 Hello everyone, and welcome to ongoing coverage of Town Meeting TV's comprehensive election coverage. This is one of a series of forums that we are bringing you as part of our election coverage ahead of the general election, which is November 8th. So we, Town Meeting TV, host forums with all of the candidates on the ballot, as well as all of the ballot items. And tonight, we have the Chittenden District 21 State Representative Forum, and I am joined by incumbent Taylor Small, as well as Daisy Burbeco and Jordan Matt. So if you are watching this live, we really welcome you to call in at 802-862-3966 with any questions you might have for candidates, and we will be prioritizing call-in questions. Otherwise, we will work our way through a list of questions that we've pre-prepared. And you can watch Town Meeting TV on Comcast Channel 1087, Burlington Telecoms Channel 17 and 217, as well as online at our YouTube channel. So with that being said, let's get right into it. Thank you all for joining us and being here tonight. We're going to start with Taylor for an opening statement. Can you please tell us why you're running and what experience you bring to the position? Wonderful. Thank you so much for hosting us this evening. And thank you Town Meeting TV for covering all of the forums across the state and really providing access for all voters to know who is on the ballot and what they're standing for. As was said, I'm Representative Taylor Small. I use she and her pronouns and I'm going in for hopefully my second term in the Vermont Legislature. And it has been a true honor to serve Winooski these past two years, really championing the issues that matter most to you, including all citizen, all resident voting in our city, really improving our funding for our schools and making sure that we are having comprehensive funding, especially for our multilingual students, and making sure that all of the resources that are needed for our varied students are getting exactly what they need. And I look forward to continuing this fight as we work towards housing equality and really quality for housing across the board, as well as health care and human services and making sure that we're fully funding the services that are needed by some of our most vulnerable populations here in the state of Vermont. Thank you very much, Taylor. That was great. Now we'll move on to Daisy for your opening statement. Thanks for having us. First of all, it's so good to be here in a studio live with a crew and staff and with Taylor and Jordan. And first of all, I just want to take a quick second to recognize Representative Small and congratulate her on her award that she just flew back from England receiving. Thank you for your service and I'm so proud to have you representing us. Now, I'm running because I love Winooski. I think we have an incredible community and I am raising my kids here because it's a wonderful place to live. We have fantastic neighbors. We have a great school. But the reality is that that is getting harder and harder every day for a lot of us that live here. It's getting harder to find affordable childcare, to find housing, and it's getting harder to get health care. And I think for a lot of people who live in Winooski, it's even harder to be part of creating a solution to those issues. Now, what I bring to this is someone who's had experience working for the last couple years at the state as a legislative liaison and policy advisor. So I would like to have a seat at the table where I'm more of a part of a collaborative spirit making solutions for our neighbors. Thank you very much. All right. And now we'll finish up with our opening statements with Jordan. Sure. So I'm running for this position. I grew up in Winooski, a lifelong Winooski resident. I think Winooski is on a great track. I mean, it's been on a great track for several years. I'd like that to continue sustainably. I think we have to be mindful of how fast we're growing. You know, as you guys had mentioned that, you know, services have to be funded. Things there have to be funded. I think we have to do that wisely. And also, keep in mind making policies that benefit everybody in Winooski and Vermont as a whole. I have a pretty diverse working background, mostly in blue collar jobs, which is, you know, Winooski is full of the residents are full of that sort of background. I think I can relate pretty deeply with the residents there. Great. Thank you very much, Jordan. And with that, we'll move right on to our first question. And we will start with Daisy. The question relates to some issues on the ballot. So there are three regional questions on Chittenden County ballots this year. The Champlain Water District Bond, the formation of a communications union district, and bonding for a new materials recovery facility for CSWD. These are all described as revenue neutral ballot items. What is your take on these ballot items? Well, for starters, the Water District item is a special election, and that's not on our ballot in November. That is actually a special election. It's happening tomorrow. You could have voted today at City Hall if you're a Winooski resident. Otherwise, you have to go to South Burlington tomorrow. So my take on that is it's an equity issue because Winooski residents should not be driving to South Burlington or should the other people who reside within the Water District. The other one is the recycling one. Sorry, I'm not remembering what the... Can