 Hello, and thank you for tuning into Town Meeting TV's ongoing coverage of local elections. My name's Bobby Lucia. This is, this program is part of a series of forums that we are bringing you in advance of Essex Junction's annual election on Tuesday, April 9th. Town Meeting TV hosts forums with all candidates and covers of 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 on cctv.org slash 2024 or on our Town Meeting TV YouTube channel where auto-generated captions are available. On tonight's program we will hear from four candidates running for two seats on the Essex Junction City Council. Those candidates are incumbent, Amber Tebow, as well as Timothy Miller, Jitun Khadka, and Jason Struthers. Thank you all so much for joining us. Thank you. We've got a full desk tonight, so we have prepared a list of questions for all of you, and you will 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 will do our best to prioritize your question, though we will screen calls to ensure that questions are not being repeated. And we ask that you share your name, the town you live in, and that your question be directed at all candidates, just not just one in particular. So make sure your question is for all four candidates. So let's get started with one-minute opening statements, and we will start with Timothy Miller at the end of the desk there. 60 seconds for your opening statement, and the question here is, what do you love about Essex Junction and why are you running? What makes you qualified to serve as City Councilor? Essex Junction is just a great place to live. When my wife and I were house shopping, I grew up in Essex and then relocated to the junction in 97. And then my wife and I were looking for residents, as we were talking about marriage and starting a family, and it was top of my list, it's a great, absolutely great place to live. The amenities are top notch, the infrastructure is amazing, the people around you are just so open and caring and genuinely give you that sense of community that lacks in so many places. I've spent a number of decades on the fire department reaching out, you know, you often see those people in their worst moments of life, and it's just a neighborly area. We're fortunate enough to still have a volunteer fire department in Essex, it's a lot task of people to serve their community. We're very fortunate that we don't have the problems and struggles that a lot of other areas are having with recruiting volunteers. And I think that speaks volumes to the community as a whole. We're just very fortunate to have such an area as Essex Junction. Great, thanks so much Timothy. Jitun Kodka, your opening statement, 60 seconds. Awesome, thank you. So one thing that I love about Essex Junction is it's tight, close community. I moved to Essex seven years ago from Burlington, not so far, to open a business. I owned a Nepali kitchen in Essex Junction for five years, and you know, over time I fell in love. I decided to buy a house, raise my family, and I have a kids they're about to, you know, get ready to go to kindergarten starting next year, and I'm super excited. I've been in a community development field for quite some time, worked in various different settings, in a school, working with youth and young adults, working as a business owner, you know, and also working in various different capacity locally and in a state to address, you know, issue that affects, you know, under privileged community. And, yeah. Great, thank you so much, Jitun. Amber Tebow, your opening statement, 60 seconds. Thank you. So I love that I can walk into the bagel store and everyone knows my order. I love that I can be washing my car on a Sunday afternoon and realize that I'm out of cleaning supplies and can walk across the street and be back doing what I was just doing 10 minutes later. I love that I can run in the community and feel safe doing so. I love that Essex Junction is a small community where everyone is willing to support their neighbor. I have been involved in the village slash city as a volunteer since 2013 when I sat on the planning commission. I'm running for reelection to the city council because I have enjoyed the last five years in this role and look forward to continuing to represent the residents of Essex Junction. Great. Thank you so much, Amber. And Jason Struthers, your opening statement, 60 seconds. Essex Junction has been my family's home for 42 years. I'm a product of the Junction school system. And I started my first business there, delivering newspapers, and that experience translated into future endeavors, including, you know, skydiving instructor, coach, and jump master. My training allowed me to be certified by the FAA to pack emergency parachutes, which is one of an elite view. And over the years, I've been trusted with the lives of thousands of my students. I have a wide array of experience ranging from building my family's home to nearly a decade in the biopharmaceutical industry making medicine. And in a recent publication, Andrew Brown reflected on his time in the council and he said, for those interested in running for the council, there's no need for a specialized master's degree or deep institutional knowledge. A qualified candidate should just be somebody who is passionate and has a strong desire to help the community. I have a strong passion for everything I put my time and energy into and my aim is to put my broad set of skills in service to the community and be a voice for the voters. Great. Thank you all so much. Those opening