using them while at the same time finding ways to encourage people to walk and bike and use public transportation more I think we, you know, we kind of catch more flies with uneven with vinegar approach I think is a good way to go here. Okay thank you carry Alice. So this is. How could you work with the city to encourage all of us to use our cars less walk more and use the public transportation more frequently. Well, one way I can. I can talk to the city council about having them use transportation is having better public transportation. Because with the my ride, some, some people, some people find it harder to get around with the my ride like the older class people. They find it hard to get on the my ride where it was much easier, but we have the Mount Piliar Hospital Hill bus, and you didn't have to call up. Instead of them having this pilot program that they, they just put on people that they should, they should have a survey or talk to the people talk to the community about it. And another thing would be like to help with the biking, maybe biking, maybe maybe like carpooling could be another way or walking. Those are different options. Because a lot of different things that we can, we can, we can look at and bring to the table and see what what's how to what kind of solution can we make, can we make this happen, you know, like I've been talking about problem solving, because that's the only way that we're going to be able to get to get to get everything resolved if we work together as a group. Thank you. Thank you, Alice. Jean. Good question. And I'm a advocate for public transportation. I used to take public transportation since I was a child to school and high school for many years and even here when coming from living here and working in Shawborn for a couple of years I really access the public transportation system and all its routes and spoke about this a couple years ago, heading like when they built the transit center I wanted to experience the, the, the loops and I had to get to Northfield because my car was at the shop and I took the the bus out there. It was a great program was amazing quick reliable. And yet I was the only one in it. There right now it's funny because I had a conversation with the my right advisory group and even even though it's gotten some criticism. I think, of course, things were affected because of COVID and the pilot program that that's that's been initiated and in place with I write. I think from really just having these discussions about it. I think it's something that can really be ideal and effective. Because it's going to act like our own community Uber, basically, and it could be accessible to everyone out of in your home that you could be picked up in your house in your area, and it could be arranged just like an Uber driver. So we have the means we have the access. They just, we need better support and so education, you know, just, again, public communication outreach and letting folks know that it's out there it's available and so forth. Okay, thank you gene and Jennifer. I will say the one thing that I really miss about Portland and also when I lived in Boston was the public transportation. I didn't have car when I lived in those places. And it was really easy to get around. And I wish that it was easier to get around Montpelier without a car. Depending on where you live if you live downtown, much easier to get around and and to be on foot or ride a bike or roller skate or skateboard, but over here on this side of the river. It's a little bit more dodgy to walk around and there isn't really anywhere to walk around and only one side of the street has a sidewalk. So I think that first we need to offer offer folks some sort of incentive other than it's better for the environment because some people just love to drive and you're not going to change their mind but maybe if there's an incentive. I think safer sidewalks are necessary for people to be inspired to get out of their house or to get out of their car rather. And then also having the public transportation, being, you know, a little bit more accessible, go a few more places and not just to the hospital or you know when I was working with at the family center. A lot of my families that I worked with that live downtown needed to get to certain places and they didn't have cars and it was really challenging to find them rides and I couldn't transport them because of COVID. So I think that we need to, you know, bone up on our public transportation a little bit and have a few more offerings for folks and I think the my ride program is wonderful. We just got to work the kinks out. Thank you, Jennifer. So we're going to be able to fit in one more question before we give the candidates an opportunity to do closing remarks. I do want to mention two things. There've been a few references to the chat box. And if you haven't looked through there it's interesting to to scroll through to get some comments and questions. And we can't get to all those things but you can read through those to see what some of your fellow citizens are commenting on and asking about. Also, after this next question, we will put up a slide that provides the email address for the four candidates they've all asked us to give you their email address, so that if you want to follow up with them on any issues that you'll be able to do that. So we'll have that