 So welcome to our third annual Local Candidate Spotlight. Tonight we will hear from eight candidates who are running for local office from all over Vermont. We will also hear from our special guests, alum and former Middlebury Select Board Member Esther Charleston, Burlington Mayor Monroe Weinberger, Secretary of State Sarah Copeland-Hanses, and Treasurer Mike Peechak. We'd like to thank our many sponsors for this evening and especially the members of Men for Emerge Vermont who are our allies and advocates to support our work of recruiting and training more women to run for office. A lot of people don't think about running for local office and many don't think that local elected officials can make a difference, but from experience I can tell you that serving in local office can be some of the most important and impactful work you will ever do in your entire life. You've probably heard of the phrase think globally and act locally, but when you serve in local office you can see pretty quickly the impact of your work in your community and when you see that it just makes you want to do more. The relationships you build when running for local office and serving as an elected official are unmatchable. You get to know your neighbors, the people working in your downtowns, the senior citizens, the teenagers. Your entire community becomes a living breathing organism that has entrusted to you their hopes, their needs and their problems. It's a privilege, it's exciting, it's a whole lot of work and sometimes it can be really challenging, but what's also challenging is making sure that the people at the table of local government who are making decisions that impact our daily lives are as representative as possible. UVM Center for Research on Vermont reports that only a third of select board members in Vermont are women. Far fewer are people of color. When a local governing body does not represent the demographics of a community it's not possible to make good decisions that take life experience into account. That's why Emerge Vermont works as hard as we do to recruit and train women to run for office. Our goal is to increase women's representation at every level of Vermont government. Right now women make up 45% of the Vermont legislature, which is the highest it's ever been and we're aiming to substantially increase the number of women on select boards and school boards too. There are 28 Emerge Vermont alums serving on select boards and school boards throughout Vermont right now. Some of them are incumbents whom you'll meet tonight. We're going to keep training more and more women to run for office and increase that number exponentially. From Milton to Marshfield these alums of Emerge Vermont training programs are making a difference in their communities and some are incumbents, some have run before and some are first-time candidates. This evening we'll see and hear from committed passionate candidates who will inspire you. You will come away from our time together knowing the power of women's leadership. So I'm excited to introduce these candidates to you tonight and I hope you'll get to know them as they campaign through the next two weeks leading up to town meeting day. So let's get started. Our first candidate this evening is Erin Berry of Marshfield. Erin is a member of the class of 2024 and she is running as an incumbent for her seat on the Twin Field Union School District Board. Welcome Erin. Thank you Elaine. Hello everyone. My name is Erin Berry. I'm a member of the Marshfield community and the director of the kids trade and play monthly clothing and gear exchange at the capital city Grange in Berlin. I'm also a parent of the first, fifth and eighth grader at Twin Field Union School and the current vice-chair and clerk on the school board. My experience on the board over the last four years brings a smile to my face. Being part of the six member school board has allowed me the opportunity to understand the day-to-day policies that affect all the children at the school to learn about the procedures that go into developing the daily practices and have given me a seat at the table to connect and bring questions to the administration when the policies need updating. The team of the current board draws from their years of experience as parents, literacy curriculum developers, 30 years of participation in Twin Field culture and nationally or recognized school psychologist, active community members and advocates for LGBTQ plus children. We are an active team and we care deeply about the children and success of the school. We work together to address any updates to policies and practices helping to create a viable and respectful learning environment for the Twin Field Union community. Together we hold space to listen to our community members about rising concerns. What does school safety look like in our community? How can we ensure a healthy school building for all to learn and play? What does the future hold for student enrollment and how can we create successful options for our towns to go forward? I'm excited to continue on the board. Being part of the solutions, working with students, parents, community members, and administration to make sure we are all making the best possible choices for our students in school. I am seeking reelection to the Twin Field Union School Board at Town Meeting Day because my enthusiasm has not wavered, my commitment is strong, and by being involved I'll continue to work for a safe and secure school for all of the children. Thank you. Thank you very much Erin and best of luck to you on Town Meeting Day. Our next candidate is also a member of the Class of 2024. Lonnie Poland is a first-time candidate running for a seat on the Milton Select Board. Lonnie you're muted. Good evening. My name is Lonnie Poland and I am running for a one-year seat on the Milton Select Board. For nearly four decades I've been proud to call Milton home, dedicating myself to fostering community, supporting others, and advocating for inclusivity and fairness in every aspect of our town. You may wonder why I'm stepping into the political arena now. The truth is this journey isn't one I expected to take, but as I reflect on my lifelong commitment to Milton it feels like the natural next step. My vision for a vibrant, prosperous, and