statements. So, we'll get to our first real question here, which is about the city budget. So, the question is, do you support the proposed city budget of $12 million, which would result in an estimated municipal property tax increase of 6.6%. And is there anything that you would have liked to change about this budget? And we'll start with G-10 Khadka for this question. So, 90 seconds about the budget. Great. Go for it. So, yes, I do support the budget. And it's important for people to know that the increase is primarily due to the significant increase in the existing salary and benefits, which are on a level of affordable and also, like, you know, we need to take care of our streets and maintain them and all of those. And you know, I don't have anything that I would like to change on the budget at the moment, but, you know, as I'm aware that, you know, this has been going on for quite some time, you know, city council and the department heads have been meeting and talking about this budget. You know, it's been out in the community. People had opportunity to, you know, share their voice and concern. And I think it had gone through a long, you know, rigorous planning and discussion. And I think, you know, also given that knowing that there is a big increase in the school budget, I think city tried to keep it as low as possible. So, I think, yeah, I'm in favor. Great. Thank you so much, Shita. Amber Tebow, your thoughts on the city budget. 90 seconds. Sure. So, I voted in favor of the budget. I feel confident that collectively with staff, the city council went line-by-line over the past three months to reduce any expenditures and increase revenue where it was possible without sacrificing the services in the community. What I would like to see in the future for the budget, our process are two things. The council establishing a clear ceiling for tax increases for the staff and city manager. And for the budget process to begin earlier than the November time framework that we're on right now, which will enable more conversation with the staff, city manager, and more public engagement. Great. Thank you. Jason Struthers, city budget. I do not support the budget. The tax rate is higher than promised. It's currently higher than the town and it keeps increasing. Everybody, many people in the community are quite upset about that. We were also told that we would have some economies of scale and we would see some reductions after a year or two. So we're now two years of past and we're still looking at another 6.6% increase. So the budget's climbing and in conjunction with the school, it's going to be an absolutely massive increase. So some of the concerns that I have with it, the city has failed to cover even the designated value for the unassigned fund balance. This is the emergency fund. It's assigned at 9% and at $886,000, it's actually only 7%. The EJRP, it has 15% of its budget. So I'm not sure why the general fund can't meet. It's a minimum of 9%. So other concerns I have are EJRP is keeping a significant amount of funds in its enterprise funds. I believe that so it doesn't have to go to a vote. When the enterprise fund is managed by department and it doesn't raise any eyebrows if it runs in a surplus. The other thing I noticed was that there's no enterprise fund details in the annual report. So I would like to see those expense statements. So yeah, those are my concerns. Thank you so much, Jason. Timothy Miller, your thoughts on the city budget. And that brings me up. So the city budget is out, right? The ballots, I got my ballot in the mail today. I think at this point the budget really is up to the voters. Whether or not I support the budget is a complicated issue because I really feel like it snuck up on the council. The November timeframe really doesn't give them enough time. There were some kerfuffle with numbers coming from finance to Brown Hill Library as it pertained to what their increase was going to be. And that caused all sorts of confusion at the end as the budget needed to be set. I think this budget as it sits really is in the hands of the voters at this point. And I believe that they'll make the right decision based on what they feel. I do think that there's definitely some room for improvement within the departments and those conversations that can be had at a later date should this budget not pass. Thank you all so much. So now we're going to stick with the budget conversation but move over to the school budget. So the Essex Westford School District has proposed an FY25 budget of $97.8 million with an estimated tax increase of 22.86% in Essex Junction. So do you support this school budget? And how does this increase? I know the city council doesn't have any say on the school budget, but how does this increase potentially impact the city council's work? And we'll start with you, Amber and Tebow for this question. So while I wish the proposed increase was less and agree with the public, the tax increases are impacting residents' ability to reside in the state, I am supporting the school budget. As an elected official, I know how difficult it is to adopt a budget while we're in competing interests. I trust that the board members that we elected are operating in our best interest as a community and the proposed budget is based on the current needs of the students. I also know that similar to the city council, the school board went through the proposed budget with a fine tooth comb and cut expenses where it was possible without impacting the educational experience of