 Okay, everybody are we ready? Wonderful well welcome everyone to a special meeting of the wards two and three neighborhood planning assembly It is so wonderful to be back in person at the old North End Community Center and to see faces in the audience So welcome everybody I'm Jess Hyman on the the NPA steering committee and here with me today our steering committee members Patrick Johnson and Charlie Giannone on the on the camera And we have a few other steering committee members who couldn't be here tonight Barbara McGrew Molly Flanagan Kevin Duterman Andrew Champaign and Tony Reddington and Tony sending you big well wishes So we have a special night tonight We have a candidate forum for the ward three city council election, which is coming up on august 17th Everyone should have received your ballots in the mail if you have not received your ballot in the mail yet Please contact the city clerk's office and you have up to the 17th to turn it in or you can vote in person then Let's see. So we have a few announcements before we get started There will be no NPA meeting in august But we'll resume the regular schedule in september Which will be september 9th and it'll be back in person here at the community center And we'll also be celebrating the return of the community dinner. So janet Yes, it was wonderful. Janet and her crew will be back serving up delicious food And we're really grateful for the support from channel 17 town meeting television Which is streaming this live on youtube And also to cht and burlington parks and rec for offering us up this wonderful space again so Now it's time for For announcements I have a quick announcement to make on behalf of genie waltz from the ramble the ramble is on July 31st the last saturday in in in july Fantastic event people can still sign up to be to participate If you'd like to get involved Go to the ramble.org and there's a sign-up sheet for events and more information. So don't forget july 31st The ramble. So do we have any other announcements from the public? Okay, good. So we're waiting on details at the front about the old north end mutual aid party Details coming soon any other announcements? Okay, so We're very happy to have our three candidates for the ward three city council position Here we have christopher erin felker Thank you oan melton and joe mege And we're going to patrick is going to be moderating this next part of of the session and I will turn it over to him And if we get that announcement about the mutual aid, we can jump in with it Soon or later Sorry about that for those of you out there in in zoomland Oh This this new hybrid model is kind of fun. Maybe we'll get used to it by september For those of you who are out in zoomland, you will be able to ask questions So liam and kirsten from cdo are on on the zoom and if you have a question use the q&a function on zoom And then They will relay that question to us and we will ask the candidates Thank you We may try to Facilitate if we get a bunch of questions about a specific topic. We will try to wrap all of those into one efficient question For the audience the internet audience, but Through an official method. We have determined that uh when you're going to go first with your opening statement You guys are all familiar with the Format we fed up Thank you for letting me And try chris's chris and then followed by joe for the opening statements Yeah So, uh, thank you all for Inviting me to and all of us to be able to attend. Uh, it has been a great experience to learn and connect with The people of ward three as this campaign has been underway, uh, and I often get asked why are you doing this? Um, and I have have having been um at the community sailing center for a number of years now have had uh the distinct pleasure of Engaging closely with brian pine over the past uh, uh number of years and Uh on more than a couple of occasions Uh, I've been able to witness his approach to what I termed to be servant leadership Um, uh a good example of this that I've uh that I often kind of revert to is um a particular moment when Um ice cream bob who owns the uh ice cream stand down on the waterfront Uh was uh about to get railroaded Literally by amtrack Um, and he received a notice saying that his business is going to be demolished and shut down Um, and or part of um part of a group of individuals that um, you know are Leaders or business leaders down on the waterfront and had Uh In that meeting he said to us this will be my last time here. I am going to be Uh shut out of business and I said to him, uh bob hold on Don't hang it up just yet. Um, let me call brian and see if there's something that he can do And I called brian and he Swooped in he said this is unconscionable. We cannot set this precedent that Um, we're going to let um someone who's been uh, Working on the waterfront for 18 years um get shut down in this particular manner And I don't know what he did. I probably Called public works and parks and rec and the mayor's office And probably worked with a number of other city counselors Um to identify a solution Uh and help bob stay there And I got a phone call from bob Not long after Uh and bob said to me Oh and I don't know what happened or how it worked, but brian was able to find me a new place on the waterfront In fact, the new spot is almost better than where I've been for the past 18 years And he gets to save my business and I And he said you've got ice cream for life. Thanks for the help and he said well To be clear the ice cream for the rest of My life not your life and So I I say that simply because you know, that's the work of servant leaders. It's to listen carefully ask the right questions to Really understand the the challenge you have in front of you and then roll up your sleeves and solve the problem If you do that often enough people take notice You do it well enough and enough people Are impressed by the work and they keep sending you back time after time And I believe in the idea of servant leadership and we'll continue to move that forward Good evening everybody I'm christa raren felker. I am a husband a veteran of the united states navy and since 2013 your neighbor And the g.o.p. Nominee for war three in the city council race The last eight years you've likely seen me out walking my dogs through the neighborhood six seven eight times a day Especially if you live west of champlain I love that the old north end. I love the life that we've built here We love burlington lake champlain, but most of all we love how friendly and outgoing my fellow burlingtonians are Every single day I go out and walk through our gorgeous neighborhood Y'all are so happy and eager to come up and and and talk about what's going on in your lives and And what problems you might have and we can talk things out and I I absolutely adore that community that we have here In the last eight years that I have been here and we've made this our home We have been happy to integrate and be part of this society But I have had reservations about how there has been very little If any and in the past few years no conservative representation or even voices represented during our electoral process Ward three seems to have been a progressive stronghold for the last 48 40 years And and that's fine. And I think that my fellow burlingtonians who live in ward three that are progressives They are very kind considerate good-hearted people I just feel that it's time that we start having conservative voices In this conversation because this is how we're going to solve burlington's problems We all come together Each one of the three of us offers a different vantage point None of us are perfect. We're all flawed human beings just trying to do better every single day And that's all we can do Uh, try and be better try to come to the table work out our problems And find solutions together This is how society's supposed to work and this is how it's going to work from here on out I appreciate The time that everybody has brought us together tonight Again, I'm christa iran felker the conservative the GOP nominee for ward three and I'm here to ask for your vote tonight. Thank you Hi, everyone. My name is Joe McGee. I use he and they pronouns and I am our renter on north champlain street Um, I'm glad that we're all able to be back at the old north end community center sharing physical space again And glad that we have a hybrid model so that folks on zoom can also participate as well I hope that we can continue that model with a lot of our public meetings going forward. So um, because we're not out of the pandemic yet and uh, it's going to be a vital part of our recovery efforts So I uh grew up in