 Hi friends, Janae would be procure with some exciting news. Town meeting day elections for Mayor, City Council and more will be using Ranked Choice Voting and all Burlington voters get to participate. Unfamiliar with Ranked Choice Voting? Keep watching or visit the link below. Ranked Choice Voting is a simple way to let voters rank candidates in order of preference. First, second, third, and so on. If your vote can't help your first choice win, it counts to your second choice instead. Here's how it works. If one candidate gets over 50% of everyone's first choice votes, they win and the election is over. However, if no candidate reaches a majority, the candidate with the fewest first choice votes is eliminated and their supporters votes will count towards their second choice. This process continues until one candidate reaches over 50% of the vote. Ranked Choice Voting is an easy way to give voters more voice, more choice, and makes for a stronger democracy. Learn more about Ranked Choice or try it out for yourself at BetterBallotVermont.org slash BTV 2024. Hi there and welcome to Town Meeting TV's coverage of Town Meeting Day 2024. This program is part of a series of forums we are bringing you in advance of Town Meeting Day, which is on March 5th. Town Meeting TV hosts forums with all candidates and covers all the questions you will see on your ballot, introducing you to community decision makers and connecting you with issues that shape your local community. You can find all of our forums at cctv.org slash 2024 or on our Town Meeting TV YouTube channel where auto-generated captions are also available. On tonight's program, we will hear from two candidates running for the Ward 7 City Council seat. Those candidates are Lee Morgan and Evan Litwin. Thank you both for joining us. We have a list of questions prepared for each of you and you will each have 90 seconds to answer each question. If you're tuning in live, we also welcome your questions at 802-862-3966. If you call in, we'll do our best to get to your question, but please note that we'll also be screening calls to ensure that we don't have any repeats. We ask that you share your name, where you're calling from, and your question directed at both candidates. Let's get started with one minute opening statements. We'll start with Lee. Great. Thank you so much, Nade, and thank you to Town Meeting TV for having us, and thank you for neighbors tuning in today. So my name is Lee Morgan. I live in Ward 7, and I envision a Burlington where everyone feels safe, secure, and supported. I want to do that for my neighbors. You know, it's been a wonderful experience living in Ward 7, and I know my neighbors have my back. As a trans person, I have experienced that over and over again. And now I'm ready to do that for my neighbors, because we are a community, and we stand together. And I feel I bring the experience necessary to stand up for my community on City Council. I'm the vice chair of the Parks and Rec Commission and have experiencing managing millions of dollars of public and private funds. And I've worked closely with our public safety workers to ensure that parks can stay safe and accessible for all. But my story goes a little beyond that. So I'm 15 years in recovery and formerly unhoused. I know intimately the situations that many of our neighbors are facing. And I know the hard and intricate work it's going to take to move us all forward. But I'm ready to do that for us, and we know how to move forward. And that's together. And I'm so excited to have that opportunity to do that for you. Thank you. Great. Thank you. Thanks so much. My name is Evan Litwin. I use he, him pronouns. I live in Ward 7. I came here to Burlington as a UVM student over 20 years ago from Montpelier. And like many young people, I headed right to Boston for career opportunities and spent quite a few years down there creating a career for myself in operations management. I got my masters there in public affairs and international relations. And I returned to Burlington to work in UVM's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Division. And I spent eight or nine years there, a very happy time. I was drawn back, actually, by the community who cares about their neighborhoods, a safe, clean city filled with lots of arts and culture, and of course our beautiful lake. But some of the things that I love most about Burlington are some of the very things that I think are at risk, and that's why I'm running. Our downtown business district is feeling the pressure from pervasive theft and vandalism and crime. Both renters and homeowners are struggling to bridge the gap between our cost of living, our tax burden, and the prevailing wage. Our first responders are treading water with a growing list of demands and reduced staffing. And we are seeing intense suffering and the results of a broken medical system as we struggle to address addiction to powerful and deadly drugs. If you elect me, I plan to pursue these priorities. Thank you. Thanks so much. So our second question is on city finances. Actually, we're going to go to a caller first, and then we'll get to city finances. Hi there. If you could state your name, where you're calling from, and your question for both of our