 Welcome to In the World of Wenuski. I'm Mayor Christine Lott. And on this month's episode, we're gonna meet our new Wenuski city manager, Elaine Wong, and then hear more about the Wenuski centennial celebration, which is coming up very soon on June 4th. So I'd like to introduce you all to Wenuski's esteemed new city manager, Elaine Wong. Welcome. Thanks, Mayor. How are you today? I am fantastic. I'm loving it in Wenuski. I've been on the job for seven days, and it's just, it's everything I could have hoped for. We are so happy to have you. It was a very long search to fill the role. And we, you know, selecting you was very exciting. We are so confident in you, and so were community members who met you at the candidate forum. I'm hoping you could first tell us a little bit about your background. Sure, happy to do that. And I have to say, when I read your comments about the community forum's response to me, I teared up because that is so important to me. So it's great to be in a community where so many people would turn out to an event like that and care about that. I just, I really prize that type of engagement. So speaking of which, it's related to my background because I was born to immigrant parents. My parents were born in China. Both of them then moved to Taiwan. Long story there, I won't get into. And then they both moved to the US for economic opportunity. So, you know, when, like a lot of our residents in Winooski, they were immigrants, they had to do a lot of struggling in the beginning years and they had a lot of community members that reached out and helped them like our community members in Winooski. You know, our longer standing members as well as the newer ones. So it's that sense of like, hard work, struggle, you know, value for education. Like the value that being community minded provides you as a person. Those are all things that are top of mind for me when I see our community. Yeah, so that sense of, you know, I was talking earlier about how the community came out there and how I want to be out there. And I know the city councils with that. So I appreciate that about this council. Growing up, I felt like I didn't have any access to power or like, you know, I had no idea why things the way they were, I was a very angry teenager because I just felt like I had no access. So I feel very strongly about that. When people called me up, I worked for a town before I was in, we call it town hall there. So, you know, when I pick up the phone and if people are upset, or if people are angry, that's when I call myself down the most and listen the most carefully because those are the people that need us the most, right? The people who kind of know how things work, obviously we're there for them too, but they don't need us the way the people who are angry are, the people who are upset are. So I'm happy to be bringing that type of, or augmenting that type of customer service in Winiski City Hall. I know a lot of our staff are already of that mindset, which is wonderful to be joining with that team. Yeah, that is really important to us. We are such a small community and you can really get to know a lot of people and so that level of customer service, as it were, is really important. I think also hearing about how you grew up and your backstory is really aligned. Winiski has a long history of immigrant populations coming in, of welcoming newcomers. We still have that in the fabric of the city in our current day. And so seeing your interaction at the candidate forum of being able to engage with the variety of residents who turned out for that, folks who are brand new here or who've been here for a long time is really awesome. So you've touched a little bit on what interested you in coming to Winiski. Is there anything else you wanna share about what drew you to this role? Yes, that's a great question. So there's a few angles, the fact that the city is committed to equity, both at the council level and at the staff level. That's something I feel very strongly about. I've been living in Vermont, probably shouldn't have touched my mic there. Been living in Vermont for the last 17 years as a BIPOC, Vermont, or as a child of immigrant parents, as someone who likes to hunt and fish, as someone who likes to forage and be out in the woods. Those are all pieces that are important to me and I want all of our community members to feel like they belong there. And being in the manager position where you're in a position to shape programs and services with a committed council is just, that's super exciting to me. Yeah, that's awesome. And also came through in your interview in the process. And for those who don't know, the city manager role is really the sort of the chief executive of the town. You're overseeing all of our department heads, all of our staff, and essentially taking the policy guidance that comes from myself, the mayor and the city council, and then using that to actually implement city services, operations, and the programming that we have. And so something that I am excited to state to residents is that Elaine is there for you and somebody that you can reach out to when you don't know how something works or who you need to speak to. It's a really critical role to have. Yeah, absolutely. And thanks for that description because a