vermont. I moved to burlington eight years ago to go to uvm and uh, my lived experiences and those of my family have kind of shaped my core beliefs and I shaped my commitment to progressive movement building My grandparents were married in 1951 and my grandmother is an irish immigrant My grandfather was a boston firefighter who was killed on the line of duty in june 17th 1972 and had it not been for the uh union benefits that The union fought for one with the city of boston. My grandmother and eight other widows would have been left single mothers and Had no safety net So when I talk about issues of economic justice And the idea that the issues that we face like housing child care and income inequality are interconnected I'm speaking not just from theory, but reality Um, you know, we're not going to achieve Racial justice without economic justice without environmental justice or without social justice We have to fight for all of those together And so that's why I'm proud to call myself a progressive. It's what's driven my Work on uh, each of senator sander's presidential campaigns is campaign for us senate uh, it's why I supported max tracy's campaign for mayor and I was proud to support emma malvaney's tennix campaign for state representative And so many other progressive campaigns throughout the years So i'm running for city council to be a voice for working families in city hall You know for too long the city has responded to the needs of the wealthy and the well connected well working families have shoulder to burden It's gotten heavier year after year And I think it's time that we reverse that trend and uplift working people Uplift marginalized communities and deliver true racial equity So i'm committed to challenging the white supremacy that's inherent in our governing structure I think we need to do a lot more to bring BIPOC folks into the governing process and um do more to deliver true public safety that transitions away from policing and it delivers more mental health support and uh, It would also advocate for community control of police and support the um resolution passed by the public safety committee to Give more power to the police commission while we get that charter change across the finish line in the state house So i'm glad to be here tonight. I hope to earn your your support in the special election on august 17th And i'm looking forward to our conversation. Thank you Excellent Any questions from the audience i'll try to We have a oh, would you like a any other? Hey, well jump feel free. We'll try to get live questions before anything else If you'd like to if you don't mind jumping up to the mic or I can hand you the mic Oh, yeah Yeah, my question is to joe And to identify identify myself i'm my name is norm fischer. That's spelled with a c if i s c h e r I was like to say that and Since I've been in burlington for the last five and a half years. I've published four vt digger commentaries And five letters and all of them are in free speech Except right before the election. I Accused trump and the republican party of abandoning of the abandoning republicanism So my defense of free speech is from the left And all of my letters dealt with three incidents in Either burlington or vermont, okay? In burlington. It's the attack on the downtown mural You couldn't gotten rid of the mural without attacking free speech You could have used arguments that didn't go against free speech, but it was a total attack on free speech One of my letters was defending paula robert lee when her newspapers were attacked and taken over by black lives matter and destroyed And two of my vermont digger articles were on the sad and terrible case of tiffany riley and windsor who for making a comment outside of her Job is teacher and principal. She was fired And and windsor and what i'd like you to do joe is to explain Whether you think pierre hardy The painter who did the downtown mural whether you think his his speech Free speech was denied Whether you think paula robert lee's free speech was denied and whether you think tiffany riley's free speech was denied If you don't uh, that is a really good question I'd like all the candidates to be able to answer within the context Of would you have done it better and with it with a nod to free speech? But joe since it was addressed to you first sure Well on the subject of the mural, you know, I think that is a public Space and it's up to our community to decide what's on that wall. And so I think that process Was done right. I think the result was A good one. I think it should have happened sooner You know, and I think we need to have a real community discussion about the sorts of Public arts that we're working on going forward in the larger context of free speech you know our words matter and um The supreme court has upheld that time and again that You can't say whatever you want if it harms people then It isn't considered free speech. So um, I've got limited time here, but I'd love to talk more about that Oh, and would you like to go next? Yeah, so um As relates to the mural That project was um commissioned to be a representation of our history and uh and the sheer fact that um significant portions of our History was left out of that mural is what I Understand to be the underlying factor of why that was the case that was not somebody being uh commissioned to put up whatever they wanted on a wall And so I fully stand behind the effort to revise change and ultimately You know bring that bring that down. So I I will always stand behind something that doesn't Fully represent the entirety of our history, especially considering we uh live on abinac land The as relates to the uh seven days I Felt and I think many of the people in the community felt very Opposed to the manner in which that was handled and ultimately it's um ending of the uh Uh, you know led to public um dissent against that particular movement. Um, so we're gonna. I'm sorry to interrupt you Yeah, I'm gonna try to stick to be fair, of course So on the subject I'll start on the broader subject first and then I'll narrow down for you sir So on the subject of free speech, it's my belief that if you are an advocate of free speech You advocate and you stand up for any speech and that includes the people that you disagree with It includes if they are saying something that you personally view repugnant Uh, this is how we work as a society. This is the core principle of america We come together and we fault solve problems as far as the mural goes. I'm inclined to agree with you sir I feel like they're uh, there might have been three or four other better ways to address taking down the mural as opposed to The avenue that we went it was a very decisive tract and uh, sorry very divisive track that we went down And it didn't need to be that way. Uh, the mural itself while I guess they originally wanted it to be a representation of our history. It was There's a little much there were actually even qr codes on it So it came across more as a billboard than anything else So if you wanted to get it taken down, you could have called it a billboard and said violated vermont law So we didn't have to go down this really truly divisive route where People were arguing with each other and calling each other nasty names. It didn't need to go that way We could have handled it much better, but as far as free speech goes It's absolute as long as you aren't Harassing somebody threatening somebody or yelling fire in a crowded theater. Thank you Important don't yell Theater in a crowded fire department Uh, next question. Sorry, that's steve martin My name is barbie allsopp and I am one of the very strong Progressives in this ward and so I wanted to ask the two non-progressives Why on earth would I vote for you? Should I vote for you? Give me a good reason And uh, trying to be inclusive again, you should also make the argument that you are progressive if we don't know you for uh For poor joe down there Well, let's just not assume Well, just so he has a chance to answer to do you have a preference as to which one of us goes so, uh I have So I did seek the progressive nomination And that was due in large part because I believe that Um a significant number of the ideas um presented by the progressive movement are good for burlington And I don't necessarily that I am running as an independent Uh, I would have liked to have um been Selected but ultimately um, wasn't I There if I was to give you a quick reason it is um, well that I have been very active in my community for many years served on a variety of of different organizational boards both in the um Government sector as well as the nonprofit sector and