candidates, please. Okay. Hi, this is Nancy. I'm calling from Ward 7 in Burlington. Can you both please share some specific examples from your professional experiences that you think has prepared you to run our city? Great. Thank you. Evan, we'll start with you. Sure. Thanks for asking that question. Like I started out by saying, I spent several years working in Boston in operations management for a Fortune 10 company. A lot of my responsibilities had to do with auditing, management. I hired and supervised many teams of people, four or five different teams of people in the Metro Boston area. And probably over the years, I've hired and supervised over a hundred people. So I understand what it's like to be a team player, both as a manager and as somebody who needs to lead. I would say I've also been, I'm currently the vice chair of the housing board of review, and I have been for just coming up on three years. And I spent, as I said earlier, eight years at UVM, where I again had quite a bit of budgetary work to do. They run an efficiency there. And probably those are the best examples I could give. Great. Thank you. Lee? Yes, great. So Nancy, excellent question. Thank you so much for calling in and watching. So I feel very strongly that my experience really prepares me for being a city counselor because it's always been centered around people. So I got my first job, I was actually an EMT. So I got my EMT license while I was still in high school. I had a wonderful high school with the technical program, so I was able to earn that. After that, I transitioned into being a pharmacy technician. And in that job, I saw firsthand the devastation of the opioid crisis. I was working as a pharmacy technician right as that picked up, and that was, has really informed my passion about how we can address that issue. From then I transitioned into working to a rehab facility where I again saw this devastation and this time really saw how it affected families and that is truly a family disease. And I'm sure that most Vermonters know what I'm talking about. I have connected with so many neighbors who have either firsthand experience, substance use disorder, or who have lost people. I've worked for several years in social services, specializing with adults with developmental disabilities. There I've really saw the complex nature of our mental health care system and how it's really lacking. And finally, I've also worked as a crisis counselor on a suicide prevention hotline working at the peak of COVID. And that has really informed my perception that we are in a crisis of isolation right now. But I'm hopeful that we can work our way out of that. Great. Thank you. We have another caller. Hi, there. If you could state your name, where you are calling from, and your question for both of our lovely candidates, please. Hi. My name is Stella. I live in Ward 8. So this is a question for both candidates. Lee, you ran in the Democratic caucus and are now running with a progressive endorsement. Evan, you've endorsed progressive candidates and policies in the past. Now you're running as a Democrat. My only question is how important is party loyalty to you? Thank you. All right. Lee, we'll start with you first. Sure. Well, thank you, Stella, for calling in. Excellent question. So yes, I ran in both caucuses because when I talk to my neighbors, the message I'm getting is that people in Ward 7 don't so much care about party labels. What they care about are the issues we're facing. So I've connected a lot with my neighbors about public safety and about taxes. And frankly, these issues transcend party lines. So when we talk about loyalty, the word loyalty, I'm loyal to my neighbors. I'm loyal to my city. And I don't really care what party you're in. There's a place for you on this campaign if you want to join that. Great. Thank you. Evan, we'll go to you. Yeah, thank you so much. I think one of the things I've learned over the years in management and just working in community work as well is that we do need to be able to work with people who have differing viewpoints across the aisle, as they say. And I certainly stand prepared to work with all of my colleagues if elected, regardless of the party that they are in. However, I do believe that the Democratic Party has put forth policies as particularly over the past two years that have led us in a better direction to rebuild, for example, rebuilding our police force is something that I hear a lot when I'm out talking to people in the New North. And their concerns about not having enough officers is just one example. Additionally, I believe that the Democratic Party is addressing some of the critical issues such as the related to the housing crisis. What I would say is while I have certainly supported progressive candidates before, I am also an issues based person. And I'm also a relationally based person. So, you know, I'll always stand behind somebody who I think brings something of value and has an important voice to bring to the table, even independence as well. That being said, I have always been a Democrat and have never caucused with the Progressive Party. And I sought my party's nomination for a reason. Thanks. Great. Thank you so much. All right. Let's kick back to city finances. Do