students. So as you said, the increase doesn't directly impact the city council because they're two separate independent budgets, but where I do see this come up is when tax bills come out and the municipal portion is 70 to 80% or sorry, the education portion is 70 to 80% of your tax bill and the municipal portion is 20 to 30%. And so educating residents as to what that difference is and how it got to be where it is. Thank you so much, Amber. Jason Struthers, your thoughts on the school budget. Short-term, yes, long-term, no, and it needs to be seriously looked at. A lot of people are very displeased with the budget, but the thing is, I'm all about a protest vote, but in this case, you're gonna make people go back to the table that's gonna cost money. And there's really only time for one, maybe two rounds of negotiations. And so if there isn't a number by the 1st of July, the allocation's gonna be reverted to 87%, and that's gonna equal multiple schools closing, which I am not, I don't want any part of. So, yes, I support this budget, but we need to take a look at it. Tim, do you know your thoughts on the school budget? I will say I'm at a strategic disadvantage here as my wife is an employee of the school district. So I will say 22.6% really is unpalatable. I have so many friends that have grown up in Essex Junction that are hanging on by a thread. And it's more difficult for them. I mean, our food shelf is seeing all-time highs. People are struggling with the utilities and tax bills and everything that goes along with it, water and sewer rates are up. And so where's the ceiling, right? I think we're about to find out. And realistically, this budget, while maybe the best that the administration feels that they can put forward, there is time for a revoke according to the school board. So I don't think that everybody should buy into the, it's this or that. There was some directive from the school board for the administration to go back and look to save some of the teaching positions where I think probably gonna find out Tuesday night, whether or not that happens at the next school board meeting. So I'm very interested to see how that works out. But unfortunately for anyone who's paying attention to the school kerfuffle this year, I would say that that's where about where my answer's gonna land. And then G-10, Karka, your thoughts on the school budget. So 22.6% is increased is a very significant. I understand how difficult it will be for families to add to their already rising expenses and cost of living. One thing we must understand that this tax increase is coming from the state and even if we cut our school budget, it will still be paying the increase. I'm a young father. I'm a first time home owner. I work in a social service field. I don't make a lot of money to afford that. But also I'm getting ready to send my kids to school. And if we don't pass this budget, I'm worried that I might not have a school to send to. This is, I have been pretty diligent taxpayer, pretty working hard in trying to raise kid in a good safe neighborhood. And I think Essex has a junction as a city. We have that capacity and we can provide that. Also, I think we would also need to work together with the school board and the administration to really look into ways to keep the expenses low so that we're not putting too much burden on the taxpayer. Thank you all so much. So that was the responses on the school budget. Just a reminder before we happen to the next question that we do welcome your calls at 802-862-3966. You can tune in, you can call in and we'll put your question live on the air. But for now we'll keep trucking with the questions we have. So the next question is about the rental registry issue in Essex Junction. So the city council is considering an ordinance which would require landlords to register their rental units with the municipality and to pay $120 per unit annual registration fee. So the question is, do you support this rental registry program as proposed? And if not, how would you approach rental housing regulation and oversight? We'll start with you, Jason, each other's. I do not support it as proposed but I think we can come to an agreement. The word that comes to mind with this is overreach. And I love aviation so I'll give you an airplane example. So what the city's doing with this is they're building the airplane while it's being flown. So there's a lot of things that need to be fixed and the plan needs to be engineered from start to finish. I don't feel that the burden should be passed down to the renter where that's what's happening with this. The ways we can change it, we can use fines as a revenue and collect fees when an inspection actually gets placed because one of the biggest things I have, the problems I have with it is, they're collecting fees every year and you're only getting services once every five years. So I don't know many instances where people get paid for not doing any work but this is what they're proposing. So yeah, I'm not in favor of it as proposed. Okay, thank you, Jason. Tim Miller. I think that there are a lot of unanswered questions about the rental registry at this point. I don't feel like even the city council or the economic development department has a good grasp on what exactly they're looking for. In its current iteration, no. Is there options that would make it more palatable? Absolutely. Part of that discussion has come lately with the fire department and moving the rental registry out of city hall and under the guise of the fire