 Okay, I'd like to call the special meeting for the town of Essex Select Board to order for Tuesday, October 5th, 2021. Thank you for joining us. First question is, are there any agenda additions or changes? Yes. Kenneth Willits had to withdraw his candidacy so he can come off the agenda. Okay. Any board changes? Should we go through the formality of removing? I don't think it's really necessary. All right, then the next thing on the agenda is public to be heard. This is a time for the public to bring issues to the select board that aren't on the agenda. If you'd like to speak, either raise your hand in the room or in the online meeting, use the hand raised function or indicate in the chat that you'd like to speak. If you're on the phone, we'll give the opportunity to break in as well. If you'd like to speak, please be brief, please be civil, please refrain from using inappropriate language, address any remarks you make to me as the select board chair. Please do not attack others or town staff. If you are online, please keep your microphone muted so you don't inadvertently interrupt others. Don't intentionally interrupt others as they're speaking either. And also, if you're online, please leave your camera off to reduce distraction. So with that, any public to be heard comments in the room? I don't see any online. There is one person who's on the phone. If you have a public to be heard comment, please speak up. Okay. Seeing no comments, we'll move on to the business items. As was mentioned before, Ken Willits has withdrawn his application or his letter of interest for being on the select board. So we will, and the way we're going to proceed here is we have a set of questions that have been published ahead of time. All the candidates have seen them. We did add additional question last night. Hopefully everyone was given an opportunity to consider their response there. We also have two questions that were written responses that we have the, that have been submitted by the candidates. Those are in the packet for the meeting. If folks want to review those or see what the candidates have to say. And so as we've got a series of questions, we're going to ask them in the same order for every candidate. You'll have a few minutes to respond. For each of them, I'll start out with an opening statement that will end with a closing statement and give the candidates an opportunity to ask questions. Each of us are assigned to specific questions. So we will each ask the same questions of each of the candidates. Anything I missed? Anything else I need to say there? Okay. So then our first candidate is Timothy Labombard. Come up to the microphone, please. So welcome. Thanks. Thank you for your interest. I'd like to offer you the opportunity at this point to make an opening statement. Tell us about yourself, why you're interested in being considered for the select board. And please go ahead and introduce yourself. Timothy Labombard. I live in 29 Frederick Road and up towards the center. I've been there about 20 years. I was born in Vermont in St. Albans hospital, grew up most of my life in the Champlain Islands up in Islamat. My father was in politics. He was a select board member for years as a family. Of course, there's only 10 people we kind of alternate. I am currently a president and assistant business manager of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers of local union 300 in Vermont, which is we represent approximately in between 900 and 1000 members running from municipalities to inside electricians. All the linemen for Green Mountain Power, Vermont Electric Co-op, Burlington Electric Department, Washington Electric Construction, and I'm sure there's a few more. I feel my tenure there actually helps me be part of boards and I deal with select boards. A lot of believe us he's Scott. Last time I saw him was in Montpelier in representing and dealing with contracts. A lot of the times, you know, I deal with the boards work there. I've got a good understanding. And, you know, we run our meetings in our organization very similar to a company or town. I invested in Essex as I live here. I intend to keep my residency and even before I moved here, I started off at the IBW as an apprentice electrician. Went up through for, I've got, I'll be 33 years, it was 33 years last month, membership. And a lot of those years, I've worked for this company, actually Peck Electric and some of the others in Sherwin at the IBM plant. I haven't worked back global, but I worked at IBM for years. It's paid a lot of my bills and you know, Essex paid a lot of my bills for here. So stuff and I'd like to give back and be part of a solution. Not the problem. I feel there's, it's been very challenging times for everyone. The world's a different place than it was two years ago. And I would like to be part of the community again. I think there's a lot of animosity, tension and things around the world and you see it here. And I think on a local level, we can start to be, to bring it back to where it was, or better, I hope, or better. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. What is your understanding of what it means to be a public servant? Well, it's, as a public servant, it would be, it is our duty to represent the public, our constituents, be their voice and attempt to govern and rule and turn a community and laws into what they see fit. It's, it's not a personal venue. It's, you're representing, you, you represent your people. And sometimes if you feel and you're, you're, we, we, we a lot of times have more education about the project because it's our, our, uh, onus to do so. So it's some, it's that time you try to educate your constituents, members, and if you feel there's a, a possible better way is to, to help them see that. If not, the end result is you are their representative. Tim, thanks for coming in tonight. Uh, question I have, uh, can you describe what diversity, equity, and inclusion mean to you, uh, specifically as it relates to representation in local government? Can I have the last one? Inclusion, it was a lot for it, including diversity, equity and inclusion. Got it. Um, diversity is basically, uh, to look around the board and make sure that we represent our community, whether it be, um, uh, laborers, uh, tech people, um, other politicians and, uh, businessmen and everything. And that's what the diversity of the board was to reflect and, um, uh, the community. So we represent all. And if you can't meet that, make sure that everyone's still, um, comprehensive at that point. Um, equity, um, is, you know, make sure that everybody, and you, you have those people have that position. And, um, it's not just the, uh, fictitious, it's, it's, there's equity in it. And you have equity in, in the whole process. The last word again. Uh, inclusion. Inclusion. Um, and it's to do your best to include all the diverse people with all the equity and include them. And like I said, make an effort like the equal opportunity employers and, um, to solicit and bring in, if you don't feel you have enough, uh, of the representatives from whichever, uh, aspect you're looking for is get them and include them, including because that's the only way you're going to get a true, um, reading is if you have the people that are of interest. Great. Thank you. Thank you. And the next question is, um, like you to, to name three suggestions of things we can do in Essex to welcome people of various backgrounds or nationalities? Possibly more public, uh, or I'm trying to, not venues, but, uh, uh, activities, you know, more diverse because I know when we were working with that, uh, it's, I, I don't know if it's less since, um, IBM was added. Boom. But I mean, we had many cultures and countries that everything, uh, represented there. And I think you saw more diversity, but it's, uh, now other than a few restaurants, there's no, no, there's nothing out there to teach or get the community into it. I think that would be more, um, like when in entertainment venue or something laid hearted, uh, what that would be, the entertainment things, um, solicit, uh, people open arms, you know, open the doors and, um, and show them what we have to offer them in the community, um, or what Essex has to offer them. And once they get here, do what we have to do is like anything else or any venue is retention, keep them here, do what it was and listen and include them and deal so they become part of the community. And so you get that diversity and skin in the game. Thank you. How do you feel that select porch proceed when discussing separation of the village of Essex Junction from the town of Essex? Carefully. Uh, that is just one of the things I think my question that I answered on the deals I see is, uh, that you can't talk to any resident or any friend, any neighbor, whatever, there's attitudes, there's different agreements. And, uh, I think we proceed, listen, listen, find the common ground if we can. And I don't know if we found that. And, uh, I guess, I believe, I'm not sure if it was, uh, Andy or Evan, I saw a, uh, the retort or I think it was one or somebody said it's basically, it's, I think we may end up being friendly foes at times. That's what it's going to have to be. And not everybody's going to agree on it, but I, I think we just listen, listen and guide with a level head and no emotion. You know, that's hard to be detached. Go ahead, Nam. Tim, please talk about a time when you've changed your mind on an issue and what the issue was and how did the change come about? Um, one I think was very, I think I guess I can, uh, do this. I, I did basically, I think everything I just said that we shouldn't do or we should do, I did. Shouldn't do, I did. Um, preconceived conception, uh, was, uh, listened to something else without thinking it was a, just basically agreements I had, uh, I stereotyped someone and threw about the whole deal and had a, uh, I had the result in my mind, um, all ahead of time. And then I actually spent the time speaking with the person more so like I should have done originally and, uh, found out if he was a total different individual, you know, then people were saying, and, uh, I thought he was going to be. So I came clean, fessed up, ate my fro and, uh, moved forward and thank God I hadn't, uh, progressed too far where I couldn't fix what I had my own mind. Thank you. All right. It's appointed. Do you plan on running a town meeting this coming March to fill this left board seat for the remaining year of the term? Yes, I do. Quick one. All right. So, all in. Yes. So those, those are the questions. This last, last, uh, speaking opportunity here for you is the, the