affordable Milton is rooted in diversity and ensuring that every voice in our community is heard and valued. My background speaks to this commitment from serving in the Vermont Air National Guard to earning a physical therapy degree and dedicating 25 years to the UVM Medical Center. My path has been one of service and dedication. I've contributed to our community through both my businesses, street toys, and experienced yoga. I led the Milton Outdoor Performance Center project and the non-profit Milton Skate Park all with the goal of building a stronger, more engaged Milton. As a candidate for the Milton Select Board I not only bring diverse experiences but also a deep-rooted passion for our town's well-being. My track record of dedication, compassion, and leadership qualifies me for this role, but it's my unwavering commitment to the people of Milton that truly sets me apart. I've been engaged and active in our community for 38 years and I'm ready to continue that work as a member of the Milton Select Board, but I can't do it alone. I need your support, your voices, and your votes to make our vision for Milton a reality. Together let's build a vibrant, prosperous, and welcoming community everyone wants to call home. Thank you. Thank you very much, Lani, and best of luck on Town Meeting Day. Thank you. I am now so pleased to introduce to you this evening's first special featured guest. A dedicated educator and devoted working mom and a Vermonter by choice, Esther Charleston believes deeply in the values of persistence, resilience, and advocacy. As the oldest child of immigrant parents, Esther worked hard to pursue her education, obtaining two master's degrees. As she pursued her career taking on diverse roles in higher ed and in the public school system, she was appointed to a vacant seat on the Middlebury Select Board and subsequently ran a successful campaign to win election to that seat. Esther is a member of the Emerge Vermont class of 2022 and was elected class representative by the members of her class. In 2023, Esther received the Senator Patrick Leahy award for exceptional leadership in the community. She is a past chair of the Vermont Democratic Party's Racial Equity Caucus and currently co-chairs the Vermont Commission on Women, a role that reflects her dedication to creating a just and equitable world where every voice is heard and respected. Esther is a mom to two children and she believes strongly in the values of advocacy, hard work, and community engagement. Earlier this year, Esther announced her campaign for Governor of Vermont. Welcome Esther and thank you so much for joining us. Good evening all. It is truly an honor to be here. Thank you. Thank you Elaine for having me. I will start with a story. It was the year 2020 and the world was going through a pandemic. We were all trying to figure it out and my divorce was finalized. And that day, I received my mail in ballot and knew I had to fill it out before I would pick up my son from daycare. And so I did and I had a thought that came to mind. Well, Esther, why don't you put your name down? So I did. And a few days later, a friend of mine who was on the select board said, Esther, funniest thing. I saw somebody wrote your name in the ballot. At the time, I did not tell her it was me. And I was like, yeah. Wow, that sounds amazing. She's like, actually, that's a great idea. Would you be interested in running for local office? And I said yes. And that yes changed my life. That yes opened a new door. It led to two successful campaigns for running for the Middlebury select board where I was a witness and a part of an amazing train project where we now have a train running through Middlebury. And I got to see the completion of that childcare expansion project, new businesses coming into our storefronts, understanding what a budget is and $11 million. What do we do with that? What do we pray for and figuring it out? And I got to witness our town thrive and us work together in what was such a hard time. And during that time, I learned so much about my community. I saw its resiliency and I saw people showing up in time of need. And during the social distancing era, that was kind of hard to do. But one story in particular sticks out. My daughter turned five and we all met in a parking lot to sing her happy birthday. And everybody wore a mask and we stood six feet apart. That was a demonstration of solidarity and support and witnessing such goodwill reminded me of the strength of our community, my community, Middlebury. And that strength allowed me to show up and be the change I wanted to see as a select board member. I was able to ask some hard questions, uncomfortable questions when we had so many ask of our staff, but also asking, hey, does the staff have capacity? And how do we create more capacity? And I was empowered going through a merge and learning how to do that and how to advocate. And so my time as a select board member was incredible. I learned so much about my community. And it took someone asking me to run for local office for me to step in and say yes. And so as we're at this event, hearing the different stories and those who are running town meeting day, if you're on here and you need that invitation, here it is. I invite you to get involved in your community. I invite you to run for your local school board or select board or whatever it may have you. And I say, let's make Vermont great together. Thank you. Thank you so much, Esther, for your inspiring words and for your service as a local elected official. The rest of this evening, we're going to feature candidates running for city council in cities across Vermont. So our next two candidates are incumbents and they are both seeking reelection to their second terms. Unfortunately, both of them have city council duties that are keeping them from being here this evening because evening meetings are a part of local office service. They just are. So what I would like to do is share with you videos that both of them have sent in so that they could at least participate tonight. So the first video you're going to see is from Anna Tadio. Anna is a member of the class of 2022 and she was elected to the Rutland City Board of Aldermen in 2022 also. She is not able to be here tonight but she sends her greetings and thanks