 Good evening, everyone. Welcome to generally irritable special election season edition. I'm really excited to be back in Burlington and getting to do some live streams with candidates for city council, maybe even school board if anybody wants to reach out anybody watching. If you're a school board candidate or a city council candidate and you are close to center moderate and to the right. So if you're a Republican, if you're a centrist, if you're a truly an independent. I would love to have you on the show and let some people hear about your candidacy. I'm not I can't lie. I am not a what is that I am I am I am a biased news organization. We hear a generally irritable are really looking to to help promote conservative values and and candidates that we think are valuable, who use reason and data to make decisions, not just their emotions and so that's I'm actually really excited to have Steve on tonight. He is running for city council in Ward 7 of Burlington. The current city counselor is Ali dang and nice enough man. I like Ali. We have each other's phone number we've talked. But I haven't been happy with all of the decisions that he's made on the council. And while I think that it's important to take feelings into consideration and to be empathetic and compassionate. We also have to make sure that the things being suggested are being tracked and followed through and, and, and discover if they really work. And a lot of the things that we're seeing from our current city council, and the mayor just don't work. And so, when I first met Alec last, I think it was last year or maybe it was even in 2020. When there was some stuff going on with the bond for the fire station. I was like this guy, clearly is thinking about things. And I was really excited to see that he was running. He is an engineer. And anybody who knows engineers. I'm an accountant. I like engineers. I like to process be rational reasonable logical, right. There's compassion and empathy in there. But let's first start with what are the facts, and what is true. And so I think that that's something that Alec brings to the table and so I'm really, really excited to have him on today. And so before I bring him into the live stream, I just want to take a moment to say thank you to my patreon supporters. I actually, I never promote this stuff you guys I bring my content to you, and I don't normally ask for, you know, like share and subscribe, but I'm realizing how much stuff, how much that stuff matters. The conservative content especially does get throttled in on social media, it really does so your, your likes your shares your follows all really do make a difference and what else makes a difference are my patreon supporters. Kurt Wheeler and Keisha Gathright are both monthly supporters on patreon so after we get done I'll try to remember to put not I'll try I will put a link, a pinned comment in the in the comments section for people if you can, and you're able to be a monthly subscriber and at $2 a month. That really goes a long way to helping me transition from being a full time accountant and having an accounting practice to being able to produce content and the news around the state of Vermont to you, my viewers. So, blah blah that was awkward eventually I'll be less awkward when asking for things and asking for money I better get good at that. Speaking of getting good at asking for money. So, what is Eric is doing with his fundraising, Alec, stiff welcome, welcome welcome to generally irritable. Thank you, Erica for that wonderful introduction I appreciate it. You are welcome. I want to make sure I don't like you know anybody watching is like, Oh my God, Alec is a Republican. I didn't say that. Okay, I didn't say that you are running as a Democrat, is that correct. However, I did receive the endorsement of both the Democratic Committee and the GOP. Okay. And that's because, you know, we have the of the Republican Party the Wellington GOP. I've said this before, I don't care, I don't care if you're a Democrat, I don't care if you're a Republican, I don't care what you are if you can do math. I appreciate that. Yeah, I'm an independent minded person. And, you know, math is right up my alley analytics and, you know, being a data driven person and understanding that you have to be pragmatic is, it's kind of in my nature and that is really what getting an engineering degree is all about it shows that you can think analytically. Oh, I like it. Okay, that's still down. No, no, no. Okay, okay. So, Alec, I'm why don't you take a couple minutes and and do your like introductory pitch. Right. I'm Alec. This is what I'm about. I got a family. They're cool. You got great picture. You got a good looking family for it. I appreciate that. I love your pictures. It's all it comes all for my wife, you know, but yeah, no, my name is Alec, and I am an engineer and my wife and I moved to Burlington over a decade ago and we've lived in the new north end now for a number of years and prior to purchasing our house we lived in the old north end for a decade and we saved in a very small apartment. And we did that so that way we could afford the down payment on our house here where we want to be and start a family and since moving here we've had two children who are both awesome I have a daughter and a son and my daughter being the younger of the two and the newest addition and my wife is now a stay at home mom for the time being to raise our family and that was a decision that we made together. She's taking a leave of absence from her job and she was a school counselor prior to doing that. And so we planned this and it took a long time of sitting saving and thinking and budgeting and really understanding. Where can we live within our means where we want to live in Burlington, and we've known we want to live in Burlington we know we want to stay in Burlington and being able to plan that out and save. And then move here has been really just an amazing opportunity that we're incredibly thankful for. And so now, you know, I realized I wanted to get involved after talking to a couple of my neighbors they approached me independently about the state of the city in the state of the Council, and things that are being brought to the council that don't necessarily fall under a local view, or under the purview of the city council, and maybe divisive things and other things that didn't make a lot of logical sense and what I really would hope to do is bring visibility and local focus back to the city council and I'm passionate about a few things you know the environment public safety, you know, being affordable, and I think that that really resonates with a lot of people, because we want to stay here, you know we want to be able to live here and grow our family and have our children grow up here, and that's important to me. Because I love to hear that I have been very blessed to be living in the home that my mom grew up in. You know this is this is this home has been in my family, since it was built in 1963 and so I just I love that family and that, and that idea to me that's like thinking about the future and thinking about legacy, and how do we take care of not only what we have to do now, but also make sure we set it up for the next generation. Exactly, exactly, you have to look and have that foresight into decisions that you're making now how will they impact the future, and that can be anything from, you know, we put solar on our house. And that was one of the first things we did as well as weatherizing our attic and adding