you repeat the title of it? Yep. The materials recovery... It's a bond for a new materials recovery facility for CSWD. Yes, and I support that. It is essentially revenue neutral because it will pay for itself over time and it won't increase our taxes, so I would support that. And the third one regarding the communications district isn't... We don't fall within that. It's other cities, so I don't think that is even on our ballot in November. I'm sorry about that. That's our bad. All right. Okay, so I appreciate... And I appreciate you letting us know about that vote, which is the special vote tomorrow. That is September 13th. And, yeah, with that, we'll move on to Jordan and feel free to respond about any or all of the bonds and take on them. Sure. I think they're all good. They're no cost. We're maintaining our infrastructure basically and improving it. Everybody wants good quality drinking water. And I think federally that's funded at like 80%, so really there's no cost there. And then the rest is through bonds. And then if you care about recycling and trash upkeep, the facilities that they have currently are outdated. So, of course, time to update those. And like Daisy said, I don't think we fall into the communications. It is for broadband, so it is helpful for communities outside of Chittenden County that are more rural, but would support that as well. Great. Thank you very much. And finally, for that question, Taylor. Yes, thank you so much for this question. As the other candidates here have said, I'm in support of all three of the ballot measures, especially because of the revenue neutrality. Looking a bit deeper at them, when we think about water, water is life at the end of the day. And I think what we need is to be protecting our water sources and doing more to protect our water sources. You know, this past year we've been focusing a lot on PFAS or if I could pronounce the full name of those toxins, I would be a scientist and not a legislator, but recognizing that whether it's through leachate and our landfills, but understanding that it's getting into our groundwater and into our drinking sources, we need to invest more in our water sources and making sure that we're doing everything we can to have clean drinking water for everyone in the state. And with communication, univrisery districts, what we're really looking for is broadband expansion. It's been what our rural parts of Vermont have been asking for for far too long, especially when it comes to high-speed internet. Not just internet, but high-speed internet where folks don't have to travel into Chittenden County to be able to do something as simple as send an email or connect with their neighbors. And I know it's not directly to the question, but thinking about ballot measures that I think we need for Winooski in particular is thinking about our high renter percentage and moving in a direction of having rental control as well as rent protections, knowing that Just Cause Eviction was one that we took up for Burlington this past year and one that I'd like to see Winooski take on in this upcoming legislative session as well. That's great. Thank you very much. And with that, we'll move on to our next question. And we will start with Jordan for this one. The question has to do with education. The legislature can make impacts on how education is funded statewide. Do you see the need for changes to how we fund education and how would you use your office to move changes forward? I do think that we always need to be looking at ways to improve funding, make it a little more efficient, but I think currently the way that it is is Winooski benefits quite a bit from the way it is funded right now. The legislature passed a bill last year that greatly benefits Winooski because we're a lot of English second language learners. The poverty rate in Winooski is pretty high, so it benefits us per people. That way also limits the degree of the homestead property tax rate increase from 2025 through 2029. And looking forward, the Department of Taxes can make recommendations moving towards like an income-based funding structure instead of property taxes. Great. Thank you very much. And now we'll move to Taylor for that same question. Do you see the need for changes to how we fund education and how would you use your office to move changes forward? Absolutely, and thank you for the recognition of the work we did this last session and really improving access for our students and for folks to be able to have their taxpayer funds go directly to the students within their district. And so it isn't the end of the work that we're doing there. What we need to be moving towards is an income tax-based funding system and funding model for education. Right now property taxes are soaring and we're seeing that in rent prices. We're seeing that in folks not being able to sustain in their housing within Winooski and beyond. And so by moving to an income tax, it is a more equitable distribution of funding and revenue for our education system. And I also want to make sure that we are enacting these updated pupil waits in due time. Right now we're looking at it across a five-year process of updating the waits so we're not going to see the direct impacts this year but I'm hoping that we can energize and move those updates forward so that we can see that impact more directly. Great. Thank you very much. And finally for this question on education, Daisy, do you see the need for changes