for everyone who is stepping up to run. I'm going to share her video and hit play. Here we go. Hi, my name is Anna Tadio and I'm currently serving on the Rutland City Board of Aldermen. I'm an Emerge 2022 graduate. Congratulations to all of you on embarking on your political journeys. The past two years, I've been hard at work for the Rutland City Board of Aldermen, serving on four committees as chair, including human resources, environmental sustainability, general, and community and economic development. I have worked hard to bring vital grants into our community to ensure that new businesses and restaurants can open while not increasing our tax rate. I have worked to support public safety by supporting our police and fire departments and ensuring that they have the staff and equipment needed to do their jobs. I worked this past year to make Juneteenth a citywide holiday. I also worked to implement a green fleet policy mandating that every new vehicle purchased for the city, we consider if an electric vehicle would be possible for replacement. Above all, it is important to me that our community is open, welcoming, and inclusive of all people and is moving in a direction where we prioritize environmental sustainability, prioritize bringing down the cost of living and increasing job opportunities, and additionally work to ensure that Rutland remains a safe place to live, a safe place to grow and raise a family, and a place where people want to come to do business and enjoy outdoor recreational activities. It has been a great honor serving on the Rutland City Board of Aldermen and I look forward to serving our community again. Please get out and vote on Town Meeting Day, March 5th. You can register to vote up to Town Meeting Day and in person on Town Meeting Day. Again, my name is Anna Tadio. I'm running for the Rutland City Board of Aldermen and congratulations on your participation in Emerge. Thank you. Thank you, Anna. My name is Anna Tadio and I'm currently serving on the Rutland City Board of Aldermen. Thank you, Anna, and thank you so much for stepping up to run. Our next City Council incumbent is someone who lost her first race by just a hair, but Class of 2021 alum Hannah King won a hard fought special election to fill a vacancy in 2023, and now Hannah is a City Councilor representing Burlington's Ward 8 and she is running for reelection. So let's hear from Hannah. Can we see her? Hang on. I'm sorry I couldn't join you all tonight. Thank you to Emerge Vermont for putting this event on and to all of the wonderful candidates and speakers. I'd specifically like to take this moment to thank Burlington Mayor Murrow Weinberger for his 12 years of service. My name is Hannah King and I'm proud to be running for the Ward 8 City Council seat. I'm the daughter of a single mom, a mom who has dedicated her life to serving as a healthcare worker in Union Steward. My dad was a construction worker, someone who worked tirelessly while living with his own deep struggles. Growing up with three siblings and one parent often created challenges. The realities of my upbringing have instilled in me an unwavering commitment to advocacy and progressive policy making. I intimately understand the challenges faced by our community because I've walked the same path. Serving as your Ward 8 City Councilor has been nothing short of an honor and a responsibility that I hold here. I prioritize my constituents views especially in our toughest votes. In the face of challenges Ward 8 deserves leadership that doesn't waver. I'm here to be that leader to stand by you and to continue working relentlessly for the betterment of our neighborhood. Tonight I'm asking for your support. You can learn more about our campaign at hannahforberlington.com. Thank you. And thanks. Hi everyone I'm sorry I couldn't join you all tonight. Thank you Hannah King and best of luck to you and to Anatario on Town Meeting Day. So speaking of Burlington our next guest speaker knows a little bit about working in local government with strong women leaders. Mayor Murrow Weinberger is serving his fourth term as mayor of Burlington which concludes on April 1st making him the city's longest consecutively serving mayor. He was raised in Heartland Vermont and interned for Senator Patrick Leahy while on college. He also served as a state senate director in 1996 when he worked with then pro tem Peter Shumlin to flip the state senate from red to blue. Before running for mayor in 2012 Murrow worked as an affordable housing developer and served on the airport commission and as board chair for the Turning Point Center. As mayor he has prioritized housing racial equity fiscal responsibility and climate action. Since becoming mayor Murrow has worked to put Burlington's finances in order reversing a $23 million deficit and restoring the city's credit rating. In 2014 Burlington achieved 100% renewable energy generation and five years later Murrow launched a plan to achieve net zero by 2030. Early in his last term he announced an effort to end homelessness and has since led the creation of three new low barrier homeless shelters in Burlington and has increased housing production by more than 400%. Mayor Weinberger thank you for joining us this evening. We're so glad you're here. Well thank you Elaine for including me tonight and for that introduction. Good evening everyone. I'm really excited to be here with you to celebrate some of the many emerged alumni who are on the town meeting day ballots across Vermont. Yes as Elaine said after 12 years serving as the chief executive of Vermont's largest city I've learned firsthand the value of having strong democratic women in local government. Women like Hannah King who you just heard from with Hannah's hard fought election Burlington Democrats won the first democratic majority that we've had here in this city in over 40 years just last town meeting day and I've been so impressed with how confidently and capably Hannah has served as a new city counselor and with her help we've gotten big things done over the last year like a 30 million dollar revitalization of Main Street which broke ground about a month ago in enacting the state's first fee on carbon pollution anywhere in the states. It's not only on the city council where women are leading the way in Burlington. I