 I want to thank everybody for coming to the Ward H neighborhood planning assembly meeting today. The agenda consists of announcements and introductions at seven at seven oh five we'll have a speak up from Ward eight residents, but I see what they have on their mind and what they have to share. Sam is anybody online that we don't see? Okay, I just think from my computer if you wouldn't mind elevating me there. Followed by the speak out there will be a discussion with each district and Ward eight city councillor candidates. District candidates are Tim Dorothy and Jake Schuman. Ward eight candidates are Rowan Allison and Hannah King. Hannah will be represented from Adam Ruth and Rhett Yates is representing Rowan and that will go to roughly 755 at which time there'll be a question period after you guys have a chair a few words. There'll be an election award age community development block grant representative which Linda Rizvy has volunteered and we're going to be out of here no later than eight o'clock. I don't know how well attended this is I do reserve the right to kind of ask people to not speak to infinite time points and try not to repeat yourselves although I probably will defeat myself and I also want to acknowledge Lauren ever so who has has really helped us and I don't think this Ward eight it would have been much different if you had enjoyed and so I'm very grateful that you did that we're going to miss you and we'll give you a free pleasure free library hat on your way out the door if Adam agrees. I hope I remain a honorary member of the steering committee of Pete. It's only because of people like Lauren and Pete that make this happen so and Linda. All right so any announcements from anybody out there who'd like to share any information I see Ann Brenna and I see Romeo Herman. Romeo you're not in Ward eight you are in Ward eight I forget. University of Paris. Yes yes. So why don't you guys give us some share some thoughts of Ward eight issues at the present time if you want to. Romeo you want. Oh so yes thank you very much so yes I'm a Ward eight resident and I work for Green Mountain Transit as the station and customer service supervisor. I do run two transit stations here in Burlington as well as Montpelier. As far as being a Ward eight resident honestly I do not have any specific issue that I'm concerned about right now. I am closely watching the city council run. I'm definitely for Hannah King because I feel like she is going to be a fantastic councillor so beyond that I attended my first time anyway the city council meeting so I'm hoping to attend the future more and learn more about the folks of the council and what they're working on and all that stuff but as far as the neighborhood planning committee and some of the stuff they're working on I'm just more observing now but I'm certain that as time goes on I'll have probably a lot to say. I'm just trying to get to know more about my ward and some of the things that we do need and some of the things that are going on but I'm certainly will be having a lot to say in the near future so I'm really grateful to be here and be part of the community so I look forward to listening and learn more about the ward. I'm certain that there are a number of my folks that live on the same street that I live on so it's good to see you guys. And Brenna you want to say a few words tell us what's on your mind with respect to ward eight. Sure put me on the spot. I would encourage Romeo to join the Ward eight steering committee unfortunately I think if the new map ward map passes he's going to be in ward six if he lives on University Terrace but there is still a full year for him to become an active member of the steering committee. I would love to I definitely would love to. So contrary to popular opinion I've been hearing this around town we are not yet a zombie ward and this meeting will emphasize that fact we may be down but we're not out we're just not sure what the next reincarnation of Ward eight is going to look like. Anybody else Lauren? No. Parking is always rational in my mind. What way? Well I find that parking can be quite difficult especially in the downtown section of Ward eight so that's something that as an outbuilder resident I would say certainly affected my decision to move from the ward. So the push lately has been to to eliminate parking spaces do you agree with that or? Parking spaces in the Mount Burlington Street. Well in the downtown area in Burlington that parking is going to be more limited. I would agree with that if there's a good solution for what to do. I find that at least on my street what will happen is during the day people will leave to go to work and they're not going to see the fair parking on my street so they're almost never parking which is quite unfortunate when I don't have a guaranteed spot and don't live on one of the resident only streets. So I don't know as an outgoing resident I know I'm going to say that I don't know what the solution is because the solution is they're going to be parking probably some sort of garage or underground space for parking. I just thought I'd share that because I just circled around downtown Brown for a while trying to find a parking spot and I could just know where it shouldn't seem to be. So possibly what a NPA might want to take on parking to have a discussion about parking at some point in time. We're told what should happen to parking nobody's ever asked us what should happen to parking. Funny how that worked. I would be happy to continue to give my thoughts and I don't think people who would be able to say why so happy to come back for a guest appearance. So that's good to know. Thank you. Lauren what's street number? Fuel. On fuel okay. Where are you moving to? The old one. More parking out there. All right so Tim you want to start us off but maybe tell us are you going to make all our lives better and Burlington will be the special place that's required to be. I'd be happy to tell you a little bit about myself. I don't know that I'm going to make all your lives better but I was here I think at the last NPA meeting so I recognize some some faces both both in the room and on Zoom. I'd see Romeo nice to see you again. Yes I should. I'm Tim Doherty and I am running for the East