that has really given me a great perspective on a broad set of the needs um that face the community in ward three so I think a lot of people get hung up on party affiliations It's not necessary. I feel that that kind of washed away that is more prevalent in other parts of the country. Um in sometimes in in this area can but We we can transcend that it's about the message and all I ask ma'am is that you you listen to What our campaign is presenting and the solutions that we have for burlington And if in your heart and in your mind you feel that those are good ideas Then I will ask for your vote. But if if you are conflicted still then Follow your heart But we're gonna put out a positive message and a positive campaign with real solutions for the problems that I've seen in burlington for the last eight years We're gonna bring those to the table and and you'll decide But I do ask for your vote. So I hope you give us your you'll listen to what we have to say. Thank you Well, I am a progressive Because I believe that we need to do More to advance climate justice. We need to do more to advance racial justice We need to do more to advance economic justice And we need to do them. We need to make bold changes now We can't wait like we saw videos the other day of the ocean literally on fire. We cannot wait for climate action And we need to be vocal in supporting our trans trans neighbors. We need to be vocal in supporting Workers in this city. We need to be vocal and supporting BIPOC folks And uplifting marginalized communities and that's why I'm a progressive That's why I'm proud to be endorsed by the progressive party for this race And why I hope to earn your vote. So, thank you very much Thank you We have another question from councillor freeman Yep. Yep. And again, please do the other two. Yeah, give your name and what ward you live in I'm perry freeman. I'm in ward two This question is mostly directed at christopher, but other folks can speak on their opinions or thoughts on the issue Myself as a trans transgender person. I've felt discouraged and disappointed by your opinions and your positions on trans folks We have a lot of trans folks including myself in the neighborhood who have health health needs social needs cultural and economic needs And I'm wondering how like can you explain to me how you're going to support trans folks like myself and other folks in the neighborhood? Given that you've challenged my right to exist and other folks right to exist as trans people and other folks can speak to their Stance on trans trans rights. Thank you I do take a slight issue with the way that you frame the question saying that I I don't deny that your right to exist You you're standing here right in front of me and you Clearly do exist perry. We've had conversations many times and I've been completely respectful to you every time we've talked Um You know, I've I've been asked this question before I'm hoping that we can get through this so I have stated on multiple occasions that I wholeheartedly and fully support equal rights for transgender people in our community And I as such could And absolutely will be able to represent in the transgender individuals in ward 3 I'd like to point out that transgender individuals in ward 3 already have fantastic representation from miss perry freeman herself Who is a transgendered individual who represents ward 3 in city council? So transgender individuals already have a a very vocal and and and Advocate on council. Do you know who doesn't have representation on council conservative voices in burlington? Thank you And Joe would you like to take the next one? Sure First off perry uses they and them pronouns. So I want to make sure that we're getting that right You know, I as a queer person myself I'm also disheartened by mr. Felker's comments um I Think that burlington needs to do more to support trans folks We can always do more When we have to there's this isn't really up for discussion trans rights aren't up for debate and I Don't think that anybody elected to public office should have Had any point thought that I trans people have any less right than anybody else to exist and so If elected to the city council, I will work hard to advance policies that Support trans folks make it easier for trans folks to access health care Make sure that the community health centers are making outreach efforts to support trans folks and do more to make sure that we have A gender neutral bathrooms in the city as well Thank you. Joe no one yet, so I Fully support the right of trans folks to exist And the city can play a very important role to identify the obstacles that individuals face As they go about their day in fact one of the ideas and you know Put the you know, it's part it's on my website around the ideas of accessibility and ADA is that There are things that can be done infrastructure wise to actually not just improve Things as it relates for those of us who Have access issues related to mobility, but actually to look at things on a broader spectrum to include how We can use that methodology to actually improve the lives of That go beyond just those that have been traditionally considered in the ADA And you know essentially I'd be working towards a plan that would actually Incorporate a lot more of those facility improvements That aren't just part of that That law that was passed in 1993. Thank you very much So if there are any points of this you'd like to revisit or re you know discuss further You all have a minute if you'd like to take that minute If somebody says something you'd like to respond to Just throwing it out there. Um, we have another oh Jessica Yeah, please please do please do Hi there. Good evening. Thank you for uh to the neighborhood for putting on this forum. This is really great My question is about public safety. Could you could you give your name if you don't mind? Yeah, sure Wendy wilton and you're located word two or three or not I'm actually outside the city of burlington. Although my roots are here And my mother went to school in this building by the way Anyway, uh, but my concern is actually regional concern and that's why I'm here tonight It's about this regional concern and my regional concern is about policing It's about public safety in burlington And I think what we've seen over the last year Is those cities that defunded police now have terrible problems with vandalism theft and increasing crime That is leading to more violent crime So my concern burlington being the largest city in vermont, of course and in the regional community of chitin county If burlington doesn't have a strong Policing and that includes community policing also by the way and you know modern efforts at policing Which burlington I think has had a proud history of but if burlington defunds their police And doesn't keep control on crime that will also be a regional problem So that's why it concerns me, but I think people in burlington have that concern as well many do So I'd like to hear each candidate respond to Are they supporting defunding the police? And what is their plan going forward to make sure that burlington stays safe? Thank you So I'm going to jump in here. This that's a pretty big question It's on my list reimagining refunding So if we don't mind two minutes if you can do it under two minutes, good luck, but Please offer specifics to people and avoid the general statements, you know, you can choose to generalize all you wish But since a lot of people can't be here to Critique your statements try to be a little bit more specific to policies that have been enacted things you would like to enact And uh, Joe, you would be next to go first Okay, great. So I Do support transitioning away from the traditional structures of policing and funding mental health services and unarmed civilians responding to Folks who are experiencing mental health crises nonviolent Calls that are coming into our police station. I do not support these calls to Raise the cap on the officers at the council set Last summer. I think we need to continue to be bold in coming up with solutions to move away from Militarized police force and we need to back that up with funding and Be able to show up and envision a future that for public safety that supports BIPOC folks and Really involves them in the process. I think that will be essential in this search for our next police chief We need to find somebody who is going to show up And be willing to have those conversations very frankly and not have an adversarial Relationship with with the community and making sure that you know The police department is using the resources that they have Correctly, I think you know