 Hello, and welcome to Town Meeting's TV coverage of Town Meeting Day 2024. This program is part of a series of forms that we are bringing you in advance of Town Meeting Day on Tuesday, March 5. Town Meeting TV hosts forums with all candidates and covers the questions that you see on your ballot, introducing you to community decision makers, and connecting you with issues that shape your local community. You can find all of our forums at cctv.org slash 2024, or on our Town Meeting TV YouTube channel, where auto-generated captions are available. On tonight's program, we will hear from two candidates running for South Burlington City Council. Those candidates are Linda Bailey and Lori Smith. Thank you for joining us. Thank you. We've prepared a list of questions for each of you, and you will have 90 seconds to answer each of them. If you are tuning in live, we also welcome your questions in at 802-862-3966. If you call in, we'll do our best to prioritize your questions, though we do screen calls to ensure that questions are not repeated. We ask that you share your name, the town you live in, and that your question be directed to all candidates, not just one in particular. Now, let's get started with one-minute opening statements. We'll start with Linda. Now, tell us why you're running and what makes you qualified to serve on the City Council. Okay. First off, thank you for everyone who is listening to us today or in the future, and thank you Sky and Town Meeting TV for having us. My name is Linda Bailey. It's the three-year seat that I'm going for, and I want to run because I care about our future. I have a whole batch of grandchildren. I want both South Burlington, Vermont, and the world to be a place where they can thrive and have a good life. I've been getting ready for doing this for the last two years. I've attended all sorts of City Council meetings, as well have attended a lot of the other committee meetings, so that I have a large amount of information, and I'm ready to hit the ground running on day one. Thanks. Great. Thank you. Go ahead with the same question. Sure. Thank you very much for having us here, and thank you, everybody, for being here tonight. I've been watching South Burlington grow for the last 14 years. I love South Burlington, and I'm grateful the direction of the growth and the thoughtful vision for our city's future. I'm very impressed with the work of the City Council and impressed with the awesome skill and professionalism and passion of our city leadership team. I'm qualified because of my background and skills as a builder and a lifelong business owner in Vermont with extensive municipal experience. I've held seats on the Shelburne Development Review Board, have been a municipal auditor for South Burlington Fire District number one for the past 10 years, and I'm currently a South Burlington Planning Commissioner. These skills will enable me to work collaboratively with all stakeholders to realize the goals that have been outlined in our city plan and our climate action plan while focusing on equity and fiscal responsibility and protecting our open spaces and natural environment. Right. Now, our next question is, do you support the proposed city budget of $64.9 million and associated 5.82% tax rate increase, and are there any aspects of the city budget that you would have liked to see changed? And we'll start with you, Laurie. Okay. I support and will vote yes for the city budget. The City Council worked hard with all departments to contain costs this year. They reduced the original draft budget, which was in excess of an 8% increase to 5.8 after facing intense inflationary forces between payroll, health insurance coverage, and COVID to mention a few. In real dollars, the 5.8% inflation budget adjustment or budget increase adjusted for inflation. This budget represents our city's operating budget on essentially a flat budget over the last five years. It contains critical investments for our city. It includes a second ambulance for our public safety. It includes a deputy fire chief, a new deputy fire chief, a new police deputy chief, and a new public works director, deputy director. All needed to support these essential services. We all want lower taxes and have to realize that continued urban sprawl and lower taxes are incompatible. We must focus on creating vibrant, livable, walkable, mixed-use communities. This is one reason the city plan focused on smart growth development. Fantastic. Thank you. And Lynn, the same question to you? Absolutely yes. I will be voting for this year's city budget. Next year I hope to do some more work on it, though. I think there are some places like the cost of our staff that are absolutely, we have a fantastic staff. We want to keep them and reward them so that they will stay here. Other places we need to look at are they needs or are they wants that we are looking at in our city? I know that the city budget was kept to a 5.82 increase by using ARPA money to cover climate change infrastructure from the climate action plan. I totally agree that climate change is real and that we need to be working on it. But I think we need to take a close look at both that and other things that we're doing in our city and make sure that we're getting a good return on our money. I am on the frugal side and I promise to do that for the city now. Thank you. Now let's move on to the school budget. So do you support this year's school budget of $71.2 million and associated tax increase of 18.26 percent? And how would you address the challenges facing the state education fund and the impact on Burlington schools and taxpayers? And we'll start with you. Yep. The school budget is really hard. It came as a big shock to everyone what the results of the 127 Act that is changed how our funding through the state is happening. A lot of that this year certainly is going to depend on what the state does to try to rectify some of that. This sort of an increase is going to hit a lot of the pocketbooks in South Burlington really hard. A lot of people like myself are on fixed income. I think that one thing that we could do for going forward in the future is see if there are ways that the city and the schools can practice synergy to do things together so that the full