insulation. And I'm a mechanical engineer so I like to do a lot of that work by myself but through the support of nature of Burlington Electric and Vermont gas you know they have programs that you can take, take advantage of. And it wasn't just thinking the now it was looking at what's the return on investment for the, you know, solar, for example, and after seven years it's going to be paid back and you look at the rising cost of electricity and things and not just the cost but how is it good for the environment. And so, you know you don't want to waste energy so we insulated our attic we air sealed it we did ventilation we put the solar panels on switched everything to led light bulbs because it's, it's the right thing to do, but it also is making the house more comfortable. And those types of programs I think are incredibly valuable and things that we should look at those are low hanging fruit things. Now, I have to ask though, a lot of those programs are paid for by tax dollars. So, actually that comes that makes Burlington less affordable. So, while those programs are good in that they help people. If it makes Burlington less affordable, do you think that we should continue to support those kind of measures. Well, that's a complex question because while you can say it would make it less affordable you yourself if you take advantage of it or kind of getting your own money back and then it would pay itself back with the offsets that you would gain. So, if you have an incredibly leaky house and you're wasting a lot of energy, then insulating an air sealing can save you a lot of money, you know and solar off that that again, you know the investment is large that's a federal, you know, kind of program but the net metering. You know, that helps pay you back and then you have a return on investment so while some of those programs may increase the cost, you have to look at the overall net good and then overall, what does it do for you personally. So, I know for me when I did the analysis on my house, it was beneficial for me to take advantage of that program. And overall, it saved the environment as well which is something you know you don't waste energy. Okay, well I'm good. We can we're going to argue about this, but hold on I'm getting a weird. Any of our viewers that are watching are you getting an interruption in the feed I'm getting this weird feedback over here that says interruption and signal. Can somebody comment. So hold on and but before I forget, anybody watching this is not a one way conversation if you have questions for Alec, put them in the comment section. And if, and if they're good questions as long as you're not being rude or crazy. I'll read your question and have Alec read it. I've, I never have weird viewers Alec just for the record. But, you know, every once in a while people get all height. Like when we're talking about this stuff because I'm going I'm like, I want to argue with you about the Vermont gas thing, because we did we did that we had the energy audit. And I was going to save the whole house about $200 a year. So that's me. That's not a lot. No. And guess how much it was going to cost me. Oh, probably 6,000 $14,000. Yeah, so that payback is rough that that would make a lot of sense. Your house from a weatherization standpoint is already where it needs to be, you know, and if you look at the city, the city has a goal that they're trying to reach. So if you look at the larger picture of that and see the forest for the trees, you know, the overall benefit out of some of the major egregious, you know, houses that are leaking air and you know could use this the overall net goal is positive. So that's where that's where it kind of is is an individual, you know, I know I see it. It's kind of in the sink. I know it's good. It's good to have disagreements in, you know, going back to when you said questions from from viewers. Yeah, is I will take any feedback from anybody, whether it's positive, negative or indifferent, as long as it's constructive feedback doesn't kill you and should be welcomed with a thank you. I'll say that that first and foremost. Yeah, well, and, you know, I'm always going to say stuff like that is bad, just for the record and just because I am a small government conservative. And so I think anytime that you're taking, and I'm very libertarian so I'm the girl that puts hashtag taxes are theft on half my videos and like abolish the Fed and stuff like that so let's just start there. Okay, we have one question from Michael this is not a serious question but I'm going to and he can't vote for you. So just for the record but it doesn't doesn't matter it's good to answer question. I, but I'm going to because Michael picked for and anybody like this isn't this is not a paid advertisement Michael Valdez top cat is awesome driver I have him pick me up from the airport whenever I'm flying in or out because it's just nice. He's got a nice car, and it doesn't smell weird and he doesn't play bad music. And he's professional he's like an actual driver, like not like a overdrive I mean like actual like driver person that's paid for it like legit. So anyway, so I'm humoring him. He said, what's your favorite kind of taco beef or chicken. I don't know I mean if only those two choices that's all I that's all I get. I'm going to go with the beef taco in that case. Yeah, I think that wins I don't know if what Michael's going to say but that would be my choice. Um, no seriously okay um let's see. Brian says five by five currently only one interruption I don't know what five by five means Brian, but you said only one interruption okay so that's good. So whatever it's doing on this on my screen is not continuously happening to be fair I don't see anything on my screen. Okay, that's good. Michael says chicken you're wrong Michael, you're dead wrong. You know I appreciate his input. Yeah you can't please everybody, but I appreciate his opinion. Yeah, we're vetoing that one. Seriously, one of the things I really like about your platform I'm going to go to your I'm going to share your website with people. Here we go. Here we go. Um, so public safety, housing and affordability, local focus environment okay so local focus we you mentioned a couple times I think. Um, what is tell us a little bit more about what you mean by local focus. Yeah so what I mean is not bringing forth resolutions that are on a state or on a national or international level, you know, keeping politics for Burlington in Burlington, and keeping it serious you know, not bringing forth non binding resolutions or the like, or even discussing subjects that there is no influence from the city for. So, like, so, like, if, since Burlington City Council is about governing Burlington, you should be focused on Burlington. Correct. And, and I actually really appreciate what you said about being serious and the non binding resolution stuff. To me that's political theater. And really kind of a waste of time for the city council to be doing. But people feel, you know, talking to them that the council is fractured and, you know, it gets distracted and sometimes divisive things get brought up that really don't serve the people well. And it should be about the people and for the people. And, and that's what the city needs to focus on, keep it small and keep it about the city and bring that civility back in that focus back to the local politics that are what should be discussed and the only things that should be discussed. That's what I, that's what I mean so make it less of. I guess the people