 Good evening. Welcome to Montpelier Civic Forum another year another town meeting day this year again with ballots in the mail And this time we're heading to the Parks Commission Which is a great place to be and I'm heading with our candidates for the five-year term Emily Donaldson Emily welcome to the show. Thank you Your first run for office. Yes, never run for anything for And you started with the parks. Yeah, well, I have a background in resource management I work for the National Park Service for a few years And I just love the outdoors. I use Montpelier parks all the time and just love it's it's a place to go That is so valuable. It's really should degree in anthropology Cultural or I was archaea. I'm I'm an archaeologist and a social anthropologist. So In terms of natural resources, what what have you been doing in that field? Yeah, so when I was working for the Park Service, I was Doing landscape what's called the cultural landscape histories So looking at how land has been it's related to archaeology in many ways looking at how land has been used in the past By kind of reading the landscape where trees are planted where alignments of stones are that sort of thing and writing up Histories of that kind of lesser known history around old historic buildings or other places that perhaps got more attention so that the Park Service could restore those landscapes if they wanted to or treat sensitive areas with the the correct kind of protocols and Since then I so I took kind of took some of that experience when I got my PhD. I I've worked in the Marquesas Islands for many years there. Okay, I'll ask where Most people have never heard of them yet If you have heard of them, it's probably from Herman Melville who wrote a book about his time there you act as though I'm erudite If you've read a Taipea it's called Taipea it's about a place in the Marquesas and Paul Gauguin also died there Which is another I know that Paul Gauguin's an artist. Yes So they are in French Polynesia, which the capital of French Polynesia is Tahiti So it's the Marquesas are about five degrees south of the equator actually to the east of Hawaii But to get there you have to fly to Tahiti and then fly back to the Marquesas And what were you doing there? So I was I've done archaeology a lot of archaeology there My PhD was looking at Lance again kind of bringing that experience from cultural landscapes to look at how all these The islands were heavily depopulated in the colonial period so There are whole valleys that have been depopulated that were once you know There's monumental stone platforms and Tiki's and all sorts of things The people now who are making their living from the land they go and they interact with those places all the time Sometimes they're destroyed sometimes they're maintained sometimes. They're just kind of ignored but I was curious to learn more about that relationship and It was the ancestors of the current population who built those really remarkable places in many cases like complex irrigation networks and things like that and so I did a lot of interviews with people and visited places in the woods and There's a lot of what I what I kind of the conclusion that I came to was Because of the history of colonialism there. There's a lot of kind of hidden suppressed knowledge and emotion around historic places people like Melville and other European and American explorers and Traders who came through there described Savages and cannibals and that's yeah, and that's kind of the consciousness that marquesons have now of those places is Oh those that that was before Christianity and they're you know could be dangerous their spirits there But negotiating kind of navigating that relationship is really important for preserving certain historic landscapes that are really important to marqueson identity and how marquesons kind of Navigate the world now There's a UNESCO World Heritage nomination that they're doing which kind of was part of my my project was looking at how the management of those sites might change when the UNESCO if UNESCO decides to Okay acronym alert. What does UNESCO stand for? United Nations educational and UNESCO I always say United Nations educational and science ESCO science scientific and cultural Organization I think Sorry, yeah, I'm so used to using the acronym What were you doing back in the United States for our parks are what states were you I was in Massachusetts and Washington DC, so I did a bunch of sites kind of around like in Maryland Virginia and the the site I did one of the sites I did when I was in Massachusetts was The Dune Shacks out in Provincetown on Cape Cod. That was a really cool project What brought you to Vermont? well, I grew up in Massachusetts and my uncle has lived in Burlington my whole life, so We would visit him and I've always really liked Vermont and When my husband finished law school, he got a clerkship here, so we really we knew we wanted to be in New England somewhere and so we came here and I guess it was 2010 we came here it's mobiliar and Just really have loved it You have children. Yes In 2010 were the children around? No Definitely not so 2000 we lived here for a couple of years a year and a half two years maybe in 2010 And then I actually went and got my PhD at McGill So this is all pre kids could not have done that with kids my husband stayed here worked I was at McGill then I went and did my field my field work for my doctorate and then I came back and to Vermont in 2014 and then my first I have two daughters my older one was born in 2015 In Montpelier from your perspective What did this look