District City Council seat and you know excited to be running and and let me give you a little overview of of who I am and why I'm running. My spouse and I live on Colonial Square in Ward 1 with our three sons one of whom is here with me Sam all three of whom are in public schools. My wife is the principal of the Winooski Public High School and I'm an attorney downtown. We've been long time residents. We've been renters and owners in the East District and love the city but are concerned about some of the issues that we have seen in the last few years. We've been concerned about rising property taxes but just the general rising expense level of living in the city. The balance between our neighborhoods and the University of Vermont and public safety and I've had a real pleasure and I wasn't sure that that I would enjoy it as much as I have over the last I don't know Sam three weeks four weeks we've been we've been knocking on doors three weeks I guess knocking on doors introducing ourselves and really trying hard to listen to what people are concerned about. I hear a lot of folks are concerned about those issues public safety and affordability and those are some of the issues that I hope to address. I also have a specific interest in parking I live on one of the last streets in our neighborhood that is does not have a non-resident parking ban and right now the tow truck company Handys uses Pomeroy as a place to park to dump its cars during the day and I that's not why I'm running for city council but I have a I have an interest in parking and I'd love to get back to that topic if we have time. You want to go get your power off Pomeroy or you send Sam to go get the power off? Well our car is over there but you know you know Billy you mentioned this I would love to have have the conversation come back around to that and hear what what folks are thinking about on the parking issue. Rhett are you your student or you Ward 8 or? I am neither I live in Ward 6. I am a freelance writer and also a part-time lift operator at the Bolton Valley ski area. All right yeah good day to day. I was there today. Money, money day. Right so I think you know hopefully tomorrow I'll be even better we'll see. Does Bob work from? Yes yeah I should probably hold the mic right. Were you holding the mic? I was not. It's coming in without it. Okay great yeah. The so Roan is a UVM student and I'm here to represent Roan because I'm Roan's friend and also more importantly a fellow member of the Champlain Valley Democratic Socialists of America. Okay so you need to see his full name. That's right yes great. Excellent Roan Allison is running for City Council in Ward 8 and my name is Brett Yates. I'm here to represent them as their friend and as a fellow member of the Champlain Valley Democratic Socialists of America and I along with the UVM YDSA Champlain Valley DSA is UVM YDSA is the youth wing of the organization and together with them Champlain Valley DSA is kind of the campaign team for Roan and you know I wanted to mention that because I think being a city counselor is really hard work you know it's not a job it's not a it's a job you have to do in addition to whatever your other job is in Roan's case being a student a full-time student and you know you don't have a staff and it's so I think it's important to note that Roan will have institutional support as a as a city counselor we will be Roan's volunteer staff and for those of you who don't know what DSA is it's the largest socialist organization in the United States we have two members who two active members who are in the Vermont State Legislature Kate Logan and Tonya Bihovsky who represent parts of Burlington in the House and Senate respectively and for the past year we've been doing things like well canvassing for for Tonya and Kate during the Democratic primary lending support to the unionized Starbucks workers in South Burlington one of our members is a barista there and and holding trainings and and discussions for for workers other workers who want to unionize their workplaces and I mentioned all this just because I wanted to highlight that that Roan's work in this I want to highlight Roan's work in this because I think it points to their sincere political commitments none of us are are like doing this work because we you know because it'll build our resume or advance our career or anything like that we we all just we have a desire to to build collective power to to toward like a political transformation of our of our city and you know I have a few notes here let me see what I got um not a great Roan's a much better public speaker than I am so my apologies um yeah I mean you know it's it's we we want to build we want to create a Burlington where where ordinary people feel fear feel cared for and uh enjoyable and um and powerful and I think uh you know I think none of that none of that is is possible without housing and that's really why housing is the focus of Roan's campaign the primary focus um it's uh you know apartments are hard to find rent is too high people are struggling to to to make ends meet and and you know it's it's and I think the city is suffering as well because of all this in a number of ways you know I used to live on the west coast for a while and I saw cities like Berkeley and San Francisco which used to be kind of centers for for radical ideas of one sort or another and and they've kind of just become places for millionaires to live and and they weren't fun to live in as a result anymore I think and and you know I think many of us have an idea of Burlington as as a a place that um a place that can like on a small scale demonstrate a progressive path forward for the rest of the country um that will not happen if it's if it becomes just a city for the wealthy so so you know we have a lot of policies that that you can look at on our platform online especially around housing around uh rezoning uh large parts of the city uh to uh create the the possibility of of denser multifamily housing uh revitalizing the the Burlington Housing Authority to build public housing along a model that's been used in a few places recently like specifically Montgomery County, Maryland and also protecting existing tenants through recognizing tenant unions promoting tenant