who don't feel that it's taken seriously, you know, or that it's not about them or for them. Yeah, you know, I think we need to get back to that. Well, and I almost am of the mind that local politics shouldn't even be partisan. I know some states, some places it's not. And personally, that would be my preference. I'm not really sure what a D or an R or an I or an L or a P or whatever it behind your name matters when it comes to needing to make sure that the water stays on. Exactly. Our infrastructure doesn't fall apart. It doesn't matter what the letter next to your name is what matters is making the right decision for the community. And that's why the GOP as well as the Democratic committee both support me, because it doesn't, it doesn't matter it shouldn't be partisan. It should be whatever is the best logical decision to help the city move forward. I like it. Okay, so tell me about this first one this first quadrant that tells me that's important. I might be reading into a Alec public safety is very important. And it's on the forefront of a lot of people's minds, myself included, you know, and the way that the public safety initiative for cutting the police through attrition went down. I do not believe that that is the right way. I think a lot of people see that it was not the right way to go. And if you think about it, the plan should have been in place for refunding, if you're going to defund long before the defunding cord was pulled on that so you know if shifting funding over to mental health and substance abuse is the right plan. And that's what say the CNA report or other communities or and other communities that are similar sized went through. That's wonderful but we need to have the plan in place we need to have people trained and ready to do the job. So when officers do leave through attrition, and we get down to the number that is recommended or what we think or other people think and the data shows that we should be at those positions are full and ready to go. The dispatchers know who to call who needs to be at a given situation is ready and trained there's a long lead time for training on any job. You know, I'm a manufacturing guy so there's a long lead time on raw materials and getting people trained, and you have to think about those things it's not an instantaneous backfill. I wonder if you've ever had to do this where, like when I've had to implement a new accounting system as an example for a client. We run both systems concurrently. So we don't just stop using their old accounting software, and then just start using the new accounting software. There first has to be like a download of the information, then we have to double check that it's not corrupted and that it's good. And in the meantime, we're still doing all of our regular accounting in the old system. And then we're slowly making sure this new system is working correctly. Exactly. All the bugs are worked out and then once we know, and it's and it's running alongside, then we switch. Exactly. And my company did that when we transitioned to a newer ERP system from an older system, you know, you run them concurrently you bring the stakeholders who are involved to the table. And you actively engage them to gain their feedback and listen actively listen to what they're saying, and how we can mitigate the risk when we do transition into a new system so we do that. You know, in work we do this and we should do this in life and this should do this in the way the government is run plan to check act you know PDCA those, those types of methodology same thing would say double loop management where you get your feedback back and you make adjustments and you move. Those are the fundamental principles of making solid data driven decisions. What do you think it and I'm totally asking you to speculate here and so you can decline to answer. But do you have an idea of why this was so hastily done. I can't speculate because I can't get inside other people's heads. Yeah. So I really can't comment and I wouldn't try to do that because they have different views, different opinions and, you know, those same opinions should be listened to and understood. But I can't speculate as to why they were made without getting, you know, without that you can't be somebody said. Right, exactly. And I think that that's what, you know, for me, I don't want to speak to motive, but I will say it seems like our city council makes a lot of emotional decisions. People get very emotional about a topic one way or another. And it's like, it just has to be done right now. Instead of, like, no, let's work this out first and make sure what we're saying is is reasonable. I have a plan in place to actually act on, you know, you plan it, you do it, you check it, you act at PDCA, you know, I'll go back to that because that really is a way to make a data driven decision. And, you know, then keeping with a consistent pattern for voting on the city council or making decisions, you know, with regards to public safety and, you know, you can't jump back and forth and try to go to two different sides. You have to own the decision you make and then use data to drive yourself forward listening to the stakeholders and improve. Yeah. And that's the, the whole crux of it is to try to do what is right to improve the community. Well, and I think what was what was additionally alarming about that whole situation is once we saw what was happening and the and the mass exodus of of Burlington police which I can't blame them for the record like I wouldn't want to stay in a police force where I'm hated and degraded by the people that I'm meant to protect and then the people who are meant to stand up for me also demean and degrade me in public. It should be a partnership. It should be a partnership between, you know, every department in the city and the people, not just the police but every department. And not to say and get like just to be really clear if there are people acting badly, they should be dealt with. So we'll I just want to say that. Like, once we saw things were going badly, and like, oh crap, crime is going up and like, oh, and we don't have cops to deal with it. Like, they still didn't want to do anything about it. Yeah. And I mean you see that on posts on front porch forum or the new North end, you know, bicycle thefts car being cars being broken into people's houses, even being broken into, you know, smaller level crimes or lower level crimes. But that makes people feel invaded, it makes people don't, you know, not feel safe in their own house and they have to double check their cars are locked they have to, you know, install cameras or motion sensors or security systems and this is Burlington. You know, and people say that can't happen but you know you see the posts and it's almost a daily occurrence for people saying my car was broken my car was stolen my bike was stolen. People were for walking up around my backyard and it makes you a little uneasy. Well and think about all the, you know, the, the older folks who live alone and can't necessarily defend themselves and single women, not to say that guys, you know, are like singled out but like you guys are less likely to be victimized if I'm a bad guy I'm going to go after the little old ladies or the little old lady or little old man, you know, and like, I was hearing and I live on the bike path and I kept hearing from the police that doors are getting kicked in and people are robbing people on the bike path and I'm going. Where am I, and a lot of it is crimes of opportunity as