 And while I like nothing more than being able to do that, it's such a testament to the resilience of our democracy that we're able to adapt and come together. And I hope this isn't something that actually stays with us as we move forward and that we use technology to create more inclusivity within government and especially here in Burlington. But let's face it, 2020 was a year for the books and it's still not over. And it's really laid bare our greatest challenges. And for those daring today to run for office, some of our greatest opportunities, I think it was Winston Churchill who once said, we should never let a good crisis go to waste. Hey, Molly, I'm getting a bunch of texts that nobody can hear us, you or I. Could we get some support here from the CCTV folks? Yes, I sincerely apologize about that. The way the world right now, technical difficulties, we are all fixed now, there is audio on YouTube. Awesome, all right. Sorry about that. That's not a problem. I hope folks can hear me now. You got to see me and you got to see Molly there for a minute. So let's restart here. We did build in some extra time here. So thank you for being patient and thank you for channel 17 for fixing the audio issue. Hello and welcome to the Burlington Democratic Party's nominating caucus for town meeting day 2021. My name is Adam Roof, the chair of the Burlington Democratic Party. And I want to thank you all for being a part of this important day and the democratic process. I'm getting texts confirming that you all can hear me now. So that's a good thing. We've come together today to nominate the candidate for mayor, city counselor, ward clerk and inspectors of election. Over the next hour, we will hear nominations and candidate speeches from Mayor Weinberger as well as from district city council candidates. Voting will begin just around 2 p.m. So if you're going to be voting virtually, keep an eye on your email. And if you've chosen to vote in person, a party volunteer will be in touch if they haven't already been to finalize your voting plan. I'm going to keep my remarks short here, but before we begin, I do want to thank a few people. Namely, I want to thank the executive committee members of the Democratic Party, Andrew Champagne, Lorraine Carter-Lubjoy, C.D. Madison, Sam Donnelly and Richard Dean. Thank you for the work that you do. Also, I want to send a special thank you to Ben Travers, who we'll hear from in a little bit who has served as our caucus chair for this year. And he has shown tremendous and noteworthy dedication to making sure this caucus is safe, accessible and secure. In the months leading up to town meeting day, which is on March 2nd this year, we have a lot of work to do. Not only will we need to defend the mayor's office and city council seats, but we will also have an opportunity to make gains. I look forward to working with all of you to make Burlington a home that is just, inclusive, healthy and sustainable. With that, let's begin. I'd like to introduce our next speaker, our keynote speaker. Good friend of mine and an inspiration to all of us, the next lieutenant governor of our great state of Vermont, Molly Gray. Thanks, Adam. And thank you all so much for having me. I was just saying that the resilience of democracy is being tested in every single way. And it's really unfortunate that we can't be together in person this year, but here we are coming together over what I think is the first virtual or digital caucus in Vermont's history and I believe Burlington's history. So there are some assembling blocks along the way, but I think we're figuring it out and that's why we're going to be resilient. That's why we're going to persist and move forward together and really figure out how, as we move forward, to use this technology to create more pathways to government. I think it's an exciting time. I was just quoting Winston Churchill before we got a cut off and his quote on never letting a good crisis go to waste. And I think that in many ways is what I've been reflecting on as I move through 2020, I know so many of Vermonters as well. And the truth is, for so many people who have decided to run for office during 2020, it's not only that we're seeing the greatest challenges that we face, but we're also seeing great opportunity. And I know you're going to hear about the opportunity ahead from so many of the candidates here today, including Mayor Weinberger. But I want to talk a little bit about running for lieutenant governor and what I learned over the last year. Again and again, as I traveled around the state, I heard from Vermonters and I heard from Vermonters that they want to see our state transform. They want to see our budget align with our greatest values and our greatest priorities as a state. Not only affordable quality child care for all of Vermonters but closing the broadband gap, strategic investments in our economic infrastructure that are going to make us stronger as a state moving forward. So you'll hear more from me about that in Montpelier starting in January, but I'm here today really to talk about Burlington. This moment not only calls for us to rethink everything anew, but perhaps most importantly, a sustained opportunity to root out social, economic and racial injustice wherever it occurs and to transform our systems so they center the most vulnerable in our communities, the most marginalized in our communities as we build a stronger, more resilient, more diverse and more inclusive Vermont for the future and a more stronger, resilient, diverse and inclusive Burlington for the future. And what I've learned from meeting with Vermonters in every corner of our state is that our greatest opportunity is not necessarily whether we have enough funding or enough power to enact change, but whether we have the commitment to put politics aside and recovering stronger from this pandemic in the same way that we put politics aside and come to coming together to defeat this pandemic, to face it, we've worn, we've worn our masks, we've come together in our communities across the state, we've been resilient, we've been thoughtful, we followed the data and the science, which is why I truly believe that now more than ever we need leaders who are ready to cooperate and to collaborate. We need leaders who care less about whether you're a South Ender or a North Ender or a new Vermont or an old Vermont or a Democrat or a progressive, but more about uniting all of Burlington. We need leaders who in the words of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg are ready to fight for the things that care about, but doing it in a way that brings others to join us, bringing us together, which brings me to Mayor Weinberger and his leadership, and in particular during this pandemic. From early public health and mandatory mask measures to addressing housing insecure Vermonters, to coordinating with UVMs so students could come back in the fall safely. And so much more, the Mayor has worked tirelessly to keep our Queen city safe. And with the help of city councilors and community members and nonprofits and our businesses across the state. And as a resident, I'd just like to take a moment and ask all of you to join me in a moment of recognition of that leadership. I know we can't join together and applause today, but I am here applauding and I hope you are wherever you are in your living room, in your office, in your home, in your place of residence across the city today. So if we know anything about the city, it's that Burlington has always been and can continue to be a laboratory for cities and towns across Vermont, as well as cities and towns across the nation on how to get it right. Be it in rapid early public health and COVID relief efforts and response measures or a