make any closing remarks if there's anything that you didn't say during the questions that you'd like to bring forward. Also as an opportunity for you to ask questions of us, um, if you have any. I want to, uh, thank everybody for mistaking my letter of interest. Um, I know you'll make the best choice through whoever you pick. And I believe that wherever you do, everybody will probably have an individual, um, bonus that they can bring to the board and because anybody who's in this room or wanting to do it, you know, God bless them because it is a, a, uh, definitely commitment. And, um, I feel I have some unique talents that I could help be part of the solution, not the problem. As I'm sure that Sue and, uh, I don't know, Kendall's in the room or not. I don't know. Uh, Coach Willis is gone. Uh, he would have brought some to, um, I just hope I'm considered. And, uh, now that you look at it deeply, you know, I guess right now I don't have any questions for you folks. So watch and I know what you're doing and I guess I could ask, why are you guys doing it? Oh, that might take all night to explain. All right. Thank you, Tim. Thanks so much. Thank you. Thank you, Tim. Okay. Uh, moving on to our next candidate. Sue, come on up. In fact, how much time do you, do you stay? Um, so, Sue, thanks for, for joining us. Uh, please introduce yourself. Uh, any information you want us to know about you, uh, why you want to, uh, run here, um, just to make a few minutes to introduce yourself. Go ahead. Sure. Yeah. So good evening, everybody. Nice to see you all. Um, my name is Sue Cook. Um, I am, uh, a resident of Essex. I have lived in Essex since 1996, um, um, and raised two daughters here and, um, been part of the community and worked in the community for, for all those years and really have had a lot of pride in our community. Um, got more engaged, you know, once my kids got older, obviously, and, uh, was part of the, um, Essex Energy Committee where we did some really great things. And I know the Energy Committee is continuing to do some great things. So that's, that's a really important, uh, group right now, even more so. Um, and then did run and was elected to the select board in 2016 and served for two years. I finished out, uh, the last two years of, of a select board member who had left the board. Um, and it was in an interesting time. It was during the period where the, uh, controversy about the, the rec departments merging and, you know, there's been a lot of emotions in our, in our, uh, community. And, um, I, I, I feel like, so, uh, professionally I'm a, a project manager, um, have been a project manager for 30 years. Um, have a lot of experience with, um, forming teams, getting teams to work well together, um, focusing on transition and change and getting people to feel good about change and feel good about what they're doing and working through conflict and, uh, you know, it's a, it's a, it's a role that, um, I think lends itself well to being in, in a, in a public servant role, because you're really putting aside yourself for the better of what ever the goal is that we're trying to accomplish and really need to leverage the, the talents and knowledge of the team. And so I would say the same thing. We, we, um, need to leverage all the inputs and knowledge and talents of this community to, to help this community move forward to where we need to have it move. All right. Thank you, Sue. What is your understanding of what it means to be a public servant? So, um, thanks. Kind of, kind of hit on it a little bit, but, um, I really feel it's, um, separating yourself from the role and making sure that you're making yourself available and accessible and responsive to the community. I know when I was on the select board previously, a lot of effort goes into, um, being available and having the communications and, and being responsive and listening and, and, and making sure that you're, you're, you're treating any community member with respect and, um, and giving them the attention that they need. So, um, and I, and I think the biggest part of it is, um, really representing the input that you receive. And, you know, it's, it's going to be disfair. You're not going to please everyone, but, um, it's really our role, uh, as a public servant to, to bring that input forward and, and make sure that it gets heard and is a part of the collective voice. Thank you. Great. Sue, thanks for coming in tonight. Uh, I saw, I, you answered this a little bit in your written question, but I think this is a chance to be a little more free-ranging with it. Um, you described what diversity, equity and inclusion mean to you, uh, as it relates to representation in our local government. Yeah, so, um, I see, uh, diversity as not just, um, you know, I mean, there's, there's the obvious diversity of race and origin and culture and religion and, and sexual orientation. And then there's diversity of experience and thought and perspective. Um, and I think that all of that diversity is what collectively leads to, um, you know, the community. And as a, as a, uh, a representative of that community, it's really imperative to understand, you know, all those different tentacles of diversity that exist and, and make sure that it, there is an opportunity for, for it to be treated with respect and the input to be carried