like as a historical town as a you know this your perspective of Montpelier? Yeah, when you first came to it when I first came here in 2010 it was just it seems like a very I'd been through I'd driven through Montpelier before and really you know I thought it looked like a nice little town, and I still think it's a nice little town or city I love The historic character is really great downtown the core downtown core is just really has a lot of character and I'm I definitely believe that having that sense of history and that kind of that that Character is really important for people to to feel anchored and feel like home spaces or spaces that you feel familiar and feel Like they have some history behind them. That's just me maybe but So I I immediately felt comfortable here And I loved one of the first things that I really was like so excited about was the parks and Hubbard parks Especially when you and your husband first went into Hubbard Park, which entrance did you use? Did you use the Meadows? Did you use the one behind the State House? I think we use the Meadows, but I used to use this the one behind the State House a lot When we lived here in 2010 because that was like kind of the quickest from downtown What was your first thought of the Tower? Were you familiar with the Tower before you stumbled on it? No, I can't remember the first time I like I think I yeah I was walking around and came upon the tower and was like whoa, that's so cool. Wow. This is a hidden gem and My husband and I actually got married there It was very small that before I went to McGill We decided to get married Just a small civil ceremony with just so the peace and a couple of relatives and up on the tower So it's it has a really good shelter house. No, no We were we were we were no is that was totally small. It was tiny. It was like maybe 10 people so we went to start you cheese afterwards And I don't think the people who served us even knew that we just got married What made you think this is the time to make a commitment to run for the parks Commission Now keep in mind that you're running for the five-year term. Yes, you're running the marathon five years I know I know what you choose that and the five-year commitment Yeah, I mean this people aren't in for the big box sitting on these commissions in this town We don't pay anything definitely not no and to be completely honest. I'm like not very interested in politics, but I one of my friends Mentioned it to me and said hey, we're like there's an opening on the park's mission You you should run and I was like, hmm. Am I gonna have to do a campaign? You know So and it really got me thinking about how I'm constantly thinking about how we need more young people in politics and more women in politics and Not that this is like the vert the launchpad for my political career It's definitely not but I do care really deeply about the parks and I have experience doing things like management plans, which we were gonna be they're gonna be putting one together for the parks and I'm a writer as well So when I copy edited a lot and I can help with those sorts of things and I do have two young kids And I'm I have a lot going on, but I also feel like This is a way to give back to the this community that we've been living in and I really love and a place The the all the parks Hubbard Park North Branch So all the little pocket parks are just such a valuable part of our town and it's a way that I can contribute to that and help support that and help support the town in terms of Having these spaces be valuable to them and Represent what they want actually We'll probably have a Civic forum on this in the early part of the summer on what you mentioned on the redefinition of Hubbard Park because it's a very very big project for the parks Commission I'm hesitant to speak about it on their behalf, but I do want to go into it a little bit and that is First we added acreage Hubbard Park recently Can you elaborate just a little bit on that? I'm very excited about I did one of the walks with Alec and Alec being elseworth. Yes, the director of the parks And I had actually explored that area before because there's a you know, they're little trails kind of leading off Now this area is to the west. Yes of the Central Park and Kind of off where that deep deer park area is but really quite expansive out in that area And we just walked when we did the walk. We just did it was pretty short. We didn't go very far, but It's just I think You know, I think there's a lot of concern with COVID how much it's not how much Traffic the park has gotten Hubbard Park specifically and I think it's really important to have more space Not only just to preserve more area and make it available for recruit for hiking and skiing and whatever else But also so that there are areas that people can go where they feel like they won't see anyone You know like or or they're kind of heavier use areas of the park Maybe closer to Montpelier and and the areas that are further away might be a little bit quieter And you can just stand in the woods and listen to the birds and and just have that I think that Kind of that mental space is absolutely vital. This was described as a preserve The new the new section is a preserve What is So I'm also learning about about this I don't know that much about it that I my guess is that a preserve means that it's going to have some The number of trails will be limited and there'll be kind of maybe stricter rules around Leaving the trail and attempt to have nature more natural nature more engaged in this, right? Yeah, yeah, which I think would