leading climate and energy efficiency initiatives or growing local and resilient food systems, Burlington has and continue can continue to leave, to lead rather. This is a brave moment for Burlington for Vermont and for our nation. I know Mayor Weinberger and those here today share my commitment to inclusive leadership and to getting it right. So I hope you'll join me in showing him and all of our candidates here today, the incredible support that you showed me in my race for Lieutenant Governor, in their race for city council and for the mayorship and for leadership positions across our city. Thank you again for having me and I look forward to working with all of you with our leaders as your next Lieutenant Governor. Thank you so much. Thank you, Molly. Thanks for those words and congratulations on your historic victory. My name's Ben Travers and I am your caucus chair. Right next to me, I have my three-year-old Jack and my five-year-old Lola. So if you hear an episode of the Octonauts in the background, I apologize. That's the world we're all living in right now. I hope I find you all safe and well. My wife and I moved to Burlington about seven years ago and we've never looked back. We rented for a couple of years and then found our home here in the South End. We love this city for so many reasons but in no small part because of all of you, neighbors who are engaged in making the city a better place for us all. While our democratic norms have been challenged in recent years at the national level, my faith in democracy is buoyed by Burlington and the opportunities it presents for citizens to engage in our future through forums like this. And it's been a real privilege to be able to help organize this forum. More than 500 of you registered for this caucus, a historical high for an uncontested mayoral race and I am so thrilled that you could all be with us. Before kicking off the mayoral candidate forum, I need to go over a couple logistics here. So bear with me as I share my screen. First of all, this event was completely planned by volunteers and so I wanna take a brief moment to thank those who are part of the caucus planning committee. Their names are up here on the screen. Here's our order of events. We'll begin with the mayoral nominating caucus and then we'll do a tour of Burlington here going through the South District nominating caucus, the East District nominating caucus followed by the Central District and then the North District. We are accepting nominations from the floor at this point in time for the following races. These are races for which no candidate is declared by our deadline nine days in advance of this caucus. East District City Council, Central District City Council, Ward Clerk in all wards and Inspector of Elections in all wards. This is important, nominations must be received no later than the close of the relevant district caucus. So if you wanted to be nominated for Ward Clerk in Ward four, for example, we would need to receive that nomination no later than the close of the North District nominating caucus. We've already received a number of nominations by email, nominations may be made now by emailing Burlington Dems at gmail.com or calling 802-357-2055. That is my cell phone. So if you see me talking here, I won't be able to pick it up, but please leave a voicemail and we'll get to it as soon as we can. Just a couple of words additionally on voting, virtual voting, virtual ballots will be delivered at the close of this caucus as close to 2 p.m. as possible. Please make sure to check your spam folders to ensure you received your ballot. Voting will close precisely at 5 p.m. If you have any trouble voting again, please email the Burlington Dems gmail account or call 802-357-2055. While most of you signed up for a virtual ballot, we've also made sure to accommodate any one of you who wanted to vote in person. So anyone requiring accommodation to vote in person should have been contacted prior to this caucus to establish a voting plan. If you have not made a voting plan yet and you intended to vote in person, please call either of the following numbers. If you're a voter in the North District, 802-324-7998. If you're a voter in the East, Central or South Districts, 802-777-3422. With those logistics behind us now, we can now open the Mayoral Nominating Caucus and to introduce Mayor Murrow Weinberger, I'm privileged to turn it over to C.D. Madison. Madison? Hello, Burlington. My name is Madison and it is my honor to nominate Murrow Weinberger to continue his service as Burlington's mayor. Even though I wasn't born here, Burlington is the only place that I've called home. As a military kid, my family had no choice in where I was born or where I grew up. So we bounced around, stationed in Georgia, Germany, and finally, Alaska. As a junior in college, I took a bus from Dartmouth to Burlington to interview for a summer internship. I stepped off the bus into downtown Burlington looking incredibly lost. A woman took notice and asked me if I was a student. I said yes and told her that I had an interview in three hours. She spent the next half hour showing me around Church Street, letting me know where I could grab lunch in a cab and drop me off at the library so I could study. This was my first interaction and lasting impression of Burlington, someone who saw me and offered help. And for the first time in my military kid life, I understood what home felt like. It is Burlington, and it has been for the past 31 years. As some of you may know, I earnestly considered running for mayor. I believe Burlington needs leadership who can ensure that each neighborhood and the communities and individual voices within those neighborhoods feels heard and valued. I also believe Burlington needs a mayor and city government that continue to deliver on the economic, environmental, social, safety, health and infrastructure needs of our shared community. As I struggled with whether to run or not, Maro and I had a series of what is best for Burlington conversations. As a community, we are at our best when we are in it together. When we work alongside leaders committed to every neighbor and every neighborhood with a grounding in facts, data and sustainable able to be built upon results. Leadership from the heart and the head. We are all feeling the weight of the pandemic with the lives and livelihoods impacted. As we move to answer the current demands of these times and as we look to rebuild Burlington back better for all, understanding that some communities are carrying a disproportionate burden, we need solid, compassionate and competent leadership. Over the past nine years, Maro has dedicated himself to the people of Burlington and delivered building a financially strong and nimble city. A Burlington ready to respond to the pandemic, support our businesses and residents and engage fully in the work of racial justice. As Maro and I talked about people needing to feel heard and what is best for Burlington, I experienced his willingness to share his concerns and commitment to racial justice as a father to his children of color. In our conversations, Maro has been open and receptive to feedback and I too have listened. His commitment to every Burlingtonian is clear. Under Maro's community-centric direction, the city has not implemented voter-approved tax increases while still preserving city services, establishing economic recovery and resource programs and racial justice and outreach efforts for our BIPOC and immigrant communities. This is solid, competent, compassionate leadership. This is the Maro in whom I believe and trust. Burlington, we are at our best together. I ask that you join me in supporting and re-electing Maro for mayor so that he may continue to serve our city