 Major sponsors for Ableton on Air include Green Mountain Support Services, empowering people with disabilities to live home in the community, Washington County Mental Health, where hope and support come together. Media sponsors for Ableton on Air include Park Chester Times, Muslim Community Report, WWW, this is the Bronx.info, Associated Press Media Editors, New York Powered Online Newspaper, U.S. Press Corps Domestic and International, Anchor FM and Spotify. Partners for Ableton on Air include the HOD of New York and New England where everyone belongs, the Orthodox Union, the Division for the Blind and Visually Impaired of Vermont, the Vermont Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Central Vermont Habitat for Humanity and Montpelier Sustainable Coalition, Montefiore Medical Center of the Bronx, Roosevelt Kennedy Center of Bronx, New York, Albert Einstein College of Medicine of the Bronx, Ableton on Air has been seen in the following publications, Park Chester Times, WWW, this is the Bronx.com, New York Powered Online Newspaper, Muslim Community Report, WWW.H.com, and the Montpelier Bridge. Ableton on Air is part of the following organizations, the National Academy of Television, Arts and Sciences, Boston, New England Chapter, and the Society of Professional Journalists. Welcome to this edition of Ableton on Air, the one and only program that focuses on the needs, concerns and achievements of the differently able. I've always been your host, Lauren Syler. Arlene is not here today unfortunately, but today we have a special guest, Mayor Anne Watson of the City of Montpelier. We'll talk about her mayorship and other things within the City of Montpelier, but before we do that, we would like to thank our sponsors, Washington County Mental Health, and Green Mountain Support Services, and many other supporters including the Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired of Vermont and the Division for the Blind and Visually Impaired of Vermont, and many other supporters. Welcome, Mayor Watson to Ableton on Air. Well, thank you so much for having me. Okay, so let's talk about, first before we get into your reelection bid, let us talk about one thing that is extremely important to the special needs community, and that is transportation. And there was a major article in the Bloomberg.com website or Bloomberg newspaper. Can you explain a little bit about that article and why Vermont, why the City of Montpelier was chosen for that article? Oh, sure. So the article in Bloomberg News focused on the new My Ride program that has just been, just in the first year or so of its pilot to see if it would work for us. This was a change for the City of Montpelier and it was really initiated by Sustainable Montpelier Coalition and they have done a lot of great work and they work together with a committee of folks with the States and with Green Mountain Transit and with the City of Montpelier to put that all together. And it was a lot of work getting to the point that we're at now. But the idea is that it works sort of like Uber where someone could call to say, I am here and I would like to be there at these times and the bus will show up at... I've had... We've had Elizabeth Parker on. Oh, you have. Okay, great. Yeah, wonderful. But you have to kind of call ahead. You kind of... I mean, you can go all the same day, but it has to be a couple of hours before you want the ride. Yeah. It helps to call ahead, especially if you want the ride during some of the most busy times. But if it's in kind of like an off hour, then sometimes that can be easier to accommodate. You don't have to arrange it way in advance. But the article was really about... This is a transportation option that might be useful for bigger cities. This is one of the tough challenges of mass transit is something called the last mile. If you're getting people between major destinations, how do you get someone without their own vehicle from the last major destination to where they're actually going? Maybe that's their house or maybe that's a shop or the vet or the hospital or something like that. And so the MyRide system is a way that could happen and it's potentially going to be useful in cities around the country and around the world even, which is very exciting that we're sort of piloting the way here. But it also means that we are having to iron out the system to make sure that it works for everybody. And I know it is not necessarily working super well for everyone in the community right now. And that's something that I'm very interested in and eager to connect with people about. What do you mean by iron out? Yeah, we know that systems are not perfect. So explain a little bit about what do you mean by ironing out the system? Yeah, yeah, sure. So right now the, in order to call the MyRide to get it to show up, you can use an app on a smartphone, but you don't have to have a smartphone. You can have just any regular cell phone or a landline. You can call up to the central office there and have them arrange the ride for you. I believe you can also do it online, but if someone doesn't have access to the internet or doesn't have a cell phone or access to a landline, then that is a problem. And so then the question is like, how do we get, how do we create connection for people in that situation? And so one possibility, there's a, I think there's a number of possibilities. One is do we create actually just like more landlines available to folks like around the city at sort of major destinations or do we create a way for people to just like walk on to the bus? And as far as I know, the last I heard was that Sustainable Montpelier Coalition was working together with the Vermont Council on Independent Living to see about like what solutions there might be. And in the end, you know, this is a pilot and