lot of people don't know what a city manager does. And if they're doing their job right, they're probably not so much in the public eye, so that's all right. But yes, for the people who need the most help navigating city hall, I'm happy to have the council support on that, mayor support on that. I am the chief customer service officer for the city. And the goal though is that at some point, you know what, maybe everybody will know who to go to and you won't need me playing that specific role, but in the meantime, I'm absolutely there for that. Yeah, and we, in that sort of like customer service nature, you know, any resident can reach out to you, to any member of staff, to anyone on the counselor myself, and we can always, you know, get you connected to the right person. Right, yes. Are there any specific things that you're thinking about that you hope to focus on in your sort of your first year in the role? Yes, absolutely. So equity is obviously one of them. We're fortunate to have a city that's been committed to it. There's still a long way to go because everybody's got a long way to go. And housing is clearly a challenge. There's some, and again, and there, there's some great building blocks that we can start with. There's the housing trust fund, which we're hopefully gonna open up soon. The housing commission's been doing great policy work advising the planning commission on specific things related to zoning that hopefully will encourage more housing. Yes, but that's like a perennial issue and we want to try to keep Winooski affordable, so just trying to see what opportunities are there. And then again, that access piece, making Winooski City Hall feel like some place that's for everybody. So important. I know you bring, you know, decades of experience, not just in local government, but you have a really interesting background. Do you wanna share a little bit about some of the job experience that you bring to the role? Oh, sure, yeah, thanks for that question. So, yes, before I came into local government six or seven years ago, I was, I had like about 10 years in environmental protection related roles. So I worked on climate change issues in the U.S. in Asia and actually I started off in Vermont so with the climate change work. I started off in Burlington and then worked in different communities around Vermont and then ended up in an international organization, so that was fun. But before that, I worked for the Chittin' Salt Waste District as an outreach coordinator. I did load checks. That was my first exposure to like all the stuff that we throw away that is, at least to my eye, in perfectly good condition. So that, you know, idea of waste as a resource is something that I think about often. And before that, I worked at a salmon hatchery, which was turned out, it was the largest one in North America. So that was an important part of the fishing industry in Southeast Alaska, and that was really fun. Before that, I was at National Park Services. So there's that whole love of the outdoors coming through, which my parents instilled in me. They did a lot of camping when they were dating and as they had family. I can see the draw off of Vermont. Exactly. It's so interesting to hear about your background, being able to bring not just municipal governance, but working in these other industries. You know, I think that can help you bring some novelty or some creative thinking to the position, which is great. Yeah, I hope so. And actually, this might sound funny, but so in the last time I worked, we did not have a wastewater treatment plant. And of course, in Winooski, we do. And I find that exciting because it's an opportunity for stewardship and potentially resource recovery. And the great thing is we have a team that's open to thinking about those things. We have a great leadership team and staff at Winooski that's interested in new ideas and not just like, oh, this is the way we've always done it, which is always great to see. It's always good to have that mix of people who have been there for a long time for that institutional knowledge who might have experienced in why we tried it and it didn't work out. And then the new folks that might have a new way of looking at things. Having that mix is great asset for any team. It definitely is. Well, thank you so much for joining me briefly this evening to sort of help the community get to know who you are. Is there any parting words that you wanna share? Happy to meet everyone and hopefully I will see you on about. I aim to be very accessible. So if you see me, please say hello and tell me whatever it is that's on your mind. Well, thank you so much, Elaine. I'll let folks know that you can probably catch Elaine soon at the Saturday, June 4th, Winooski Centennial Celebration, where she will be stationed along with other staff. I'll be there as well. And I would like to welcome my next guest then, Meredith Bay-Tayak, Executive Director of the Downtown Winooski Organization. They have been partnering with the City Centennial Celebration Committee to do the planning for the celebration that is coming up in recognition of Winooski's 100th birthday. The city celebrated its 100th year as an independent city on May, oh gosh, March. Seventh, thank you so much. Could you join me, Meredith? Thank