department. And that kind of has twofold. It benefits the taxpayer in that eventually there's going to be a need for some sort of full-time staff at the fire department. We struggle during certain times of the day to answer calls with enough people. Having that rental registry person under the guise of the fire department allows for one more person to be there. We already have the vehicle existing. We already have the software in place so we're not building it from the ground up. You don't have to go out and buy a vehicle and label it with the city of Essex Junction. The state of Vermont division of fire safety has recently rolled out a program that does some sort of rental inspection. So I think in collaboration with that, we could look to build. Also the city doesn't really have any of its own building codes or along those lines. So I'd be interested to see if we're just looking at exactly what the state is looking at in which case right now it's a complaint-based system with the state but they're very responsive. We've had some instances where we've called the division of fire safety and they've come out within a couple of days. So I'm interested to see what it could look like down the road but as of right now, I don't think I could support the rental registry. Thank you, Tim. G-10. Yeah, I have heard about this and also heard that there are some lenders who are not happy about it. And for me, as a city, we must not only look into providing housing options but also ensure that our residents thrive promoting safe and healthy living conditions. I think rental registries would definitely help in that way, ensuring compliance, housing affordability and also tenant rights and stuff. I think I support but I would also like, I'm still exploring. I would love to maybe explore this a little further and I think it's up in the table so I encourage the resident to come out and share their opinion. I think it would be something that we should definitely put in place. I think we need something like this and that's it. Great. Thank you, G-10. Amber Thibault, your thoughts on the rental registry. Sure. I support the rental registry program which would require all rentals, short and long term to register with the city as both the fire chief and the police chief have indicated. Understanding residential rental properties and better enables both of those public safety agencies to do their jobs more efficiently when time matters. As an attorney, I'm familiar with the inspection programs offered in other municipalities. I want to ensure that all renters in this community have safe housing but at this time, based on the evidence presented to the council, I do not support a rental inspection program but I am open to continued discussions. There are pros and cons to both the proactive rental registry proposed by the city and reliance on the reactive rental inspections done by the state. As the state inspections are in its infancy, as is the city, I'm in favor of continuing to gather the data and place the issue in the parking lot for it to be revisited in a year or two. Thank you all so much and that was, you started with that. So we got to all four. Okay, great. So next question is about S-Extension as a city. So in July of 2024, S-Extension will celebrate two years as an independent municipality. So the question is in your view, how are things going? What is the impact of this change in structure on the S-Extension community? And you'll start with you, Tim, on this question. Well, I think probably the most notable change has been your taxes. We've paid everything plus for the first year. We had a heck of an administrative buildout at Two Lincoln. And, but as far as the structural changes that the residents notice, it's pretty much what I see as business as usual, right? We still have a board of representatives that moved from trustees to city council. Business as usual still very much carries on. Your fire department operates the same way. Your police department is now a shared service. S-Extrescue continues to operate fundamentally the same. Your roads are still plowed. Your sidewalks are cleared. A lot of the behind the scenes stuff carries on exactly as it always has. The biggest difference really has been what we're paying for and the number of people that we're paying for. And I think that there was, I want to say knee-jerk reaction to, oh, well, we have this and now this is overwhelming. So now we need an assistant. And so now we have all of these people populating to Lincoln and now we have all the associated healthcare costs and salaries and everything that goes along with that. So are there bumps in the road? Yes, absolutely. Is it better long-term for us? I sure hope so. From the inside, it looks like it. It's made a big difference in what I see daily from the fire station and from other volunteer aspects. And so I'm encouraged, but I'm also a little apprehensive because if we carry on these current trends, it's going to become unsustainable. Thank you so much, Tim. Chitin Khadka, your thoughts on Essex Junction as a city. So I think with the changes that the city had just gone through the following separation and adoption. I think I'm still trying to understand how that plays, but also I think we still got a lot of work to do in terms of making a city more fully functioning and going. I think our budget is fairly young and it's hard to kind of compare with what we didn't have in the past. I think things are a little changed now. We're still creating structure and for the