we'll get the data and we'll see how it works. I'm sorry for interrupting. Pilot in this case means the first of its kind? Yeah, right. It's kind of like saying, like, this is a test. This is an experiment. And, you know, we're going to see what the results of that test are and, you know, seeing how the system has worked for, you know, people either with, you know, different access to technology for whatever reason, that's very important to us. So, yeah, so we'll, I'll be interested. I'll be very eager to see if there are solutions that work. Do you think my ride, I mean, I know it's only from Montpelier right now, but do you see my ride or other versions of my ride? Because I know we have the RCT buses, the other rule transportation. Do you see a my ride of that type going to some people that, because there are probably people in Vermont that live in rural areas that don't have access to. Yeah, that's a great question. Well, we know that there are places that are already interested in expanding the area. So in order for this system to work, there's sort of a region that you can call and have a ride requested to and from as long as it's within the region. And my understanding is that Berry is, or there's some parts of Berry that may be added on or that may be starting a similar kind of program. And I think it does get harder financially, the more rural and the further out you go. So I think we'd have to see some pretty major success in, I mean, I know it's kind of funny to think of Montpelier as an urban area, but as you're saying, you know, there are places more rural. And so, you know, we'd have to see some, some success here where the population is at least more debts before it spreads out to some more rural areas. How is, and this is the last question in reference to the transportation program, you know, is this transportation program through my ride paid? If you don't mind me asking this, you can say yes or no. Is it paid through, through taxpayer dollars? Or is it paid through a special fund? Or, you know, because a lot of people with special needs use it as an example. There are some people in Montpelier that live at certain apartment buildings. Those apartment buildings get a special ID card and you can get on the bus for free. But that's when GMTA was not, you know, they don't charge people either disabled or not. But, you know, they're not charging people right now because of COVID. But is it, so does the my ride come through a special fund or is it? Yeah, that's a great question. So I can only speak to ask you that if, if, you know, no, it's a perfectly good question. So the city does contribute towards it. We give $40,000 to GMTA to run the my ride program. But I am certain that that is not what it costs. I'm sure it costs much more to operate this. And I, as far as where GMTA is getting those funds, I couldn't tell you, but, but I do know that at least some of it is coming from taxpayer dollars. Okay. All right, so let's move on to. Let's move on to your marriage ship. What, now that you're running for American or want to be reelected, what is making this 2022 year different than other years that you've been married? Yeah, that's a great question. So a couple of things. There are some projects that I am really excited about that we need to keep pushing forward on. And some, some of them are actually new as of, you know, this, this year for me. So one of those is also a lot of the themes for me are the same, like my principles are still the same. But the projects, the way that those things are going to manifest is different. So I am really excited about continuing to cut our carbon emissions that continues to be a high priority for me. But the way that that's manifesting is that we actually have a roadmap for how the city can cut some of its carbon emissions. And that's through projects at different buildings throughout the city and starting to replace our vehicle fleet with electric vehicles and potentially some biodiesel, which all of that is very exciting. This is new for the city. And it is going to take some intention and focus. A second thing. Again, this is something that I've been talking about for a couple of years now, but one is adding to our childcare offerings for the city. So it is a high priority for me. It seems to be a problem. Yes, it definitely is. With parents, I mean, we're not parents ourselves, but parents that have problems with childcare because in recent years, I've read and done research where certain people who have certain jobs, you have to get to work on time. And then if there's an issue with childcare, that becomes a problem. Yeah. Yeah. No, absolutely. Yes. Oh, absolutely. And so I think the city is in a position where we could be offering high quality childcare. For what I would imagine to be a reasonable price, but this is sort of going beyond some of what the city already does. We do offer some childcare, but I pushed the city to extend that and they did. But I think it needs to be the childcare that we offer needs to be it needs to match typical working hours, right? So that people can go to work and stay at work until, you know, the end of their shift and have their kids taken care for that entire time. So that's one thing. And second thing is that we need to make sure that we're able to, you know, make sure that we're able to substantially increase the city's capacity to provide childcare for very young children from zero to five years old. Because that's even harder to come by. And so I think that there's a lot of potential there for the city to meet needs in the community and to increase our capacity and to help get parents back to work. You know, these COVID numbers are coming down and we hope that people are getting back to work if they have been out of the workforce for a little while. So, but even so, we