The recent seven days story show that that might not be the case. So when we talk about instances of violent crime, I don't want That to turn into a scare tactic or fear mongering When we're having this conversation about reimagining what public safety can look like in the future Good Oh Yeah, so I don't believe in defunding the police but rather a transition away from The police department being a singular entity towards actually establishing a department of public safety health and safety in berlington What that would look like is To actually we've already Taken parking enforcement Away from the police department We would be transitioning the police department into an apartment with a focus on social service Rather than just a department that's solely focused on law enforcement and That public this is actually what's being proposed and looked at in minneapolis right now which is Change towards having accountability Look at instances that don't just look at correcting issues of Violence but also to reward actions that Transition us towards a more healthy and safe community so An important part that the council is going to play in the next six months is actually to hold The police accountable to The outcomes that come from the consultants We really need to work to make sure that What we find of how our resources are being used Matches the needs that come up from from that so What we'll be doing is essentially on city councils to make sure that We aren't Having all of our officers Working at You know two o'clock in the afternoon when the greatest needs that we have Might be in those other shifts where most of the actual violence takes place So this is about shifting those out and reallocating those resources to what our community actually needs Thank you Thank you So this actually is an area in which there is the most stark contrast between me and my opponents Uh Our campaign has put forward a positive policing policy That does add funding we were talking about funding so We're talking about adding funding adding officers and adding and embedding social workers and mental health workers in the department so that way Some of the burden can be taken off of the armed sworn officers When we talk about adding funding this is the way that we're going to retrain our police officers to make sure that they Are community oriented We want to add funding we want to add officers so that way we can bring back Foot patrols through our neighborhoods that they are able to build a rapport in their community This is how we rebuild trust between our community and our police department Also in on the subject of adding officers We need to bring back street patrols the street crime unit and this city a city of this side needs to have A animal control officer a sworn animal control officer To handle any kind of incidences of animal abuse or neglect or anything along that subject This is Again, it's still adding officers and adding funding. This is how we're going to keep our community safe The numbers bounce around but chief mirad is asking for 98 officers The mayor has asked for 85 the number needs to be negotiated out, but we need to bring back Bring the number up to whatever it takes to make sure that we get foot patrols back That we get street crimes back. We get our city safe and we added animal control officer In the last year, we have seen since officers were cut. We have seen a rise in Assaults simple and aggravated including sexual assaults. We've seen a rise in quality of life crimes Including vandalisms and burglaries. We can do better as a community But we need to make sure that the officers have the funding they need so that way they can have the training to be better Thank you Any quick rebuttals? Interjections differences of opinion will move along if not I don't necessarily believe that retraining works tactically trained officers They are great people, but they have the The bias to see things in one way of responding What I would be proposing would be to actually Not necessarily reduce headcount of people within the department or the department of public safety and health, but Increasing people who will come from a social service background rather than trying to train An officer with a tactical background into having the social service understanding Good, thank you Joe do you have any other additional comments? You're good, right Jessica Yes, so you have one minute Thanks everyone You said in your prior statement that you didn't want to defund the police but you don't think they can be retrained and You don't want to hire any more sworn officers That really sounds like defunding the police to me Also, I while I mean I've already it's part of our platform that we want to embed social workers and mental health workers because they have a very unique Perspective and ability to be able to help deescalate situations But I don't feel comfortable sending them in to investigate criminal activity And I don't think that that's what we should be sending our social workers And I don't think that it's a good you're being a good steward to Our city and our city workers if you're putting them in harm's way So, uh, I guess we're going to be a dialogue here, but if we're going to get into that try to keep it succinct Which dialogue is good, uh Joe if you'd like to respond since you haven't had a chance Well, if we want to be talking about being a good steward of city resources then Adding more police officers is not the way to do that We absolutely need to Ensure that we have public safety, but we're not going to do that by Reinforcing a status quo that hasn't worked for so many people in burlington And so we need to move forward With a bold vision for reimagining public safety We need to I recognize that we have a workforce development issue when it comes to mental health workers in this state it was We saw it during the pandemic and we're seeing it still now We need to work with our state leaders to make sure that We are using all of the resources available to us whether it's from the legislature or a city level to ensure that These programs are well funded and can be staffed with experienced people. So I recognize that We We won't get there tomorrow, but we cannot Uh, just revert back to what hasn't worked in the past Hey, thanks. Oh, and if you want to keep it just quick So we get to the other important. Yeah, so, um You don't need to uh dramatically change the budget of an organization and restructuring organizations happens All the time without addressing a budget and this is about changing the allocation of how We police to match the needs of what actually is going on in the ground Do we need uh armed officers? making traffic stops When very very very very very few instances of a traffic stop would Require a tactical, um response The the department can do a better job of making sure that armed tactical Presence is used appropriately and in the right times Good. Thank you very much Jessica has a question from the audience There's a question that came through on zoom, but Unfortunately, I could only see it for a moment and it disappeared. So I'm going to try and remember it And if the person could ask it again, that would be wonderful But I believe the question was if elected what would be your passion project on the council? Owen you were up next Oh me? Yes. If you don't mind, uh One minute so over the past You know number of weeks. I've been making many many many calls to people in my neighborhood Housing keeps coming up every single time so I would be my passion project as a servant leader is to Address the issue that seems most pressing for the people on ward three That would be it So I've got this term is really only six months. So you can't solve housing in six months Two of the things that I'd be focusing on would be Looking to see if we can actually create a condominium a pathway to ownership so that by city ordinance at the point of transition in properties that Tenants have to be given the opportunity to band together to actually own it and And turn that wealth Into the hands of tenants and then the second would be to really tickle a hard look at short term rentals I believe that there's a significant amount of wealth that stays within the short term rentals and we can we can change that Thank you Chris if you don't mind So this is a great subject and I I'm happy to talk about it. So yes Housing security and housing options are one of the main issues that other burlingtonians bring up to me also and Like owens said, it's a very complex subject and we could hardly do it justice in a minute, but The way that we can really provide reforms to in our society that Make