present and for the future. So I'm optimistic guy. I think our future is bright as a city. However, we have a lot of work to do and we have to keep moving. Great, thank you so much, Chitin. Amber Tebow, your thoughts on Essex Junction and separation. Sure, so one of my proudest memories sitting in the role as a trustee or city council is Independence Day, July 1st, 2022. So in fact, I have that picture, a picture from that celebration on my wall at home and I smile at it every time I look at it. It just makes me so happy. So disentangling two municipalities is a difficult task and we are only two years in. In my opinion, things are going well and I look forward to serving the community as we continue to assess what the community needs now that we can focus solely on Essex Junction. One of the most important post-separation decisions was the vote of residents for local option tax to support the capital improvement projects in the city. The next stage in the separation process is the implementation of a committee to investigate whether a mayor, district and wards is invalued by residents. And I look forward to the formation of this committee and the results of their independent investigation. Thanks, Amber. Jason, each other's your thoughts on the separation of Essex Junction. Well, as Tim was saying, pretty much business as usual but I really wish we would have seen some of those huge savings we were promised. That's what I feel strongly about and a lot of people in the community are upset about. We feel we were sold a bill of goods on separation and the reality was a reaction to the failed merger. And what the city proposed was more of a takeover, not a merger and the town realized it. So that being said, I've traveled extensively around the world. I've been to a lot of amazing places and if I didn't love the junction I would have left a long time ago. So I still love it and I think we have a really bright future. Great, thank you all so much. Our next question is going to be about public safety. So the question here is, what do you see as the most important public safety issue facing the community in Essex Junction and how can the city council work to address these issues? And we'll start with Jit and Khadka on this question. Thank you. Public safety I think should be the number one priority for our city. There are several things we could do to address public safety in our neighborhood, collaborating with the law enforcement to implement prevention strategies, investing in community policing, public safety awareness initiative, I think actively engaging with the community, knowing your neighbors. I think it's very, very important and allocating resources and support for emergency responses. I think those are very key things. Personally, I'm very actively involved in a lot of community initiative in Burlington. I'm also part of a restorative justice program in Essex also help implement their cultural advocate program and also I'm trained on the panel. So there is like, the crime has, when crime happens it affects everybody. So we need to understand that. We need to have a more restorative way of dealing with our folks in the community. A lot of things are in relation to mental health and other things that creates those situations. So we need to be very mindful of all those. Great, thank you so much. Amber Tebow, your thoughts on public safety. Sure. So I think the most important public safety issue that's facing our community is also the same that's facing the entire state, which is property crimes, such as theft. So I believe the best thing the city council can do to address the increase in property crimes is to continue to support the Essex Police Department and with funding. Jason Shreathers. Public safety has always been near and dear to my heart. My father was a military police. He was a uniform cop and eventually a detective in some major cities like Hartford, Connecticut and Albany, New York. So it's always been part of my ethos. I love the Essex Police. They do an amazing job. I think, as Amber said, we are seeing an uptick in crime. And I think that one thing we can do is initiate more neighborhood watch programs. We can't exclusively count on the police. So if we can get more neighborhood community participation, I think that can help. Thank you. And Tim Miller, public safety. So our public safety is top of mind for everyone these days, right? We're seeing rampant break-ins in cars, auto theft. It's become a real problem. Our police services are shared services. They belong to Essex Town. It's a contract that's in place for shared services for 10 years, I believe it is. And our police department does a really great job. I just want to say that first and foremost. Like, they are at a lot of the community events. The new police chief now has National Night Out. He brought that with him when he came into town. That's an amazing event that's out at the high school parking lot. It's one night during the summer. It encourages everyone to come out. Their uniformed officers are there. It's a great way to meet your police officers. The town has hot dogs and hamburgers that they give away and there's all sorts of games and events. Those events are great. The police department's also at EJRP's Trick or Treat Trail, the Halloween night. They're out there. They do a great job reaching out to the community. There are definitely some issues that I inadvertently left my truck unlocked one night. My driveway, I've lived there 20 years and never had a problem. I came out the next