forward. Um, from a, um, equity perspective, um, I think it's really important, I think I did hit on this in, in, in part of my written answer, um, making sure that we're looking at not just slicing things up evenly in terms of resources and services, but really looking at how do we make sure that everyone within the community is getting what they need from our, from our municipalities. So, you know, making sure that the people that are in most need are able to get what they need. And the people that maybe are, um, you know, looking for a different kind of, um, service from the municipality have the opportunity for that. So just making sure that you're, um, not just being equal, but, um, because equal is not going to get everybody to where they need to be, but really looking at the next layer to see what is really needed to get people to be, at a point where they can be all have the same opportunity. And then, uh, inclusion, inclusive, inclusivity, um, you know, making sure that we are, um, providing opportunities for, um, all different perspectives and all different diverse, diversities to be a part of the leadership and the representation that exists here, um, providing mentoring, um, and making sure that people know that, uh, no matter who you are or what you represent, that you are part of this community, and we are going to make sure that we, um, include that in our community voice. Thank you very much. Okay, uh, Sue, could you, make three suggestions of things that we can do in Essex to welcome people of various backgrounds or nationalities? Yeah, so, um, one thing I thought of, and I don't, I don't really know where this stands currently, but, um, I really think, um, ensuring that the, um, the town, um, staff and leadership is getting, um, appropriate training on diversity, um, and how to, um, you know, making sure that we, uh, from a leadership and staff perspective, the most current and, um, appropriate training is being provided, um, because it's, it's a, it's a, it's an evolving, um, topic and what was kind of taught five years ago is no longer really appropriate and the community is evolving as well. So, um, I think that that's, that's one thing I think I would start with, um, kind of hit on the, you know, maybe setting up some sort of a program for mentoring, um, and maybe asking some, um, people that do already have some sort of a diverse perspective or diverse, um, position to, to take on some mentoring, to lift up maybe some other members of the community that don't see themselves as much in the, the leadership within the community and, um, you know, get them, yet, um, a little bit more diverse, um, representation within the leadership of the town and, uh, and then, uh, similar to what Tim mentioned, I really think, um, there's an opportunity to do some sort of a, like, fun community-wide event where, um, people from different, um, either cultures or origin or religions or, you know, uh, uh, have, have the opportunity to showcase, um, you know, what makes them special and share, um, share awareness about that, uh, where, you know, there may be some ignorance within the community and not understanding, um, all the different, um, traditions and cultures and I think that there's an opportunity to spread awareness and enjoy. Thank you. How do you feel the select board should proceed when discussing separation of the village of Essex Junction from the town deficit? So, um, I, I feel like there's been a lot of hype and urgency that's been kind of creating some, uh, pressure in this, on this topic and I really, I, I, I feel strongly that we need to, um, slow down a little bit on it, um, to make sure that we're doing appropriate upfront planning, um, and making sure that, um, both the village and the town outside the village have an opportunity to really look at what does it mean, um, and how do we get to a situation where, um, both communities, if the separation does go through, both separations will continue, both communities will continue to thrive and, and do well in their own rights. Um, I, I do feel a little like it's been kind of, uh, a reactionary kind of thing and I'd like to see, um, the, the town have a chance to really, um, do some whiteboarding of, you know, what does it look like for the town if the village separates and how do we, how do we make sure that, um, you know, the town gets what it needs in addition to the village getting what it wants. So, but I think that the number one is, uh, you know, when you, when you create this, you know, we're all busy and there's a lot going on in this world and everybody's trying to keep things moving and sometimes things get rough when things get done in a little bit too urgent way. So, um, I think being a little calmer and, uh, putting a little bit more thought and planning into it, I think would get us to a better solution for everyone. Please talk about a time when you changed your mind on an issue. What was the issue and how did the change come about? I thought about this one for a while. Um, I couldn't like come up with a specific example not to say that I haven't, I do change my mind all the time, but, um, the reality is it's not a big deal for me to change my mind. So it wasn't like I could think of like one specific example. As mentioned as a project manager, it's a very collaborative role