cost doesn't land on either one. Schools are at the heart of a community where our young people learn and learn about our community and our members. We need to support it and I'm happy to. Thank you. Go ahead. I will vote yes for our school budget if it's on the ballot on March 5th which is still in question surprisingly. However, this budget increase for our schools is outrageous and to me unacceptable. And almost every resident that I've spoken to while canvassing the city has expressed extreme frustration. The funding system for our schools right now is broken and it must be fixed. It's not the responsibility of the city council but the city council must actively engage with the school board, the legislature and the governor in ensuring that this problem gets fixed. For the sake of our taxpayers, for the sake of our children and for the sake of our future. Excellence in education is the bedrock and foundation of our community and this issue will require all hands on deck to solve and I empathize with everybody who has frustration over this issue. Thank you. Thank you. Now let's talk about the water storage bond. So do you support the 5.75 million dollar bond to build a water storage tank in South Burlington? We'll start out with you, Laura. Absolutely yes. We're in your capacity with our water storage for our city system and more capacity is needed. Public Works Department which is doing an awesome job has conducted careful analysis and have decided that two identical tanks equal resiliency and cost efficiency and will allow for flexibility for our system going forward. So that's a yes. You get a yes from me as well for pretty much all the same reasons that Lori just gave us. The tank that is currently there, it's our high capacity tank, it's at 98% usage. We need a little more redundancy in the system than that. So that if there's issues with one tower we have the other one to fall back on and just we're a growing city. We need more water. Thank you. Great. Now let's talk about policing. What does effective policing look like in South Burlington and Linda we'll start with you. Okay. We have a pretty good police force. Captain Burke works very hard and very well with other entities in the city. I know that his biggest challenge right now is strictly recruitment. They could fill a few more seats and they wouldn't be stretches then. I find from talking with him and others that a lot of the problems that the police are dealing with now are actually social service type of issues from drug use mental issues and that which takes a lot of time. We are working with the Howard Center to help with these, when these calls come up I'd like to see us exploring even more ways that we can help support our police department and our freerler citizens. Thank you. Lori. Yeah. So our South Burlington Police Department is what effective policing looks like. Chief Burke and his officers are an exemplary police force focused on compassionate community facing public safety. Their coordination with the Howard Center for Mental Health and Substance Abuse Support is an example of their excellent work. And they're really in need of support from the criminal justice system in our state. Repeat offenders are often moving through a revolving door. We need to appropriate, we need appropriate detention, intervention and rehabilitation to alleviate the frustration for our police and our community. And I fully support everything that our police department is doing. Now, where do you differ from other candidates in your proposed approach to the opioid crisis? And what are the most important initiatives South Burlington can undertake to address this crisis? And we'll start with you, Linda. Okay. As I mentioned in the last question about the police system, social services are a big part of it. I don't really have a opioid and addiction platform and I don't think I've heard of anything particular in the city going on. I think our best bet is to reach out to the experts, find out what are evidence-based ways to help the citizens in our community. Thanks. Lori? So it is a crisis, the opioid crisis, and it's a systemic national problem. And for us to deal with it in our community, we need to have a multi-pronged approach. We need to really find out how to get the drugs off the streets. We need to address how the drugs are getting to our city. We need to deal with the dealers and distribution. On top of that, we need to have effective addiction treatment, rehab, and support in helping our addicted citizens rebuild healthy lives. We need mental health support for those who are vulnerable. And we need early intervention education and mentoring for our at-risk residents. And this is going to be a problem that's going to take a lot of effort for us to get a handle of and hopefully get solved. Thank you. I'll shift gears a bit and talk about development. Now, what is an example of development in South Burlington that you're proud of and what role should the City Council play in guiding new development across the city? And Lori, we'll start with you. Thank you. I'm particularly proud of City Center and, in particular, City Hall with its library and community center. And the connection of City Center to the redevelopment of the University Mall is going to really have an impact on what the outcome of that project is going to be. It has the potential for inviting, being of an inviting, vibrant, dynamic downtown. We can have a park, restaurants, shops, pedestrian focused and family oriented. We want it so that people want to work and live downtown. We need to maintain focus on completion of the TIF district, provide needed budget funding to help offset, which will provide needed budget funding to help offset taxes. The City Plan 2024 is the guiding vision for development. And the City Council is responsible for implementing that plan, which is focused on creating vibrant multi-use neighborhoods throughout our city. We want walkable, bikeable, open spaces, neighborhoods where we can work, shop, recreate and live with less reliance on our cars. We need to focus on quality of life, which is what keeps our city vital. And protecting our natural resources will keep us desirable. Thank you. Okay. Development in our city. Has Laurie said City