know that childcare is incredibly important for especially young children. It's, you know, it's literally an investment in our future. And so I'm very passionate about that. And I think we have some potential actually, you know, looking at we could be offering childcare if we were to purchase the Elks Club property and be building. From what I've heard of recreation. Yeah. For recreation we could easily, well, with the planning, we could build into that site some childcare, which is, I think could be a really wonderful potential for us. So that's exciting. That's coming up. And then a third thing that's on my radar is increasing the equity in the city, particularly in the city's processes. So, you know, using an equity lens. Explain those that don't know what is equity, especially within the city of Montpelier and how does it go according to your plan? Sure. Yeah, absolutely. So we want to make sure that everyone from all backgrounds have equal and a fair access to all of our processes that everybody feels welcome and that everybody feels like they can contribute to our democratic processes, regardless of how they are abled or regardless of their race or, you know, gender identity or age or, you know, all these factors that are, that are really important and have historically prevented people from participating in democracy or having access to democracy in various ways. And so we actually had a needs assessment done over the last year, which gave us really great feedback. And we've actually started to implement some of those suggestions that came out of that study. One of those things was that, you know, for those folks who maybe don't have a lot of disposable income, they're limited from participating in like committees that meet in the evening or for running for office or, you know, whatever, you know, that kind of thing maybe. But so their suggestion was that we should actually offer to pay people a stipend for participating in these committees so that if they need to pay a babysitter, if they need to, you know, they can't afford to, you know, have that time off otherwise, that they are compensated at least. I know that those committees from years past, like the example, that's just, I'm just saying, there's like an ADA committee and other committees. I know that the committees have volunteer basis, correct? Yeah, yeah. Um, there are so that the city council and I as mayor, we are paid. We have a stipend that separately on the ballot, but the, you know, other committee members are not paid. And so, you know, we were so grateful for their participation. But, you know, a lot of them, it really is a thankless job. And they, I think they deserve to be paid. But because this is new for us, we are trying this out as a pilot. It's built into this coming budget if it's approved by voters. And it's, as the way it's structured right now, we think it may be, well actually to be fair, we have yet to sort of iron out how it will work, but we anticipate that it will be by request. So if somebody knows that like they're going to need a babysitter that they could ask for the stipend from this fund. And we don't have enough to pay everybody, but, but it's a start. And I think that's, that's important that we actually just get, get rolling with it. And again, as a pilot, we'll see how it goes. We'll see who requests funds. We'll see how many people request funds and, you know, be able to, to evaluate it afterwards to see whether we should expand it or whether it was not really very useful to people or, you know, we'll just see what those results are. Let's talk a little bit about the infrastructure. Yeah. Then your plan and how, how you, because, you know, we understand of winter months and it's really hard to pave streets and, and do those types of repairs. Yes. So how, how is the city going to work on a better, a better or more stronger infrastructure plan? If it's not as strong. Yeah, thank you for that. So just for context, we had for many years, we had not funded our infrastructure sufficiently. And then we created a plan to get back contract to figure out what do we need to as a steady state be funding our infrastructure in terms of, you know, our roads and sidewalks and bridges at a sufficient level so that we could be maintaining these streets. And actually one of the measures that we use is called the pavement condition index. And so that's our, our mechanism for telling how run down a street is or what its condition is. And we had actually been improving our pavement condition index on the whole as a city for some years as we increased our funding, which was great. And we had actually reached our steady state level like a year or two before the pandemic started. And so that was, that was very encouraging. We were on the right track. And then when COVID hit in March of 2020, our revenues were significantly affected. And that meant that we couldn't fulfill the plan that had been passed by the voters the previous March, right? And so we had to cut back our funding. And that meant that projects that had been scheduled. And letting some staff members of the city of Montpelier go. Correct. Well, we didn't have to let them go. Exactly. We furloughed them, which meant that we were basically requiring them to, to take time off unpaid, but we held on to their jobs anticipating that revenues would go up and we'd be able to bring them back to their old positions. But yes, we had to furlough a lot of staff. And all of this, you know, combined with postponing infrastructure projects, we're all just, you know, say like fund saving mechanisms to make sure that we can make it through as a city and keep the lights on literally, you know, that city hall. And so that happened. You don't have money. It is kind of hard. Yeah. Oh, totally. So those projects didn't get done. And then