doing the hard work, the necessary work, the in the details and data work as a leader who delivers results. Thank you very much. Hello, everyone. It is so exciting to be with you at this Burlington Democratic Caucus and the whole we're hearing in our house and the whole Weimer family wanted to say a quick hello. Thank you, Madison, for being a leader who cares deeply about our supportive and engaged Burlington community and for your inspirational words. I am humbled by and grateful for your support. Molly Gray, Burlingtonians and Vermonters are very fortunate that we will have a leader with your experience, intelligence and passion for the state serving as our Lieutenant Governor. To Sam Donnelly, our outgoing party chair, Ben Travers, our caucus chair, Adam Roof, our new party chair and the rest of the Burlington Democratic Party team which Ben put up on a slide a moment ago, thank you for your innovation and organization to make this new and unique caucus format a success. My mom and dad who are with us online from Heartland, thank you for your endless love, support and guidance. And to my amazing family, we just saw Lee Lin, Ada and Stacey, thank you, I love you. I simply could not serve in this way without your sacrifice and commitment. One month ago, we created history and witnessed the power of our democracy as more Americans than ever before voted and elected Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to lead our nation through these challenging times. Yes, brighter days are coming, but we have much more work ahead to reach the other side of this long crisis. On April 2nd of this year, I declared that the state of the city was a state of emergency. Eight months later, the emergency continues to rage. In fact, we caucused at the end of a week in which we have seen the highest numbers yet of new infections as a country, a state and as a city. The economic pain of this disaster is also intensifying. In recent weeks here in Burlington, hundreds of our neighbors working in restaurants and shops have again been laid off while federal relief has almost entirely run out. And at the same time, right now we have an enormous opportunity if we get it right to make transformational progress on the issue that has plagued and dishonored us since our country is very founded, racial injustice. So, how will we get through these historically challenging times? The way we always do in this resilient city by showing up to support each other, by looking to data and science and the best expert advice for solutions, and by working hard until all our neighbors are cared for and safely on the other side of this crisis. These community values and commitments are some of the very beliefs that I learned growing up on a dirt road in Heartland, Vermont. My loving parents encouraged my two siblings and me to find our own passions and follow some simple rules. Finish what you start, leave every place in better shape than how you found it, and take responsibility for the larger community. One of my strongest memories is of the winter that my mother rallied the whole town to come to the elementary school gymnasium and place local gifts into a trunk that she shipped off to the Soviet Union to promote friendship and peace. My mom's driving belief that we can make the whole world a better place through local action is embedded deeply in me. Also as a kid, I fell in love with baseball, playing it, reading about it, and listening to the Red Sox radio broadcast every night. Through baseball, I learned lifelong lessons about the value of teamwork, practice, and most influential, ultimately, the vast and transformative power of data and expertise. Let me say a little more about that. As a teen, I read everything about baseball, I could get my hands on making daily trips to our small town pharmacy to check the magazine racks for the latest preview of the upcoming Sox season and to pick up both the local Valley News and the Boston Globe to read two accounts of each game. But my favorite thing to read then was an obscure annual book, desktop published each spring on cheap grainy paper called the Bill James Baseball Abstract. The 1982 to 92 volumes still sit on a bookshelf in our house and they prove with irrefutable numbers that funting, stealing bases, ranking players by average, and many more conventional strategies were deeply flawed. He built a stunning case for rethinking just about everything we thought we knew about the game. It took a couple of decades, but eventually James's thinking fundamentally changed the sport, which was a process that culminated with the Red Sox hiring him out of rural Kansas to help run the club in 2003. And the next year, they won their first World Series since 1918. The win was no fluke, they won three more World Series since. The takeaway that stuck with me transcends baseball. Good analysis and the right experts can have a tremendous impact on real world tactics and generate life-improving results. In my early 20s, my professional interests shifted towards building affordable housing for the most vulnerable and creating great public's places. But my belief in the power of analysis and listening to the best prepared experts only increased. I came into office to make local government, determined to make local government decisions based on evidence, not on the intuitions and untested conventional wisdom that too often carry the day. We have applied this kind of problem solving to all of our major challenges over the last nine years. For example, we confronted the opioid crisis head on in 2016 by creating community staff. A monthly stakeholder meeting focused on real-time data, listening to the nation's top public health experts and relentless follow-up. Supported by this focus, our community's incredible nurses and doctors, syrims exchange workers and other treatment professionals, defense attorneys and prosecutors alike, parents, police officers and many others, the thousands of community members in fact, who work on some element of this enormous challenge. We're able to come together to reduce opioid deaths 50% in Chittany County from 2017 through 2019. And in the early months of 2020, as we saw COVID-19 coming at us from the other side of the globe, we concluded based on history that in a global pandemic, local actions matter and we launched the city's biggest data and science effort yet. In early March, we created a 10-person analytics team made up of city and United Way workers that has kept the city on top of the quickly evolving knowledge about the virus and enabled us to add value to the broader community's remarkable sacrifice, service and vigilance. To cite just one of the dozens examples of this, in mid-March, well before the CDC shifted its guidance and started recommending masking for the general public, the city purchased a truckload of denim and engaged hundreds of community volunteers and many small businesses to begin fabricating high quality cloth masks. By the time Vermont began reopening on May 15th, a few weeks later, we had distributed over 25,000 masks to essential workers, seniors, group living facilities and every Burlingtonian who wanted one. This coordinated local government and community action is one of the driving reasons that the Burlington metropolitan area has had one of the best records of any American city fighting the virus and saving lives throughout this pandemic. With your support and partnership, this is the way I will continue to attack our biggest challenges. Over the coming weeks, I will lay out a series of critical plans for the crisis we'll face in the years ahead. We will detail how the city intends to continue to lead a robust, racially just, multi-year recovery with the same kind of energy, innovation and resources that