morning. Anything of value in my truck was gone. Did I call anybody? Nope, because there's nothing anyone's going to do about it. Right now in the state, it's not illegal for someone to enter another person's vehicle. And that's stuff we just need to work on. And I know that the police department is only a certain size and there can only be so many places at once. So increased patrol from community members or some sort of neighborhood watch is a great idea. I'm all for what brings more public enhanced safety. Right, thanks, Dan. Jitankatka, your thoughts on... Oh, we got through. Okay, great. Cool. So then we'll turn to our next question. I just have to also apologize. If anyone at home is hearing rumbling here and there, we have an axe throwing facility underneath us. So that is what's going on down there. Yeah, so that's what that's about. So our next question is about housing and it's sort of a broad question. What will you do as city councilor to help Essex Junction meet the need for safe and affordable housing? We'll start with Amber Tebow here. So it's important to continue monitoring the data from the health officer and the Vermont division of fire safety on housing, specifically rental housing to ensure we are meeting the need for safe housing in Essex Junction and adjust the city's policies accordingly if necessary. If reelected, I also intend to continue focusing on the proactive enforcement of municipal ordinances and land use regulations. It's also important for the city council to continue working with the planning commission to review the impact of the city's land development code, including fees that impact developers' abilities to build affordable housing in the community. Great, thank you so much, Amber. Jason Struthers, housing. Well, if we're gonna keep our tax rate under control, what we really need to do is balance housing with commercial properties. Otherwise, we're gonna continue to see increases in taxes and it's gonna cause turmoil. So a balance really needs to be established. We can't just focus on housing and I prefer if we can encourage more people to own instead of rent. Possibly building tiny home communities as a solution, but it's really tough for young people starting out. So hopefully we can do something. Jason, Tim Miller, housing. So there isn't a lot of inward land left in Essex Junction. So realistically, the option is up and we're seeing that now. The city has a height restriction of four stories. The state passed a law last year that allows that if there's enough low-income affordable units in the development that they can add an additional floor, which would be five stories. There was some discussion last year in the city council when that law passed as to whether or not they wanted to revisit the height restriction and increase it. There was some apprehension due to outlay of potential infrastructure, but the reality of it is if we're serious about housing, we need to, rental units right now are what is, whether or not we can talk to the people that have developed those rental units down the line and say, hey, maybe it's time to sell these to individuals and establish a homeowner's association type that allows people to come in and build some equity and there's a program in place that would take care of the utilities and the trash. And that's a way for young people to get in. And I think as we develop, I think if we're serious about housing, we need to revisit that height restriction within the city, especially as it pertains to the downtown core. The Chittenden Crossing is part of the Crescent Connector Development. I'd love to see those buildings, six stories. I mean, five stories, a height restriction and then an additional story because they have enough affordable housing in them. That's in the core of the downtown, the infrastructure is in place. The fire department already has the capabilities to meet the additional height requirements. And it's something we can do today to really make an impact and to bring people in and to increase our stock. Great. Thanks so much, Tim. Jitankadka, your thoughts on housing. So housing, it's a major issue that we are noticing across the cities. Finding safe and affordable housing has become like searching a needle in the sand for a lot of people. And I say that because it's difficult, it's very hard to find. And I think as a city, we really need to look into that. We must look into ways to implement affordable housing initiatives, such as collaborating with organizations to develop affordable housing projects, encouraging mixed income development and relocating for policies that support affordable housing constructions. Thank you so much. Okay, so our next question, that was everyone on that question, right? Okay. So now we're gonna get kind of into the nuts and bolts of being an elected representative. We're gonna talk about connecting with constituents. So as a candidate and an elected official, how do you gather input and balance differing perspectives from your constituents? How do you ensure you're hearing from a wide range of voices and not just the loudest ones? And we'll start with you, Jason, on this question. Well, we live in the electronics and communication age. So it's easier than ever for us to connect with more people. But that being said, not everybody is online. So if I was elected, I would take time on a monthly basis to knock on random doors. And that way, I would definitely be engaging with people that I may not agree with on every issue. And you can always set up a