you for coming to share about what we can expect in just over a week, right? Yes, so we will be out at Rotary Park, which is one of our favorite venues in the city, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. out celebrating the birthday. It is a birthday party. We will have cake. We will have music. We'll have food. We're really excited. We're also, in addition to some people from the municipal government that will be there, counselors will also have kicking it off in that really meaningful way so that we can all remember where we came from, and then we can talk more about where we're going. Yeah, that is so true. While we have been officially the city of Winooski for 100 years, the history of our area goes back much further. It does. Can you share a little bit about the activities or performances plans? Yeah, we are so excited. We have food from lots of local restaurants. We have some favorites that you'll recognize. Tiny Thai, sneakers, and then we have some new favorites. Cerome's Cafe is coming out, and then we have some local friends that don't have brick and mortar, but they serve our city in lots of great ways, like Taste of Abyssinia, and then we also have Offbeat Creamy and some other favorites that will be out for music. Again, really lots of local favorites. Karuba Webster will be out with her band. A2BT, who always draws a crowd. Classic. Everyone loves them. Our star of the Winooski High School, Abizo, will be out with a new song that was particularly written for the Centennial. So we're very excited to see that and potentially also the debut of the video that goes along with it, which is really exciting. So this is just an extended, expanded birthday party that anyone would have, but it just happens to be for a 100-year-old city, and we are, we're doing it up. We're really excited. That's awesome. All ages event, fun for everybody to come on down. You can come and go throughout. It's wonderful. It's one to 4 p.m. and then basically it's accessible. It's in Rotary Park. If you have accessibility needs, there is access at the bottom and the top of the park. And we also have some Centennial merchandise. If you haven't had a chance to get your merch on, we're really excited about that. T-shirts and hats and other items. And then we'll also have some history sprinkled in there, kids' activities, things like that. And it's, yeah, really something for everyone. Are there some other events taking place with community partners? There are. Thank you so much for that wonderful entree. So this summer, you know, we really are excited about this birthday party because it's gonna be the kickoff of our summer events. We have the Winooski Farmers Market happening every Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. And then we have Winooski Wednesdays, which is the free concert series in Rotary Park and we're expanding the dates this year. So typically we do one a month and we're doing two to three a month this summer, which is really exciting. And then we also have Juneteenth on June 19th in Rotary Park and then we have French Heritage Day on June 26th. So there's a ton going on in Winooski this summer and we're really excited just to see everybody in a safe way to see our community and offer up these free and welcoming events. So exciting. It sounds like there's a little bit of everything for anyone who's interested. There is. Are you still in need of any volunteers? We are. I will say this about volunteering. It doesn't seem super exciting, but everyone who volunteers almost comes back or recommends their friends come back because it's such a heartwarming experience, especially if you're only doing it for one hour or even 30 minutes, some of the shifts, you can have a huge impact on these events if you believe in inclusivity and welcoming and making sure that these events are welcoming for everyone of all ages, abilities and comfort levels with the downtown. There is an invisible barrier. For some people, they feel a little bit scared about the traffic or a little bit unsure of where to go. So crossing guards and things like that are incredibly necessary to make the birthday party, all of the events that we have over the summer really welcoming and safe. So if you're willing to give half an hour of your time and then go enjoy the event or an hour of your time, you can go to downtownwanuski.org. There's a summer in Winooski post and there's a volunteer sign up form right there and I would highly recommend going there and just letting us know which days you're available and then we'll be in touch. That's really exciting. It's a great way to get involved. You can do it one off versus long-term commitments for other types of volunteering. Absolutely. You tell us what you want and we'll make sure that it happens. So it's not as if you're filling out this form and then you're locked into it. We're gonna get in touch. We're gonna make sure that we have a spot that's comfortable for you. Getting back to the centennial celebration, I would be remiss if I didn't share. I'm very excited that there's gonna be a centennial-themed race car down in Vigory Park. Yeah, so I'm so sorry I skipped over that since that's something that's so important. This is really, really an interesting aspect of the event and we would not have