and I, I am never the decision maker, although the team leads me to make a decision and, you know, I feel like from an approach perspective, that's what the select board's role is as well is to, you know, although the policy gets made here and the, and then the final decisions get made here, they don't get made here, um, in a vacuum. You, you need to make sure to take the time to listen and get that input and represent that input and hear that input and, um, you know, I think that, that is how, um, decisions get made and, and not to say I haven't at some point had to rush to make a decision and not had the opportunity to take in all that input. But I think, you know, ideally that is how I would normally approach things and, and so that's what I just, I couldn't think of a specific example. I apologize for that, but, you know, the reality is I think, um, going through, um, a collaborative approach often leads you to maybe not the decision that you would make, but the right decisions based on the group. If appointed, do you plan on running a town meeting this coming March? To fill the select board seat for the remainder of its term? I honestly can't say yes or no at this point and I, I, I thought about this as well and, um, you know, it just seems a little premature to make that kind of decision. I know that by the end of January I would need to make a commitment and I think by that point I'd be able to have a better perspective on, on whether, you know, I would, I would run to fill the seat for the remaining, I guess, one more year, right? Um, but I can't say yeah or nay. I, I would definitely consider it, but I feel like I've, I should have the same opportunity to consider it in the same timeline that everyone else that would possibly throw their hat in for the ring. All right. Thank you, Sue. Um, you made it through all the questions. The, the last speaking point here would be to, if you have any other, uh, comments you want to make that didn't come up during the questions, um, any closing remarks you have and if you have any questions that you'd like to ask the select board. So, um, yeah, so a question that I have is just, you know, so I know, um, the budget cycle is starting up pretty soon, right? That's, and I think, you know, when I, when I, when I considered whether I want to see, to jump in and get back involved, um, I looked at the timeframe and what's going to be occurring in the timeframe between now and March and there's a lot of important work that has to go on. So, uh, and, and probably the, the, the biggest piece of work is that budget review and so I'm, I'm just curious, like, when you think about the budget that's coming up, what, what are, what do you view as the biggest challenges? So, yeah, so we, we did have a discussion about, we're starting the, the process two months earlier than we have in the past. That's good. Um, so that's, that's, uh, give us a lot more time to, to work through it. Probably crushing our finance director right now, because she's got two budgets she's working on. But the, the priorities that we, we, we talked about, I know climate change was one that came up as a big focus for a number of members. Um, and the, the other one was around diversity and equity and inclusion. Um, those are the two pride, you know, priorities that, that I recall us bringing up during our discussions. Um, we also have, you know, the, the prospect of, you know, separation potential potentially in the next, in the coming years. Um, that we need to be cognizant of the fact that there's a potential for a large step function increase in the fact rates. We need to understand what, you know, what those implications are and whether we need to do something about them now. But having said that, though, we do still need to run the town. Um, so we'll be, we'll I don't anticipate that we'll be defending anything at this point. Is there anything else that our budget that we get to take you? Yeah. I liked your, your comment. I just wanted to say, I learned a, I heard a phrase today. There's a, we attend a couple of us attended the Vermont League of City and City and Towns, Town Fair today. And there was a phrase that came up and sharpening the axe that doesn't delay felling the tree. Um, so that's, I think what you're talking about, or getting, you know, making sure you do the work ahead of time rather than rushing into a bad solution because you could take up, take you more time to do it. Yeah. So there's a, there's a visual, which is two mountain peaks and, you know, a mountain climber kind of throwing his axe across and trying to get from the top to the top versus somebody that actually takes the time to plan to go down and back up and probably will get where he's trying to get there. So, um, yeah, there, there is a, um, like a human nature to just want to jump in and do things, but really spending some good, clean thinking time up front can lead to the right solution. And I think that there's a benefit for that. So, yeah, so thank you for your time and I appreciate it. And I, I do see there's a lot of important work that has to get done. And that's why I decided to put myself in as a candidate. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Hey, looks like Kendall is online. Yes, I am. All right. So let's see. So same deal as the others. Give you an opportunity to introduce yourself. Give us any opening remarks that you might have and, you know, statement of why you would like to be considered for this select board seat. Go ahead, Kendall. Well, you've got some great candidates and really that was my thing I wanted to make happen most was have some good candidates. So maybe I'll give a little chronic relief after that. Maybe I can provide a new perspective in some ways to the board. I'm a lifelong Essex resident. I've got great neighbors, old and new. And I've been a part of the municipal government, the Richmond government for more than 30 years. The current board in Essex has a really good mix of citizens. My wife says I'd probably be the onion should I be chosen for the position. Anyway, I did listen in last night. I don't have an agenda, no desire to punish anybody. I don't expect to make transformative changes or suddenly solve problems. And I know there are a lot of other things that need attention and ethics besides the split, but I think everything is tied to the separation. And at least for the next few months, this term, if the community separates, big changes. The community doesn't separate, big changes. I've been involved with the Richmond select board since the early 80s. So I'm familiar with how the government works and maybe I can help the board. All right. Thanks, Kendall. Hi Kendall. What is your understanding of what it means to be a public servant? The servant part is front and center. We all have personal opinions that are valid, but I think a good public servant oftentimes overrules that. You can overrule that at any time if you need to. You should try to meet the needs of all your citizens in the best way possible. Board, some house charge of course that compromises between the majority and the each can be right or wrong at any time. That is the strength of a board, in my opinion. And the diverse board is always better at finding this compromise. You apply wisdom and that may come from internal or external sources. We all only know what we know. We don't know what we don't know. Public servant learns that you can never have enough different voices adding perspective to any decision you make. Thank you. Hey, Kendall, thanks for being here with us tonight. Do you describe what diversity, equity and inclusion mean to you, specifically as it relates to representation in our local government? Well, I'm married to a Canadian green card holder who has traveled the world and I have regular conversations with a Hindu vegetarian from upstate New York. I also watch a lot of different things. One of the things that struck me in a movie I recently saw was where the father commented to his children as Mexican-American citizens, they aren't accepted in Mexico because they're too American or America because they're too Mexican. I wonder how many folks actually really think about that. Diversity, equity and inclusion to me simply means acceptance and appreciation for all individuals in the community, which should be reflected through the policies of the local government. It includes everybody and doesn't exclude anybody. All backgrounds, beliefs and experiences. There should be no barriers to anyone doing anything to participate in local government through the hiring practices, policies or access to opportunities to serve. Diversity has been proven to increase creativity and always leads to better decision making. We are all the same, but we're all different. Our differences should be our strengths, not the weakness. Great, thank you. Okay, Kendall, can you suggest three things that Essex can do to welcome people of various backgrounds and nationalities? Well, I've never really had to think of what specifically you do to welcome people of various backgrounds and nationalities. I've always just welcomed everyone by waving high, talking to them, sharing, helping out if needed. I've found on the road that if you wave at people enough, eventually they wave back or they stop and ask, why the heck are you waving at them? It's pretty easy to ask someone how they're doing a sunny day, while goes a long way. I took this a little bit more literal and I did come up with three specific suggestions. I thought maybe one of the things you could do would be to acknowledge holidays of different cultures and encourage participation. You wouldn't believe how many holidays there are in Hindu religion. Fantastic. And who doesn't like a celebration? You could also have specific celebrations of different cultures and public spaces. I think this happens a lot already at the farmers markets when you look at all the different varieties of food from all the different cultures that are often there. But maybe you could do something more specific involving a specific food at a specific time. The other thing is, you know, like I do this a lot is I just Google it. What would you do? What would be something you could do to welcome people? And I found Welcoming America. They have a whole list, a whole website that actually lays out a lot of specific things that communities can do to be a great resource to become welcoming and welcome all different community members. Hey, thank you. How do you feel the select board should proceed when discussing the separation of the village of Essex Junction from the town of Essex? Well, I put quite a bit