to how we fund education and how would you use your office to move changes forward? Well, I think I agree with, definitely with Taylor and thank you for the work that you did to pass that. I know that you were very involved in you and Senator Ruhm-Hinstell as well. And I agree with Jordan that we do need to move toward something that is more income-based, especially for Winooski and rural districts across Vermont. And as a parent with two kids in school here, it really resonates and this is why I moved here to raise my kids in this school and I understand that many rural kids in Vermont will benefit from this new funding model and I look forward to seeing what recommendations come out of the study that's happening right now and look forward to working with my colleagues in the legislature to further them. Thank you very much. And with that, we'll move on to our next question that focuses on healthcare and we're going to start with Taylor for this one. So the increasing cost of healthcare is putting pressure on Vermonters and the state's economy. COVID has sharpened our focus on inequities in healthcare. What is next for healthcare changes in Vermont? And please be specific. Excuse me, please be specific if you can. Oh, happy to be specific on this one. As I ran in 2020 on this exact same issue, recognizing that healthcare is a human right or at least it should be because as we know right now, healthcare is really a privilege to the few who can actually afford it. And knowing that this year through the Green Mountain Care Board we're potentially seeing an increase in personal and business plans for health insurance to be increased up to 15% to 17%. We know that this is only going to have more of an impact on Vermonters, especially those who are going through the Vermont Health Connect system. And so what I think we need to do is we need to really follow through on our promise with Act 48 and move Vermont towards a single payer healthcare system. I know it's a challenge as a small state to make such a big move, but we have recognized through this pandemic that healthcare should not be just for the sum but should be for all. And the way that we do that is by making it an open process for everyone in the state, not just those who are connected to employment or those who can afford healthcare but that everyone is able to see a physician, is able to see their nurse practitioner on a regular basis so that they're maintaining their health rather than the reactive healthcare system that we have in place now, which is honestly just costing the state and individuals even more money in the long run. Thank you very much, Taylor. Now for this, next for this question we'll move on to Daisy. What is next for healthcare changes in Vermont? Well, I think, like Taylor, I'm really happy to get really specific on this one. I think that the last two years during COVID illuminated just how much change Vermont really needs with healthcare. And I'll start with the social determinants of health. I think when Nuski needs to take a long hard look at how much we really need the state to do for us, just in terms of our ability to recover from this pandemic and what resources we have in order to do that. I would like to see the state take advantage of some of the federal incentives that we can have to improve access to better healthcare. And if we look at what's happening at the federal level, both in terms of policy and financing, we'll see a lot more opportunities to access integrated healthcare. So what I'm talking about is things like substance use, treatment centers that are merging with mental health treatment centers. So that's through the CCBHC model, which offers us, as people, residents of Nuski, the ability to get treatment for both of those things and one stop. It also offers providers and the state higher Medicaid rates. So that's just one example of where we see federal incentives that the state isn't yet tapping into, and I think those trends are going to continue. And when I get into office, I look forward to working with my colleagues to take advantage of them. Great. Thank you very much, Daisy. And finally for this question, Jordan, what is next for healthcare changes in Vermont? Well, so at the federal level, there is a push to negotiate for Medicare to negotiate rates. I don't know if that's something Vermont could do, but it would, I mean, it's something to look into, make it a little more competitive, bring costs down for folks that really need it. Another thing is we've seen just an influx of travel nurses, which is great. We need nurses, but I feel that we need to keep more nurses here at home instead of paying an absorbment amount of money for them to come into the state. They take up, you know, short-term rental, sometimes only six months. You know, it takes a lot of housing off the market. I think if we can find some incentives to keep people in-house and stay and live in Vermont, I think it'll reduce, you know, what people are paying out of pocket towards their healthcare by just what hospitals and doctor's offices are charging. Thank you very much. And before we move on to our next question, I just want to remind folks who are watching at home to please call in at 802-862-3966 with any questions that you have for candidates, and they'll answer your question live on air for you. So please call in. And with that said, we'll move on to our next question. And for this one, we'll start with Daisy. And Daisy, this