be that it's it's good to have kind of different types of spaces I mean right now we have Hubbard Park where you can go off leash with your dog and then there's North Branch where you have your dog on leash and Your bicycle is right. Yeah, you can you can mountain bike there It's I think it's good to have that variety of spaces So so people can go to a certain part of the park that they feel comfortable in or that they're familiar with and just Have different options available when we have enough space. That's good See and my understanding of the project this summer is that it will be a redefinition that people will be Invited to gather in certain areas of the park and contemplate Collectively, what do we want to see this part of the park optimally serve? What purpose do we want for this part of the park? Which would be fantastic and then to sit and take this and this and this and this and try and join them In to a collective one and I know that I have provided Alec with some historical Materials that were in the Vermont Historical Society From the original from the original architects plan When Hubbard Park was actually deeded in the late 19th century by the Hubbard family Yeah, the deed in fact is sitting in the library because the Hubbard of Kellogg Hubbard Library was the same family and it was the same deed that Deeded them what they needed to start our community library and basically You get a sense in that document as to what the family had envisioned at the time It wasn't Hubbard Park. It was Hubbard Hill and Hubbard Hill didn't have a whole lot of trees on it. I bet yeah Basically, if you look and you can go in the library and talk to them and go in and look at the early documents there's a plan that went to The Parks Commission in fact it was deeded with the idea that there would be a parks commission over it It would not be the City Council. It would be the Parks Commission I remember reading that yeah an elected Parks Commission, right? An elected Parks Commission and the Parks Commission was established by City Council and charged with Developing and overseeing a park system that would be wilderness Wilderness within a city space Right and the vision of wilderness if you go there looking for bathrooms, you're not gonna find them They're roughly trains and there's only I think three of them It is in essence wilderness and as it evolved the Park Commission kept to that vision Viering from it slightly when they went into public recreation and you get the fitness course Yep, and You get swings, you know, you get some sense of public recreation But the theme of that park is still wilderness towards the city It's yeah, it's well, it's it's also interesting though that they they were very specific about having an elected Parks Commission Five members that I think it's five, right? Yeah That so they were they were Interested in wilderness, but also interested in having the community feel a real connection an investment and Kind of you know play a role and how that space was used. I think it's really neat Well, if you go back into the library again, it's that little note behind the library of the head of the library's office Uh-huh and look at the old city reports in your report You will see that the Parks Commission each and every year Just as other entities of the city the Parks Commission reports in and They've always been open public meetings as they still are and they're on orca just for the record You can see them on this very channel if you're watching this or if you're online The Parks Commission will be in the orca media section of YouTube because it is a public Commission Yeah, which is really neat North Branch What was it like for you in North Branch the first time? I mean that's that's the stuff sister not as many people visit Yeah, it's true. Um, I think I can't again. I can't really remember the first time I went to North Branch I think it was in the summer In 2010 and we're just kind of exploring some of the places beyond Hubbard Park I liked the It's it's really neat that the the That little It's like a museum space I mean, I will leave it in a few a few times But I like how kind of hooked into community activities and camps and you know Getting kids out into the woods and out into nature need North Branch Park is and The community gardens is also really great there More recently, I've I've done a little mountain biking in the trails the new trails that are in there Which is so great my husband does more of that but Just being able to bike from town down there and and bike around in the woods is is so neat and It's also I think it's nice that it's close to the other recreation areas down there like pool and the tennis courts and soccer fields and stuff In the baseball field and the baseball. Yes, of course baseball field We missed going to the the games the last couple years because the kids have been too young But we're gonna start going again. Anyways That's pandemic. Yeah, that's you. I know right But yeah, I think I've I've also Gone swimming down in like the the river there, which is really it's a nice spot that Which brings us to the notion we've covered hovered to some degree. We've covered North France to some degree That's not the only parks. No gateway Park And no one no one relates to gateway Park Gateway Park as you're coming in from the West on to and you cross underneath the freeway gateway Park and which I didn't even know until I was Educating myself a little bit more about the parks commission when I decided to run and realize that that yeah, that's gateway Park I bike a lot also and and bike on that bike