 Okay, let's stand in front of our signs. Okay, I think we're ready. Alright. Is everyone all set? Are we good to go here? Alright, good afternoon and thank you to everyone that could attend today. It's great to see old friends and some new acquaintances. We're at a crucial moment in time and we'll choose the next leader of Vermont's Queen City. Unfortunately, I cannot speak in public without sharing my shock and outrage that three human beings were the victim of gun violence in the city that I love. My thoughts and prayers are with the young men and their families. I would also like to thank the Burlington Police Department for their great work to apprehend the gunman. Public safety has become the defining issue of the campaign for mayor in Burlington, Vermont and the most pressing issue for most of the people that I talk with daily. We all know that keeping the public safe is a complex issue and that addressing Burlington's problems cannot be done with a single idea or wishful thinking. It's a plan to improve public safety that Joan Shannon will put forward today. A plan that I fully support brings together recovery and treatment for individuals that are suffering with mental health, issues and or substance use disorder, establishes housing as a key priority and criminal justice to deter crime and enforce our laws. It is the intense focus on all of these areas and not one or two that will bring the change we need. All hands on deck is more than a slogan. It is a call to action. I know firsthand from my time as Secretary of the Agency of Human Services just how powerful collaboration can be. Working with the governor, the legislature, state agencies and mayors and municipal leaders across the state is the best path to see the type of focused effort and results we need right now. The problems we are trying to solve need all of us working together to make the public feel safe and importantly to improve the lives of some of the most vulnerable people in our city. All hands on deck was a siren call that I answered and I'm here to fully support Joan today in her effort to be the next mayor of our great city. Now I'm going to turn to Michelle Ash, former police commissioner to make some remarks. Thank you. So firstly I want to thank Al Gobey for those remarks that I wholly agree with. My name is Michelle Ash and I am a local business owner. I am a former commissioner of the City of Burlington Police Commissioner as Al said and I'm a 40 year resident of the City of Burlington. We're here today because our beloved City of Burlington faces a widespread public safety crisis. It's the single most important issue that the next mayor will need to address. The next mayor must address. Businesses are hurting, families are hurting and our community as a whole is suffering. We are absolutely at our best when everyone feels a sense of safety and has access to the help they need. In order for our law enforcement officers to work effectively and collaboratively, we need trust. We must have trust. I have seen the impacts firsthand. When a lack of trust is not there with our police officers, it's actually very crippling. We've all seen this. We need to focus on both accountability and care. We need, as Al says and Joan says, an all hands on deck if we're going to build trust between our police and our community. Finally, I'd like to share a personal note of why Joan is the right person to take on this issue. She has a strong, consistent, and highly transparent track record on public safety. Whether you agree or not with Joan, you always know where she stands and why. I'm here supporting Joan and her plan because she can and will deliver. She is the right leader for our times, and I'm confident, highly confident, that she will lead with integrity, compassion, strength, and an unwavering commitment to solving our public safety crisis. So now it is my pleasure to introduce Mayoral Candidate Joan Shannon and have her share her very distinct and highly effective public safety plan. Do better with a box, I think, under the podium, but thank you all for coming. And thank you to Al and Michelle for your faith and your trust. And thank you to Aisa Lauren from the Burlington stolen bike recovery team for your support and confidence. I want to start by condemning the shooting Saturday night of three Palestinian young men, college students that were here visiting for Thanksgiving. This is heartbreaking for the victims and their families and has had a chilling effect on our community. These young men are scholars, friends, loving and beloved family members. Our community should have no tolerance for violence or hate. I thank our first responders, including the fire department EMTs, who offered immediate medical care, and the police officers who kept them safe while they did so. And to all who responded to the immediate crisis Saturday night, I'm very proud of the care that has been given to the victims and families by our city staff, hospital workers, and our broader community. Our prayers are with the victims that they have a speedy recovery and continue to get the support they need on their path to wellness. I want to thank the BPD, FBI, ATF, Chittenden County Gun Violence Task Force, the state's attorney, U.S. attorney, the mayor, and the police chief for their swift work to apprehend the suspect and ensure our community is safe. I also want to remind everyone in our community that while we remain unsure of the motivations behind this crime, we do not fight hate with hate. We fight hate with justice. And justice comes from having a strong and trusted law enforcement system. Sunday night, we published our public safety plan on our website. This is a plan that has been a collaborative effort with input from professionals in human services, housing, city government, law enforcement, and many other perspectives. I announced my candidacy for mayor because I believe we can make Burlington the most livable, equitable, and vibrant city in America. As a community, we have the human resources, the natural resources, and the will to accomplish this vision. After 20 years serving as city counselor and three as council president, I am ready to lead the effort. Burlington, like so many places in our country, is experiencing a rise in drug addiction, a crisis of mental health, an increase in crime, and as we saw Saturday night, increasing polarization and gun violence. These crises are made worse by a lack of adequate housing and social services and a diminished police force. All of this has weakened the social and economic fabric of our city. But with every challenge comes great opportunity for new systems and a new vision. Together, we will rise to these challenges. As a community, I believe we have a shared vision for a vibrant, safe community where diverse opinions, cultures, and backgrounds are valued. A community where our most vulnerable residents are truly seen and programs and policies work to address their needs equitably. Our community should be one where families, workers, students, and visitors alike can enjoy the best of Burlington without fear or concern for their safety. And yes, we must now face our unprecedented