we have brought to fighting the pandemic. We will demonstrate how our 2017 commitment to strategic electrification has us on the path to becoming America's first net zero energy city by 2030 and preview you the exciting progress we must make in the next three years. We will lay out a vision for Burlington to join the more than 2,000 small jurisdictions with a local public health department to ensure that going forward, we combat racism as a public health emergency and future crises with the same kind of approach, urgency and focus on measurable results as we have brought to the opioid crisis in pandemic. Through this campaign and beyond, I will continue to work to forge a new consensus on policing here in Burlington. My goal for the city remains to implement structural and cultural transformation that is supported and accepted by the community and officers alike while keeping the department effective in responses and making our city safer for all than it is today. And I will speak more during this campaign about how we will finish transforming the former failing mall into a downtown neighborhood with jobs, much needed homes and vibrant streets for the first time since the 1960s. Well, of course the last two years have not gone exactly as we hoped. The city has been financially well protected from the developers delays and our team is focused on and positioned to bring this project to successful resolution. Just as we have with the Moran frame, the rest of the Northern Waterfront, the bike path, City Hall Park, the new bus station, the low barrier homeless shelter and so many other critical projects over the last nine years. However, for all this to happen, we must first win another election together. In that election, the voters will face a very clear choice. As the Democratic Party has been establishing itself, both nationally and locally, as a party committed to helping people through policy and progress that are based in science, data and expertise. Today's Burlington Progressive Party has been moving in a different rigid ideological direction. To the many Burlingtonians who have long thought of themselves as small pee or even big pee progressives but are alarmed by this clear multi-year trend, we welcome you and your commitment to our caucus. We know here in Burlington how dangerous devotion to ideology without attention to detail, data or expert opinion can be. This practice created the BT debacle that brought our city to its knees in 2009. Last year, after a decade of focus and attention, we finally fixed that problem for good, restored our double A credit rating and locked in more than $17 million in counting in taxpayer and rate payer savings. This financial strength has fueled our robust response to the virus and so many other new initiatives in recent years and allowed us to avoid public employee layoffs or furloughs even as our revenues have taken a major hit. To repeat the mistakes of the past amidst the pandemic and deep recession would be disastrous. Let's not let that happen. Let's win this crucial election and keep in place a team with proven crisis leadership experience and a keen focus on our biggest challenges. To do that in a year in which we'll likely see record turnout and when the virus will likely restrict our campaign activities, we will need once again a strong grassroots campaign fueled by you and your energy. It has been the honorable lifetime to serve you and all of Burlington as this party's nominee and as Burlington's mayor. We have gone through so much together over this full and impactful and challenging decade. I ask you to join me again and be an active part of this campaign. Please visit morofermayor.com and sign up today to lend your name and energy to this crucial campaign for Burlington's future. I promise once again to make good on your confidence and to do everything in my power to protect this community and uplift all Burlingtonians until we reach the better days to wait for us on the other side of this historic challenge. Thank you again, everyone, for participating in this virtual caucus. Stay healthy, stay safe, and let's take care of each other. Thank you for those words, Mr. Mayor. Thank you for your leadership these past few months. As we all wade through this pandemic. As a reminder to folks, virtual ballots again will be delivered as close to two o'clock as possible after this caucus is over. For the mayor's nomination, you'll have an opportunity to vote that nomination up or down. Voting will remain open until 5 p.m. So we now begin our tour of Burlington. And first up, we have my neighborhood here in the South District. And we are so happy to have with us my friend to introduce us as the South District Nominating Caucus Chair, Lucia Campriolo. Lucia? Great, thanks so much, Ben. And a special welcome to our South End friends and neighbors. My name is Lucia Campriolo. I've lived in Burlington's South End and in Vermont now for five years with my husband and our two young daughters who are six and three years old. Throughout my life, I've always sourced a real joy from supporting and serving my local community. And I'm fortunate to be able to do so here in Vermont in a variety of volunteer capacities. One of those ways include serving as steering committee member for your Ward 5 neighborhood planning assembly. So I'm especially pleased to be here with you today and grateful for the opportunity to engage in this conversation that exercises our civic engagement. After five short years, I and my family consider ourselves Burlingtonians and we are hopeful about our collective future here together under the leadership you're hearing from today. So with that, I'd love to welcome Glenn Patterson who's here with us today to nominate Joan Shannon. Hello, my name is Glenn Patterson and I'm honored to be here today to nominate Joan Shannon for the South District City Council seat. Now Joan and I don't see eye to eye on every issue and that's an important reason why I support her. Disagreement allows for discourse, differing perspectives and compromise. I support Joan because she listens. She reaches out actively seeking the opinions and perspectives of those she represents. She is thoughtful, she cares. She is smart and she asks questions. She is not knee jerk. She has had the benefit of longevity in her role as city councilor to understand that all actions have consequences and she'd like to mitigate the negative ones. She knows that some choices are complex and take time to resolve. Joan takes the time to search for thoughtful solutions, solutions that take into account the needs of all Burlingtonians and I appreciate her measured approach to the care of our city. Now some choices are easy. Nominating Joan to continue her leadership and stewardship over the city we love is one of them. Thank you. Thank you, Glen. Thanks so much for your support. Oops, oops, oops, am I muted? I'm not muted, okay. Thank you, Glen, for your support, thoughtfulness and encouragement. Thank you to our Democratic Executive Committee and caucus planners for figuring out how to get us all together safely during a pandemic. And thanks to all of you for participating in this reinvention of a caucus. I appreciate the support I have had from so many of you over all these years and feel privileged to be your city councilor. I remain excited and motivated to represent your interests on the city council and to be trusted to evaluate each proposal and initiative through a lens focused on moving our city forward while upholding our community values. Over time, our perspectives and priorities change. Never has that been more true than this year. Many of us are experiencing a new awareness of how many members of our community have been denied simple equity due to