after the next question. And so for this, this question, the order will be Jennifer Jean Alice and carry. And this question is, what are your views on racial justice. And how can the city contribute to this issue. This is a big thing. And there's no easy answer. And I think the way to start is to start talking about it openly to start talking about the differences in our community and recognizing that not everybody in Montpeliers white. And people that you think might be white aren't necessarily white. And I think having space for the, I don't like saying BIPOC and people of color but for the community members that live here in Montpelier that are not from Europe are Eurocentric folks, we need a place to be and that's desperately lacking. And it's also kind of strange to me that it's lacking because this is the capital city of Vermont and it kind of blows my mind a little bit that there's not more space and voice being heard in town. And I know that Vermont is a very white state but it's not that white, you just got to look around and open your eyes a little bit. So I think we need to start having conversations about what the needs are of our community members that are not Caucasian. It's an awkward conversation to have but I think it needs to happen and we need to get comfortable with being uncomfortable and that's the only way we're going to be able to heal old wounds and move forward with equity. Thank you, Jennifer. Jean, you're muted still. Can you repeat the question. Yes. So this is, what are your views on racial justice, and how can the city contribute to this issue. Well, again, communication and listening proactive needs of the community as a whole, and not really looking at a color, you know, it's, it's, I've been a victim of police brutality and it wasn't in racial profiling and my youth. So I have a lot of insight on some of this but it's, there's some definitely some reform is needed in some departments, dialogue communication is always public engagement. But, you know, we're all one race, I feel, I think we're all Americans and we, there's a lot of division right now, unfortunately in the world, the country and things get politicized and weaponized and it's unfortunate and we don't necessarily need it in our community or have it in our community. I don't, if it becomes a problematic issue, then we as a community, we come together, as you see in all the forums and dialogue. There's always going to be an open discussion I think we're proud of that here in Vermont of, even though we don't have a lot of diversity. It is there. And, and as a whole as a community, I feel like we should all be considered as was as a nation, real nation and not just be divided in reference to color ethnicity background. Okay, thank you, Jean. Alice. Yes. What are your views on racial justice. And how can the city contribute to this issue. What are your views about racial issues, racial justice. With the, I have known some people to be discriminated because of their color, how the police, the police. They don't mistreat them, but like, look at them differently. And that's a big issue with the council, the city can work with the police department, but there's also not just racial, there's racial justice. There's discrimination against the disabled is discrimination against against that people that are elderly is a whole bunch, but like I know that with racial discrimination, because it's a big it's a big topic in a big issue, especially what George, George Floyd, but in Mount Piliar, I don't, I don't see it as as much as I as I see it elsewhere. But I surely can see that we can, there's ways that the community can come together for one another, because like, like Eugene said, we're all the same. We are all the same. Yes, and we can come together. I've worked together as one. Thank you. Okay, thank you Alice and keep. Thank you. And Carrie. Um, I think we have a lot of work to do in this area. I think, I think Vermont in general has a really, really big problem around race, and I don't think that Montpelier is a whole lot different from most other parts of the state but I have you know I think you like to say that Vermont is a very white state and by some measures that's true but it's not nearly as white as it used to be and it is not nearly as white as people think it is and the reality for a lot of people of color who live here is, I mean I have heard people tell me that this is, they've experienced more and worse racism here in Vermont than any other place that they've lived in the US. I had a conversation with a traveling nurse one time, a black man from maybe Kentucky, I'm not sure and he was like, I've never seen anything like this, and, and he was in Montpelier. So I think there's a lot that, that, you know, that we don't, that we white people don't necessarily see. And so we need to really talk to each other and listen and believe our neighbors when they tell us about the discrimination that they're, that they're facing and I have, I have heard some really amazing, horrible stories about racism in Montpelier that I think a lot of our Montpelier neighbors will be shocked to hear, because they just think well that doesn't really happen here. Because we're not, we're not tuned into it we're not seeing it. So, what the city can do about this, I mean that's it. There's I don't have a pat answer to that I think it's a lot of hard