well people going around car doors opening any any unlocked vehicle. You see that you want to foster, you know, and you also want to partnership again with your police force and with other departments in the city you should be looking at it as a partnership, not an adversarial relationship. Oh, that's what I'm saying okay. Michael says for being a good sport to the question you get a free ride from top cat express to the airport. Smart advertising by Michael. I appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. I'm not flying anywhere recently. Well, maybe he'll give you another ride somewhere else. Maybe you want, if you want to go out on a date with your wife somewhere and you can bring the two small children right with me, you know, you get a babysitter. No. I've got a few more years before that. Okay, so here we go. We got housing and affordability. So we touched on that. You talked about, you know, wanting to, you know, what you and your wife did the decisions that you make and how you made, excuse me, and how you set yourselves up to be homeowners in the north end. And then, you know, to dovetail on to that, you know, we can, we grew our family, right? So we had my son and then we said, you know, we want, we want two children. We wanted a four, you know, four person family. This house is that we purchased is a little small. Let's say it was a two bedroom home, which is modest fine and great. And we said, Hey, you know, we have an opportunity to expand this to being a three bedroom home and subsequently did that. So now we have a three bedroom, you know, bedroom addition on there. And part of housing and affordability is increasing the housing stock but it's also changing some zoning regulations that would allow people to, you know, construct additional dwellings, you know, accessory dwellings or expand their homes if it's lot coverage percentage or setbacks, you know, looking at things like that, how can you incentivize people to improve their houses and how can they grow if they need to to stay in this city because that was one of the issues that we had. Well, if we can't expand it, we're going to end up buying a house and selling it and moving into another one where we could have, you know, a little bit more room for each one of our children, but we didn't want to do it. We want to stay here. And fortunately, I had a friend who was a contractor, I hired him, paid him and, you know, he didn't give me a discount, but I paid him. And then I did a lot of the finishing work and other work by myself. And at night and on the side, I did that while I was going to to graduate school. So it was a lot of fun, a lot of dust. And it was, it was good, but I have hands on experience from from jobs prior so I love it. I, and I love to hear you say dealing with some of the zoning, because it is ridiculous and it is outrageous. And you know, Merrill, Merrill Weinberger, you know, for, you know, like him you may not in that that's okay but he did put forth the plan to increase the development of housing stock by relaxing some of the zoning regulations. But yeah, except Merrill Weinberger has also directed their city attorney to force us to remove one of our three units. So this is what we're literally being punished. There is a rule a 60 day ordinance that says, if your is if your unit is vacant for more than 60 days you lose whatever special use permit you have. So we've had a triplex here since 1963. And so because several years ago my family did a full renovation on one of the units, new floors, new kitchen, new cabinets, new bathtub, new sink, new bat, everything. We are now being forced to remove it because it took more than 60 days. Yeah, well I can't speak to your specific. Hold on, hold on. So Sarah Carpenter, Ollie Dang and Mark Barlow all refuse to talk to me about it. And so does the mayor, and they refuse to do anything even though they know and acknowledge how stupid it is. Well, again, while I can't speak to your specific instance, I would say that anybody should be listened to and heard and at least listened to. So that's really all I could say. But changing zoning to allow things maybe like yours again, I don't know the exact specifics on yours, your case, but allow people to utilize their property and either add a unit because that could be a unit that could help somebody. Oh yeah, I have to evict my tenants. I spoke to another another gentleman who I'm going to let me be clear how they don't want people to evict and they want people to be good landlords and not be slumlords and not evict people. They are forcing me to evict my tenants. I just want to make sure that's clear. Again, I don't know your the specifics of your so I can't really make any comments as to why ever you can I want you on the ordinance committee. That's what I'm like making it. Alec. I'm making a personal request that you request. You know, that's one thing about being nonpartisan is also no, no special treatment for anybody. No, you have to admit that's a stupid rule. You have to admit that's a stupid rule. Yeah, you know that that rule if it's vacant for more than 60 days it revokes a special use that that may not make much sense. So why why do you need a special you know we could get into this why you need a special use instead of it just being I don't know. Because we're in a low density residential area. Yeah, so changing some zoning are allowed changing some zoning and allowing things like that would be something that should be looked into, you know, allowing people to build on their homes to expand so they can stay here. You know I spoke to a gentleman who was interested in having a detached garage you want to change that into an accessory dwelling and he said well you know I don't think with the zoning I'd be allowed to do that it's like well that could add a unit or a short term rental that could provide him income as well as tourism dollars so not something that necessarily should be done but should be looked into and at least discussed you know that's part of being innovative is not coming up with something new but using what you have in new ways. Well, and I think it's really also what we talked about earlier which is, what did you say, plan plan to check act, check, check. Are these rules that you implemented having the desired effect that they were implemented for I sincerely cannot imagine for 1000 years why a rule like that would have been implemented. I really don't I maybe. I really can't I can't I literally cannot think of one reason why that would be a rule. You know I, but my head I can't but I'm sure there was a reason and understanding what that is would be beneficial to find out that reason is still valid. And that's what I'm saying like whatever reason that you implemented this, maybe there should have been carve outs maybe there should have been like oh this is only for whatever, or blah blah blah, and I'm not just talking about my rule. I'm actually working on a documentary to really highlight all the ways that Burlington city zoning and stuff is actually demonstrably harming. Normal middle class, lower class folks. A good friend of mine is actually now selling her property because she is like I'm over it. They had one of their apartments in one of the old houses in the old north end so like downtown area. One corner of one room was a quarter inch too low. So not the whole apartment, not, not even a whole room, one corner of one room was only six foot 11 and three quarter inches, and they forced her to remove that housing unit from the house. I