down in the written response to that. But I will say I just think it should be full steam ahead to separation. I see many positive advantages for both new communities going forward, especially after checking out all the forums and going through all the votes and the revotes and the revotes and the revotes and the revotes for the past few years. I gotta say I'm always struck by how small an area of the town, the city, is. I think it's become kind of observed to think that the same rules and needs could apply across the current community the way that it's separated now. I appreciate how the current board is trying to consider all the needs of the residents, but I don't think anything going forward should be cast in stone for any length of time. Should separation actually happen? I see a sea change in how the town of Essex moves ahead. I also see a sea change in Essex if it isn't approved. If you listen to the trustees, in my opinion, they are firmly on the path to separation. And if you look at history, when you look at when you skier Colchester, I think that we're kind of resembling them a little bit right now. I know that back when Richmond merged in 1988, I was an employee of Richmond at that time, and the two boards were very evenly matched between the trustees of the village and the town of the select board. And one of the biggest issues was the village had realized that if they continued as the village for a long period of time, they would run into exactly the problems that the town of Essex has run into, where the urban residents may have a lot more need generally than somebody that's out the end of the road. And ultimately, the village residents vote to approve a lot more expenses. And as the town grows, naturally, the town taxes go up and they're tied to those taxes, even though they're in the village. So that's just my two cents. Thank you. Kendall, when you talked about a time when you changed your mind on an issue, what was the issue and how did the change come about? Well, actually, I'll mention that again, because it's emerging. My father was a huge proponent for the school merger, remember that? And one of the public meetings he went to was to speak passionately for merging the school, which ultimately happened. I always assumed for a long time the same would eventually happen with the town, because merger spent around for a long time. And especially after I went through the village merger as an employee, and that worked out pretty well. And it's gotten better and better if the years go on. And folks come to realize they're all part of the same community. But I since I've changed my mind, obviously, clearly from what I've been saying, as it seems to be apparent, we are really different. The town, the village are different. Personally, I think the town is coming under more and more restrictions and rules that are necessarily crafted to address the needs of a dense, small urban section of the town. You're trying to bring the town of Jericho and a lot of cases when you look at ethics on a map under Burlington rule. I don't see how that can work long term without some significant changes. The resistance to merger over and over that we've seen tends to confirm that it doesn't think to work. So that's really where I have made a change. Thank you, Kendall. Oh, sorry. That's me. If appointed, do you plan on running a town meeting this coming March to fill the select board seat for the remainder of its term? Well, if you remember when I tried for one of 10 seats, one of the things that my wife was very clear about was that if I happened to get into the board, she had big plans for some kind of campaign. So I guess that that goes without saying that should you happen to place me in the hot seat, then I can see lots of signs popping up on the road. So yeah. Thank you. All right. Kendall, thank you for your comments. This last speaking opportunity for you is will allow you to make some closing statements. If there's anything you didn't bring up during the questions that you'd like us to hear or if you have any questions for us. Go ahead. No, basically, I'll just close the thing. I'm just an ordinary guy that lives out on the end of the dirt road in Essex. I love my neighbors. I love where I live. I've been here my entire life. My father built the house in 38. You know, maybe I've got something that appeals to the board. I would like to thank the board for the opportunity. It's pretty unique. This is a challenge because folks that know me know that I tend to be fairly laid back. And certainly during a pandemic, you're seeing me as I've been seeing for almost two years now, this embodied voice. And thanks for the other contestant because really we are contestants and sometimes when you win, it's a win. Sometimes you don't, but you've got some good choices there. Thank you. All right. Thank you, Kendall. Thank you. So that brings our interviews to an end. The only other thing on the agenda is the reading file and ask if the board has any comments about any topic at all. No, I would just, you mentioned the VLCT Town Fair. I would urge other board members to attend to sleep if you can. It's really interesting and worthwhile. The event on staff has also been an attendee. Yes, we can. Yep. Yeah, yeah. It's a challenge this year because it's gone to six days long. I