you support the proposed tax increase for the city budget? Yes or no? And what experience do you bring to the overall financial management of the city? Evan, we'll start with you. Sure. So I would say one of the most important things that local government can do is ensure that we are running efficiently and cost effectively as possible. I think that's how you earn and keep the public trust. The reality is that currently we are facing a nine million dollar budget gap and the city has to run a balanced budget. The council, you've heard this before, probably the council is looking for three million dollars in an operational analysis right now to look for those efficiencies. But three quarters of that is of the Gen Fund is salaries and benefits, and we've had inflation of upwards of 17 percent. Additionally, we've got four million dollars in federal ARPA money that is drying up and those are tucked away in line items in the budget and that has to be accounted for. So I think that this is a thoughtful budget. It looks for savings. I think that the municipal four percent increases, which is solely going to be used to fund public safety, such as fire and police. That's actually only going to get us to about 77 officers. So aspirationally, I'd say I'd like to get us closer to 90 officers, but that three cents would look closer to 12. So we have serious work to do with the budget. And I will be looking for ways to sort of reduce the tax burden on residents of Ward 7 as best I can, while not sacrificing the critical infrastructure that we need that needs addressing, such as our police and fire. Great. Thanks so much, Lee. Yes, great. So thank you so much for this question. And yes, I fully support this tax increase because I believe that we should be doing everything we can to support our law enforcement officers and public safety. But the question here is not just about this tax increase. So every single neighbor that I've talked to has pretty much talked about taxes. The good working folks in Ward 7 are getting squeezed out. We have people who grew up in Burlington and they might have a home and they're telling me their kids who grew up in Burlington are having to move. And that's just not fair. That's not the community we want to live in. And that's because for far too long, we have this regressive tax system that is lopsided. And we need to transition away from that and move to a tax system that is income based. And there is a lag here, but I believe we can make progress. And that's my vision for the city. And that's what we need to do going forward. And like I said, I have experience managing millions of dollars in public and private funds on the Parks Commission. I really believe I have that experience to to make a difference and something important to remember. We are losing a brilliant financial mind in Karen Paul, and it is my goal to get on the Board of Finance. We're losing a really important asset there and we need people stepping up that have that financial experience to guide the city. You know, the real important thing here is to act. Our neighbors are depending on us. They're getting squeezed out. And right now that means moving away from the regressive tax system. Thank you. Thanks so much. So our next question is about the school budget. The Burlington School District administrators have proposed a one hundred and nineteen point six million dollar school budget resulting in a tax rate increase of thirteen point ninety seven percent. Do you support this budget? Why or why not? And we'll start with Lee. Great. Thank you for this question. Again, we're talking about taxes. So yes, absolutely one hundred percent support this tax. We need to be supporting our schools. Everyone in Burlington deserves that. We want to be in a community with strong schools. But the problem, again, is that this is not a sustainable way of doing business here in Burlington. Residents do not have the ability to keep stomaching these hikes. We are a working class city with hard working class vote. You know, people know that this hike is happening, but it doesn't need to keep happening. And for that, we need the political courage and the will to act and again, move away from business as usual. Thank you. Thanks so much, Evan. Thank you. So my work actually takes me into our schools pretty frequently, almost on a weekly basis. I see firsthand how the staff in our schools and, you know, how much work they're being asked to do for students. And we often ask them to do it with less. Equally, our students need their adults to provide safe and inspiring schools to learn in. And after a pandemic, they need more support than ever. The reality is that 9 percent of that 14 percent increase is coming from the common level of appraisal or CLA, which is really controlled at the state level. And so even if we hadn't seen inflation, we didn't give our hardworking teachers, you know, a raise and we didn't have a new high school to build, we'd be starting out at bare minimum with a 9 percent increase. South Burlington might not want to hear this, but South Burlington is looking at 18 percent. And this, as we saw in the news just recently, the state is looking at an average of 20 percent. So 14 percent is not looking quite as