can't again without knowing exact specifics on rules and that for that specific situation I can't really, I can't comment but what I can say is you know expanding housing stock expands the tax base building new units, allowing people to stay in their buildings, build additional rooms, build accessory dwellings where applicable and where it makes sense allows the tax base to expand, tax base expands overall, you know money taken in by the city is spread out. Tax liability goes up, businesses go up, this is what I'm saying oh my god see this is what, see, see, I just agree with you about some stuff right but you can do math Alec this is what I'm talking about. It's like growing businesses right incentivizing people to start businesses in Burlington you know. Well, and this is because what what is actually happening is the rise in in taxes and these zoning laws that are absolutely stupid. In my opinion I'm not supposed to talk like that my husband told me to stop calling things stupid, but they're stupid. Um, what that does in what it has the effect of doing is causing people to leave. You know how many families just keep leaving because they can't afford it anymore, or it doesn't make sense, or they can't expand their home, or they're on fixed income and the tax increases are too much, you know fill in the blank. Yeah, people are sticking from the reappraisal right now. There's a couple more bonds on the ballot in March. Got one more bond, it believes going on the vote on Monday as well as a tax increase, which is wild to me, and the school board budget is going up 13%, which I know that has nothing to do with you. But I just I say to myself, what are these people thinking. Yeah, so it gives you even more, you know, of an idea about how we should be drawing businesses into the city and expanding our tax base in general. Yeah, and that that's that's one way to keep it affordable. I was looking at places where you can be more innovative with, you know, your resources that you have in the city or departments in the city. Yeah, what are you looking at your, your overall operation where can you be more efficient. And this is what I what what is so disgusting and shocking to me is when we're all like you said stinging from the reappraisal. I can't imagine what was going through them and and many of us had our businesses shut down. We lost money we lost jobs people got sick, etc and so forth. And how irresponsible it is for our school commissioners and our city counselors and our mayor and the department heads to think that increasing asking for even more money from us would be appropriate. You know, so I can I can see both sides of the coin though on that one because certain things if you know the bond that's coming up that they're going to vote on tomorrow is are necessary things or things for public safety. Now is it the right time to ask more money or did you did they ask for money for things in the past. You know you can't change what they asked for in the past and what past on the, you know, I keep saying past but it's what has passed through the voters at the voters approve it. That's what the voters approve. You know so some of those things if you read them in the bond are are viable right you know upgrading the. Why I read it, but why is it the response. Why would the city think it's okay to ask for more money from us, instead of cutting their budget and living within their means, just like we as homeowners and business owners have to do. I think it should be, you know, twofold I think first you should be looking at where can you gain efficiencies and how are you using your resources. And then once you hit that level of efficiency that you feel like you can't really go further on that's when you should approach and look you know we do that from a manufacturing standpoint we're not going to install a new, you know, twin screw extruder when we have capacity that we could gain through efficiency on our existing machines. That reminds me somebody was supposed to send me the detailed budgets. I'm going to write this down so I don't forget. I'm going to audit the city budget. I'm going to do a detailed audit of the city budget and the school board budget to actually highlight that stuff because I think people really don't understand what we're spending our money on. And frankly, personally, when the city is spending money on things like flower pots and bike lanes, and we're still having sewer back up into our basements. And, and we have crumbling infrastructure. Like, why are we spending money on art stuff. I'm an artist. I benefit from those things. We've gotten artistic grants my husband's an artist. But when the city, when the people who live in the city can't afford to live here anymore, and the taxes are so outrageous. Why do you think it's, why do you think we spend money on things like art, like city art or public art displays like flower pots. Like, so that's what I just don't understand how somebody can say we want Burlington to be affordable, and then also be for, for taking money, more money from people to pay for pet projects, like bike lanes and stuff. Yeah, I think you need to look at what you spend money on and you need to spend it on the right thing at the right time. I mean, while those projects may be good projects, they might not be timed right to spend money. But overall, you may want to do those types of projects, but you have to make sure that you're spending the money wisely when you do spend it. You know, it can't be, oh my gosh, but it has to be things like, you know, hey, if the bike lane makes sense, or city beautification to draw people in. Do you spend that money now when you have say you just said oh sewer backing up, you know, what is the, what's what's the highest, you know, risk that you should spend on to mitigate before you. Oh, I will like, there's no way FMEA, you know, well I can say like no money should have been spent on the McNeil redo, not make me I'm sorry the frickin stupid structure. Yeah, like that crap. We never should have redone the city hall park. If we have if our infrastructure is so bad that it's backing up sewage into people's basements. And then those are the things that should be focused on first. I'm so sorry I've gone down a total rabbit trail with you. It's really hitting me right now how silly it is. It's really about fiscal responsibility and transparency and choosing the right projects at the right time. And those projects are things that you know people want to do and I respect that. I get it. When you want to do them and when's the right time to do them is a is a different different story. So, you know what you like you want you guys want to redo the Moran plant. Cool, fine, whatever, but get private money to do it or do it not when we have sewage backing up into our basements. I'm one of the people who had sewage back up into their basement. So, but it's not just me. I know a bunch of our neighbors have had it happen. Well, you know, like the police and fire department need new communication equipment. You know, so things like that that enhance public safety, you know those types of projects or, you know, we have the city put forth a really nice, you know, climate change action plan. But like the firehouse has single pane windows. So, you know, we need to walk the talk and not just talk the talk as as a city and it's looking at where are we going to gain. The biggest, biggest gain for a dollar. Yeah, what's the right thing to spend on at the right time. That's that's that pragmatic approach. Okay, so