meet for the community to come and discuss issues. You know, yeah. Great, awesome. That's great. So thank you, Jason. Tim Miller, connecting with your constituents. I have a strategic advantage here as I'm actually in the community all the time. And it's something that's really actually great until it's not. You know, if you only seek the same voices all the time, you're only going to have the same information. And there are a wide range of voices that reside with us in Essex Junction. I love to see, like I said, I mentioned, I volunteer with the fire department for the police national night out. I also partake in the Halloween trail where the EJRP puts on. We have an open house, holiday open house at the fire station. We invite everyone in and there's donuts and games and you can get your picture taken with the firetrucks. And there's an array of availability already out there that being a member of the council, they're more than welcome to attend. And I encourage it. Really, being, the reality of it is being a member of the council is also another full-time job. And it is a lot of time. And that's something that I think we see now. There's some community outreach, but it's around important events, the strategic planning, election time, bond votes, cycles coming up and through budget votes. So I think it needs to happen on a more regular basis. But I also do encourage, you know, you can pop into the senior center and see what the seniors are having to say. Hang out at Martones. I see Howard Center at the Bagel Place all the time on a Tuesday morning. They're just there available if someone wants to come in and talk to them. So I think there's plenty of options out there to engage the community who just need to actually step forth and do it. Great, thank you. Jeetan Gadka, how are you going to connect with the constituents? If I get a lecture at the elected official, I think it is essential to actively listen to all viewpoints, facilitate open dialogue, consider diverse opinions, also strive to find common ground while making informed decisions that reflects the interests and values of the community as a whole. I think Essex does a great community events. There's a lot of neighborhood pops up that happen in closing the streets and choosing to have that really engaging fund environment and also it promotes safety in a way that you feel safe and secure, taking your kids out in the Halloween night. You know, there's, you know, people are making some hot apple cider and giving out to the people. You know, it's all those things that happens. And I think I would love to see that more happen in each different street. Everybody's coming out, meeting their neighbors, talking to each other, knowing them by their name. I think it's not, we are not that far apart. It's very tight, you know, close community. So I think we do have that, you know, capacity and then we could definitely do that. And there are a lot of new business are popping up in the city and, you know, people are actually going out now and engaging and meeting people. And I think we could definitely, you know, increase those, yeah. Awesome, thank you. Chitankadka. Amber Tiba, your thoughts on connecting with constituents. Sure. So I think this is the million dollar question as public engagement is absolutely critical. I'm hoping that the strategic planning process will assist the city council in providing ways to gather input from the public. But as someone who has been involved in municipal governments for almost 20 years now, this is not a new question and it's not a new challenge. Residents tend to engage in an issue that they are passionate about, which is totally understandable. It's important to listen to all comments from the public, but as a city council, I think it's important to also balance those voices with independent research on the issue. Awesome, okay, thank you so much. So we've got our last question here unless someone calls in here, you still can call in for the next few minutes, 802-862-3966. If you call with your question, we'll put you live on the air. But for now, this is the last question that we have and it's about the challenges facing the city. So we'll start with you, Tim. What do you see as the most important issues facing the community of Essex Junction right now? Continued growth along with securing our future. We need to be looking long-term. We need to not just see what's right in front of us, but what is potentially down the road. We're looking at very near future, potentially a bond vote for a new public works facility. Our fire station is aged beyond pretty much its useful life. Those are two very big items that are coming down the barrel that I don't think are getting enough attention right now. We were limited with our funds. We did pass local option sales tax to try and help with some of that. And some of that has been marked for capital expenditures. There's just, there's a real potential for stagnation. I don't know, there's a lot of housing units that are coming online in the near future. Again, with the redevelopment of the Domino's Building on Park Street that's going to happen in the soon. And the hotel that's coming online in Pearl Street along with some new units on Pearl Street down near 241. But there's, we need to really be preparing ourselves for what our future looks like. And I think that anytime we have the opportunity to look long-term, that's something that we need to be doing that I don't think we're doing enough of right now. Great. Thank you, Tim. Jeetan