their race. We must answer the call to be anti-racist, actively standing up to prejudice and rooting it out of our institutions and systems in all of its subtle and not so subtle forms. We have begun taking stronger action toward racial justice, which I fully support. We need to be open to taking appropriate measures to assure that a ladder of advancement is available to all members of our community and that missing rungs in that ladder are replaced. It is time to re-envision policing. Racism is real, it's here in Burlington and it affects our police force as it does our community. Our police are our last line of defense and our safety net for societal needs that are going unaddressed by government and institutions. The police are the ones left to pick up the pieces when mental health services are unavailable and situations escalate to a level that is unsafe for neighborhoods, families, and most of all, the individuals who are having a mental health crisis. We must not defund our police without alternatives in place to provide for public safety. Defunding police without reducing the number of calls for service or increasing other services to respond to calls does not lead to better policing. It leads to a tired and beleaguered police force unable to do the job we need them to do with integrity, skill, and empathy. We can and will do better and I am committed to doing that work, but it will require systemic change and support from societal institutions, city, state, and federal government. We are all seeking a more just Burlington but we cannot achieve comprehensive justice without clean air, clean water, and sufficient food and housing for all our community members. I am grateful to this administration, the leadership of the Burlington Electric Department and the multitude of city staffers and community members who are decreasing the city's environmental impact and are providing opportunities and incentives to help Burlingtonians reduce our carbon footprints. Our fight against climate change in Burlington is a David versus Goliath battle on steroids. We know that when Burlington leads, our efforts are amplified when other communities follow. I will do all I can to support our city's team in leading the way to address the climate crisis. Burlingtonians largely agree on values, priorities, and vision, but we often disagree on the details of how we get there and the appropriate processes to assure everyone is at the table to guide the decision. I promise you that I will continue to listen to your ideas, your feedback, your criticism, and your needs. I will make my decisions based on all the information I can gather from you, my constituents, professional city staff, and other stakeholders. As a benefit of my tenure on the city council, I hold a long view both of the past and of the future. Residents of the South District, like the residents of Burlington as a whole, do not speak with one voice. While I cannot please everyone, I pledge to you that I will include you in my decision-making process and will always be willing to share with you how I reached the conclusion I did on any issue. When I joined the council many years ago, I was of the strong and confident opinion that I wanted everyone at the table to think like I did. Probably the first thing I learned after being elected was that I was wrong. I learned more from those I disagreed with than from those with whom I agreed. I value disagreement in civil discourse and fear we are losing our ability to tolerate disagreement and working through it. I will continue to make every effort to find common ground while at the same time holding true to Burlington's values. Throughout my years as a city councilor, I have sometimes disagreed strongly with you, my constituents, on issues that are important to each of us. But I am grateful that we have maintained our mutual respect and you have continued to support me. This is important for functional governance. We can't walk away from the table when we don't get exactly what we want. Admittedly, I have cast many minority votes of late. But I ask for the privilege of representing you and the best interests of our city as we face these unprecedented challenges. I ask for your support as a democratic nominee for city council. Thank you. Thank you so much, Joan, for your leadership, for your commitment to this city, and for your words today. I will now go ahead and list the nominations we've received for Ward Clerk and Inspector of Elections. Floor nominations for Ward Clerk include Greg Epler Wood from Ward 6. Are there any additional nominations for Ward Clerk or Inspector of Elections? We have not received any additional nominations, Lucia. Thank you. Great. Thank you so much, Ben. Back to you. Thank you very much for joining us, Lucia. Councillor Shannon, thank you for your remarks and thank you so much for your leadership. Again, ballots will be delivered at the close of this caucus, hopefully as close to 2 p.m. as possible, but we are running a few minutes behind. For those voters in Ward 6, you will receive a ballot specifically tailored to you, including the Ward Clerk nomination we just received there from Lucia. All South District voters will receive on their virtual ballot an opportunity to vote in the mayoral election, as well as the South District City Council election. Continuing our tour around the city, we now move to the East District, wards one and eight, and are privileged to be joined by former Councillor and our party's treasurer, Richard Dean. Richard. Thank you, Ben. It's been great to... First, welcome to Ward 8 and Ward 1 residents who are joining us here this afternoon. I think it's been a great opportunity to hear from Molly Gray and to hear from the mayor and to hear from our city councillors, our current sibling councillors, and Joan Shannon. Some of the challenges that we face and to understand the competent leadership that we have in place already and that we need support going forward in this upcoming election. So just a little bit about myself and my family. I grew up in Burlington from the age of about two and my parents emigrated here. And my experience came through Edmond's middle school and through the high school. I left Burlington and headed off to go to college, came back to Burlington, went to med school for a little while and then headed off to become an architect in Syracuse, New York. I went to Syracuse University, headed off to the big city, Washington, D.C., but found my way back to Burlington in 1997. And I think it was one of the best decisions I ever made to come back to this city. And it's been my privilege to serve you as a district city councillor in the past. And I just appreciate people's dedication to the city, their passion for getting things right and having this city be inclusive, fair, and giving people economic opportunities in this city. And I think our party and our mayor are all of the things, you know, are doing everything they can to make that happen. So with those words said, we do not have an East District City Council candidate to offer. And so my job here is to nominate from the floor, or announce the nominations from the floor for our ward clerks and our inspector of elections. I would like to say that these are names, are familiar names to all of us here in Ward 1 and Ward 8, dedicated people, citizens of this city. And they certainly deserve our support. So I'll first ask Ben, are there any other nominations that have come in? No, Richard. The only nomination we received was yet another nomination for one of the people you're about to name. So please go ahead. All right. So I will name the folks first for nominations for Ward clerk in Ward 1 Sue Elnick. In Ward 8, Keith Pillsbury. And for inspector of elections in Ward 