path all the time and I Love these ideas that have been kind of circulating about turning that into more of a community space and having access to the river and It is such a central spot in terms of Montpelier and Kind of turning towards the river versus turning away from it Which is kind of ever since it's been polluted and in the industrial era. That's well, let's keep going east Let's follow that bike trail east right now. Mm-hmm, and we're gonna head behind Shaw's And we're gonna head to something that's in the capital budget That's going to be voted on on town meeting day and that's Confluence Park. Mm-hmm, which would be the new park Yes Do you know anything or should I discuss Confluence Park? I know a little bit, okay? All I know is I know that there was a decision made to move that the little shelter that cool artistic I think the local artist designed it from gateway Park to the To be Confluence Park soon to be Confluence Park and That there's still kind of up in the air like how we're gonna well confidence park is that area Where the liquor store used to be no, it's beneath that It's it literally like behind like where the river is and basically where the river is. Yeah will become a park that if The plan goes according to where the River Conservancy wants it to go They're studying the three dams that are ahead and they hope ultimately I believe I'm gonna be wrong I believe they want to lift the water level Regulate the water level and allow people to actually bring kayaks and canoes Into that water so water access would go straight down that hill Straight into that river That's what Confluence Park is about. It's a concept right now It's not gonna happen in 22. Yeah, it very well might not happen in 23 But by 24 they hope that that area behind Shaw's will gain access Down to a shifted river. So that's something that that the Commission has been working on for a while Yeah, a couple of other parks that I wouldn't blame people if they didn't know that these were parks at the corner of Court Street Yeah, yeah That one Blanche Blanche it's above the police Yeah, that's right. Yeah, this is just a little pocket park a little area and then further up Elm Street There's a tiny little park where you can actually Kind of put your canoe in the one on the right right over by the bakery Yep, and they all have names. This is something that I was also learning as I was doing a little research I was like, oh wow that that park has a name I've known it was there forever, but like not realized and that's the job of the park commission is to keep track of These parks and they actually have a plan for that park above the police station Blanchard Park Yeah, it's online and they actually did a survey As part I should have mentioned this earlier when I was talking about that project where they're gonna go From section to section. There's a graduate student coming in Who's in the budget this year from UVM? Who's going to do an environmental survey? of Hubbard Park in terms of cultural I'm not cultural sensitivity, but environmental sensitivity and That is part of what the park commission hopes to factor in to the land to the master plan for Hubbard Park Which is ultimately going to be open to the community not only open to the community but encouraging the community to help to shape that master plan and The person who will bring that home will be the person who has the longest Longinitivity on the board, which is the member who will be elected for five years Who will be there as this plan is implemented as we bring new people onto the board That's the purpose behind the five-year slot is institutional continuity, which is so important Yeah, kind of more sustainable change rather than just yeah something that it's one and done We got into this a little bit before but in the context of that redefinition How do you see yourself particularly bringing your package of skills? To help that project which really is a highlight project for for the parks commission that and Confluence Park Yeah, yeah in terms of the management plan Like I said, I've done work on I've written or helped to write management plans before for national the national parks and so I have kind of the idea the right background in terms of like different types of resources and how you Identify their value and how you Put that together in a report that's that's going to be useful for future Park managers But the other piece that I'm really I would really be excited to be a part of is just building strong Links with the community stronger or they're already pretty there the Facebook account for the parks is quite active and I think there's there's some really good stuff going on but My work as an anthropologist has been around really reaching out to people and understanding how People think about different spaces and and why they're valuable why they're not valuable doing interviews with people and and really Kind of just Establishing that link of communication and that understanding that then allows I mean a park manager or parks commission To create a space that's going to be useful and meet the needs of the community that's going to be using it So I would be very interested in kind of helping with survey I I've also designed surveys before and just work with the the serve community survey that would contribute to the design of the the future park or Doing interviews or that sort of thing. I'm very interested in that too Couple of issues that I've got to get on the table before This is over dogs. Yeah, how do you deal with? Those two cultural communities of those who have dogs and those