the difference We can reform the use Zoning of the of a property so that way you can go from a single single house to Duplex to triplex to auxiliary dwelling units. We need to change What our Criteria is for the historic districts and we need to reform home ownership because there is nothing in Burlington that you can purchase in the entry level market So if you are in we need to relax some of the restrictions that allow some of these smaller dwelling buildings to be able to Converted into condo or co-op type style housing. That's how you create wealth in your community. That's how you build wealth from scratch That's how you pass it down intergenerational wealth to your children and we currently don't have that So we have to also in addition to building and opening up new rentals We need to open up that entry level market for all burlingtonians. Thank you. Yeah We can go into housing. That's a whole nother level of hard to get in in a minute, you know Really hard but it is a passionate project so Joe well, you know with the six months left in the term I would really look to Strengthen the livable wage ordinance and do more to support part-time and gig workers in our city I think that is a crucial step in addition to the many things that we need to do on with housing and to make housing more affordable whether it's rent stabilization or Making it easier for folks to buy a home in the city We also need to make sure that people in the city are earning a fair wage and a wage that makes it possible for them to Live where they work. So, you know, my sister is a part-time worker who lives in the old north end and I Would love for her to be able to stay here, but that's been a difficult task for her. So You know, we need to support renters. We need to support workers. And that's What I hope to do in the council Okay, great. Thank you Do we have any other audience? Questions no There is one there. Um, I'll quickly get an interject So two charter changes we just recently had I'm going to stick to just two of them the no cause eviction both of these two past and the instant runoff voting IRV that passed now it still has to go through the state and then come back and revised would you Be willing to share your views on the those two no cause eviction and IRV and if you disagree with them what would you propose? Um, and uh, Chris you're first this time. Okay So my I actually am opposed to both of these charter changes and the reason for my opposition to the The no cause eviction or in a charter change was because I feel that property owners the way that the ordinance the way that the charter changes worded it It requires that property owners renew the lease for the tenants even if Even though the contract has ended so it's really taking away contractual property rights of the of the property owner And that's what I have issue with as far as rank choice voting goes I feel like voting should be easier The uvm legislative research shop came up with a the study that evaluated rank choice voting They talked about the four paradoxes that are associated with it But ultimately what it boils down to is Ranking votes only is effective people participate in this who have higher level degrees So there are people if you have a high school education a g ed if english is your second language If you're a new american you are less likely to rank votes And if you're less likely to take advantage of the situation, who's it really benefiting? We're just making it more difficult for people which is discouraging the people I want to make voting easier everybody kind of a ballot. It's very easy But the city chose to go the way they want. Thank you. Thank you. That was a mouthful Sorry just cause of it. Yes, it is not just semantics And uh, Joe would you like to finish up? I um, which it it's actually not irv this time, isn't it? Well, I think it's actually rephrased now we're repackaged I can't remember Sure. Well, I strongly supported both of those charter changes. I think just causes an important step for us to Make this rental market Um more favorable to tenants. I think it's very adversarial for tenants right now And it's a hostile market for tenants. I think we need to do more to Um support renters in the city and as for instant runoff voting. I think you know The reasoning for not doing something shouldn't be that It's not easy. We have the resources if we can dedicate ourselves to it. We can um We can educate folks how to Do how to vote? I that should be the very core pillar of our democracy uh irv is Going to make us going to give us a more representative democracy and I think that is a small ask for Our democratic process Owen So I support both of those initiatives also Being the independent here I can say it. I am in favor of irv. I think it encourages people to get involved in Any electoral process and encourage people to run Uh And it actually strengthens our democracy by Improving how people choose and better control over their voice Great. Any follow-up rebuttal on that one? No, and it's yeah, it's a rank choice voting now not irv. Sorry Jessica has another audience participation question This is a Another question from the zoom audience The question is as a member of the city council Will you encourage the governor to use the state's authority over training the vermont national guard? To order a halt to the f-35 training over berlington and in any populated area Very good question. Uh, I believe joe you are next to go first Uh f-35. Yes. No I absolutely think we need to do whatever we can to halt the f-35 training flights. I think uh, you know The city voted in 2018 to not have the f-35s based here pretty overwhelmingly ward three especially Voted pretty highly to not have the f-35s based here and I think Everyone's concerns have been proved time and again since they have been here They aren't just a nuisance. They are a danger to people's mental health They're a danger to childhood development And they absolutely uh, it should not be based anywhere near populated area Excellent. Owen. Uh, so, um, the question was would you uh, focused on would you reach out to the governor to do it? I actually um, think that the stronger political target would actually be to focus on our on our, uh, The sanders welch and lehi to actually help them reverse it at the federal level, which is actually where it'd be have a better chance of overturning that um, legally And so what I would recommend and how I would go about doing that was actually create a coalition Of support of city councils of both winewski south berlington and berlington to approach it and then also work with one of the greatest areas of Defense for the for keeping them there is the the three million dollars in support services that they provide In working with beta technologies beta technology wasn't really there before and other entities that benefit from the airport I would actually work with those organizations to try and Have investment coming from them in addition to Uh, what we would be able to do as a collective coalition of cities to fund for that Okay, thanks I have no problem with the f 35. I support the international guard But what I would do is I would encourage residents and make sure that we have adequate funds So we can retrofit their houses with new windows and soundproofing so that way they can have the safety and security That they deserve they also deserve to be able to retain the value of the property by being able to put new windows And new soundproofing in we're increasing the property. We're landlocked here. We've got little places where we can build out so It is what it is we can improvise adapt and overcome and we can we can make this situation great I've lived on a navy base for years. I am very accustomed to hearing jets fly by I hear them. I look up by the time I take two more steps. They're gone So I'm fine with the f 35 and I understand that might not be a popular opinion in this in this room right now But it is what it is. So thank you very much Great. Thank you for sharing your opinions. Do we have another? Question from the audience anybody else? Anybody else I'm chuck wilton and I don't live in the city, but I utilize the city quite a bit I've worked for a couple of companies here and so forth and it is the county seat so to speak And I have been involved. I lived in ruttland for a number of years. There was the chair of the redevelopment authority there and I hear us talking about a lot of social issues here and that's wonderful But the bigger picture is you've got a big entity to run here in this city And I hear nobody speaking about the nuts and bolts of the business of running the city and how