you have an actual question from one of your actual possible voters. I like all questions it's it's good to ask questions. Okay. Oh wait, hold on. Okay, wait, I'll start with this question. Okay. In an effort to complete my home efficiency faster would Alec support changing some requirements and programs for efficiency, which require you to use contractor of their choosing and just Wait, okay, hold on. They said my home was pretty tight and I didn't need. So I think what he's asking is, hold on Ray, I want to make sure I'm getting your question exactly right. I'm just saying that for the efficiency they have to ask. Oh, I think what he's saying is with the city chooses yet. No, I think what he's saying is incorrect me Ray, if I'm wrong you're asking if I would support people doing a DIY approach rather than having to choose a contractor list to complete the projects. Right. I absolutely would as long as you can meet the, you know, the requirements and you have the skill set able to do that and that's absolutely something you should be able to do. You know, I did the installation and air sealing in my attic I opened up the soffits on my house and put in proper vents and open the ridge vent up on the up in my attic. I did that by myself. I constructed the, you know, a sealed hatch for my my drop down and out of catch and the city came, you know, not the city but you know Vermont gas came out did a blower door test on it and then came back and and showed that efficiency gate now if I didn't get to where I needed to be then I would not have qualified for for the program. But yeah, I think being able to do that work yourself as long as you have the level of confidence and complete the work. I don't see why you would not be allowed to do that or should not be allowed. You know, you're forced to hire a contractor if you can, if you can do the work that's like right now in the city, you know, you need to you have to pull a permit to change a light switch. Which you don't have to hire a contractor to do that you can do that yourself. If you work in a panel needs a contractor, and it's dangerous, you know, if you if you don't know what you're doing, you do run the risk of hurting yourself or others and and I see why certain things are there like you have to hire a licensed electrician to work inside of your panel, but you don't to change ceiling vent, but you need to pull a permit for it so certain things like that is that necessary to pull a permit to change a light fixture, you know, according to the standards of how it is. But, you know, you're not adding you're not adding a whole new circuit, but to his question. Yes, you know, air sealing insulating doing those efficiency projects. You know, you don't need a permit to blow insulation. Well, and especially Ray is a contractor. That's what's funny. That's what I mean, you shouldn't choose one, you know, off that I think if you can do it yourself. They should foster that because that's that spirit of Hey, I want to do better and you want to improve your house not only for yourself but people want to do it because it's the right thing to do for the environment. Well, and Ray, just for the record, Ray is awesome. Ray, I love the threshold from the family room to the kitchen. I haven't gotten to tell him this personally, but since he's watching, I'm going to give him a shout out. It looks so pretty. I came home and it's so pretty. Anybody who needs somebody to do work on their house. Ray is awesome. I shouldn't tell the whole neighborhood that because then he's going to be too busy to come. Is this like the, you know, the driver, he's going to say, hey, now you get one free contract? No, no, no, no, no. No, Ray is, Ray is, Ray is awesome. For people who don't know Ray Ingram, he's been a very good friend to me since I moved back in 2018. And he's just really, really kind and really good at what he does and he really cares, but I swear this isn't an advertisement. This is totally not planned. But, you know, allowing people to do that to raise point, you know, would help the city get more towards that goal, which everybody is trying to, you know, the city, I say everybody, but the city is pushing and a lot of people are trying to push. So incentivizing people to do work on their own and not hire a contractor, that might be a barrier to entry to some of these weatherization projects is having to hire a contractor. And a lot of people may want to, and that's great. But if you want to take the project on on your own, you know, I was up in my attic in August, you know, it was very hot, but we got it done. I, I, it's so funny. Christopher Aaron said Miro doesn't budget well. And I'm not, I'm not going to ask you to comment on that Alec. I will just say it is, it is interesting, because I think this is what I really, I think I've sort of noticed or realized about Burlington, particularly is that I heard this expression called pathological compassion. It's like, we want to be so compassionate that we go overboard sometimes, like, I've asked even Miro publicly like, you know, out at events and stuff I'm saying, why don't you cut the budget. You know, why is it that city, city employees actually make more than the average remonter. Why is it they have better benefits packages and salaries than an average Burlingtonian or Vermonter and he says well Erica what do you want me to do fire people or reduce their salaries. And I say, yes. Like, I don't understand why someone who whose salary is paid with tax dollars should make more than the people who pay the taxes. You know, maybe if you're some, if you're the city engineer and you're the one building the roads, maybe that guy gets paid more. But I just think that we are so we are generous to a fault. We just want to help everyone, and we just want to try to make everyone's existence comfortable. And I just don't think that that's a reasonable goal. I don't know. I don't know. If people are doing a really good job, you know, the people and say the DPW, you know, then we should be incentivizing them to stay and do a great job and paying them, you know, if they've been here, and they're working hard. Then that should be something we do pay them for, you know, you want to, it's just like in private industry, you know, people get raises every year for cost of living. They get incentivized to stay and to be a good worker. You don't want people leaving their jobs, whether it's in the city or private industry, to jump to another place, because they feel that you didn't treat them fairly when they do a good job. You know, and my philosophy is that the goal should never be to fire people, it should be to develop them and try to raise them up. You know, so if you have people who are working really hard, that's awesome and they should be rewarded as such. As long as it doesn't increase my tax dollars. Yeah, but you have people who are on the recycle truck in the middle of snow, you know, on the DPW guys and they are plowing the roads and they're working long hours and they're there at night and they're, you know, allowing you to get out of your driveway. I mean, you know, in the training, it takes a long time. Very important jobs, I agree, but like police officers only make like 50 grand. Why is it, why is it, why is somebody who works at a desk in City Hall making more than a police officer? I can't comment on that because I don't have specifics on it. But what I'm saying is if they have, say that person there has been there 30 years and they have been doing a fantastic job, you know, if