Center is one of our newest pieces that is being developed now? Some buildings are already up. The buildings that are going to, that are planned to be added are about 650 new homes. Those are buildings, however, already being built in conjunction with UVM and will be mainly for grad students, hospital personnel, things, people like that. So we need other types of building going on in our town for people who are going to be permanent residents. That's one thing the O'Brien Farms, which though I know it still looks a bit new and raw, is going to be a beautiful place. I would like to see the city develop more park space. The city owns and controls a lot of land. I'd like to see more of it develop as usable park space for all the new residents that are coming to our city. Thanks. Now, the newly adopted 2024 South Burlington City Plan states to meet the city's climate goals, the community needs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 60% by 2030 and by 95% by 2050. So what will you do as city councilor to pursue these goals? And Linda will start again. Start with me again. Okay. Greenhouse gases are the biggest part of climate change, obviously. One of the biggest issue, generator of them in the state by about 48% is transportation. So we're not going to solve that all by ourselves. This is one of the many places that I think working regionally with other cities and towns in our area will get us the best bang for our buck. Whether it's from the social service needs, whether it's retail theft, whether it's climate change, all of those are not things that stop at the city's borders. They are cross-border and we need to work together on them. Thank you. Laurie? I agree with Linda, but climate change is actually a global as well as local crisis. And South Burlington emissions reduction will not have a big impact on global CO2 emissions. That it will prepare our community for a fossil fuel free future and make our communities more resilient as our climate changes. We need to reduce energy use through focused conservation efforts and citywide weatherization of all buildings. We need to increase renewable electricity production and make it accessible to all residents. We need to increase electricity service and reliability. And we need to ensure that energy efficient construction and reduced building sizes are a focus of all our new buildings. We need to move space heating away from fossil fuel use. We must focus on equity and affordability so that these measures will be accessible to all our residents. And we have to focus on transportation. We need to work with regional partners to develop efficient, interconnected public transportation system, create fully connected bike, ped and transportation and recreation network and focus development on infill and higher density, vibrant, walkable and interconnected neighborhoods. Great. Thank you. Now let's talk a bit about that transportation. So sometimes there's a trade off between accompanying car traffic and making the city safer for bikers and walkers. So do you think that the city needs more bike bus and walk for friendly infrastructure? And how would you improve South Burlington's transportation infrastructure and systems? Yep. Our bike and ped committee has done a lot of work and improved a lot of the walking areas. They've added crosswalk signals on Williston Road at JC Park on Patron Road and other places in the city. We have to face it though. We are a transportation through place for a lot of the businesses in the area. The college, the hospital, places down in Burlington, south and north of us. So we do need to figure out how to manage our main transportation corridors and keep them still safe for the people who live here. I believe that there is a task force would be a good way to get any information we don't already have, but we have such a good city staff that I suspect they're already in the works with that sort of stuff. The things like the new bike and ped bridge crossing 89, that will help people get across from what is really something that cuts across the ability of most of our residents to reach Burlington or Burlington to reach our area. So I think that will be a big help in our transportation. One of the other things that I would like to see is perhaps more bus transportation within our city. I think it might be able to be done best by using small vehicles like SSTA uses to take people around. We don't always need full-size buses going in and out of the different neighborhoods. But if it was available by the smaller routes, it might be something that would be very useful and help cut down transportation. And again, regionally, can we have places outside of the city where that would be a hub for buses to stop and pick up people who park their cars when they drive in from Jeffersonville and St. Albans and the different areas that people are living these days because they can't find housing close enough to their jobs. So a multi-pronged approach might be best. Thank you. Laurie? Drivers, bikers and walkers, currently infrastructure is focused on car transportation. And this needs to change if we're going to change how we all move around our city. We need to make it safer and more convenient for our walkers and bikers and focus on reducing traffic, especially the number of daily car trips taken by our community members. The bike pit infrastructure needs to be completed, both on and off our streets, and we need to work to develop an easy and convenient public transit system. So it becomes easier and more desirable for our residents to utilize these other modes of transportation. In developing the transit system, we need to coordinate with our regional communities to ensure that the systems are effective, interconnected, and efficient. Thank you. Thank you. Now, data from the American Community Survey shows that about 4% of South Burlington's population, or roughly 800 residents, speak little to no English. How can the city meet the language access needs of its residents? Laurie? Can't meet first. I got that one right here. There we go. Language access. The city of Burlington has language access policy that I think would be an important document for South Burlington to review. It includes language identification tools, in-person