You would uh, you would um go about Directing the business of running the city I mean everybody likes to not think about it, but Without the business of running the city that you don't have anything. So I want to know What your thoughts are there? Thank you so Maybe give us the detail of your understanding of the civics your responsibilities Which is actually probably a great question as a city councilor. Are you going into this eyes wide open? We have two city councils here that work entirely too much and get paid entirely not enough in my opinion Are you willing to take on that? Owen, uh, you would be next uh, sure. So, um I've served on over 10 different nonprofit boards and government entities across the the state Um I have and I one of the things that um, you know, also having an MBA You know really helps me to understand is what? The nuts and bolts of a city or organizational finance looks like so I can tell the difference between a balance sheet and a profit and loss statement And so I Really enjoy getting into the detail of understanding what? What is going on? What what is the story behind the numbers and to align? policies to actually address not just the needs Of the people of ward three, which is is important, but also to make sure that We are being financially responsible in our in our way of Aligning our resources to the needs that that exists within the community Uh Chris So the question was how am I going to ensure that we get we have an efficient running government? Perfect. So I'll begin by saying that I'm not going to waste the city's precious time by grandstanding or being tied up with You know any virtue signaling or any kind of other shenanigans? We need to be good stewards to our city and the best way we can do that is by ensuring that we are Being fiscally responsible that we are properly investing in our communities and in our sidewalk infrastructure Sidewalks connect our communities if we are telling our neighbors to please shop local But the sidewalk infrastructure hasn't been updated in 30 years and is deteriorating We're failing to fulfill our obligations. Oh and brought up earlier the ad a was passed in 93 And it was one of george bush's crowning achievements It's a promise that are we open up our society to people with all abilities and our our sidewalk infrastructure is In horrible condition. We need to update this. We need to do this more and more every year We've only been putting out three miles of updates every year and if i'm elected city council I will Promise you that we will double that every year until we get our sidewalks and our communities connected Sidewalks connect us to the marketplace. They connect us as churches to social organizations And to vital public services They keep people healthy and they drive down health care costs. Thank you. Thank you So joe Sure, so i've been lucky enough to serve on the board of tax appeals for the last three years and Fortunately enough to have been reappointed recently So I have participated in our city government. I know how it runs i've attended city council meetings and I understand the responsibility of the council to Keep the streets paved and keep the sidewalks in working order and At the same time I recognize that it's the job of the city council to be the voice of the people in city hall and That is exactly what I hope to be if i'm fortunate enough to be elected as the next city councilor for world three you know, we Have the resources and the city council has the ability to do a lot more to support the people of burlington and that is As much their job as it is to keep the Keep the city running. So that's what I hope to do. Thank you I'm gonna move on if if I can to another pressing Question the tax reassessment has gotten a lot of people a little bit Nervous The interworkings of it may be a bit difficult for the average Ward three citizen to understand what is your impression of the tax assessment and If it wasn't fair, how would you fix it? And you are next to go first I've heard a lot of people complaining about their tax reassessments lately and Sitting at coffee with the mayor on wednesdays They come there and they talk about it and the mayor's office hasn't even said that if you feel it's too high You should file an appeal and that half of the appeals are being granted So that's telling me that that there was something deeply flawed with the metrics that we use to reassess our tax And so i'm right on the page with any of those any of you out there who are really scratching your heads at the Math that they tried to use for this So we need to reevaluate the metrics and the tools that we use to evaluate this and I can tell you I promise you here today that i'm probably the only candidate on this On this stage right now that will fight to hold the line on taxes and keep burlington affordable. Thank you Okay, joe I have also heard from a lot of folks that they got a little sticker shock with the reappraisal in april But you know, I just also important to understand that that doesn't necessarily mean A dramatic increase in taxes And you know, I if i'm elected to the council would like to explore Moving away from a property tax system and moving towards a progressive income tax system For funding the city I think that is much more Equitable and I think that is something that we need to look at More so Thank you So it's an important distinction that you know a significant portion of our Property taxes is aligned to the education for the state of ramon. So You know that is a burden that we all well an investment that we all share in so there is There isn't a whole lot that can be done around Changing those things at the statewide level What I think could have been done is that there Should have been better communication to the residents of burlington of how it was going to be rolled out To have a better education is understanding of what the process was going to look like better understanding among all of us of of what they We should be have been expecting for for that before it came I don't believe that the process that was used You know within city hall set us up to reduce that expectation of that sticker shock Hey, thank you So this question from the zoom says The progressive candidate Joe sounds like every other progressive on city council How is this? How are you different? And why do we need another redundant progressive voice on the council? Question from zoom Well, I fully stand by my progressive peers on the council, um, you know They've faced a difficult task over the last year legislating in zoom and really working to engage the public and You know if i'm fortunate enough to join them After the august special election, um, you know, I think We recognize that We need bold changes to address the many issues that we face and that We cannot continue down a path of a status quo. It doesn't work for so many people in the city And you know, I I will be somebody who listens to the community engages the community and Offers those, uh, offers a listening ear and provides Representation for everybody in the ward, especially, uh Folks that you know I understand that we need to do more to, um Provide constituent services and everything like that and that is absolutely what I hope to do on the council. Thank you Thanks, uh I'm going to move on to larger The larger questions new high school. Uh, it's a bit of a debacle. We've already approved a budget It was uh, I'm sorry. We passed a bond Which was quite large And I'm going to conflate here two questions Uh, the big dig the current location of the High school and the need to relocate and rebuild Um correlation of any of those things Do any of you have a plan in mind that may Incorporate those three things that are opportunities perhaps instead of chaos um, and Oh and you are next to go. Oh, yeah, okay, so uh I'm trying to understand that with the question Well the question well, I'm trying to there's a lot of the big dig is there Our high school has failed its, uh, environmental inspection Is there a possibility to Acquire the big dig in your opinion? Uh fill that hole with a nice new shining high school since the high school is already there Um that quagmire we have in our City center hasn't gotten any better Yes, it's a complicated question and I was trying to be more specific than larger the dig so, um I'm gonna address those um separately if that's okay. All right, so, you know, I if it's my understanding there's a number of sites under under review by The school board and I also understand that that city council doesn't necessarily have a significant amount of say in kind of that selection process of of where they