bad comparatively. I do agree with with some of what Lee said there. And a lot of what impacts this budget is really outside of the control of the school district. So despite our best planning, the state can throw a lot of that careful planning into turmoil. And we're seeing that happen in Montpelier right now. So the schools have to meet kids where they are. We all have to be doing more, you know, to do to look at some of those services that we need to provide maybe through other budgets, such as through an community based services and other nonprofits might be able to provide some of those budgetary needs. Great. Thanks. I was invoked. Can I have a short? Sure. All right. So an important thing to remember when we talk about the failure of the state legislature is that the city council does have a role to play with that. We can partner with legislatures, increase that relationship and really get things done at the state level from Burlington. Burlington can really lead. And I am prepared to do that. The good counselors we have now are already doing that hard work along with the administration. I have those relationships in Montpelier and I'm ready to work those relationships for you. Great. Thank you so much. On to our next question. The Burlington City Council recently decided against putting two proposed questions on the town meeting day ballot. One on police oversight and another calling for an apartheid pre-community. Do you support the council's decisions to prevent these questions from reaching the ballot? When is direct democracy an appropriate method of decision-making? And Evan, we'll start with you. Either works. Perfect. So thanks a lot. I appreciate the question. You know direct democracy is certainly vital to how we operate as a community. However, it's important to note that the legislative authority that grants this is that it be for the common good. And when I looked at particularly the apartheid free city bill, I was not clear that there was a common good. Certainly after listening to a lot of the very moving testimony that we heard just a few weeks ago. As far as the police oversight budget is concerned, excuse me, the police oversight resolution is concerned from the joint committee, that's not off the table. So it is coming back up. The council is working to bring that on to the ballot at least. I believe this summer, so that it's in time for the legislative session in November. So I think suggesting that it's not going to that we won't be seeing direct democracy through that action isn't really accurate. I have also been meeting with religious and community leaders. I've met with different stakeholders and community activists and I've thought a lot about the issue related to the apartheid free community bill. I am not clear that this is the healing that our community needs and this is the best way to unify us to deal with the real serious problems that we have to deal with at the local level. Thanks so much. Great, thank you. Lee, on to you. Yes, excellent question. A lot of folks talking about this direct democracy question. So I was at both of these city council meetings. I heard all of the public testimony. I've also attended or watched every single joint committee on police oversight meeting. So, you know, I think what I was disappointed in, you know, attending all of these meetings, I've seen the work that the joint committee did in a bipartisan effort to propose a measure for police oversight. You know, I felt it was ready. I watched at the police commission meeting when counselors who crafted that argue that it was ready. And so I was confused and disappointed by the vote. Now, I think that this question is not even necessarily about the particulars of those two measures. And I, too, did lots of engagement with religious leaders, with community members, with people on all sides of the political spectrum on both of these measures, because engagement is incredibly important to me and I want to be informed. But we come from a brave little state. And I have faith that the good citizens of our community can talk about hard issues. That in fact, that's what we need to do. Rhetoric festers in the darkness. And we need to have these conversations out in the open. And a big form of conversation here in Vermont is the ballot box. You know, in Vermont, we say freedom and unity. And I will always protect your civil rights and your freedom of speech at the ballot box. Thank you. Thanks much. On to the next question. Where do you differ from other candidates in your proposed approach to the opioid crisis? What are the most important initiatives that the city can undertake to address this crisis? And Lee, we're going to start with you. Fantastic. Thank you, Sinead. This is a question that everyone's talking about because it's affecting so many of us. And like I said, for me, this issue is personal. I myself am over 15 years in recovery and formerly unhoused. And for me, I stand in front of you today or sit rather in this wonderful forum, a very complicated blend of enforcement and harm reduction. For me, I know the answer is not simple. The answer is we need very individual individualized approaches. And that's not an easy thing. And that's not simple. But the truth is, I wouldn't