1, Gloria Gandow. So thank you very much for that opportunity, Ben. And I'll turn it right back to you. Great. Thank you very much, Richard. Again, those of you who live in Ward 1 will receive a ballot specifically tailored with those Ward clerk and inspector of elections nominations. Ward 8 will receive a similar ballot with Keith Pillsbury for Ward clerk. We now move to our central district. In organizing this caucus, we've been really thrilled to strengthen our relationship with the UVM Democrats. And we are glad to have with us here a, one of the leaders of the UVM Democrats and a resident of the central district, Owen Doherty. Owen. Hello, everyone. My name is Owen Doherty. I'm a neighbor on Hickok Place. Also the president of UVM Democrats. I'm the central district congress chair today. I'm so excited to welcome you all here, especially those of you that are my neighbors in the central district. Today we're setting into motion a mission that drives us forward. This mission started last month with the election of Democrats up and down the ballot across our country. With the election of Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Mollie Gray and numerous other Democrats across the state. We've shown that our party is at the forefront of progressive change in our country and in our communities. This change improves the lives of thousands with steady and tested leadership that moves us forward rather than the, rather than the irresponsible leadership that our opposition imposes. On March 2nd, we must continue this mission by electing Democrats and our local races here in Burlington. We have tremendous candidates that I know after that mission. And I couldn't be more excited to kick it off with all of you here today. For city council, we did receive one nomination from the floor. So I'd like to introduce Jackson to nominate that person. Hi there. My name is Jackson. I'd like to nominate Tiki Archambeau for city council. Tiki and I played volleyball together for a very long time. And I know that one thing he definitely is, is very honest. And he has the highest integrity. I know many times when we're playing volleyball, it'll be like a game point and he'll hit the net. And he'll call himself on even if no one has seen it. Many honesty and integrity is a very important part to this. City council race. Thank you. Great. Are there any other candidates for city council with nominations from the floor? We have not received any other nominations on. Awesome. I'd like to invite Tiki now to speak for five minutes. Hi. I'm going to give a quick check. You will they hear me? Okay. Perfect. All right. Thank you. I just need a reality check. Time and time. Thank you for that. Thank you all for your time and graciousness and hosting me today. Thank you, Jackson. Your kindness really appreciate that. And many thanks to those who've encouraged me so far. In the interest of time, I'll just dive in here. First off, who am I? Who is this guy claiming the merit to run for city council? In brief, I'm a public works commissioner. I've served eight and a half years. Three of those as chair. In that time, I initiated measures like snow removal from bike lanes, a narrow streets policy that allows ambulances and recycling trucks to access our city's narrowest road during winters. Also a public engagement plan that gives proper notification and solicits feedback from all stakeholders impacted by the transportation decisions made by our commission. More recently, I also prompted COVID-19 testing of our wastewater, though really the real hero in that case is Megan Moir of the water department. And I truly believe she's one of the city's most valuable assets. I served on the permit reform committee, collaborating and overseeing the creation of Berlin's newest department for a long overdue restructure of our permitting process. I pitched a proposal long ago for the city's public investment action plan, the PIAP, the acronym sounds familiar. And my proposal is now represented as the splash pad and city hallmark. I served on the wards to three NPA steering committee on two separate occasions. And in the spirit of full disclosure, I was chair of the Burlington progressive party on two separate occasions. In that role, I served as a passionate advocate for progressive big P principles. Butting heads with some present in this caucus right now. Outside of community work, I am one of four state certified volleyball officials in Vermont as Jackson sort of alluded to earlier. Having served as a referee for many years and helped volleyball to become a varsity sport in the state of Vermont, one of the newer sports. My full-time job is with a technology company where I oversee an amazing team of 60 editors from around the world who stitch together business intelligence reports, including tracking the world's fight against the coronavirus. Most importantly of all of these things, I'm a dad and a husband. My son Alden attends IAA close by here. He's in fifth grade and he plays ukulele like Don Ho at a lulaw. My wife Becky is a second to none massage therapist and active in our son's PTO. Excuse me. As for why I'm running, I've toiled in this world long enough to know that the best results come through pragmatism, respect for each other and active listening. Nothing gets done without teamwork. No matter if you're a dishwasher or a CEO, it takes a team to achieve higher objectives. In my working life, it's been a long time I've learned that high-performing teams require nurturing to empathy and radical candor. Here in Burlington, we see those teams in our city's departments following roads, installing new sidewalks, keeping the parks clean, patrolling the streets, making our government work. Our NPAs are teams bringing forth issues directly impacting our neighborhoods. Businesses are teams with enormous potential to help us realize our progressive values. The reality is that all of us living here are part of a team. Each of us has an investment here, whether it be time, energy, money, passion, or any combination of all of the above. Which is why I'm concerned about the direction of the current council. Pragmatism, coalition building, compromise, and courtesy are now dirty words. Ordinance proposals that require deliberation and community input are thrown at the council immediately prior to meetings. Department heads are being disregarded. Their teams demoralized to concerning levels. This micro-management, which is undermining the volunteerism put forth by the city's commissions, open meeting laws are being actively floated. And herein lies my biggest fear. The values that Burlington holds dear are at risk when so many in our community are actively marginalized. The means by which we achieve success are as important as the ends themselves. I now find myself pausing and asking, what role do today's youth have in a future Burlington if we can't see each other as even stakeholders today? There's little to dispute in the broad score for Black Lives Matter, police reform, social justice, affordable housing, livable wages, the real issues posed every day by student debt. And of course, not last release, but fighting climate change. Burlington is a better place by recognizing the disadvantages faced by our BIPOC community or its thriving refugee community. The work to achieve these goals will take time and it's not a one and done transaction. In parting here, Martin Luther King Jr. once said, the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. Please join me with a faith in recognizing that even though the arc is long, the objective must not and will not be forgotten. Thank you so much for all your time this afternoon. I'd be honored to have your vote. Thank you, Tiki. We've received no prior nominations