buyouts of landlords to to create housing co-ops there's there's a lot there by adding new housing we will we want to create a dense walkable sustainable city um that uh nurses human creativity of all kinds including political creativity uh and yeah I'm looking forward to if any of you have any questions so we have Sam Gordy here and they come back to you and the interest in your perspective let's see uh what what year are you I'm a freshman freshman high school yes okay don't go away and we have Adam who's representing Anna King for ward one city council on board eight with what ward am I in you know ward eight Billy I've been there since 2015 but we have voted on that I can't keep track of what ward you got for me they put you in ward eight in 2015 sir in seventh ward eight for two more years for being a sentence um thank you bill my name's Adam Roof uh I'm I'm excited to be here on behalf of my friend Hannah King um who's running for for ward eight I used to be the ward eight city council I also served a sentence I suppose bill for five years from 2015 to 2020 I had the privilege of serving ward eight uh five amazing years uh hard work like like he said it is really hard work and it takes a lot of a lot of effort and a lot of time but super fulfilling and I'm now I'm no longer on the city council I'm on the chair of the bronc and democratic party and so I help uh recruit and support candidates and those efforts uh I knew how the levels Charlie good can you hear me okay um I met Hannah King when she was 18 years old she I was running a city council campaign in the east district and she walked into an organized and committee meeting that I was that I was hosting she didn't know anyone there she just started on social media and showed up uh which caught my eye because not everyone at that age is confident enough to walk into a room full of strangers and talk about politics she just moved up from massachusetts um that same year and wanted to get involved involved locally and what I got to know about Hannah early on which has really taught me a lot about what Hannah is still today and how she's grown she comes from a single mother household she comes from a family who she lost her father when she was young her mother is a lifelong dedicated union worker she has siblings which she had to help care for in brongton is her adopted home and from 18 from the five years that I've known her I've come to know Hannah as someone deeply conscientious deeply committed to her community knowing that some people who have been here for a long time want to see people who are in their 30s or 40s helping lead their community but I think there is a space for young people who are mature who have a vision for the future in the conference to step up and and do the hard work not just as a counselor but it's hard campaigning and all candidates uh here in this room and elsewhere know how hard it is to campaign and and I think the struggles that she has gone through in her life have prepared her well not just for campaigning but for but for service to the city um a lot of the issues that uh that she talks about are similar to what a lot of city councils can talk about because we know what our issues are in in brongton they are housing their affordability in the east district certainly it's how do we work with and hold uvm accountable especially related to housing issues and affordability issues certainly public safety is on the top of everyone's mind in one way or another uh environmental action is is a critical thing Hannah sees these all as issues that uh that she wants to work on Hannah's deep focus is on how to get that work those ideas into a place of reality and so her as I've known her throughout the time that I have and her campaign it's focused on understanding the the bowels of this building which can be really difficult to know sometimes they can be really complex and convoluted and frustrating is all hell I'll speak from experience on that but she is deeply committed and prepared in my opinion to come in and get herself into that system to work within it but also be changed from within I think that having a a voice like Hannah's that is that is clear and conscientious and thoughtful uh can really have some positive change to the way that this building works because it doesn't always work super well on issues that like I said we all know um we all need to address are we going to have more time to talk could I go ask some questions okay good I'll do the introduction I'll stop there okay and uh last but not least Jake uh Jake Schuman good to see you again here he's now um coming back again to work to work no just for each and uh Jake thanks for coming you want to tell a little bit about yourself and how you're going to be a successful city counselor yeah absolutely um so Adam I have to say thank you for pitching me into that group in their 30s and 40s because sometimes folks you know lump me in with the with the kids in their 20s and and say are you ready for city council and and I say well thank you for the compliment but I think that I'm very mature and ready for joining the city council um I'm joining you remotely tonight because I want to see if I can hop up to campus and catch some of that debate that is happening and um also because uh last weekend I tweaked my back when I was doing a lit drop um I got to enjoy some of that free parking on colonial square that Tim referenced um and and uh slipped on some ice and saved saved myself from falling but almost dislocated my shoulder in the process um so I think the the age conversation is important but I don't think it's um a determinant factor I don't think that we should be judging people um based on their age because that is discrimination as I was talking to somebody earlier today it goes in both directions you know we we shouldn't be saying that people are too young to serve on council but we also shouldn't be saying that people are too old to serve on council um and I think that Tim and I are both in that happy medium place so I think that's great um I think that um you know throughout my 20s the reason I didn't step into a race like this was because I was very diligent and deliberate about um taking the time to form those connections very slowly and organically