who don't have dogs It might be actually afraid of dogs. Yes, I know I'm a full disclosure a dog owner But I have kind of an elderly dog and she's very we don't we never have a problem with her really but yes my My young one of my young Daughters was jumped on by a dog a couple years ago at Harvard Park And I think it's difficult because everybody wants to be able to enjoy the space and dog dogs included, you know and I think it's it's a tricky issue and I think the current Policy of having dogs on leash or within voice command is Works fairly well But one of the things that I think We could work on is having I think at some point in there in the past There was a an online forum people could write, you know Submit feedback about their park experience Directly to the park after visiting and I think Creating more opportunities like that might help just in terms of getting an idea of are there a lot of people who are going There and feeling like oh, that was awful. I you know, I just I can't I don't want I go to a place where there's dogs running around and all that all over the place and I might get jumped on or barked at or and so Getting an idea of what those concerns are will give us a better idea of how to handle them and Also, yeah, I think Having North Branch as an alternative where dogs are always going to be on a leash is is nice Option and perhaps I don't know. I know the deer park I don't think there there are no dogs allowed in the deer park. I think no, but yeah, so they're One more that we didn't mention. Well before we do For a hundred years plus the park has been closed to the public after dark There's been discussion The city council and the parks commission on allowing homeless people To encamp in the park the parks commission has said no the city council has said yes review on that hmm, I think yes, this is also very very difficult issue and I think I I Think this the there are many parts moving parts that are contributing to the homelessness problem in Montpelier and I think the more that the parks commission can partner with the social justice there's a social justice committee, there's a The local shelter even though, you know, COVID with COVID. I think it's it's aggravated these issues even more but I think a coordinated effort between Different aspects of that issue is probably the best way to solve it I do think the parks could be potentially, you know, if opening up a space where people could temporarily camp Could be possible the parks could definitely help with that but at least from the the Orca meeting that I watched about that issue it seemed like The management of some of the little city parks is really difficult because it's not actually owned by the park It's owned by the town or it's owned by the state or so it's it's very these are really complicated Issues and ideally yes, it'd be great to like open up some land But actually doing that can be way more complicated than you expect There's one more thing that we forgot and that's the Elks Club that 130 acres is a part is is bound to be parkland How do you see the process of the city trying to decide? What to do with 130 acres recreationally? I know it's pretty amazing Seeing that the rec center would be council and then the rest of it would be the parks commission, right, right? I think it's a very exciting idea and again, I think One of the most important things there would be to look at I think having me the housing, you know, of course, yeah the most important thing would be to make that space as valuable and useful as we can for Montpelier, so Talking to community members reaching out doing surveys doing interviews I also think that the There's I just lost my train of thought there's there there a lot of I think they're the the community spaces that we have Closer to town are really valuable for being walkable So we you know factors like that with the Elks Club is a little bit further away so what kinds of uses might be appropriate for that and It's exciting to to Think about having that much space. I think the you this is what I was gonna say So I'm gonna go the UVM Student who's coming to do the environmental assessments. I think that that's gonna be really great to be able to kind of put some Numbers on you know, what's actually happening in Hubbard Park? How are the plant communities doing there? How are the swamp lands? How are the? animals and things What are the numbers and and you know, are they doing okay, or is there too much impact? Those kinds of questions will will help decide what to do with them being Montpelier That discussion will be excruciating long I know I come from a town in Massachusetts that is very similar to Montpelier in terms of like lots of very in you know engaged Citizens which I think is great, but it yes long conversations and long discussions. There's a lot of strong opinions and I think you know Letting people be heard is such a good such an unnecessary way to Start the conversation, so This has been a great conversation. Thank you so much for coming and talking about your candidacy talking about your past talking about the parks Thank you, and I wish that you would get out and vote I say this every year and I say this at the end of every program Do engage if it means returning the ballot return the ballot if it means actually getting out on town meeting date Get out on town meeting day and vote on all of the issues including the cemeteries Including the safety authority as well as the parks commission the school district and city council and all of the budgets But engage yourself. Thank you so very much. Have a good night