am proud to be finishing my tenure alongside a team of mayoral appointees that is 50% women. These skilled talented and committed public servants do the vital work that makes our local government function. Serving in roles such as my chief of staff the chief administrative officer which is our top financial position as city attorneys and engineers and as department heads. We have amazing women at the assistant director and division head level as well who are leading the charge on some of our most important initiatives like bringing social services into the police department opening those new homeless shelters Lane mentioned building new housing and replacing centuries old wastewater infrastructure. I want my daughters and girls across Vermont to know that not only can women do these essential jobs they are doing an extraordinary job already right in here in Burlington today. I'm so grateful for the work Emerge has done to recruit women into local politics and ultimately into the honorable life of public service. In fact Emerge has become something of a talent pipeline for our city team in recent years. The Emerge sisterhood includes Burlington's newest planning commissioner Aaron Malone our HR director and valued member of my leadership team carrion derpy and my communications director and the campaign manager for my last campaign Samantha Sheehan and someone that we all miss player comings was the brilliance behind the field operation in the last mayoral campaign that I ran. We won that campaign by 129 votes which is a field margin if I've ever seen one. So these women and many many more have been part of the winning coalition that has really impacted Burlington and helped me implement a bold democratic democratic agenda over the last 12 years. It's our democratic caucus that has driven historic levels of public investment into infrastructure projects like the Champlain Parkway the Great Streets Main Street project and the revitalization of the northern waterfront. Year after year we've stayed focused on key housing reforms and put our political will behind city place and Cambrian rise the two largest housing developments in the state's history that are getting built right now and together we launched the most ambitious climate plan in the country. It's because of this coalition across local commissions council committees and in con toys auditorium that the future of Burlington is brighter greener and stronger than ever before. I'm proud of the progress we've worked together and I'm confident in just a few weeks I will have the opportunity to hand leadership of this city over to another democrat and the first woman to hold the office Joan Shannon. Joan is a dedicated leader who has demonstrated her steadfast commitment to the city of Burlington for over 20 years as a city councilor. I remember volunteering on her first campaign for city council back in 2003 when her daughter Julia was just a baby and I had just returned home to Vermont after about a decade away. Almost 10 years later I was proud to have Joan's endorsement in my first mayoral caucus. So please support me and please join me in supporting Joan for mayor as well as the three democratic women for Burlington city council. Incumbents Hannah King who we just heard from and Sarah Carpenter as well as a first time candidate Becca Brown McKnight who is running in one of the south end boards. And finally I want to say thank you and good luck to all the emerge women on this year's count mating day ballot and everyone here tonight. Local office is a noble calling that not enough people even consider and even fewer actually pursue. It involves late nights little or no pay and direct accountability to constituents and they're loud and often conflicting demands. But I can tell you the rewards are also great. Local government moves fast and never stops. With a great team you can have a lot of fun and you can get big things done. You're on the front line of any emergency response in the spearhead of major initiatives that are coming down from Montpelier and Washington. You have the opportunity to directly and tangibly improve the lives of your neighbors friends and family in a way that simply is impossible from state or federal office or really in any other job. So I look forward to seeing what each of you are able to make of that opportunity and I wish you all the best on March 5th. Thank you so much Mayor Weinberger for your support of women in local government and in office and for especially lifting up our emerge sisters who work for the city of Burlington. Thank you for being here. Our next speakers will be running for city councils but one of them is unable to be here this evening but I want to lift her up and her campaign. Lydia Diamond is running for the second time on the ballot for South Burlington City Council and she is the first black woman to ever be on the ballot for that board. She's also a member of the current class of 2024 and though we're sorry she cannot be here tonight we wish her lots and lots of luck and thank you all for your support for her up until this point and we wish her good luck on the way to town meeting today. Our next candidate is Adrienne Gill. Adrienne recently participated in Emerge Vermont local which is our training program specifically for women running for school board and select board. She's a first time candidate running for a seat on the Montpelier City Council. All right thank you I'm so excited to be here this is really fun. My name is Adrienne Gill and as Elaine said this is my first time running. I'm running against two other folks and incumbent that's been in the seat for 10 years. My first time running for any political office and I was asked to run so it's exciting but very nerve-wracking and so I've lived in Montpelier for nine years with my family. I now have two teenage daughters 13 and 15 that have gone through the Montpelier Roxbury public school system and my husband works at Central Vermont Medical Center as a nurse so we're very embedded into the community we love where we live and the question I get all the time from folks in my district is why are you running for city council why now why is this so important and so I just want to share with you why this is really near and dear to my heart. One obviously I love my