um I see this as a volunteer um position it has a meager stipend that I think might pay for the coffee that you gotta consume to be able to get the work done um but I think it's one of those things for us democracy nerds that if you have the willingness and the um I don't know being a glutton for punishment I guess if you're if you're willing to to do the job and you have the chops then it's something that you should do for a period at some point in your life um and so that's something that I've always held in mind that you know I don't have political aspirations I don't seek higher office or anything like that but it's something that I've always considered um to be of interest and within my capacity to do so that's why I am I entered this race after living in Burlington for 14 years I've lived throughout the city um my first home I purchased in the King Maple neighborhood and it's because of my political involvement and my connection to that neighborhood is why I am opposed to the redistricting map because it continues to jeopardize the representation and the ability to engage meaningfully for those people in that neighborhood and that's what we've been doing for so so long and I think we got to stop at some point I I have always served this community and I will continue to serve this community always in professional roles I'm an EMT I work with homeless folks I have worked with youth in transition I have worked for DCF in their policy shop as an intern I've done all sorts of things throughout this community and it's been in pursuit of service but also in pursuit of creating the well-rounded background that I think would make me successful in this job I deliver diapers throughout this community 10 000 every month and I don't do it with any particular ask I just do it because diapers are expensive that's like $10 000 worth of diapers that I get to give out every month to lots of different families and build relationships with those people because it's not under the umbrella of a formal organization or anything like that it's just organic neighbors helping neighbors and so I think those relationships are really important too right um you know folks I think might see me and and say like oh this person based on their demographics is not representative of our community and well you know we can all only have one set of demographics right um but I would say that you know my first meeting in the community was with a group of folks at salmon run and I told this group of Somali women um you know I'm I don't want to uh I don't want to commodify our relationship right and I don't want to speak on behalf of you if I speak for you it will be with a message that you have specifically empowered me to share right um and so I guess I'll just end on this note by saying you know the things that I was empowered to share on their behalf was that the way the police are present in their community when they are present in their community is not they feel like an occupying force it is not in a way that feels safer um they also feel victimized and othered by our education system and by my previous employer DC up they feel targeted so I mean I could go on for ages and ages with all the thoughts in my head and all the things I want to say but I'll leave it there my name is Jake Schuman sorry I didn't get better at that running for east district okay so um let's take some questions um let me get Ann Romeo and Dan feel free to ask a question um Keith and Lauren you want to start off with questions or anybody you want to ask our formal candidates about them about issues topics concerns go ahead Romeo uh okay can you hear me yeah okay um uh this question is both for um all the counselors or the representatives in this case who are running for the council whoever is running for city council the representatives as well what will you do upon being elected to build a trust between the community and the judiciary system which includes the police department Sam why don't you go or uh Jake why don't you go first we'll go backwards for that question happy happy to keep things easy um thanks for the question Romeo um I think well so before the raises even decided um you know I had a sat a sit down with mirad um uh acting chief um chief um to to to have a discussion you know just to build the bridge and build a relationship um and so I think that's where it starts right is like before we can get into resolving conflicts we have to have relationships with each other um and I think that it was a very productive conversation we scheduled half an hour and ended up talking for an hour and I think we were both pretty comfortable and and laid back and and we got to kind of develop a sense of trust and I reached out to him uh earlier this week and and we talked very briefly today about um you know an issue that that a neighbor had um and and start the work of of figuring out how we can all work together to address that issue so I think it's building relationships it's having dialogues um and that's why I support um a community oversight board because I don't see it as um a group of activists with access to grind I see it as an opportunity for a cohort of people selected as one holistic group to sit down and you know once or twice a year um kind of audit what's going on and really I don't see them getting together or needing to get together very often except in um the most egregious circumstances so Adam how are you going to build trust I was handing in a bill of trust bill well yeah um so you know talk to uh the hand about policing uh for years actually all the way back to when I was the chair of the public safety committee uh here on the city council and you know a few things that that she wanted me to share today um that related to trust would would include certainly having a police chief that has been uh vetted and accepted by not just the officers in the union but also the community members especially those community members that um that that feel like trust has been eroded of which there are many uh Jake rightfully mentioned the new american community but there are others who do not feel safe in burlington and also don't feel uh like the trust is as strong as it used to be and the chief is out the is the tip of the spear in building that