challenges made worse by the city council vote to reduce the police force by 30%, which I vocally opposed and which continues to impact our police department, which is more than under that 30% cap that was established. This decision was made without regard to collateral impacts without an evidence-based plan to maintain public safety and failing to make up for the loss of enforcement and investigative capacity. I am proud to have not only voted against the proposal, but also provided an alternative to it, which is a key distinction of my candidacy. Our plan recognizes that Burlington can and should do better. Importantly, this plan is based on our shared goals and will improve public safety for all our neighbors. We are asking for an all-hands-on-deck approach because we know that only together can we create the Burlington we all want. As mayor, I will focus on four key areas to improve public safety in our community. Deterrence and prevention, prevention, treatment, housing, and justice. All of the above include key elements of accountability and care. This plan recognizes that people are not getting the help that they need. At the same time, it acknowledges that accountability is essential and our community can no longer tolerate open drug use and drug dealing, gun violence, graffiti, car theft, bike theft, retail theft, and other harmful behaviors in our parks, in our neighborhoods, and in our downtown. We must restore strong public expectations of safety throughout Burlington for our residents, for those experiencing homelessness, for our local businesses, supporting local jobs, for our nonprofit organizations, and for service providers. Seeking to help our community, we also must recognize that our economic future is tied to our ability to maintain public safety and reverse the negative perceptions of our city. We can and will do better. My top priority will be to tackle these four issues, deterrence, treatment, housing, and justice. With the tools and resources available to city government. But city government can't do it alone. I will also partner with and call on the community at large, leaders in the state house, and our congressional delegation to help. The time to act on these issues is now. And our community cannot wait. As I continue to listen to experts and residents, I commit to building feedback, data, and new information into this plan every step of the way. I will tell you every time I read this plan, I find something else that I think should be an important component of it. And I'll also acknowledge that as I build this plan, the bullet points you see under the plan oftentimes have overlap between these themes. They're all interrelated. In closing, I would like to thank the Burlington Police Officers Association for their endorsement and putting their confidence and trust in me as the next mayor of Burlington. So thank you, and I'm happy to answer questions. If anybody has questions. Wow. Everybody had questions yesterday. I have one. Back in 2020, there was a vote taken to defund the police. What was your stance on that? I know you mentioned it in Utah, but what was your vote and how does that compare to your opponents? Well, I'll acknowledge that there was as everyone here may remember, there were protests going on and we were in the wake of the George Floyd murder and there was a strong feeling that strong action must be taken. So there was an effort to defund the police from 105 officers to 74 which was done without a plan and it was done with less process than we have putting in a playground. It was proposed on a Thursday or Friday and we voted on it Monday. I was not supportive of that but also appreciated the sentiment in the city in the city that we were all feeling and in lieu of doing that, I worked with Councillor Jang on an alternative that would have given consideration to the size of our police force and created a task force of respected community members to give consideration to the idea without doing it without a plan and that was rejected on a nine to three vote the same three councillors who voted against defunding or really diminishing the police department voted against voted in favor of that alternative. So that was myself and Councillor Jang and Councillor Mason voted against decreasing the number of police officers and in lieu of that voted in favor of an alternative task force. Because I believe that's what started the whole mess with Burlington. Well, I'll say there is a national trend here that we can't deny. The problems that are being faced by Burlington are being faced in other cities around Vermont as well as other cities around the nation but we've put ourselves in a particularly poor position to deal with these national trends is more what has happened to Burlington. The problems we're seeing today aren't caused necessarily by decreasing the number of police officers but having police officers on the street has a deterring effect we know that. And so our problems as we're facing this national trend we're usually on the positive side of national trends in Burlington and we're on the wrong side of this trend. Question. Why do you think people in the police union chose to endorse your candidacy? Well, they put out a statement explaining why they chose to endorse my candidacy but I do think that the Burlington Police Department knows that I have it's not just a matter of votes actually it's also how we have talked about this issue and that I have steadfastly been a supporter of public safety of supporting our police officers doing their work as they are trained to do and according to their directives they need accountability they expect accountability but I've also paid some personal price for those positions and I have no regrets about that. Part of your plan mentions reforming the city trespass policy can you talk more about what that could look like is that something that's currently being worked on in a council committee or something new that you would start? It's being discussed among a few of us now but it's been a problem for private property owners to trespass people from their property and it requires you know police resources that we don't necessarily have so I think that there's a way to make that a little bit easier for enforcement to happen when somebody is trying to trespass somebody from their private property So homeowners and businesses private property? Yeah And do you know what that what would making it easier look like? Well for downtown there needs to be we need to establish that the property owner wants somebody trespassed and I think we can come up with a more blanket policy that for example store owners can say we don't want anybody sleeping in our alcove when we're not there so that that is established and can be enforced upon but private property owners have had this challenge too renters who have somebody sleeping in their doorway but you need the property owner themselves to get the no trespass so I think that there are some obstacles we need to work on overcoming. Well thank you all for coming. After yesterday I wasn't sure anybody was jumped on so this is exciting to see you all Thank you Thank you