community I love where I live and I want to see it thrive. Two I am tired of really just sitting on the sideline and just watching our taxes rise while our infrastructure and our city crumbles around us. I've replaced my tires I've replaced my windshield every year multiple times driving through Montpelier streets. I've spent my career over the past 20 years focused on systems thinking I work in strategic planning and transportation I've worked in public health I've worked at local state and national governments and nonprofits across the world these skills will strengthen my effectiveness as a member of the Montpelier City Council so I feel very strongly that it's time for a change so what I'm focused on in our city is to resolve the systemic problems that we've faced for the past 20 30 years we need to make it a priority to focus on the core responsibilities which includes maintaining our infrastructure we have to analyze the true costs of our water lines our roads our cities critical infrastructure and we need to update those plans. I feel that it's time to be very aggressive and applying for federal funds to look at the state to help diversify our funding in the capital city our roads and our water and our sewer lines have been deteriorating for way too long our property taxes are going up and up this year it's expected to be close to a 25 percent increase in the city of Montpelier this is just unacceptable we need to create a city budget that's affordable while keeping our public safe and our public work departments adequately staffed this may require some cuts within the budget we need to look at our environmental stewardship and make sure that we're facing this climate change head on I'll be drawing on my 20 years of public health experience and collaborating regionally with our city state community groups to plan for resilience here in Montpelier together we can prevent future flooding and create a sustainable future for Montpelier so Montpelier join me in this journey together we can build a city with a reasonable taxes strong infrastructure affordable housing environmental resilience and community prosperity I'm Adrienne Gill and I'm your advocate for a brighter future please vote district one city council for city of Montpelier thank you very much Adrienne and best of luck with your race and on town meeting day our next speaker has served long in the legislature and believes deeply in the power of local government Sarah Copeland Hans is Vermont's 39th secretary of state and only the third woman to hold that office she grew up in a large politically diverse family in Corinth Vermont and graduated from Oxbow High School and the University of Vermont Sarah has been an educator a youth coach small business owner state legislator and is a mom and wife Sarah was first elected to the Vermont House in 2004 representing Bradford Fairley and West Fairley during her 18 years in the house she was a member of the healthcare committee and chair of government operations committee from 2015 to 2017 she served as majority leader and she is an alum of Emerges class of 2022 as secretary of state Sarah's goal is to bring renewed focus to civics education and engagement she believes that civics isn't just learning about the three branches of government it must be focused on helping Vermonters understand how to ensure that government does for us what we can't accomplish as individuals through her work as secretary she focuses on transparency and open government and empowering Vermonters to get involved at all levels of government secretary Hans Copeland Hans is thank you for being here this evening thank you Elaine it's so good to be with all of you tonight and I'm so impressed I love all of your stump speeches I'm I'm clapping and wishing I could vote for each of you why aren't you living in Bradford so thank you for for making this space for us to talk as well and I just want to share a few thoughts about the importance of women serving in local government I have noticed over the years during my time in the legislature the transition from a legislature that that had mostly male leadership to a legislature that had mixed leadership to currently the legislature being very heavily dominated with women leaders and I have been really impressed with the way the the quality of what is happening in Montpelier has changed over the course of that time and this ties back in very directly to the desire to have more women running for local office because local office is where you you find your proven ground it's where you establish a name within your community that might allow you to run for one of these other offices and would be that that that place that that entry into running for higher office and I have to say we need more women in those positions during the time that I watched this transition in the legislature I saw I saw the Vermont legislature go from a situation where every negotiation was a contention you know I'm gonna win and you're gonna lose and I'm gonna get what I want and you know who cares what you thought you wanted out of this negotiation to a place where with with many more women in leadership we see the conversation shift we see it shift to the whole community to the whole issue to the whole person and we see the outcomes of those conversations look more like hey how can we make sure that you win and I win what is it that you wanted to seek out of this negotiation and let me tell you what I was hoping for out of this negotiation and let's see how we can both move forward together that is a characteristic that is it is much more likely to exist in women leaders and and that's why I'm so thankful that Emerge is focused on local government and and candidates for local office because it can be hard to break in I I can't remember who it was it you know running against you know a male incumbents but but when we see that a third of our local government is women and two-thirds is men it it gives me you know a great inspiration to make sure that we have more women running for those local offices you know local government can be very rewarding it is essential to our day-to-day lives and and while many people across the state of Vermont get really fired up looking at you know who's running for president and who am I gonna support in that race