it if it weren't for you and your partner. So would you like to tell us more about this race car that's gonna be featured at the centennial? And again, June 4th, 1 to 4 p.m. in Rotary Park. Sure. So my spouse will be racing in the Enduro at Thunder Road, which is in Berry, Vermont. It's an annual race that happens in August and we have painted up the car with the logo and some Winooski onions. And so we're gonna have it down in the Rotary so folks can sign it or leave messages and we can bring some Winooski down into central Vermont. Yeah, we're gonna fill that car with amazing messages and bring the luck of Winooski to that race and I'm sure that it will envelop that car. I don't know what the science is, but I'm sure it will work. But it's such an exciting thing. Kids and adults, riding on a car, I've never done that before, I'm excited to do it. Yeah, and are there any particular on that note, like youth programming or things to bring the kids down to at the celebration? Yeah, so we'll have just, we'll have bubbles, we'll have coloring, we'll have other small activities for kids and again, food always brings people out. We're really excited to be featuring all of these amazing restaurants and the surprise of it is that they will all be serving samples so it's all gonna be open and free to the public. So if you come, you don't need to bring your wallet unless you wanna buy some Centennial merch. So scratch that, bring your wallet because you're gonna wanna buy Centennial merch. But all the food and drinks and other items, there'll be a lot of things that will be free and so it's a great opportunity for people to sample maybe some cuisines that they've never tried before and it really does, we think showcase kind of the wide range of amazing food that's available in Winooski and then same with the music, I think we really thought about how can we reach children, how can we reach people of all ages. So we're really excited for all families and all people to come out for the birthday party. Oh, did I mention there was gonna be cake and cupcakes? Like you, that's a no-brainer. That's so exciting and it's not just for Winooski residents, we welcome anyone in the area to come on down and get to experience some of what our city has to offer. There are so many people that love Winooski that don't live here, that they work here or they used to live here. I think once you get a taste, no pun intended, of Winooski, you really do always feel connected which we're so proud of and I think this event is gonna show that because I think people who are interested in the history and looking back and then people that are interested in what's going on now, all of those types of people are gonna be mingling together and it's gonna be just, I think, a really fun event and again, a kickoff to a lot of other things we have going on this summer. Yeah, really looking forward to all of the summer programming and we're very happy to have Downtown Winooski and our business community supporting this kind of community fun. Yeah. Want to give a thanks to the members of the Centennial Planning Committee? Yes. And all of the businesses who are participating, providing some of these samples. Is there anything else you'd like to share before we close out today? No, I just would like to reiterate what you said about the Centennial Planning Committee. You did mention it was in March, March 7th and we had an entire week of programming. It got a little bit shifted because of, you don't want to hear it, because of COVID situation. So we did kind of pull back a little bit, change things, pivot like we all have been and then we shifted this event to the summer. So we have done already a ton of incredible programming. So the Centennial Committee definitely deserves a shout out and there is a whole website that will be live, not just about the Centennial celebration but about celebrating Winooski's legacy and the website is legacy.winooski.vt.gov. That's right, there were some activities that happened earlier this year. You can access a self-guided walking tour from the historic museum down in the mill. There's some video on there from some previous events so it's really worth checking out to get that, looking back at the history of our city and also looking forward. Yeah. And the walking tour also has an audio component so for some reason you don't like reading or if there's someone that has some ability need, there is an audio component which we really like because it kind of reminds you of going to a museum or going to that kind of walking tour where you can just kind of look at the building and hear more about or look at the site and hear more about kind of what happened and when I took it and when I was looking through all of it, I learned so much. So I highly recommend it. That is awesome. Well, thank you so much for coming. Very excited to see a return to activity downtown to be able to gather safely in nicer weather outdoors. I'm excited to be bringing this show back. Yeah, so good to be back in studio. Yeah, we are really looking forward to the future. Looking forward to moving forward with these events and with our new city manager, Elaine Wong and I thank you both for coming in tonight. And with that, we can close out tonight's episode of In the World of Winooski.