question revolves around citizen legislature and all of the questions, just for everybody's awareness after this, relate to complex systems issues. So for this question, this year, the legislature will see a big turnover in elected officials. Can a part-time citizen legislature in Montpelier do the job needed for Vermonters? Yeah, we will have, I think, approximately 30% turnover in the House and the Senate, I think. And which is exciting. That's a lot of opportunity. Whether we can do our job with a citizen legislature and for listeners, what that means is we don't work full-time 365 days a year. The legislature runs a session from January through May. And so we've been doing that in Vermont since Vermont became a state. And the reason is when we became a state and our constitution was enacted, the majority of residents and people who were legislators were also farmers. And so that calendar of session was meant to accommodate the farming seasons. Now, unfortunately, many of us just have our backyard gardens and if we're lucky, we do. So I don't know that that calendar is really necessary, but whether we can still accomplish our jobs, I think the legislature has been working that way and not having been a legislator yet. I can't see whether I would recommend changing it, but I'm certainly always open to debate. Great. Thank you very much. And now we will move to Jordan. Do you believe a part-time citizen legislature in Montpelier can do the job needed for Vermonters? Yeah. I mean, I agree with Daisy. It's worked. It is a short amount of time to get things done, but they have done special sessions where if there's a push to get stuff done, then they make it happen. That's the attractive thing about Vermont politics. You don't have to be a professional politician to be in it. It's open to everyone. I do would like to see, I don't know if this would happen, but kind of like a sliding scale for folks that are in office for more of a diverse legislative body is that maybe based off income rates, the higher income that you have, outside of being a legislator, you get paid less being in the legislature and then paid more if you're on the bottom scale of income. So it kind of helps people, entices people that are maybe looking to get into politics a chance to really reach and do it without burdening themselves too much by leaving a day job for three or four months out of the year. Great. Thank you very much. And finally for this question, we'll finish with Taylor. Oh, what a great question, one that we're trying to tackle as a legislature right now and recognizing that the turnover is just one piece of the issue, that there are so many folks in the legislature who were exhausted at the end of COVID, whether it was from Zoom legislating or whether it was just because there were so many issues and that took so much time. It was more time than usual. I'm going past our kind of five month mark and going year round. But what I always think of is the inaccessibility for so many folks even within calling this a citizen legislature. Right now the pay is not one that is sustainable for young people and people of diverse backgrounds. We don't have any benefits that come along with the position either. So as we were talking about healthcare and the last issue and the last question, what I was really reflecting on is the fact that people who are serving in the legislature need to hold another position in order to be able to access basic needs such as healthcare, such as benefits for time off and paid family leave since we do not have that enacted on the statewide level. But do I think we can tackle the complex issues? We have been. We've been doing it for quite some time now. And the way that we do that is through study committees and through groups that are meeting year round. So though we don't have it in practice as a full time year round legislature, there are a few legislators who are doing this work year round through their various special committees. But we're not seeing it on the grand scale. We're not seeing it across the legislature through both bodies. So I would really push for us to look at our pay and make sure that we're working and striving towards pay equity. That we're looking at benefits, making sure that folks have access to healthcare and childcare as well as transportation. And that we're thinking about what a full time legislature could do and really understanding that the issues are becoming more and more complex in Vermont and we need committed individuals who are able to do the work year round. Can I ask a follow up? Absolutely. Do you have a year round study committee that you're part of? Do you get paid year round? You get paid similarly to when you are in session. So you're getting paid when you are doing the work or in the building. But it is a reduced rate in the off session. And again, it is only a few of my colleagues who get to participate on those special study committees in the off session. Thank you both very much. And now our next question. We're going to start with Jordan. And this involves language access. So what do you believe is the value to Vermonters in supporting language access to information about health, local government, and education issues? I mean, it's extremely valuable when everybody can be on the same playing field and understand exactly what's going on. We saw during the pandemic when you had a few outbreaks and there was a huge language barrier between social