when we were building the, and there that we had just barely because it, this all, you know, happened in, in March of 2020. And we had just passed a budget for the next fiscal year. And so we were also, you know, through 2021, we were also not able and much of 2022, actually, we were not able to, to carry out a lot of the projects that had just been approved. And so this year, this budget, FY 23, our fund, our finances are still used. I apologize. It's okay. 20. Okay. So, so it's like, so it's like, you know, financial aid years with fast, but 22, 23, 21, 22. So we're in 22. So it's 22, 23. I'm still I'm confused on that. Go ahead. Yes, thank you. So we, so that's a great question. No, no, that's an excellent question. I should be more clear. So the fiscal year is at least we refer to it by the spring. So the fiscal year starts July 1st and goes to June 31st. And it's called by the spring year. So we want to, we're, we're coming up on March 1st, which is going to be town meeting day. And we've been working on the budget that would either be approved or voted down and on March 1st. And then take effect July 1st of 2022. And go through June 30th of 2023. And so we would say that the budget that's going to hopefully is approved on March 1st is the FY, the fiscal year 23 budget. And so as we're planning for that, our revenues are funding, you know, input is not. It's still not quite what it was before the pandemic. It has gotten better. But even so, that means that while we've built in more of, you know, infrastructure money, it's still not back fully to where it should be. Now, to be fair, we did get a substantial amount of what's called ARPA money or American Rescue Plan Act money from the federal government. And we are using a substantial portion of that to accomplish the projects that had to be put off in, you know, the summer of 2020 and in the summer of 2021. And so that that's been a high priority for us so that we can get back on track because you're absolutely right. The infrastructure has been lagging in terms of them, you know, what we're able to, to maintain because, because we just had to cut funding somewhere. And, but we're anticipating that we will bounce back, but it's, this is also one of the reasons why we have an infrastructure bond on the town meeting day ballot is that some of the projects are so big that they, they deserve their, you know, to be a part of a bond. And so that's, yes, go ahead. So that's kind of, we have a little time left. Let's talk about, you know, I know COVID has been a huge problem with certain things, especially with schools. Yeah. With the city of Montpelier. And we know that you're a teacher in Montpelier high school. Yeah. But how, how with the school systems, because then I know that's a federal with the situation with the CDC. What is Montpelier's rules so people can know. And I know that people with special needs have special considerations within the masking issue of things. What, what, what have been the rules instituted and is it going to change or, or how have you changed the masking rules? So people, if people want to know about that. Sure. Well, and just for context, I mean, I'll tell you about where, what the rules have been, but I can't really comment on what may change. And that's a, that's a good question for our superintendent. Libby bone steel, but because I'm, I'm just, you know, I just worked there. But so what the rules have been is that both staff and students are required to wear masks over their nose. One, the, you know, when, when we're in classes and whatnot, and they're allowed to take them off when they're at lunch or for outside. And that I, I know I, you know, folks have medical conditions that mean that they, they can't, then I believe there's provision for that. But that's, that's how we've been rolling so far. And I know a lot of folks have been very grateful for those, those rules to help keep everybody safe. Okay. So if I can go ahead. Sorry. Sorry. If I can jump back once I can to the infrastructure thing, there's a project that I want to tell you about, which is that we, we just go a little over it's fine. Go ahead. Oh, I'm sorry. If we need to wrap up this fine, there's a, we're not wrapping up. We still have some time. Okay. Well, there's, we just approved a project to be constructed in Hubbard Park. That's going to be our first universally accessible trail in Hubbard Park. And I just want to make sure that folks know about that. And I'm very excited for that to get built. So look for that. Hopefully universal universally accessible trail. Yeah. So I believe it has to do with width and grade. So that it hopefully will not be super steep and it should be. Yeah, wide enough for folks to access. Anyway, I, I, what's that? Oh, you may, I'll just put it out there that Alec Ellsworth, our parks director may be able to tell you more about that. Okay. So we can reach out to him. Yeah. Is there a universally accessible playground within one period? That's a good question. So this city, maybe we should work on that. That's, that's a great call. To be fair, the city of Montpelier. I don't believe owns any playground equipment. I'm trying to think of that. Is there, oh, maybe, maybe there's some out at the pool. I'm not sure I'll have to look into that. I'm not going to be a wonderful idea. That would be a wonderful idea. We're going to do a universal trail. Yeah, we should do some kind of universal. Special needs obstacle course. I mean, you don't have to be special needs to be on it. But sure, it would be a really great thing. You know, yeah, I think it's a great idea. Yeah. So March 1st is Tom meeting day. Yep. Is there. Going to be ballots. Sent out. If people can't make it to the polls. Yes or no. That's a great question. So we will not be automatically sending. Ballots to every registered