oftentimes it is these local boards and your select board and your school board who have a much more direct impact on your life and on the quality of your schools and on the way your community responds to its needs and so we need you we need you at these local levels and we need you in the pipeline so that you are ready to step up and move to those higher office positions Vermont is still as many women as we have in leadership in our legislative ranks we we still rank only fifth in the nation in terms of the total number of women who serve in our legislature and it's been a long time since we had a woman governor so we need you all in the pipeline so please get out there your your stump speeches have been amazing I'm very impressed and thank you for putting yourself out there thank you for your service to your communities and don't hesitate to reach out if you ever want to chat about the the ups and downs and the struggles and challenges of being a woman in elected office thank you thank you so much secretary Copeland hands us for your leadership and for joining us this evening and for being such a great role model for women in office our last two candidates tonight are both from berry city where everything is going on they are already deeply committed volunteers and they're stepping up even more our first candidate is Amanda Gustin a member of the emerge Vermont class of 2023 and she has led numerous flood recovery efforts in her community and now she's running for the first time for a seat on the berry city council representing ward two thank you so much Elaine good evening everyone my name is Amanda gustin and I am running to represent ward two on the berry city council I'm running because this summer after the flood waters receded I saw people come together to help their neighbors and rebuild their community I saw the city I love rise up berry city has had a hard year but it has an incredible past and a bright future the time I have spent in service to berry has been a joy as a leader in flood recovery efforts I worked to bring hundreds of people together to help where and when it was needed the most as a planning commissioner I helped find ways to encourage housing smart growth and a walkable livable city I continue that work on the city's housing task force as chair of the city manager search task force I led a successful public process that gave the city of people the people of berry excuse me a say in their future good government is transparent accountable and responsive it listens and it shares it builds and it invests it is always by the people and for the people we have big challenges and big opportunities ahead of us in berry and as your city councillor I will place your voices and the voices of the people of berry city at the heart of every decision the city makes as we tackle those big challenges and big opportunities together I will be part of a city council you can be proud of as we work together for berry city vote for me honor before May 14th to represent ward two on the berry city council thank you thank you very much Amanda and thank you for your leadership and best of luck on your campaign Sam Stockwell participated in emerge Vermont local in 2023 and she is currently a berry city councillor representing ward three but now Sam is running for mayor of berry city thank you all for being here this evening and thank you all for the work you do it is really important I'm running for mayor for many reasons one reason is because I'm proud of the work the council has done when I look around and I see some of the things we've managed to do despite the flood to create a brighter life for residents in berry I feel pretty good about that work but I'm also running because we have 121 children who are homeless in berry city schools my friend of mine was telling me that she's working with a couple in the in the motels who have been in the motels for four years waiting for an apartment to open up for them she was working with another young woman who was seven months pregnant who was eligible for a shelter but there was no room in any of the shelters the council gave you some ARPA funds to enable down street to renovate one of our unused old school buildings when I see the lights on at that building I feel a lot of hope for what we're doing and what we will do I'm also running because we have to address our challenges together and I think I I understand very well enough to bring people together our different ideas and perspectives are really important we have to be free to disagree but we need to pull together for common goals like housing that gives people a path to home ownership and walkable streets and a city that unites us and welcomes others I've been so impressed by the work of the volunteers it's really been an inspiration people showed up the day after the flood like Amanda like people people rose up and they they delivered groceries to people who were standing in their flood soaked house with nothing and no water and no electricity people made meals they brought them to neighbors that they didn't even know it was such an extraordinary effort by a city suffering really the worst thing that I you know I've seen the damage was incredible and it was my ward that was really destroyed so another part of my motivation is you know when I when I talk to the people in my ward whose homes who lost their homes I want to do anything that I can to make it better for them to create new housing and we have an opportunity to rebuild our our city in a way few cities do the infill the housing infill and the prospect heights studies are wins for us the planning process for the north end rebuilding is also a win for us the design of our cities reflects our values and our humanity if we can avoid the planning mistakes of the past and build ways people can connect in their neighborhoods we will have less of those people and more of our neighbors our problems are complex and no one solution is going to be a panacea but every step forward makes makes that makes it easier to connect is a win for our community the poverty rate in berry city and the desperation of people who without housing are depriving our city of what could be far more vigorous civic involvement see those numbers go down we'll take creativity but more importantly we'll take