be alive here today without it. And our city is demanding leadership that understands that. I'm heartened by the state's intention to put an overdose prevention site in Burlington. And I was there in Montpelier at the State House when that issue was being argued on the floor. Overdose prevention centers are not just about preventing something that day. They are about getting people the early resources they need to transition into recovery. So if we're talking about getting people the care they need, I'm for that. If we're talking about putting something in Burlington that is going to make everybody safer, I think that's in the best interest of all Burlingtonians and I wholeheartedly support that. Because the truth is, folks, we are losing people. We are losing people every day. And we need the urgency to know that this can't wait. We don't have a minute. We can hardly blink. But we can go forward together. Thank you. Thanks so much, Evan. Thank you. I appreciate that. Well, I'd like to start by saying that this is a public health crisis and Burlington needs human centered solutions to this national issue. And also, we need Montpelier to provide substantially more resources for diverse housing, for treatment and, you know, like we would with any other medical condition and wraparound services that folks with substance use disorder desperately need and deserve. My current work is in prevention. And so prevention is also an important component of this. 90% of adults with substance use disorder started using substances before the age of 18. And I work closely with dozens of community partners directly addressing this issue every day. I'm also concerned about, you know, the lack of support from the state in terms of what rehab facilities. So for example, we all know that these drugs are particularly powerful and devastating. And Vermont is only paying for two weeks of Medicare in a rehab center. While there are reports from other states are sending their folks for some of those beds that are paying for 30 days of rehab. So we really need Montpelier to step up its game there as well. And lastly, you know, substance use is an escape from trauma. It's painful, difficult, lived reality. And we need to meet people where they are and provide the structure and accountability so that they can break the cycle. Policies or practices that enable drug use don't save lives. And we simply can't narcan our way out of this problem. Thank you. Our next question is what does effective policing look like in Burlington? And should the council have the authority to discipline police officers? We're going to start with Evan. So that's a good question for policing to be effective. I think we need to trust each other. The community needs to be able to trust our trained police officers. And they need to earn and keep that trust. So we also have to trust our elected leaders and the police chief to provide the critical oversight and bridge building work necessary for effective community policing. People need to feel safe. And that goes both ways. I support Chief Murad and his ability to oversee his staff and reprimand poor conduct with his expertise. And I also think when we're talking about labor law and union contracts, we need oversight bodies to have specific and substantial expertise in that area. You know, right now what we're doing is we're rebuilding a department to be more effective. We've got CSL's and CSO's, which has been a great change. The CSL's are running around $1.7 million. This is a huge investment for our city. And we're understaffed. So, you know, rebuilding is important and around the city, but particularly downtown, more police attention is needed. And we can only provide that with increased staffing and resources. As I said before, that's a significant investment that I think we'll have to make steps towards. Thanks. Thanks so much. Leigh, on to you. Yes, excellent. Excuse me. Thank you, Sinead. And so in your question, you said the word discipline. Now, when I hear discipline, I hear punishment. And I think a lot of people do too. And we're not talking about punishment. This is not about punishment. The conversation needs to be, how do we make our officers better and our community safer? That's my priority. And the council should have some role in that. I'm proud of the work I'm already doing on public safety. I'm doing a lot on the Parks Commission about public safety. And I have been my whole time on there. And I would look to continue that work. I've been working with getting our first responders, parks, employees and department heads coordinated to keep the parks accessible for everyone. And while doing that work, I've learned that what we need to prioritize going forward. Now, we have a bipartisan cap of 87 officers. That was agreed to by Democrats, progressives and independents. We're currently 18 officers below that cap. I believe we need to do everything we can to get those 18 officers. We need to look at incentives. We need to attract and retain good officers that add to the safety of Burlington. But we absolutely cannot lose sight of the fact of the crises we deal with today cannot be solved by policing. Policing is one key part of our plan to keep the city safe. But my focus is on harm