distancing, mask wearing, you know, testing, all of this stuff. So that was a pretty big wake up call. When you ski, of course, is the most diverse place in Vermont with, I think, over 20 languages. So things really need to be translated and kind of put out there so that people see, you know, we don't really have to search for it, but it's kind of in their face so they know what is actually going on, what's going through the legislature, how our government works. I mean, people born here don't even know how our government works, so translating materials into different languages and doing that I think just benefits everybody across the board, not just when you ski, but statewide. Great. Thank you very much. And next for this question, Taylor. Yeah, thinking about language access really is thinking about opportunity to connect and participate in local government or connect and participate on the larger scale. When you don't have the information, when you don't know what's going on, how are you able to offer your opinion or your perspective in the proceedings? So often in the legislature, we have the same voices coming through and offering perspective, whether it's from lobbyists or from focus groups in the area. But in order to be able to expand the transparency that we saw during COVID, which was moving all of our meetings online and through Zoom, expanding access and transparency to both what's happening in our committees and what's happening on the floor, we need to be providing more language access as well, whether that is subtitles in various languages or whether that's offering translation services at the State House itself to make sure that people know the issues that we're discussing and can bring their perspective on how it will directly impact them. It was tough, especially when we were talking about education funding and being able to connect with folks in the community and what those specific needs were. And what I was able to hear time and time again was busing. Busing being the thing that we were not able to afford and that we kind of took for granted that we're a small city of just one and a quarter square mile of course kids are able to walk to school. And yet when it is bitter cold or when it is very hot due to the climate change that we're all experiencing, we need to be innovative and we need to be talking directly to the communities that are impacted and that takes language access. Thank you very much, Taylor. And finally, for this question, Daisy, what do you believe the value to Vermonters in supporting language access is? I'm glad we're all talking about this as it relates to our school and I think it's because that's where we have a really solid data point. We know that there's somewhere between 20 and 30 languages spoken in our schools. And extrapolating from that, that means we have somewhere upwards of 100 different families in Winooski that speak a language other than English at home. And we really saw that during the pandemic, as Jordan had mentioned, the urgency of the need for critical health information, sometimes life-saving health information to be translated into languages that are other than English. And thankfully in our school we have these language liaisons and cultural liaisons. It's a vast network of them and people who have been, that role has been held up as a national best practice recent equity audit that our city and the school district did together. But again, back to the start of the pandemic, the city and the state didn't have a robust network like that that could really bridge that cultural and linguistic gap. So I think there's an opportunity there. So language access is critical not only for those life-saving moments that we need to share health information. We have a moral responsibility to do that and as well as one I think for our healthcare providers. But also, I mean, I think we all want to have neighbors that can shop and live and share the community with us, right? And I think there's a responsibility there to have language access as well. Thank you very much, Daisy. And finally, we're going to move on to our last question in our longer round of questions. And this relates to community access. And starting with Taylor, community access is currently funded primarily by cable customers and revenue for community TV is in decline. How would you see the legislature supporting community access TV such as something like this forum? And such a great question. I think we need to be investing our public funds into community access television and community access resources. This is what allows regular community members to be able to have their stories be told whether it's from renting cameras out or having a space like this to be able to share their stories and to share perspectives that aren't getting on to the mainstream television or onto the news. And I think of experiences just like this where we're able to have candidates come together, have free access for communities to know exactly who their candidates are and what issues they stand for. So as we're seeing this decline from the private funding for community access television, I think we need to put the community back into it and have the legislature step up in support. Thank you very much, Taylor. And next for this question is Daisy. I agree. I think this is a really important part of making sure that we have active democracy within our community and shows like this are an example of that. In my house, we