endurance and honest reflection little is as vital as our will to change please vote for me for mayor thank you thank you very much sam thank you for working so hard on behalf of your community and best of luck secretary copeland hands is i'd like to invite you to introduce our last guest that is very kind of you to give me this opportunity a little drum roll please our last guest is mike he checked mike is vermont's 31st state treasurer during his term mike is focused on economic and financial equity he successfully championed the passage of the vermont saves program a publicly administered retirement program for the 80 000 vermonters who currently lack access to a retirement plan through their employer mike also expanded the 10 in vermont program and made the development of new housing a top priority in september of 2023 his office denounced a 55.5 million dollars in low interest housing loan that is expected to leverage an estimated 340 million in additional capital to support the construction of over 1100 housing units in vermont mike previously served six years as commissioner of the department of financial regulation where he was first appointed by governor peter schumlin in 2016 and reappointed by governor phil scott in 2017 during the pandemic you'll all remember mike served on the covet 19 pandemic response team providing us regular data and modeling updates at the governor's weekly press conferences mike has also served as deputy commissioner of dfr security division where he led the division's investigation into the jpeb five projects prior to his public service mike practiced law in new york city and at downs rachlan martin in burlington in the business law group mike grew up in braddleboro and graduate graduated cum laude from union college and he received his law degree summa cum laude from the university of miami school of law where he served as editor-in-chief of the miami law review welcome mike paycheck well thank you very much sarah for that very kind introduction and thank you very much to elaine for the opportunity to be here this evening and join so many wonderful candidates for local office say really first want to say thank you to everyone that's running it's really challenging to put yourself out there it's really challenging to run for public office but it's really critical that we fill our local seats with talented people more than ever you are the front lines of democracy and as i always say there is no harder public service than that of the local office holder whether it's mayor or school board or select board you're on the front lines individuals know who you are they can come and ask you a whole sorts of questions but at the same time you have really have the power to make a significant impact and a significant difference so thank you for stepping up and running and serving your local communities i thought i'd start with um talking about three women in my life who were really important uh to getting me here today um as a state treasurer one is my grandmother the other is my mom and the last one is beth pierce so i'll talk about each one of those in their role but my grandmother was somebody that was very dear to me she was a fiercely independent woman she lost her husband at a young age and she had to continue to raise her family and be independent herself and figure out how to chart a pathway forward for her future and she was someone that i always loved spending time with and someone who was always very encouraging of me um in my favorite day in school among any day was grandparent day your grandparents day where i'd invite her to come to school and she would and i'd be so excited to show my classmates my grandmother and you know get to see all the things that we were working on and whatnot but when i was in elementary school i was also pretty painfully shy as well so i um was not one that was going to be raising my hand to say you know this is my work assignment in front of the class but i remember one day during grandparents day my grandmother said michael why don't you do your assignment and i was like no not doing it not doing it she said how about if i give you a dollar and my hand shot up faster than you know i think uh i've ever done before but it's an example of the way that she encouraged me to um break out of my comfort zone to be um you know doing you know trying to propel myself forward in ways that were somewhat uncomfortable for me but ended up being really tremendous growth opportunities and i think that's what all of you are doing in your way by stepping up and running for local office my mom is also somebody very obviously near and dear to me um but she set the example for me in terms of public service when i was growing up she never held elected office at the local level or any level um but she was highly and continues to be highly engaged in our community she um started at soup kitchen when she was right before she was pregnant with me about 40 years ago and still runs the soup kitchen today as the volunteer director and director of the pantry and when i was growing up i kind of grew up you know in that soup kitchen with her and she would take me around to deliver meals on wheels she would spend time with really the most vulnerable in our community and would brighten their day and would you know spend time with them and listen to them and really built a strong community among those that worked and volunteered in her soup kitchen among those that came and got food at the soup kitchen and among the community as a whole in bradaville was someone she is someone that i look up to as a leader as someone who i think so many women in leadership do as someone who's a compassionate leader who's an inclusive leader someone who brings collaboration to the work that she does and really works to improve the lives of everyone in the bradaville community and i remember asking my mom encouraging her as younger i said mom why don't you um everything about running for state representative or serving on the select board and she would say you know i don't think i have a lot to what would i bring to the table and what would i have to offer and it she would have quite a bit to offer but that kind of that kind of concern what held her back from running because she was she was sort of timid and afraid