for word clerk and inspector of elections. Are there any additional nominations for word clerk or inspector of elections now? No, Owen. We have not received any additional nominations. All right, and I'll send it back over to you, Ben. Thank you so much, Owen. Thank you, Tiki. We have been able to tweak our virtual ballot to reflect you for the central district. And I appreciate your stepping up to run. That now takes us to the north district. And there we are really thrilled to have counselor Sarah Carpenter as our north district nominating caucus chair. Sarah. Thank you all. I'm very excited to be here. It's, it's challenging and fun to have this sort of virtual caucus. I think there's a lot to be said for doing it this way. So next year, when I hope we're through the pandemic, we'll, we'll know how to do this really well. I'm very pleased to be here. I serve as the ward for city counselor, and I was honored to be elected just this last town meeting. I've been in the seat just about six months, and it's been certainly an eye-opener for me. I'm a lifelong brilliant Tonian. I love the city. I come from a family. A dad who at one time many years ago was a city counselor and a legislator. And I personally had worked professionally for over 20 years in state government and thought when I retired, maybe I do just a little something for the city. And the little something has morphed exponentially. And I think part of that is shown by our attendance. I think it's, it's a, it's a, I think part of that is shown by our attendance today at our caucus and the fact that we have two very enthusiastic, well qualified, I'm seeking our nomination. That's sometimes not always the case. And so I'm proud that our North district has, has so much engagement. Help one of the end results of this process. And, and today is that all those folks continue to be engaged. We haven't always probably had as much engagement as I would like to see. And I think this is a great forebearer of what we've got to come to really enhance our neighborhoods. I'm very much looking forward to that. And in the future of how we approach our city district through our North district representation. I'm going to introduce. Who is here to nominate Kenan Christensen for the North district seat. Hello. Thank you. My name is Nancy Ellis and I've been an active member of the Democratic Party in the new North end for over 50 years. And it's my great pleasure today to nominate. Kenan Christensen for the Democratic enforcement for the North district council seat. I know Kenan well as a person of integrity. Action. He's an energetic young lawyer who thinks clearly and organizes efficiently to get things done. He's a man of strong ethical and moral convictions as well. Kenan listens carefully and responds thoughtfully and with great compassion. He knows our neighborhoods on both sides of the avenue. And he's especially interested in. The most vulnerable. He will support the health of our community and our businesses. Kenan is a negotiator. He's not an enforcer. A compassionate listener. And a leader who will work toward mutually adopted goals. Please join me and vote for Kenan Christensen as our Democratic nominee. He's a leader who will work toward mutual support for Burlington's North district. We are a strong community and we do deserve a strong leader. Thanks. Thank you so much, Nancy. It's an honor and a privilege to be accepting the nomination from you. Someone who's given back so much to our community and has really been working to transform the new North end in ways that I really admire. Thank you so much for your commitment to our community. I am proud to be here and I'm proud to be accepting this nomination. And I'm also proud to be a part of this position. And I'm proud to be a part of this position. And that's what I really looked at was the new north end. And the reason why is because of the people that live here. The new north end is special because the neighbors that make it make it up are truly wonderful people. When we first moved into our home, I remember Nicole and Christine coming by and giving us a chocolate cake and that kind of community engagement is what is inspiring me to run. There is nothing we can't accomplish when we're not engagement and more involvement in the local process. I worked with a number of fellow neighbors to launch the community dinner. And through that, we not only provided free meals to our neighbors, we got them involved in the process and got them excited about the neighborhood planning assembly. I care deeply about all of you and I care deeply about our community. When COVID-19 started ravaging our community, I worked closely with Tom Flurry and Ren Wiener to get food security up and running out here in the New North End. I encouraged early mask wearing and ensured that our neighbors had all the information they needed to engage in proper social distancing to keep themselves safe and to keep their families safe. I'm running because our school district needs our support as a city. With the closure of BHS, our neighbors are struggling and our families are struggling and we can lean in to support our students and we can lean in to support our families. I'm running because we have so many wonderful businesses out here in the New North End. Places like Chili Colorado or La Boca or heck even, you know, Burkese root beer. We've got so much to be thankful for out here and I wanna work to continue to promote our local businesses and continue to promote the many people that have decided to launch their businesses here. We can do more as a city to address housing affordability and ensure that no matter where you come from and no matter who you are, there's a place for you in Burlington and it's right here in the New North End. I'm excited to be accepting this nomination and I'm excited to be here and my commitment to all of you if I'm fortunate enough to receive this is that I'm going to listen clearly to all of you, engage each and every one of you and make sure that your voice is heard on council and that you are part of the process and that you feel like you have access to City Hall and to your city counselor. I hope that you're all safe and well. I really hope that we continue to come together as a community because we have shown that Burlington doesn't follow when it comes to public health, we lead. And it's because of all of you and everything that you've done. Keep your family safe, keep wearing your masks, keep engaging in social distancing and remember to support one another. Thank you so much. I'm proud to accept this nomination. Thank you. Next I'd like to introduce my fellow councilor, Franklin Paulino, who will be nominating Karen Durfee for the Dorf District seat. Thank you, Councilor Carpenter. For those of you who don't know me, my name is Franklin Paulino. I currently serve as the North District City Counselor for rewards four and seven. My day job is I'm a prosecutor and I've been a prosecutor in the Chippin County State's turning office for five years. I've been doing prosecution for most of my career as a lawyer. I was also a public defender for some time. I am not seeking reelection and I am proud to say that the new North End has two candidates before it that are very well qualified. I'm proud to represent an area that over 200 people today have registered to caucus for us in a historic non-contested mayoral caucus. And it's been a great privilege and many of you on this call have supported me and I wanna say thank you. When I was thinking about not running again, I contacted a few people and I have no preexisting relationship with Karen Durfee prior to that phone call. The reason I'm here supporting and asking and nominating Karen Durfee is because over the course of my