Kodka, your thoughts on the challenge. The most important challenges facing the community of Essex Junction right now. I think looking long-term, like I think affordability would probably be something that in that, we need to look into it. Things are, costs of living has increased and things getting very expensive every day. It has become very difficult for family. We want people to come and live and stay in Essex Junction. We don't want people to run away because it can't be afforded. Long-term strategic planning on that, like budget, when we look into budget, I think it's very important and also have more time to prepare and plan. That sounded like currently you barely have a couple months before the voting season to put that discussion in the public. So I think engagement from early on and trying to come up with more clear and budget would probably be the good, yeah. Great, awesome. Amber Keebo, thoughts on the challenges facing the city? So I think the two challenges that I see are housing as we've discussed and it's specifically affordable housing and inflation. So there is no magic wand to unfortunately fix the inflation issue, but my hope is if we're elected that I continue to focus on revenue generation to offset the tax increases, which I've continued to do for the past few years, trying to find additional sources of revenue, such as the town clerk offering, or the city clerk offering passport services in the office, which will allow some revenue to come in and again offset the tax increase. Great, thank you. And lastly, Jason Struthers, challenges facing Essex Junction. As Jeetan mentioned, affordability, that is on the top of my list, and the increases in taxes in this economy. Everybody's strapped, a lot of people are struggling and it's only getting worse. So a lot of people feel that they're not really being heard in the community too. So one of the challenges that we have, as Amber was saying, is community engagement. And one of my goals will be to significantly increase not only the amount of people that show up to city council meetings, but the amount that people engage and actually speak up. So hopefully we can increase that. Great, awesome. Okay, and that was everybody for that question, I think, right? Okay. All right, so we're actually kind of ahead of schedule here. So we're gonna do 60 seconds for closing comments here, and we'll start with Jeetan Kodka and 60 seconds each, starting with you. Your closing statements before we wrap up here. Great, thanks for hosting this forum. I appreciate that. As a candidate for city council, I stand committed to fostering a safe, inclusive, and prosperous environment for all. If elected, I will prioritize community input, advocate for transparent governance, and will also be your voice on the table. I believe together we can build a stronger and more resilient community for generations to come. Thank you. Great, thank you, Jeetan. Amber Tebow, your closing statement. Sure, I wanna say thank you to Town Meeting TV and to everyone sitting at this table for the opportunity to engage in the forum. I appreciate all those folks who are listening at home. I also wanna thank the residents for allowing me to serve for the past five years. It has been a great experience, and I hope to earn your support for another three-year term on the city council. And if anybody has any questions, then they can certainly feel free to email me at amber at amberforeja.org with any questions. Great, awesome, thank you. Jason Struthers, your closing statement. Yeah, thank you to everybody that helped produce this. We hear a lot about housing, so as I said before, I think we need to balance housing with commercial. The three words that come to mind for my campaign are accountability, transparency, oversight. And I would bring a responsible approach to spending in the city and increased community engagement. Great, thanks. Tim Miller, your closing statement. Well, I have the distinct advantage to continue to serve my community, regardless of how this election turns out, as I'm very much intend to carry on with the fire department either way. So I'm thankful, I'm also very thankful to everyone that has been such a civil campaign season. There has been a tendency over the last few years for things to not be real community-based. And I think this season has been an exceptionally great time to be a candidate for council. And to have four people running for two seats really speaks volumes to how much people care about Essex Junction. It's not an easy thing to do. And it's very much a time commitment. Everybody looks at it as meetings every other week, but there's so much more that goes on behind the scenes. And to Amber, who's done this now for a few years, I really do appreciate the time that she's put into the council. So I think regardless of how this all goes out, we're gonna stand to benefit as a community. I think everybody here at the table really wants what they feel is best for Essex Junction. We might have different views on how we're gonna get there, but no doubt that where we end up will be okay. Awesome, thank you all so much for joining us. And thank you for tuning into TownMeetingTV and our ongoing coverage of local elections. Here you can find this and many more programs at cctv.org slash 2024, as well as on our TownMeetingTV YouTube channel. And don't forget to cast your ballot in Essex Junction on April 9th, day after the eclipse is Essex Junction Election Day. So thank you so much for watching and sharing TownMeetingTV so long.