trust and so uh henna has not committed to vote yes for one chief or another um if brought forward should do that due diligence but the standards that she has set forth for her decision um are someone who is willing to work with 21st policing principles someone who is willing to to get out into the community and not just sit behind a desk I won't share my personal opinions on that but the other point that she wants to focus on is getting back to I think this is an important piece that's been lost the last couple of years and I think she was really astute in this point that she made and I will leave time for others to I know we're running out of time but um you know we really do need a fully resourced and fully staffed police department with the right type of police officers um I really think that we need to come together as a community to accept the fact that without a fully resourced police department we're not going to be able to create those connections henna believes very deeply in having foot patrols okay I am going to stop you right there I'm going to finish this one point but I do think that Jake wanted a little bit uh with the right type of officers on the street who are not sitting behind their cars or behind their desk going out and building those relationships it's absolutely critical and the fewer cops we have the fewer police work sources we have the less we're going to be able to do that okay Romeo um I'm going to offer here that I didn't hear you say trust between police department and the community that may have been heard but I can hear those exact words when I think of trust I immediately think of the trust that we have with our city council people who don't even seem to finish their tenure and so there's different kinds of trust in this community that I think are foundational that maybe are reflected in a particular relationship with police but it's not just police I thought he mentioned police and I apologize if I'm seeing any questions Romeo just tell me why right so what I was saying was the judiciary obviously including um the police department which are part of the judiciary system but I I could appreciate the point that you made with respect to anybody seeking council uh building trust with the community with respect to not them living high and dry in the middle of the term as well okay so I rephrase that but sure yes Brett I'm so sorry that's okay I am so terrible with names that's fine yeah well I mean we we kind of started this conversation about the police a little bit so I'll continue that uh the uh and I guess I would say you know of course it's very tricky to to speak on behalf of a candidate another person even though this person is my friend but I don't think Roan is focused on building trust between the community and the police I think Roan is focused on building trust within the community itself on strengthening the community itself uh you know I mean as as you know I I don't have a relationship with the Burlington police department I've never interacted with a police officer in Burlington uh and I you know I guess it's because I live a charmed life and and uh we believe that uh other people uh also can can um uh that uh can um uh that we can we can make changes in our city that uh where people don't um where people uh where the the question of their their trust in the police is is is less pertinent you know I think uh we we are interested in and in housing we are interested in and uh in mental health services we're interested in in public uh uh infrastructure that uh supports communities to be healthy and safe um and that's not to say that you know I think uh uh because you know Roan is running as a left-wing candidate I think they get questions a lot about whether they're interested you know whether they want to abolish the police or he fund the police and and that is not uh uh the fight that they are trying to fight either um but uh uh nor but nor is it the case that we feel that uh building a stronger relationship between these communities and the police is the answer uh to to their problems I think uh uh we we need to build stronger communities themselves Tim point about trust uh yeah you know and thanks Romeo for the question um you know a little bit in response to what Brett said you know there are many many members of our community who are not so fortunate um that they can avoid contact with the police um so I I think it is absolutely pivotal uh that the police department have uh the broad uh support of the community uh it's pivotal because it is justice and equity demanded um but it's also uh really really important to have good policing um you cannot have effective policing um in communities where uh huge segments of the population uh do not trust the police do not feel safe with the police are not willing to communicate with the police are not willing to cooperate with the police and investigations so I think it's really really critical that that trust be built and I appreciate the question there are a few things Romeo that I am I am optimistic about um you know we have this Kahootz model um that is now fully funded which takes uh the principal responsibility for responding to folks who are in acute mental health crises uh away from armed law enforcement in the first instance uh and provides that uh responsibility um to uh EMTs and trained social workers I think having the police focus on the core of their mission and having folks who are perhaps better trained to respond to certain things uh will help build trust build back trust within the community um so so that's an issue uh the department has added a new community service officer a new community liaison position I think those are really positive steps forward um but but more needs to be done but the other thing Romeo I heard you you know you talk about the judiciary um it's something that that um you know I have a lot of interaction with in my profession as an attorney um and I think one uh area which we haven't really talked a lot about these these four are yet um is access to justice um we need uh we need to have a legal system um in which people have access to legal representation and that's something that has been a near and dear to my heart uh for a long time as a as a practicing attorney here