certainly appreciate this station and take active part in watching our city council meetings and other municipal meetings. We otherwise wouldn't have access to because we have young kids that keep us home down in the evening. So I think revenue for community access might be declining because of what's happening in the cable market, but that doesn't mean that we can't look for other options locally and at the state level. And so I would definitely look forward to working with my colleagues in the legislature to leverage other funding sources within regulated areas to make sure that we continue that important tradition of government access to resources like this. Great. Thank you very much. And finally for this question, Jordan, how would you see the legislators supporting community access TV? Through potentially federal grant funding, NPR only gets 2% of their funding through federal grants, but I think that could happen here with Channel 17, absolutely. The legislature could look through other funding mechanisms like the communication union districts. There's the House Committee on Energy and Technology within their scope as utilities. So it could be something that they could look at and make recommendations on how to help fund, but I agree it is a great platform for people to see local candidates to know what's going on, not just in politics, but stuff around the community that's outside of paid for cable TV. Great. Thank you very much. And before we move on to the sort of more lightning round of questions, just one more reminder that if you're watching this live, please call in with any questions at 802-862-3966. Our candidates would love to answer your questions. So with that being said, we'll move on to this next set of questions which are designed to be answered in 30 seconds or less. Just do your best. No strict time limit really here. So with that being said, we're going to start with Daisy. And the first question is, out of thousands of bills introduced each year, what are the two most important pieces of legislation that you can take up and why? Oh, I think they would be around addressing the opioid epidemic and reforming our mental health system of care. Great. Thank you. This same question for Jordan. What are the two most important pieces of legislation? So I pulled out a Senate bill 79, which is a housing rental registry for basically Vermont. Wynieski already has one. Wynieski inspects rentals. I think it should be a statewide thing. I believe it was vetoed. So hopefully that comes back around. And also supporting regional governance of the Brown Lincoln Airport. I think everybody around the airport that's impacted by it should have a voice in it. So hopefully that moves forward. I believe Taylor is sponsored on that bill. And Taylor. Oh, I'm glad that you brought up the airport and I'm hoping that the study committee that's happening right now looking into regionalization also recommends the same for us this upcoming session. And I would say the two most important bills in my mind would be, again, addressing the overdose crisis that we're seeing that we're losing so many vulnerable Vermonters to unnecessarily. It is a policy choice and a policy failure that we're seeing on the statewide level. And the second would be around housing, making sure that we have safe, affordable housing for everyone in the state of Vermont, whether that's through a rental registry or whether that's investing continued funds into our communities to make sure that we're building sustainable housing, not ones that are not with able to withstand the climate change that we're all experiencing. Great. Thank you, Taylor. And all right, the next question, we're going to start with Jordan. And it has to do with committees and committee assignments. So what is your dream committee assignment in the legislature? Probably a lofty one, but government operations. They have their hands in a lot of things. They oversee anything from public safety to voting to other government affairs. That would probably be my number one. Number two would be transportation. Cool. Thank you. And next for this one is Taylor. You know, I've very much appreciated my last two years on the House Human Services Committee working on things ranging from reproductive liberty and autonomy to end-of-life choice to childcare and expanding childcare funding here in the state of Vermont. But as we move into this next session, I see a strong need for us to really update our judiciary committee and the work happening, especially around youthful offenders. Vermont is one of the lowest in the nation in protecting human rights for children in our judicial system, as well as recognizing as Vermont is leading when it comes to reproductive liberty and autonomy. On the nationwide level, we are really struggling in provider protections for abortion care providers, as well as gender-affirming care providers. So, hoping to really provide some more support in those areas. Great. Thank you very much, Taylor. And finally for this question, Daisy, what's your dream committee assignment in the legislature? My dream is just to be the most effective I can be for Winooski, and I don't think that is dependent on any specific committee. I trust that I'll be effective wherever I land. Great. Thank you very much. And our next question, we're going to start with Taylor for this one, and it has to do with budget. And do you believe, is balancing the state budget important, and what are