reduction and getting people the resources they need to thrive. That means investing in housing, treatment, early intervention. That also means getting drugs out of school. We need to get at these things at our root. You know, there's a lot of crime going on and people talk about that and these are not victimless crimes. But we need a nuanced answer. Our city deserves that to have a safe Burlington for everybody. Thank you. Thanks. I think we have time for one more question. The city declared racism a public health emergency in 2020. What will you do as a city councilor to address systemic racism in city hall and across the city generally? And Lee, we'll start with you. Excellent. Thank you so much, Sinead, for this question. So we know that racism touches every part of our systems because these systems were not billed for everybody. You know, we can really see the manifestation of this in the Palestinian men who were brutally shot in our city and so severely injured. And as a government, you know, I really saw our administration and our council, you know, step up to denounce that. And it is as a government about sending a message. If you are motivated by hate, by bigotry, by xenophobia, racism, you have no place in Burlington. And there are concrete steps we can work on. So as part of my NPA when I experienced and saw discrimination, I didn't just sit back and wait for someone else to deal with it. I took action. I reached out to the council and asked for help. And I saw the council vote unanimously to approve a resolution that that close some loops that we were seeing in our NPAs and help them update their bylaws so that anybody, regardless of who they are, can safely serve this city. You know, I think it's about celebrating our diversity and that's just not a policy choice. It's a leadership choice. I believe I am that leader that can help make Burlington safe for everyone. Thank you. Thanks so much, Evan on to you. Thank you. I appreciate it's a really important question. And one I don't think we're talking enough about. I would say I work in the field of public health. I have for the past several years. So I have a lot of these conversations with experts around the state pretty regularly. One of the things I personally look at are the differences between different kind of groups and sort of what are the drivers behind substance use and misuse and such as, you know, hate and targeting and just not accepting people for who they are or attacking identity groups. I when the mayor made that declaration, he also formed the REIB. And I think that we need to make sure that the REIB is doing its great work of public health analysis and helping advise the city, advise the mayor's office, advise the city council on how we can continue to make any headway. There is a lot of there are so many gaps. I don't even have time in 90 seconds. We have language gaps. We need to better activate cultural brokers so that communities of color and new American communities feel that they have trust in the public, in their public representatives and their city, but also so that they feel safe and supported. And I guess I'll leave that there. But we have a lot of work to do in that area. Great. Thanks so much. Let's take 30 seconds, a tight 30 seconds for closing comments. Evan, we will start with you. Sure. I have, there are thousands of doors in Ward 7 and I haven't not done all of them admittedly. But I have not done hundreds. And what I can say is that I feel that I'm getting a consensus on what are the main issues that folks are most concerned about when I ask them, you know, what's going on for you. Those answers are really public, the public safety issue, particularly downtown, but also in our neighborhoods. And then, of course, you know, housing and affordability. We want to be a city where not only can we age in place and stay in our homes, but also that our families can stay. And I am out of time. So I'll leave that there. Thanks so much. Thank you. And Lee, on to you. Again, thank you so much. Sinead for hosting and thank you to town meeting TV and thank you to everybody watching. So folks, we can build a better Burlington because we know the solutions. We need someone with the political courage to act. And we need someone to bring a sense of urgency to governing. I will bring that. I will also bring community engagement. I'm proud to say that as of today, my campaign has knocked over 1600 doors, having come important community conversations. And I know when I go sit in that seat in City Hall, I am not there alone. I have my neighbors with me. We are stronger together. Please head to Lee for Burlington.com to learn more about my campaign. Thank you. Great. Thank you both. And thank you for watching Town Meeting TV's ongoing coverage of local candidates, local budgets and ballot items. You can find this and many more forums at cctv.org slash excuse me slash 2024 or on our Town Meeting TV YouTube channel. And you can tune in live to our live election results coverage after you cast your ballot on March 5th. Contact your local clerk to find out how to obtain a ballot and to register to vote. Remember that in Vermont, you can register to vote on Election Day. Thank you for watching and sharing Town Meeting TV.