um we we have a crisis right now in Vermont uh of under representation we have a lot of people who need lawyers uh who can't afford them who can't access them um and uh people who do not have a solid assistance uh in dealing uh with our judicial system um have very difficult time um it's frustrating uh it's alienating uh and and frequently uh your rights aren't well represented so I think that that that issue is something that can be uh worked on on the city level and on the state level as well. Linda and Brenna any questions uh Lauren? I'll just pop in and say really quickly Tim if you ever need uh some some people who will need legal assistance I always got a pile of them for you. Yeah I'm I'm I please refer them I'd be happy to try and help ask the question um I'd like to hear in one minute you know because I know I'm needing to move along um if I vote for you what's in it for me go ahead Jay. Let me just start my stopwatch all right well if you vote for me you're going to have a city counselor who understands this community and seeks to serve every single member of the community um I think that UVM needs to be a partner for too long they've been a neighbor a neighbor that we put up with I think that we can solve so many of our problems together we have the expertise we have the motivation we have the enthusiasm within our community in these forums we hear so many brilliant ideas and I don't think that we need to wait for one person to win to champion one set of ideas I think if we all work together and we all collaborate we can solve every crisis that we are experiencing and we can do it quick but you know in those instances where quick is not good I'm I'm all for taking our time and doing it right yeah I guess my vote yeah I think with with Hannah you're going to get someone who is reliable and consistent in her work I think that as as we know Bill that Ward 8 has a special set of circumstances that may be different than other parts of the community in the city the impact of the university and the students that live in the area there's a lot of great that comes from living among students I believe that but there are also real challenges and I think that much I know that this is a forever need in Ward 8 until it is it has changed in a substantial way about 20 seconds Bill I'm taking my time I'm looking right there what I can do in Genshek there's a real need for building those bridges between not just the university but the students that live on and off campus and permanent residents I think Hannah is frankly well suited than anyone that's ever ran in Ward 8 in order to be able to do that yeah perhaps well you know you asked what what you'll get and I I guess I don't know what your concerns are specifically I mean I think at at DSA we we believe that politics is the process by which society resolves conflicts of interests and that in class society there are different groups that have different interests and the the job of the politician is to figure out which which group they are representing and the so really I think what what Roan promises to offer is is is is what is housing and and better bus service and better bike lanes better pedestrian infrastructure and you know if these things if building more housing building more bike lanes you know if these things are there are of interest to you I think I think you should vote for Roan if you know if you would prefer Burlington main less less dense have less housing have fewer bike lanes more on street parking I less became if it were if you want it to be less friendly to to pedestrians and people who need a bus to use the bus to get around you know there are other choices just to be clear are you saying that if we don't want those things sorry you're making a comparison because I think you did there and it's like an opportunity to respond okay a little bit and do I still get my minute yes okay okay Adam can time me I'll tell you what you won't get from me Bill you know I don't pretend to have all the answers I don't pretend to know everything and I will not make you promises that I can't keep what I can promise you is that I will pick up the phone and hear you out if I don't know the answer I'll tell you and I'll do my best to help you find the answer if I have a position I'll let you know it straightforwardly and if we disagree we disagree and that I'll work really really hard on behalf of the east district and then I will be present and listening and responsive Linda what do you want your city councilor to do for you I'll just if you don't mind do a follow-up on what you just asked and just say that because of whatever the reasons are um city councilors haven't been very responsive sometimes because we don't have them sometimes because they're who knows what they're doing sometimes it just feels like it's not a priority you know it's just not a priority and so I'm kind of interested in I really appreciated Tim Fane you'll answer the phone and I'm kind of interested in the lines of communication being open with constituents so Pete what do you want from your city council I want my city councilor not to blame everybody else and something's not being done I want I want my city councilor to stand out in the campus of UVM and talk about the need that they need to take some responsibility for housing just the 70 whatever percent plus students from out of state that they bring in here and then they don't treat them properly by putting them in quads or triples as a freshener sophomore not giving them enough space to really learn and then putting into the the housing that is deteriorating in my neighborhood so that we don't have good neighbors anymore in the sense that we can't sit on porches as we used to do and have coffee and talk in the morning before we go to work we have a city council isn't going to trust it he counts always talks about affordable housing and need more housing but they never talk about the University of Vermont students taking up four to five thousand of those housing units and saying you know it's like they are not too big to fail kind of thing that Bernie always talked about you know what if we're going to be a progressive city you have space all the day stays we have to get housing taken care of so that the young people I