your top three funding priorities? Oh, balancing the state budget is absolutely important. It's a tradition in Vermont. It's not mandated that we have to do it, but it really focuses on how we're supporting Vermonters with the revenue that we know is coming in instead of putting an extra burden on middle class and low-income Vermonters on having to foot the bill on new funding sources. And so when it comes to our budget, I would say first and foremost, looking at our healthcare systems and making sure that we're fully funding our healthcare systems as we move towards a single-payer healthcare network. Second, I would say education, really looking at both the revenue and the taxes as how we are supporting our students across the state, and especially our higher education in keeping Vermont students here in Vermont to really flourish and benefit the state even more. And lastly, I would say transportation, recognizing that our road infrastructure is in great need of support and therefore will need some additional investments in the coming time. Great. Thank you very much, Taylor. And next for this question is, Daisy, what are your top three funding priorities? Top three funding priorities. Healthcare, housing, and childcare. And do you believe balancing the state budget is important? Absolutely. I think a balanced budget helps us stay focused on the future. It helps us make sure that our priorities are, you know, that we're pursuing our priorities and also helps us measure how effective we're being and measure our outcomes on them as well. Great. Thank you very much. And finally, Jordan, what are your top three funding priorities and do you believe balancing the state budget is important? So my top three are housing, climate, and transportation. I mean, a lot have to do with each other, so there's a little bit of overlap there. And yeah, absolutely. I think we're all in agreement on balancing the budget. I mean, you don't want to put yourself into debt because then it starts snowballing year over year and then actually cutting anything out of the system to, you know, slim that out in the future. I think it can get dicey and you might as well just start at zero every year and work from there like Taylor said. If you know you have known revenue coming in, just spend that wisely in the places that it's needed. Great. Thank you very much. The next question, we're going to start with Daisy and it's about accessibility. So a vibrant democracy relies on widespread understanding of complex issues and participation by many. What are three ways we might improve accessibility to local politics? So critically important. I really only have 30 seconds. Try your best. Okay. I think first of all, you know, just to paint in broad strokes that we need to address the systems that perpetuate wealth inequities and the same for racial and cultural discrimination and inequities. And third, I think we need to invest in and empower our youth. Thank you very much. And next for this question is Jordan. So in Winooski, we already have a local nonprofit, the Winooski Partnership for Prevention. They run kind of local forums like this that allow you to residents to speak with and listen to people that are in politics and are making policy decisions and such. Another one would be civics education in school. Again, Winooski would be translated out and people would, you know, I think, get to understand how the system works at a young age so they're informed when they are able to vote. And thirdly, really advertise more forums like this so people know they exist, they're accessible. And when stuff is going to be on like this, I don't know how many Winooski residents know this is on right now, but, yeah, I would say promoting more forums like this. Great. Thank you. And finally for this question, Taylor. Oh, I really appreciate both of your perspectives on youth and really thinking about ways that we can make politics and government more accessible for youth. And I would say to expand on the civics education within our schools, I think we need to lower the voting age, really giving youth that opportunity to both learn about voting and learning about diplomacy at the time when they're able to participate fully. I would also say that we need to look at our physical building. If we look at the State House, if we look at our local buildings, we need to not fall back on preserving the historical nature of the buildings but really thinking about physical accessibility, whether that is from bathrooms to ramps that folks are able to get into. I know even the State House itself has some work to do in making sure that it's physically accessible for all people in the state who want to participate and be there in person. And lastly, I think about captioning. Again, I think it is really important that on all videos that are going out, whether it is from state government or whether it's online, that we're able to provide captioning so folks who are deaf or hard of hearing are able to read and participate in that manner as well as allowing for translation via subtitles and captioning as well. Great. Thank you very much. And this next question we'll try and go through quickly. We're going to start with Jordan for this and it's about COVID-19. What are your top learning takeaways or improvements you saw enacted during the pandemic? I mean, we looked into the science. We learned from science. We listened to folks that were informed and more or less have pulled