interpretation services, and written translation services. Unfortunately, as with any additional city services, language access services would be subject to budget constraints. To envision a consistent and comprehensive approach, the city could designate an employee or volunteer from the community to begin to identify language access needs within our city. Laurie, great points, and I basically agree with them. Though in today's world, with the computer translation that's available, I think that adding that sort of program to our city website would be one place to start that hopefully would be relatively inexpensive. The biggest part is finding out which languages that we need, and that's one of the data collection things that we have in place to use. So basically reaching out, finding out what languages do people need things in, then making sure that those tools are available on our website and available for meetings, and then letting people know that they're there. That's often the biggest part is people don't realize that a service is there until you reach out to them. Great, thank you. As a candidate and an elected official, how would you gather input and balance differing perspectives from your own constituents? And how would you ensure that you're hearing a wide range of voices and not just the loudest ones? Linda, we'll start with you. Yep, I think that reaching out to the community is one of the biggest things that we need to do. It is unfortunately the loudest voices that most often get heard. I would like to set up something where they're into the public realm. Front Porch Forum I think reaches a lot of people, though we'd have to check if that was viable, and put a brief synopsis of what upcoming city council meetings are talking about, the results of the last one, progress reports on big projects in the city in places that people can reach them. I'd also like to see something like listening sessions done at various times of the day and the week, perhaps using one of the library rooms, could make a good place to do that. Thank you, Lori. Great points, Linda. Thank you. My goal when I'm on the city council, if when, is to remain in contact with our residents. I plan on creating a support team to help me without reach and provide feedbacks from areas throughout the city. I will encourage residents to attend council meetings and get involved in our democratic process by volunteering for one of our committees or finding other ways to engage and make sure their concerns are being addressed. I will also work with our city staff who are working hard on improving our two-way communication between our residents and government. I'll seek creative solutions to our city's issues through collaboration, seeking common ground in conflict and striving for consensus. Great, thank you. Now for the last question, could you tell us a little bit about why you care about your work, why you care about and want to work as a city councilor for the community of South Burlington and what are your favorite spots and why do you live here? Lori, we'll start out with you. So, I've lived in Chittenden County for almost 50 years, and I've lived in Burlington, Shelburne, and now live in Queen City Park where I've lived for the past 14 years. I prefer South Burlington by far. It's perfectly located between the lake and the mountains, has easy access to all the services and amenities that I enjoy, and has enabled me to leave my car parked in my driveway for days at a time. I have parents, believe it or not, children and grandchildren all living in South Burlington or close by, and I love that they are attracted to the beauty and easy access to open spaces and recreation that I enjoy. I am dedicated to protecting our open spaces and ensuring that our city increases its resilience and adaptability as we face these escalating climate issues. Thank you, Linda. I am a native Vermonter. I've lived both in LaMoyale County and for the last 20 odd years here in Chittenden County, the last dozen here in South Burlington. I like it here. It has, as Lori said, it has all of the amenities and the things that you need. We are in the heart of the highest concentration of both jobs and services in the whole state. It makes it a very desirable place to be. My family lives in the area, almost all of them here in Vermont. Some of them just a five-minute walk away from where I am. So that's another draw for me, of course. One of my favorite places in the city is my back deck, where I can hear the kids over at J.C. Park all summer long practicing their football moves, having softball games. I go by and kids are playing in the sandbox and on the children's climbing toys. There's teenagers playing in the basketball court. That's such a great hub and I want that for all the places in our city so that everyone has a community space like that in a quick walks distance. Thank you. And if you'd like, we can do a quick 30-second closing comments. Sure. All right. Linda, we'll start with you. Okay. There have been a lot of ideas and issues talked about tonight. It's good. We need to air the issues and know what's going on. What we need, though, going forward, is to look at things through the lens of what is our cost-benefit return. We can't spend our money on painting a tree blue when we need to paint a crosswalk on the roadway. So we need to look and think about what we're doing and how it's going to affect the bulk of the citizens. Great. Lori? I absolutely agree that we have to be very careful with our budget and focus on how we spend our money and make sure that it is being used for the best interest of all our citizens. And that has to include thinking about how our future is going to unfold and how we make sure that we are both resilient and adaptable to the significant changes that are coming our way. Climate change is not an option in terms of being addressed, and we need to focus clearly on that as we address all the other primary issues of importance to our city. And thank you all very much for being here tonight. Yes, and thank you both for being here tonight. And thank you for tuning in to TownMeeting's TV ongoing coverage of local candidates, local budgets, and ballot items. 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