end up. Um, so And uh I will support, uh, you know, whatever decision comes of where that High school needs to be really relocated I'm not opposed to the idea of there being an academic campus that's separate from an athletic campus I know that's something that's been a bit of a hang up for folks, too I also, um as relates to the big dig, um, would like to see effort undertaken for the city to To get better legal control over the property on which the the pit currently resides, uh, and And then make sure that it is uh, uh contributing towards Uh a tax base in the downtown of Burlington Yes So The school's a big issue big issue. Um, it's really disappointing to hear about how contaminated the site is It's it's depressing to hear about how expensive remediation is going to cost and it's it's a conundrum That we're in and it's unfortunately got our family our neighborhood children stuck in the middle. So do I support? Um Taking the town center place and turning into the school No, I don't because I want that to be houses Burlington needs more homes And that offers us over 400 new homes the city has kicked around the idea including the mayor's office of using memorial auditorium You know, um, that's definitely an option. Like Owen said, I don't think the council necessarily has much to say but I'm interested to see what the remediation costs are for the site of on What is that industrial avenue or on north avenue up there? Because it's really important that we would we update our school and we we add some vocational training to that also So that's where we're at. We got to need houses. We can't take that and turn it into school and joe Yeah, so I've uh spent a lot of time talking to folks about this and you know, I understand that the school board is undergoing a process of finding a new site and figuring out what the best path forward is, you know, I think we were all kind of shocked that this was going to be sort of the direction that we needed to go with the high school that We need to move it from the current location And so, you know, I think this is an issue that we're going to face and we're going to see statewide as well You know, there are plenty of other schools around the state that were built around the same time. So looking for working with state leaders to see if There are state funds available for this and working with our school commissioners to engage the community and really Figure out what our families need Is going to be essential. So I would look forward to working with the school commissioners in the old north end and around the city to Come up with a solution that works for our families and our kids There's one more question from zoom And the question is What will you do to make our city safer for transgender Vermonters who face discrimination and housing and jobs? and uh, Joe You are next to go first great, uh, I First off we have to Say loudly and clearly that trans rights are human rights And the city has a lot of work to do to make sure that we're being inclusive in terms of health care and job opportunities um recognize that That there is still that there's discrimination that happens here in our state and do whatever we can to counter that um, so, you know, I as a queer person Want to make sure that I am being a voice for trans folks on the council and Really making sure that trans folks know that they are welcome in ward three and engaging folks on What what their needs are here in the city and how we can work to improve that on the council Uh, so I echo a little bit of what I said earlier about incorporating Uh trans needs into our our physical environment to expand Enforcement for ADA and actually lead the nation. Um, we have an opportunity to roll trans rights into that I would say The city also in the same way has made strident efforts to Um to publicly support BIPOC community We can be doing the same thing for Trans individuals um in burlington and as well The city is a tremendous opportunity and especially city counselors to Demonstrate that those values that we all hold dear and I would be using The opportunity of representing ward three to elevate those voices and bring them to the public forum so So I would use my role on council to ensure that we are advocating for the equal rights of all burlingtonians making sure that we are Um that no burlingtonian is facing any kind of discrimination when it comes to access to housing or in public accommodations or at work So we'll continue that work because it's it's important Thank you I have a list of other questions here, but Housing is a one i'm going to go back and revisit if you guys all don't mind Can you offer any specifics the housing prices in the last year have? alarmingly jumped There's a lot of You know prospectors out there mining the air bnb market How is that going to affect? The rest of us who want to live here in a full time. Do you have any suggestions that will help reduce that? and as well as student population that currently lives In burlington and how uvm facilitates them with us and how that affects does that make sense? So you're asking about how trying to give well no our the larger housing issue is trying to parse it into A lot of those things are contributing to Escalating home prices and we've seen speculative market for air bnb and student rentals have Affected the market probably greater than any other things And you know from what I understand if i'm wrong You know please interject if you have an opinion on those two things and How you can change them to affect the market? and Owen you're next. Yeah, so So specifics on housing um, we have to work to Bring more affordable housing to burlington in order to try and reduce that overall cost through Growing the housing stock and making sure that we are Managing the percentage of that that housing stock that is affordable housing. So One way that I'd be doing that something that I Been thinking through is Increasing our investment of community housing trust within burlington There are a couple of ways of funding that i'm some of those are on my website, but actually through taxation and regulation of our air bnbs and the short-term rentals actually Reinvest that in community housing trust another thing that I proposed and wanted to you know look at more deeply is potentially even charging for on street parking in residential areas And using that as another way to increase our investment in using community housing trust Okay, it's a large question Chris, okay, so For housing as it stands right now the city Air bnbs make up less than two percent of our Rental market and their short term many of the air bnbs are owner occupied duplexes where For their own personal Choices they've decided to take their duplex unit rental off the market and and do some and operate as an air bnb It's a lot more work going that route instead of having to To clean the place once a year you have to do it practically every weekend You're constantly rated by the people coming in so you're you're always on When it comes to solving our housing problems vt. Digger estimates that 60 percent of burlingtonians are renters that number is very high Disproportionately high than most other cities and we need to find many of those people who are renting are renting because They're forced to there's nothing to buy in that entry level market 250 to 350 thousand dollars and you're right This is a supply and demand issue and that that lack of open Entry level housing only drives up the cost even more so we have to find solutions. We have solutions. It's on our website and We'll solve burlington's housing crisis this Subject needs more than one minute for real Joe sure so as I said earlier I support Looking at policies for rent stabilization in the city strengthening our inclusionary zoning ordinances and I think you know we've got lots of money coming into this state from the federal government For new affordable housing units making sure that we're investing those wisely here in the city And doing more to support burlingtonians on fixed incomes. I think it's vital that we continue to Do more to support workers, you know, we pass just cause eviction. We need to do Far more to Support renters and make it easier for folks to buy homes. We need to explore policies to Increase BIPOC homeownership and Make it possible for folks to build equity in their in their housing You know, we've got Sorry, thank you Feel free to 30 second response. Yeah. Yeah, sorry Sure. Well, I I think we need to do more to See what the city can do to support folks who are looking to buy their first home and do more than just HFA loans and stuff like that and see if there's a way