complained when it went from one day to two days. And so now with it being six days, it's a challenge on their side too because of the logistics of running the virtual aspect of it. Yes, but the content's been excellent. I've attended the last two days, actually. After our late night last night, I took a nap at three o'clock, so I missed the last session. But I'll catch it and rerun. It's all recorded, so. It really, it's interesting that it's virtual because it allows people from the entire state to participate without having coming to, it's in South Burlington. So it's a lot more of, I'm seeing a lot more names in participation. So very interesting. The virtual is nice. I can have it up in the background as I'm actually doing my real job. But as they mentioned, there was for the people at home, there's a session on ARPA, Federal Fundings Program, that is very, it's very interesting for the town and the village because of the money that's coming, but what you could do with it if you put effort into thinking about what you want to do with it, you don't have to rush into something because they've also kind of talked about the timeframe in which you'd have to spend the money. You have to commit it, but then you have time to spend it. So that was interesting. And all the help that could be out there if you reach out for. All right. So the only, the next thing we do, I guess to let the, I guess I should have, I should have, sorry, I should have said this earlier that the next thing we're going to do is going to, at the end of the meeting, we'll go into executive session. If we come to consensus, we'll come back out of executive session and make an appointment. If we don't, then we'll have to talk about what we do next. They're either, I'm hoping we close tonight. So and then I don't know how long the executive session will take. I don't know if you want to, we'll want to lurk around until we're done or you informed tomorrow. If you're still here, we'll let you know, I guess. We'll be adjourning to upstairs, just to a closed door room. Do you have a question? We either way, to allow Scott time to take down all this equipment, we'll be going upstairs to a different room. And so it's really up to you whether you want to wait. I guess I will make a suggestion. I mean, if it's okay with the candidates, we're certainly able to call you tomorrow morning at the latest if there's a decision. Please find time to spend time with your families. Yeah, yeah, yeah, because it would be great. I have no idea how long it's going to take us tonight. Irene, did you have a comment? All right, thanks. So I think some of these comments might not have been heard online. Sorry, I didn't make you come up to the microphone when you spoke. There was a, Irene was asking if we could come back down to the room to state what it is that we, what decision we came to. And we're not going to ask Scott to stay, but we can certainly do that. I know you're often still here when we're done with our executive sessions. We can do that. So, right. So, I make the motion that we go into a executive session. We need to, we need to use the appropriate wording, which is, anybody have that? I do. I move the select board enter into executive session to discuss the proposed public official appointment in accordance with one BSA section 313A3 and to include the unified manager and deputy manager. Thank you, Pat. Was that done? That's seconded. Thank you, Don. Any further discussion? All those in favor, please say aye. Hi. I'm sorry. This is awkward because I did allow other people in the room to speak. Please don't, please don't comment on any of the candidates since it's a select board decision with regard to who we, we select, but any two for go ahead. Thanks for having me up first. I think we might be saying the same thing. I defer to Rachel for a moment. Sorry about that. I typed it in the chat really briefly, but my request is that if you're going to allow, if you're going to notify the in-person participants of your decision that the team's meeting should be kept on so that the online participants can also get this information. I agree that that's what I was going to say too. It seems inappropriate that I reinstated what her preference is as though she's, you know, commanding the select board. So if you're going to share public information, it must be to all, not just to Irene Renner. That's odd. Okay. I understand. I think what Greg and I were just discussing, we can sign back in after you're done and announce whatever if you come to a decision. If you don't, we'll come back on and tell them a decision. Given the, yeah, given the, I don't think people have to stay here for that. Right. Okay. So, so what's proposed here is that we will sign out of this meeting, but then we will restart it once we have, but I don't know how you'll, you'll have to, you'll have to leave your, yourself logged in until we come back. That's correct. Whoever's in the room, whoever's online will hear it at the same time so that except for the people that, that are watching it. Correct. Right. The, the, the, the recording will not include that portion of the meeting. All right. So sorry, we never did vote. Did we vote? Did we vote? No. Okay. No. Okay. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed. All right. So we'll, we'll go off to