you're at a job for 30 years, your wages are going to increase. Then I would encourage you to go to the private sector where you can make more money. And you're not, you know, it wouldn't be fair to say to somebody, oh, now that you're making more than this because you've been here 20 years, you're fired. That wouldn't be fair. That wouldn't be equitable to people. I just don't think those salary caps should even be that high. And that's a separate question on that. But, you know, there are a lot of jobs that are done. Oh, sorry, go ahead. There's a lot of jobs that are done that are difficult jobs. You know, police officer is a difficult job. And I would encourage people, you know, counselors, if they're going to be voting on things relating to police, they should do ride-alongs. You know, same thing with the TPW, maybe go down and do a ride-along with those guys filling potholes or taking out recycling and understand what those jobs are like. And, you know, how you can help those people and then fire and police and everybody give them the right tools to do the job. Ensure that they have the tools necessary to do the job and listen to their feedback. You know, when you make a decision, bring them in with you because those guys are the stakeholders, those men and women. And that's important to listen to that feedback. But if they're doing a great job, then they should be rewarded as such. You know, lead time for a police officer, even some, you know, lead time for any job, people in DPW, firefighters, that lead time for training and proficiency is long. It's long. So you don't want people to jump to another municipality or another, or into the private sector when they feel, if they feel slighted, you know, you want, if they're doing a good job, you want to reward them for that. I mean, maybe you want them to jump. We can disagree on those things from a pragmatic standpoint. We're going to continue to disagree on that because otherwise then the budget just keeps going up and up and up and up and up. And that's exactly how it is in the private sector as well. And not only that, but these people are all members of public sector unions. So they use their money to get politicians elected who then decide what their salaries are. And so I think that there's a really perverse relationship with public sector unions. I personally don't think that they should exist. I'm going to get hated for this saying it out loud. I don't think public sector, if let me let me rephrase that. I think if, if public sector unions want to exist, they should not be allowed to use money. They should not be allowed to donate to politicians. And we can, I don't want to go off the rails or off this type of a discussion, but yeah, what I will say is that, you know, if the people are doing their job well, then they should be rewarded and the long lead time for people. You need to incentivize people to stay and to do a good job. If they're doing a good job, they should absolutely be sincerely thanked and, you know, provided that growth and opportunity. And again, it's a partnership right with everybody on all departments. You know, and I look at this from, from my point of view, working in the private sector in the plant that I work in is that you want to partner with people you don't want to have that adversarial relationship and ideally you're giving everybody the right tool to do the job and finding out from them. That's that double loop management, you know, you listen back to them and find out, do you have the right tools for the job and gain their insights and gain their thoughts as stakeholders. Ray said they won't provide financial assistance because a homeowner was doing the work. Wow. Yeah, so you know, those are things that should be looked at because if you want to incentivize people to move towards that goal. You know, it's telling them, you know, Ray may maybe doesn't want to hire a contractor because he himself is contractor or because he doesn't have the funds to be able to do that and therefore he may just end up living without that weatherization that hurts him that hurts his comfort level and it hurts the movement towards the city school. Well, and I'm curious because my understanding is a lot of those weatherization items are are are going to be made mandatory. So it's one of those things where, again, where the city council and the mayor say things that sound good, and they sound positive right we all, I don't, I don't know anybody who doesn't want to have a nice clean environment and air and all these other things. But there is an ability to pay or not pay. So as an example, if I if if this were made mandatory and I had to pay 14, we don't make money on this house, like just to be clear. It is so expensive to pay our taxes are out of control. And we could raise our rents to full market rate, but we don't because we have a first responder and a social worker in one unit and a single mom in the other. And so we want to provide affordable housing and so we pretty much break even every year. And if I suddenly have to come up with $14,000 because these thermal energy updates are made mandatory. I mean, you're going to push it forward. I mean, you're not going to take a loss on it. I would logically think that you would not take a loss. What do you mean, like you wouldn't just cover the $14,000. Well, I can't cover the four. I personally can't cover the $14,000. So I would be forced to raise rents to market. And then, and then try to figure it out. I guess maybe I did. I did. I did a comedic short called the homeless landlord anybody can go watch it on my page. It is silly. And I joke that I go live out on the bike path because I can't afford to live in my own house. I'm literally getting there. The capital bond is going to increase taxes for sure. And they're they're they're telling us that this new capital bond is going to increase taxes. You looked at the schedule it's you know out at the end of the bond that lowers your taxes overall like at the end. I've never seen a decrease in my property tax bill. So I don't know where that money goes to, but it it'll be another bond that they issue or some other thing so not once in the 63 years that my family has owned this property have my our property tax bill gone has our property tax bill gone down. So, but to it. Again, it's just, we say that we want to have Burlington be affordable. And yet, we don't act in any way close to what would keep Burlington affordable and I just think that that's, that's, that's disappointing. Yeah, I know we want to stay in our house for a long time. You know we didn't we didn't buy this house just to be a starter home and flip it after, you know, X amount of years we want to stay here we want to raise our family here. And it needs to be affordable for us to do that. Amen. Amen. Okay, well I've been given I've been beating you up. Alan, talking about stuff. No, it's always a good discussion you know you're listening to different people's opinions different people's questions are how you make progress and again I don't take feedback personally. I don't take actions, you know people you can say whatever they whatever they want that's their freedom, you know, and feedback to me as long as it's constructive I don't mind if it's positive negative or or different feedback is feedback is great. The only thing you should say is thank you. And we get so it's easy to get stuck just talking to people who agree with us. And then we don't really understand why the other side thinks what they do. Why do they think that