voter in Montpelier. If folks can't make it to the polls, they cannot make it to the polls. They can't make it to the polls. They can't make it to the polls. They can't request an absentee ballot as they have in prior, you know, years past. But. Otherwise the polls will be open on time meeting day. For in person voting as they have been. Again, also in years past and there's the reasoning for that is. Sort of long. And complicated, but. Yeah. Yeah. I think that there is. Mail ballots or is it mainly. People don't want to go because they're scared. Well, it mostly had to do with that. The items that. We needed to have. Folks vote on. We're from different entities and. We've been able to mail out the ballots to everyone. And so, you know, the city council would have, I think. Ultimately preferred to have mailed the ballots out to everyone. But because there wasn't agreement across the entities that. You know, we're sort of sponsoring these. More, you know, requesting these items. that it's like some of the ballots would be mailed out and then some would only be available in person. And that didn't make sense that, you know, we would ask people to do both. I think that could be really confusing to folks. If something was mailed and we're like, no, but also please come in because there's more things to vote on. And so we figured we'll just keep it simple. We'll keep it all in one place. But if people do request absentee or early voting ballots, then they'll get all of them as they get an absentee. I'm sorry for Jordan, the only really big problematic thing with the Montpelier Post Office is that, or the Post Office in general, because of COVID, there's been a lot of layoffs with the Post Office. So mail has been coming late. I don't know if you're aware of that, but that is a big issue that I raised with Ernie Sanders' office and other entities within the state of Vermont. Is that, you know, that is a big problem. So how are people gonna vote if they can't get their mail on time too? Is there a way to do that? Maybe having two voting days instead of one? Well, you know, that's a great idea. I know, I believe people can show up early to vote if they would like to do that. But that's a good point. And other than that, you know, other than the individual voter taking the initiative, I don't have any other solution. I wish that I did. I'm sorry, but that is a good point. That we're not having issues with the Post Office. Absolutely. And it's something people should be aware of and thinking about and, you know, so requesting a ballot at the last minute may not be a great idea. Okay, so we have a couple of minutes left. Is there anything that we haven't touched on that is important? Well, I just hope that folks do get out to vote and that if they need to request a ballot, you know, no time like the present to get on it and do it now. Okay, so if people want to get in touch with the City of Montpelier, what is the website for the City of Montpelier for those that don't know, you know, they need services or want to find out information? Yeah, sure. Do you want me to just say what the website is? Yes. Okay. Yes, please. Yeah, sure. So it's Montpelier-vt.org. So sometimes the dash may confuse folks. It's not an underscore, it's a dash. So yeah, Montpelier-vt.org. And that will take you to the City's website. Okay, so we would like to thank you for joining us on this edition of Ableton on Air. We'd like to thank Mayor Anne Watson for joining us on Ableton on Air. For more information on the City of Montpelier and its programs, you can go to www.hold on. So it's Montpelier. Okay, can you repeat it one more time? Sure, no problem. Montpelier-vt.org. Okay, for more information, go to Montpelier-vt.org. That website, once again, is Montpelier-vt.org. And don't forget to come out and vote. Special needs or not, your vote should be counted on Town Meeting Day, March 1st at City Hall. Town Meeting Day is extremely important. March 1st, 2022, come out and have your voice heard. Again, that website for the City of Montpelier is Montpelier-vt.org. Montpelier-vt.org. Again, we would like to thank Mayor Anne Watson of the City of Montpelier for coming on Ableton on Air. For more information on Ableton on Air, you can go to www.orcamedia.net. Again, I'm Lauren Seiler. Our needs aren't here today. Thank you to our sponsors, Washington County Mental Health and Green Mountain Support Services and many others, many other supporters. Again, I'm Lauren Seiler. See you next time on the next edition of Ableton on Air. Major sponsors for Ableton on Air include Green Mountain Support Services, empowering people with disabilities to live home in the community. Washington County Mental Health, where hope and support come together. Media sponsors for Ableton on Air include Parkchester Times, Muslim Community Report, www, this is the Bronx.info, Associated Press Media Additors, New York Parrot Online Newspaper, U.S. Press Corps Domestic and International, Anchor FM and Spotify. Partners for Ableton on Air include Yechad of New York and New England, where everyone belongs, the Orthodox Union, the Division for the Blind and Visually Impaired of Vermont, the Vermont Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Central Vermont Habitat for Humanity, and Montpelier Sustainable Coalition. Montpelier Medical Center of the Bronx, Rose of Kennedy Center of Bronx, New York, Albert Einstein College of Medicine of the Bronx. Ableton on Air has been seen in the following publications, Parkchester Times, www, this is the Bronx.com, New York Parrot Online Newspaper, Muslim Community Report, www.h.com and the Montpelier Bridge. Ableton on Air is part of the following organizations, the National Academy of Television, Arts and Sciences, Boston, New England Chapter, and the Society of Professional Journalists.