of of her role as a woman in leadership and it's so important i think to have groups like emerging for again all of you to be stepping up and serving in the ways that you are because it can be challenging i saw it in my own family and the last person i want to talk about was beth or is beth pierce someone else who again without her role modeling and without her encouragement uh i wouldn't be here today beth was a great state treasurer for over a decade and deputy treasurer serving vermont for about 20 years she also was a municipal treasurer before she was in the state of vermont so she served also at that municipal level um but when she was starting to um think about not running again and she um asked me to go to dinner with her and uh she um owed me a dinner because of something i had helped her out with in the legislature but i thought it was sort of simply that but she told me she was thinking about not running she wanted me to consider running for her seat and that really meant a lot to me that someone of such high integrity and character um and competency uh would decide that she wanted me to think about falling in her footsteps and again the role model that she represented the work that she put into her public service um is something that uh really was a high bar to try to achieve when stepping into that treasurer's role but she again sort of brought those strong values of women in leadership to her her decades of service in vermont in massachusetts and in connecticut and it's one of the things i also want to talk about which is that opportunity for local service to turn into much broader service at the state level or the national level you know beth again she served at that municipal level as as treasurer of west hartford gained experience gained uh wisdom gained leadership credentials and then she was a deputy treasurer here in vermont um and uh was ready to step up when the time called and i think that's one of the critical things about local leadership is that ability to step up i also mentioned how it's critical that you're the front lines of democracy i think that's that's really something that can't be understated in today's political environment um we really need competent people who care about improving their communities at these local positions there's so many individuals that are interested today and running for school board or select board for all of the wrong reasons and i am really inspired after hearing everyone speak tonight because you are all in it for all of the right reasons and i can't wait to see how successful you're going to be in your various roles but the other two things i just want to mention and sarah did a great job of talking about this but i think women bring particular skills in leadership that are really important i mentioned the collaboration that i have seen exhibited from my mom and from others the inclusive style of leadership uh the um ability to bring compassion to the work uh empathy to the work those are critical and working on those front lines that you will all be working on uh throughout vermont and the last thing i want to mention which i think is again critical is the partnership between the local governments across vermont and our state government uh some of the most critical issues we're going to be facing as a state over the next decade is going to take all of us working together within the state of vermont in terms of state government but also between the local level and the state level i think of housing and climate those are two significant challenges we have to get over over the next decade we have so many things going right for us in vermont people want to move to vermont they have demonstrated that by moving here the last few years but we're going to be constrained by our housing stock and that's something that we cannot solve alone at the state level it's something that can't be solved alone at the local level we need excellent leaders like yourselves and your positions working with state government in collaboration in partnership to help solve the housing crisis across the state similarly with the climate crisis not just trying to reduce our carbon output but trying to build a vermont that's more resilient over the next decade and beyond because we know we're going to face challenges like we did in july and challenges like montpelier and berry and marshfield and other communities have experienced throughout vermont uh in the last year and the last decade it's only being going to become more frequent if we can solve those two challenges i really don't see the limit for our state and again both of them are going to take local and state coordination so we all stand by ready here at the state to help you in that work again i want to thank you for stepping up and being willing to serve your community and work to improve the lives of your neighbors and and improve the future of your neighborhoods and i wish you all the best of luck on town meeting day and when you all take office uh in the very near future thank you so much thank you treasurer p check for the wonderful stories about the women in your life and thank you for acknowledging all of our wonderful candidates tonight and thank you secretary of state copeland hansis mayor weinberger and esther charleston for speaking tonight and your wonderful support of our candidates here and in general throughout vermont and i'd also like to thank our sponsors for this evening all of whom are members of men for emerge vermont mayor jake hemrick bill fox representative mike mccarthy tim german greg morrigan ruse olson adam roof brian sheldon shaft smith michael disanto kevin ellis jason lorber urney pomerlo and marimora weinberger thank you so much for that support but most of all thank you to our amazing candidates very best of luck from all of us as you head into the final weeks before town meeting day and thank you for stepping up to serve your community and for being such incredible role models thank you everyone for joining us this evening and for supporting these amazing candidates and if you're thinking about running for office in the future please visit emerge vt.org to learn about our training opportunities thank you again best of luck and have a wonderful evening thank you everybody have a good night everyone good night