know I'm not cool I did a little board one for 50 years so I know I'm not the cool person but I know that for 50 years the city has been screwing around with us promising us stuff giving us a list of stuff they think we want and not providing a major thing we don't want it's better housing and better affordability in this city okay Lauren what would you don't get to respond to that no they're listening to us it's not me okay they're if I don't talk to them we you know when we find them to share okay how are we being our and every one of them I said they want to hear our voice I need to say something because I totally disagree that's fine you are a cool cat well nothing but they don't listen play I get oh you're not as bad off as somebody else right my assessment went up 70 percent and what is my city cap percent oh we have people that 100 percent said no I didn't need to hear that I just needed to hear that mine went up and I retired and because they set a limit of my health value at 400,000 you're tired of that I don't get a rebate for the excess so my house keeps going up because speculators are going to pay more for the houses and so therefore they think my house is worth that right and then I'm stuck in a situation where we need not be able to live there for very long Lauren what what will we have done more to get you out of city county well I think what you talked about would have helped that I definitely agree on the housing problem they do have strong feelings we should take ownership of that because it's bad for the students and it's bad for the community the way that they're kind of throwing around I think my chief concern is I would like my council member to have actions like not just say yes I will do is I'd like to see the tangible efforts that have made for certain things there as we talked about there's a lot of concerns in the community and I think you talked about a lot of them um but talk can only get us so far and I would you know I really would like to see action and accountability as well you know involvement with the NPA involvement with the community and knowing that it's an open line of communication I know a couple of you have mentioned that um so I think those are the two big things that I look for Lauren can I ask you Bill can I ask Lauren a follow-up question not yet and Brenda and it's your name and I'm not good on first names and you have your hand up would you like to share that the question of what you expect from your city councilor yes I would just like my city councilor speaking as a ward 8 resident to recognize that ward 8 is not just students um we have lived here for 20 years and your vote as a city councilor profoundly affects us it actually doesn't affect the students because 50% of the people students who vote for you are gone in May and the other 50% are gone the next year and we're left with the consequences of your votes and I would just like our voices to be heard because we are a very small minority in the so-called student ward but we have skin in the game that's all I wanted to say well if you had been better more effective at redistricting maybe that wouldn't be a problem they're a mystery yeah um and I'm going to add but Sam on the spot Sam you're the next generation what do you want Berlin to look like when you're sitting here we're sitting uh well I want a high school a real high school you don't have one now I want one with windows and with athletic fields and I think I obviously the city council isn't as involved as with that but making sure that that happens is really important to me because and important to my brothers who I hope end up going to a real high school so how are you going to pay for it um well you know property taxes trying to keep them low um and you know I hope that the government helps you here here I can answer when are you on your team can we write you in all right here you get one minute because you guys you guys want to summarize real quickly and then we'll elect Linda I was going to ask Lauren you know you talked about responsiveness and action items do you have ideas about what you would like to see in terms of communications from your city council person yeah I know for example Karen Paul doesn't use letter um you know what would you when we have we're going to have a city you're going to have any specific city council person and the warden city council person um which you know you haven't had um what have any ideas is the sort of mechanism that you'd like to see those kinds of communications uh take I mean I love the newsletter I know I I mean not everyone loves a native letter but I do love the newsletter I also think I've seen a lot of constituent coffee hours whether it's the council members or the state legislature members I think those are really effective I just think I mean I have lived in more than eight for about a year now so it's been a bit of a challenging time as we've had and not had councillors in different positions but I think just having that line of communication and being involved in certain things like the NPA or other community events is important. Brett thanks for coming. Thank you. A few more words here. Yeah well there are a couple things that got brought up I mean one is is the question of standing up to UVM and I think the just a night or two ago city council tabled a rezoning proposal by UVM that would have allowed them to build more student housing on the Trinity campus that absolutely needs to be accelerated I know there's some questions about whether they it can be paired with a commitment not to increase enrollment at the same time. City council absolutely needs to figure that out and get the ball rolling on allowing UVM to build more housing north of Colchester Avenue and but I will also say that that I think there is sometimes a hope among some Burlingtonians that UVM can resolve the housing crisis on its own that you know by not increasing admissions and by building more on campus housing that will be enough and the rest of Burlington can stay the same and that really is not adequate Burlington including you know city councillors the mayor of prods as well. I have a lot to answer for in terms of the housing situation that we're in right now we have not done nearly enough to to to develop