conversations it's a lot of hard work. It's sticking with it. It's not something where we can say, we did a study we hired a consultant we had a process we did some trainings now we're done. It's, it's, it's not going to be done as just something we have to, to keep working at and keep being being willing to be uncomfortable, as Jennifer said. Okay, thank you carry. So someone asked that the candidates email addresses be put in chat so our zoom manager, Laura took care of that but then there. Are we still going to put up a slide. We can still put up a slide that has the email addresses so if that's easier for anyone. Okay, we'll put this up for a minute. And then we'll. This is also in the chat box. I want to wait too long because we want to make sure we have time for the candidates to do the closing remarks. So, what we can do is we can also put that up at the end, so that if anybody wants us if you didn't get to copy down something you wanted we'll put it up at the end. But right now for the closing remarks from the four candidates, the order again will be Jennifer, Jean, Alice and carry. And we ask you to try to stick to the two minutes because we're running right to the wire here. So Jennifer. I just wanted to thank everybody for attending and participating and asking really amazing questions. And I appreciate the fellow district three folks for showing up and for being, you know, present for this entire thing. I wanted to say that my diversified background and experiences would enrich and broaden the council perspective I think they do in the short amount of time that have been on there. In my culture in the initiative a culture of utmost importance that we carry ourselves in a good way. And for my role as a city council person that would mean that I would be a respectful team player, a careful listener and a problem solver and I can, you know, ask my constituents and neighbors to reach out to me, and I will try to get back to you all in a timely manner, but I have two kids in a full time job so in a little room. Thank you. Thank you Jennifer Jean. Yes, I'd like to thank everyone for all the participants who attended and for all the great questions they've submitted. I want to thank can again for putting this together. It's first annual. And again, you know, my, I think we discussed a lot and it's very important, all the topics. And I want to say like this isn't, I've emphasized this before this isn't politics, it's a, it's management for the city and I think with my involvement here in the community, the public engagement that I've had my experiences with my, my education, diversity and care and long time love that I've had in this area makes me a valid candidate and the fact that I mean I think there has to be some reform level reform. There's a lot of the issues and the frustrations that I constantly hear all the time and it shouldn't be ignored it's out there you can read it, feel it, you can sense it, and it's ignored and, and it starts with, you know, proper dialogue and information. And it's the budget and their taxes and affordable housing and everything in it. So, I thank you again. I hope everyone gets to go. Thank you gene. Alice. Thank, thank can making this happen and thank, thank you Tom or for all your support. And I'd like to thank the people for their questions. And I'd like to thank them. And I wanted to do my best for them. And, and I'm happy to be in district three. I'm happy to support each other. I really, I really like work. I really like being in. And I'll tell you, I'm from, I'm from, I'm from the Bronx, New York. So I really like it a lot. And I'm so thankful. I'm so thankful that I'm able to share my experience. I'm so thankful that I'm able to share my experience. I've been able to share my experience by taking, taking responsibility for the children in Malpelia. So thank you again. I would need to protect your children. Thank you. Thank you, Alice. And Carrie. Thank you to everybody for organizing this thanks to can I, we have such a fantastic resource in the capital area neighborhoods and I'm so glad to see how active. This is and so thanks for pulling this all together and thanks to the other candidates for being here. This has really been a fascinating conversation. I loved hearing what everybody else had to say. I love seeing the range of questions that went by in the chat and this has really been very educational and fascinating for me. So thank you so much for the opportunity to be part of this. And I am hopeful that I will get to continue to be part of these conversations in the future. Carrie. This concludes the Montpelier city council district three forum. On behalf of capital area neighborhoods. I'd like to thank the city of Montpelier and the sustainable Montpelier coalition. I would also like the four, like to thank the four candidates for stepping up to run for city council and for being here this evening. It's difficult to run for office, and it is difficult to serve in office and we appreciate all of you for that. Thank you, Carrie Brown, Alice Colts, Jean Leon and Jennifer Morton. And lastly, I'd like to thank all who attended this forum, your involvement and your vote are essential to making democracy work. Please vote on or before town meeting day, which this year is on March 1st. The only real democracy is participatory democracy. Thanks everyone. Have a good night.