through by listening to that, especially here in Vermont, one of the safest states during the pandemic. But we also listened to residents and organizations and what their needs were and followed through, maybe not as quickly as they should have been, but followed through like the translations for social distancing and all the mandates and mask stuff and testing. I think really listening to residents and what they need is the job of the government. So I'm happy that we actually followed through on that. Great. Thank you. And Taylor. You know, I'll double down on transparency and accessibility. As I said before during this time, we allowed the most transparent diplomacy here in the state of Vermont by having all of our committee meetings, all of our special hearings, all of our floor time recorded and available online for folks to be able to participate, which made it more accessible. I was able to have constituents who were watching live as we were discussing issues in committee and being able to ask questions being able to offer their opinion and perspective as we moved through. And my hope is that this will only encourage more folks to participate on the larger scale. Great. Thank you so much, Taylor. And finally for this question, Daisy. So I would say I learned through COVID that we're really innovators, great innovators in this state, as well as really vulnerable going, tacking on to what both Taylor and Jordan kind of mentioned. I saw us in the state just remarkably expand our transparency. I was at the time working as a policy advisor for the state and spent two years at a computer screen watching legislators in session and just the access to the legislative process was amazing and incredibly empowering. But you know, to the vulnerability aspect, many people are still dealing with the fallout of COVID and we're not quite through it yet. And so I think those are my two takeaways. But I have a lot of faith and a lot of hope that we'll continue to beat it. Great. Thank you so much, Daisy. And we have just enough time that you all can give about a 30-second closing statement. So for that, we will start with Daisy. Well, it was lovely to be here with all of you. And I would be honored to represent Winooski as one of their next state reps. And I think just one takeaway I noticed as we were talking here about improving access to language and health care and childcare and housing, I would also just say that I think we can also hold ourselves accountable for as we continue to make policy and changes for the city that we also think about and languages ourselves and think about as we shape policy what does that look like for people who experience Winooski in a way that we just simply don't. Thank you, Daisy. And next for closing statements is Jordan. Sure. I'd like to thank Channel 17. I'd like to thank you for moderating, both of you guys, getting here before I did. And yeah, that we're actually able to sit down and discuss ideas and it's civil and we do agree on a lot of things. And I think we all want to better Winooski, better Vermont, make it more attractive for folks to stay and to come to the state. Winooski is the opposite of the rest of Vermont. We're getting younger and more diverse. Vermont is getting older and less diverse. And I think we could spread that across the state from Winooski out. I would suggest people early vote for the general election. Take the burden off some of the folks running the senior center down there in Winooski. But if not, I'll see you on the general election voting day. Thank you, Jordan. And finally, Taylor, for your closing statement. To echo the gratitude of my fellow candidates here, it's been a true pleasure being here and to discuss what the issues are for Winooski. And again, it's been a true honor to represent Winooski for the past two years and I hope to do so again this next session. But I'll use my closing statement to really focus on some amazing opportunities that are also on your ballot this year, which are Proposition 2 and Proposition 5. Proposition 2 is officially abolishing slavery here in the state of Vermont. I'm surprised I even have to say that in 2022. But our constitution clearly needs an update and I hope folks will join me in voting in support of Proposition 2. As well as Proposition 5, which allows reproductive liberty and autonomy for all Vermonters. And at a time where we're seeing reproductive rights being taken away on the national scale, Vermont is able to enshrine these liberties in our constitution and allow folks to really thrive and have that economic opportunity across the board. So not only am I asking for your vote, but I'm asking you to vote for those proposals as well. Thank you. Thank you very much, Taylor. And thank you to Jordan, Daisy, and Taylor for joining us all tonight. As well as thank you everyone for tuning in to Town Meeting TV's ongoing election coverage of statewide and regional candidates and ballot issues that will be on your ballot this November 8th. That being said, don't forget to vote on or before November 8th. Ballots will be mailed to every Vermonter who is registered to vote. To confirm that you're registered and everything's all set to go and ready with that, you can check that out on the Secretary of State's website. And again, thank you very much for tuning in and sharing Town Meeting TV's election coverage. And if you haven't already, please subscribe to our YouTube channel. Thank you so much for joining us.