why do they think that's a good idea. Okay, yes. That sounds good but what about this and, and it really requires to me, I think, more than anything what I would like to see is some diversity on the city council and I don't, and I mean, ideological diversity. Where an actual debate can be had where people disagree, and then we can come to a consensus rather than just running all the way off the cliff without anybody saying boo about it. I agree I think it should be nonpartisan and I think you should be willing to bring you know different ideas to the table and hash them out discuss them. And then whoever concerns that decision bring those stakeholders to the table and give them a voice and listen to them actively listen to people. Yep, and bring that civility back but keep it local, you know don't look at it on that that state or national level if it can cannot be influenced if it's outside of your circle of influence, then don't, don't worry about it. Ooh, oh I was going to give you crap but I won't I was gonna I was going to give you a gotcha but I said I wouldn't do that to you. So I'm not going to. Um, but I'll ask you in private later next time I see you. Um, okay, so we've come around the hour, and I want to give you an opportunity to take a couple more minutes to just, you know, give your pitch to word seven. Um, you really you, we do have some of your voters on here with us tonight so this is really cool. That's awesome. You know, I'm glad people so thank you for coming out and listening to me I don't. I don't seek the spotlight. It's not something that I ever, I ever wanted. But when it's necessary, I felt compelled to step up and you know, having neighbors independently ask you if you would be willing to put yourself out there. I'm kind of nerve wracking, but you know ultimately if it if it can improve the lives of the people around me, that that's the goal so if you want pragmatic leadership who will listen and actively listen to people and use that analytical data driven plan do you want to take back methodology when making decisions, you know, understanding the human side of the equation as well. Then I think I can bring that back to the council that civility back to the council, and keep that focus on what really matters to the people out here, because I'm one of the people out here, and my family wants to be here. I'm really happy to be here. We plan on being here for a long time. And again, if I can help other people with that same vision, and that same want and desire, then that's that's what I will do and that's why I decided to to throw my name in there. And, you know, it's been a really interesting time and I really look forward to meeting more people understanding people's concerns with the ward, and with the city and how we can focus on issues together in a nonpartisan partnership type view with everybody to make progress in the city while keeping it affordable and moving towards the cities and the citizens goals inside the city. So thank you for listening to me, and I appreciate that. I like it. All right, boss. We will let you go for this evening. I wish you good luck in your endeavors and your race. Your website. Let me see, let me get back there. Make sure everybody knows I'll make sure that this is all in the description. Whoops, you don't want that. Alexstith.com. A-L-C-S-T-I-H. Yep. I like it. Easy, straightforward. So you got your platform. Say hi to his good looking family. Look how good looking they are. You know, and the last thing I will say is my name means helper of mankind. My parents picked that for a reason I aspire to be that way. You know, and I'm, you know, you asked my wife about that. It's, it's something that I think if you can leave the place better than when you had it, then that's the way to go. So, you know, that's something that I think is important to me, whether it's, you know, the environment or economically or socially, I think that that's, that's just something it's just try to do your best every day. That's all you can do. Excellent. Excellent. All right, Alec, I'm going to let you go. I'm going to take you out of the live stream and I know you probably have babies to get ready to bed. I have a two and a half year old who is probably sitting on the edge of his bed waiting for me to come in. Here's my story. Exactly. Exactly. It's the saddest thing, but it's also really, you know, it means a lot. He just, he'll wait for me. So I love it. I love it. I love it. Thank you so much for having me on your show. I do appreciate it. And again, alecstith.com, if anybody wants to check that out as always, feel free to reach out, send me an email, send me a message on Facebook. If you have any questions, I am available and I'd love to hear from people and it doesn't matter if you live in the ward or not. You know, I'd love to hear from you and just ask questions. I'm always willing to listen. You got Thursday before we go. You got Thursday nights, right? You're doing a live stream. Thursday and Saturday. Every Thursday until town meeting day, I am doing a virtual happy hour. So I am a home brewer. So come on, have a virtual beer. I'll have a virtual beer with you. I have an IPA that I have right now. So. Okay. Is that on your website? It is on my website. I'll have a new link updated now. The last one I just did was Saturday. So come on by. We can talk politics. We can talk beer. I want to listen to your concerns about what you think anybody's invited. Ask me questions. And just, we can get to know each other. I appreciate that. Thank you. Have a great one. Bye. All right, everybody. Thank you for being here with us this evening for listening for checking out Alec listening us to get to a debate about some of the tax stuff. Anybody who watches my channel watches my feed knows that I am a small government conservative. And so to me that means a lot of the things and services provided by the city government, state government, federal government really should be provided by you and me. We should be taking care of our neighbors not expecting some bureaucrat to do it for us so that is always going to be my stance. But I do really like Alec I like the way his mind thinks I like that he reasons through things. And, and you should vote for him. You should vote for him on town meeting day. And so as we leave this evening, I'm going to leave you with our another, another viewing of our commercial for our book Benjamin and I have our book publish reasons to trust the government. Of course, it is a very light read, and you should make sure to check the preview before you buy it but you can go to Amazon.com for 999 and be an owner yourself. Thank you everybody. Thanks for coming out tonight. Thanks for being here. And don't forget to go. Say hi to Alec and ask him questions, make informed decisions night everybody. We'll give you wings. What kind of wings not like Icarus wings like. What about drag? You'll have dragons blood. You'll be able to breathe fire fire like the ultra eagle. This book will make you smarter. Yes. I'm not just talking. I'm talking. You'll be so good looking. Brad Pitt will be jealous. Do you want to make money? How much money? Elon Musk money. That's a lot of money. People will think you're Elon Musk, but you're not Elon Musk, but they'll think you're Elon Musk. Because you pay taxes like Elon Musk. And you have to argue with Elizabeth Warren. Because she thinks you're Elon Musk. Do you want freedom? How much freedom? All the freedom. Blunt America. How much freedom do you want? America. Double America.