or promote the development of new housing in a long time and yeah. Anna what are you going to do for me? What on housing what's the question? How are you going to be? How are you going to represent Wargate? Yeah, Hannah's always been someone that shows up more than I'm not making a comparison to anyone I will make a comparison actually compared to me when I was in the city council I did my best to show up as often as I possibly could I know you two know that she will she will go far and beyond the commitment that I had to to show up because she's already proven it when I was electability the first door I knocked on you're a little skeptical of me I remember but what Hannah has proven even at a young age 21 I was 24 when I ran she was 22 now she was she'd been the she'd been on the steering committee for this this group on Ward 8 she's fair as a CBPG representative of them are about to elect Linda to do that same job she's accomplished a lot at a young age and she's dedicated herself to this ward she wants to keep in doing that and she's asking for your vote to let you continue to continue to continue to do it okay okay Sam Mark Twain said 90% it says it's just showing up yeah I'm here don't get Jay I'm not gonna get Jay Jay you're gonna be the last boy to be here other than Linda's did Romeo do you want to say your piece first I don't want to cut you off oh I'm sorry Romeo you want to jump in oh I appreciate it um yeah so all I wanted to say is that uh I'm looking for a representative that is proactive not a reactor I don't see the hand race I'm sorry about that yeah it's the white it's the white you know makes it disappear thank thank you Jay um yeah and thank you for that segue because that's a thought that I also had um that um you know I I think it's important to react in the appropriate way at the appropriate time but I think the best city counselor is one that is not going to be reactive because they were proactive right we need to have a long-term vision and a long-term focus in your decision making thank you Linda Romeo Keith Dr. Branya for all of your comments they are all very well received um and thanks too to Sam um clearly a good kid that when you think of your negative experience at the high school that you say we need a new high school so that my siblings don't have to have the same negative experience um I think that's that really shows character can't go wrong with a name like Sam what's that you can't go wrong with a name like Sam yeah it's my new name Dr. Branya, can I just finish my comments real quick? I just wanted to say um you know that that's why I would appreciate your vote for the east district um city council race because I was there at Romeo's first city council meeting advocating for the people of the east district for an MOU with UVM so that they could be more than a neighbor and they could be a partner and you know to the the point about UVM's um you know uh victimization of their student population and over enrollment um and the role that they play in our housing crisis right nobody's asking them to own the the problem we're just asking them to own their part of the problem um I was there on Sunday talking to Troy Hedrick our newest representative and I've been talking to him since he got into um office about this issue like I have been proactive and when our city council fails that's when I start advocating um so I've been there and I'm going to keep being there and I think if I'm on that seat that I'm going to be there more than any counselor that we've known in recent years thank you um okay thanks you guys for coming um and Brennan would you describe briefly for us with the community development blockrat representative needs to do before we elect someone um yeah I served on that committee for two years um I think I was there first war eight representative um so basically HUD gives out money to certain municipalities every year cities I don't know about states um so unlike in other locations where the elected officials decide uh who gets the money in Burlington the decision is made by um representatives from each of the wards there's also a representative from the city I mean from the state and I think there's a few other odds and ends people um so it's it's quite a bit of money um and organizations which have a project in mind to reduce poverty and blight within the city submit applications and they are rated or graded by the committee and then a decision is made on who actually gets the money so it's it's a pretty involved process it involves four or five meetings um down at city hall um and uh the uh recipients of the money are decided upon by the entire group so um I believe we have to elect the person right and we'll move that with the visibility are represented into the uh community development block grant and Linda do you agree to be the community development block grant representative oh yes I would I would like to um second that nomination having known Linda many years Linda has been one of the quiet people in Burlington who gets involved comes to meetings like this cares deeply about the city and the people in it at the neighborhood level um and sees that the world only changes if we can change time for tears that I'm right no all right well why should we vote for you then okay yeah I'm sorry yeah why why do you want to do this oh well you know I've I've been active in the community and for many years and including being school commissioner to mpa and other things as well and I think that the community block grant program is really important for revitalizing communities and neighborhoods and I would really like to be a part of that okay so we have one two Romeo and Rania Lauren and Keith and myself five of us to vote on this the nomination is for Linda Rizvi all those in favor raise your hand I'd love to see that and Brenda doesn't and you voting all right let me congratulate you I hope you know we're getting into thank you I'll let you know thank you Romeo you want to get involved send a feature email I have I have it and I'm going to just ask if you want to come to that okay uh at our next planning meeting and then maybe yeah okay sounds good yeah Romeo we would love for you to get involved thank you absolutely I would love to do that as well good