life, we meet a lot of people and Karen clearly showed me within the first minutes of a phone call that she knows how to listen, that she's bold but not necessarily progressive. And as Tiki Arshenbo just said, we're at a time on the city council where pragmatism, collaborativeness have taken a back seat. We need an effective policymaker but more importantly, a successful party builder and that's who Karen Durfee is. She's a daughter of Navy veterans. She worked at city market and front end operations for 12 years and she currently is the director of earn revenue at Echo. I couldn't think of a person better suited for the problems that we face given the financial challenges that will undoubtedly be before the council in the next two years. So with that said, I introduce Karen Durfee. Hi everyone. Can you hear me? Excellent. Hi everyone, my name's Karen Durfee and I'm running for the North District City Council seat. Thanks Franklin for your nomination and support of me and your dedicated service to the city council. And thank you for to the Burlington Democratic Party for organizing today's caucus. I'm gonna read. I spent my life here serving others and in Burlington, as Franklin said, I had the privilege of doing that work in community-based organizations such as city market and Echo. These experiences have given me the pleasure of engaging with our community, working with the labor union, creating jobs and planning for financial sustainability and growth. It's been a tough year for all of us, but I'm grateful to live in Vermont and in the neighborhood, we're supporting the local economy and caring for each other's paramount. I had a different speech prepared for today, but after the calls, emails and messages from so many in the North District, I wanna make sure that I'm talking about what you shared. I heard an overwhelming concern about surrounding our schools. My partner, Eve, and I have a senior at VHS. I'm aware and understand the challenges that parents and students alike are facing given the disruption of in-person learning. I'll be a voice for you on city council as we move forward addressing issues that impact our youngest citizens, like you, I want what's best for them. I've heard many concerns regarding our police department. As a police commissioner, I have been directly involved in ensuring we respond to these concerns in a thoughtful manner that is supported by data. I'm honored to have the endorsement of Jaboo Gamash, chair of our police commission, for my contributions to the work that's ongoing. I want you to know that I hear the concerns from New North End residents on the actions of the city council to reduce the number of uniform police officers. I also hear the voices that the growing number of voices in the district who want real reform efforts, not lip service. I believe that all the concerns can be addressed in a way that ensures safety in our community. We are meeting today virtually as a result of a global pandemic. And I heard a lot about that on my calls. This pandemic is taking the lives of members of our community and communities across the state, nation and the world. COVID-19 has disrupted the economy causing job loss and severe challenges for our small businesses. I'm proud to have the endorsement of local business leaders like Sherene Hart, who knows I'll ensure the New North End businesses are part of this focus. We need our cherished businesses, such as La Boca and Pampered Pet and Smitties and so many others to succeed. Businesses such as the bagel thrive because we in the New North End make that morning bagel a part of our daily drive. The economy recovery, the economic recovery of our neighbors and small businesses is a community effort. And I will be laser focused on listening and responding to the voices of property owners, renters and the district's most vulnerable. As the pandemic reached its third month, it came to a surprise to many North District residents that the progressive party city council sought to advance charter change to raise taxes. Knowing that the school bond would take effect this coming year and that our community will still be recovering from the pandemic, a proposal to increase taxes is tone deaf and out of touch with the New North End community. This action by progressives was not reflective of our difficulties that many of us are facing. Please know that if you elect me as your city council, I'll put the voices of the people ahead of extreme ideologies. Here in the New North End, we know that we must eradicate divisions built on racist foundations. I will speak up on racial justice, inviting more voices to the conversation happening at the city level because we need to work together to advance change. Talking with people in the district, it's clear that their ideas, their fears and desires beyond the current conversation happening at a city level. Here in the New North End, we love our parks, our trails, our bike path, access to the lake for recreation and enjoyment. When my children were young, we used to spend hours at North Beach. I wanna ensure that for future generations, we all have a chance to enjoy all that the New North End has to offer. I'll be a strong voice for environmental protection and clean water, and I will support our city's efforts to address climate change. And lastly, I'm a proud Democrat. And this is the only nomination I'll be seeking. Other candidates running in this race, including Keating, have all already secured ballot spots either as a progressive or independent. The only way I can appear on the town meeting day ballot is with your vote and with a Democratic nomination today. I believe voters in town meeting day deserve to have a choice. With that, I ask for your vote today. And I know that together we can move our city forward. Thank you, Karen, and thank you, Keenan. Next, I'll move to the Ward Clerk nominations. We have one floor, two nominations, excuse me. For Ward Four, we have a nomination of Sally Milicham. And for Ward Seven, we have a nomination of Tom Flurry. Do we have any other nominations for Ward Clerk? No, Sarah. We have not received any additional nominations. Okay. We also have three nominations for Inspector of Elections. In Ward Four, we have two openings. And for those, we have Karen Turner as a nominee and Carrie Hallway as a nominee for Ward Four. And for Ward Seven, we have the nomination of Amy Belasky Branch for Inspector of Election. Do we have any other nominees for Inspector of Election? There are no additional nominees for Inspector of Election. Okay. All right. Thank you very much, Councillor Carpenter, for your time. And thank you for hosting us up there in the New North End. And thank you as well to Keenan and Karen for stepping up to run. Ballots were delayed because we were a little bit delayed in the beginning, but they should be being delivered to you all now at 2.15 p.m. We have extended our three hour voting window until 5.15 p.m. I will present the presentation from before that has email address and phone numbers on it at the conclusion here. So if you have any trouble voting, please feel free to reach out at any time during the voting period. We will announce results as soon as possible after the voting period closes at 5.15 p.m. In closing, I wanna thank you all for being a part of this unique caucus experience. As I mentioned in the beginning, one of the best things about Burlington is the extent to which you all as neighbors engage in making this community a great place to live and to work. And we were thrilled to be able to host you here on this virtual platform this year. Thank you very much for being here. Thank you for the candidates and their campaigns for running and we will see you after the results. Hey, Ben, you still there?