that the city can Support those efforts as well. So sorry. I did give you a bunch more time I was trying to consolidate the questions here Oh, and would you like to add any more? Yeah, so Yeah, okay to be fair So another so you asked for specifics Uh, I would look to reduce minimum parking requirements. Um, so at present, um, we have Ordinances that require new construction to also incorporate more parking and as if we're going to move away from a fossil fuel Industry then Then getting that reliance off of That transportation is something that will actually boon and help our ability to buy to build more housing I would also be Taking a look at And I had mentioned this earlier Creating, uh, sydney ordnance that would again require At the point of sale or transaction Right of first refusal to tenants to actually Work together to own their own property In the event and there are Other entities across the country that have actually created housing co-ops around that entire model That's something that we could be doing in burlington to address that issue as well So on the subject of housing, uh, we have proposed multiple Regulations of reforms to the regulations in the zoning in the city, uh to modify the single-use Landtrack to multi-use That will open up more House opportunities to build an an infill housing. It also allows us to create auxiliary dwelling units We have to modify our historic district markers. This is a big big obstacle to to providing the housing that we need and the and the um And the bringing the renaissance back to to the area where we can we can have new builds and we can create more housing We also can Relax the the regulations that Limit the property owners ability to convert to a condo co-op type properties so that way the current landlords can still be Managing the properties charging a small hoa that'll cover municipal waste and water and and taxes, but They can sell the individual units on the market I know many people I have walked bumped into on my walks through burlington have said, you know I'd be really happy to buy a one or two bedroom apartment in burlington But there's just nothing out there that we can do so if we can relax these regulations and make it easier to Facilitate landlords doing this then we are building that wealth from the ground up We can buy our own individual apartments. We can sell them when we want to we aren't locked into a lease that is housing security right there And that's a big part of the solution that our that our campaign is putting forward. Thank you. Thank you There's a bunch of perennial issues here. I'm going to quickly go over before we do our closing statements We in ward two and three love the Champlain Parkway At least to talk about it and one of our steering committee members has worked ardently to make sure it is an equitable Avenue if it ever gets developed We'll start with Chris your opinion on the Champlain Parkway This subject predates me and I'm 42 years old. Yeah, pretty much everyone here Yeah, I'm sorry quickly though. Sure quickly. Let's talk about it. Sure. So, um You know, I know it's a point of contention for many people But the the truth is we we really need to be good stewards to our city and we need to make sure that we Create the roads and the infrastructure that we need not for today But for the next 20 and 30 years we that's being a good steward to our city So if we need to reevaluate reexamine and and These these new road infrastructure projects then so be it But we need to get the ball rolling and we need to get it done because for far too long We've been weighed down in this are we going to do this are we going to do that and nothing gets done So we need to build up our road infrastructure because it's it's a nightmare as it is Thanks, Joe So we need to do We need to examine the Champlain Parkway project it cannot go through as it currently is it's a Not uh Equitable it's not just I would support the rail yard enterprise project to Make sure that the Champlain Parkway isn't going through a by heavily a densely populated by park neighborhood and make sure that You know, we need to make sure that this project Addresses and recognizes the future that we face in terms of climate change and um Making sure that we're leveraging our transportation dollars in Responsible way in supporting folks that live and work in the city with bike infrastructure with pedestrian infrastructure and with public transportation that is Fair free for for folks. So that is what I would hope to do as a member of the council Okay, thank you Uh, so I live right where it would spill out and I can attest to the fact that The neighborhood that I live in is diverse one and It is going to negatively impact the lives of Children and young adults that are constantly outside that you know, these are apartments But people spend a significant portion of their time outdoors And I actually have In addition to the equity and justice issues issues around safety Um, I I agree that That the project should only come In uh collaboration with the rail yard project so that that is spilling out down closer to battery street Then it is uh right into into a residential neighborhood Uh closing statements Chris would you like to go first? This is a special election. None of us up here. We're planning on any of this It just came out of the blue and when the call came and I was encouraged to run I I was proud to to accept the call and stand up and be the voice for conservatives in board three Our campaign is proposing a positive policing strategy We will insist upon Annual upgrades in sidewalk and water infrastructure because we have to be good stewards to our city and to our lake It is very important. We are going to put forward actual Workable actionable solutions on the housing crisis. We will solve this together. We're bringing multiple vantage points together We will fight to hold the line on taxes to keep burlington affordable because every time taxes go up Our rents are going up every time we pass unfunded mandates our rents are going up If we want to keep burlington affordable, we need to keep it affordable for everyone And we are going to put forward comprehensive plans to try and limit the impacts of homelessness in our society So that way we can be here to help people experiencing homelessness to be supportive of them to encourage them to find housing for them To make sure they have access to food medical care and drug treatment We're going to get through this together. We're going to build a better burlington together I'm christ raren falker and I ask for your vote in the august 17th special election. Thank you And joe so I want to thank the awards two three mpa for Hosting this tonight and giving us this space to have this conversation I'm looking forward to talking to many more folks over the coming weeks We've got five weeks left to election day. A lot of you already have your ballots. So You know, I want to make myself as available as possible You know, I'm running to be a voice for working families in city hall Like many I'm a renter and I've faced the struggles of finding housing and employment that make it possible for me to even stay in burlington And that was a consideration for me getting into the race, you know, would I be able to find a suitable Rental housing that would make it possible for me to continue representing ward three you know, I Think we need to do a lot more to deliver racial equity in the city. We need to Overhaul our boards and commissions process to make it more equitable and ensure that BIPOC folks are involved at every level of our governing structures um, and so I Think it's time for us to start Uplifting working families Marginalized communities and deliver racial economic environmental and social justice So I'm running to earn your support. I my name is Joe McGee. You can learn more about me at Joe McGee btv.com That's j o e m a g e e btv.com And I can be reached at 802 279 5513 And I really hope to connect with folks if I don't show up on your doorstep I would love to talk to you on the phone. So please don't hesitate to reach out day or night. Thank you very much Uh, so I'm really excited to have been able to be here for the ward two and three mpa It's been a great learning experience for me While I might have lots of experience in community service, uh, I Am new to the the idea of representing people directly and you know as I've come to learn and explore the idea of servant leadership and what that that looks like in political service I um have really, uh Found it extremely valuable to truly get to know and understand my neighbors it's It's shaped the understanding that I have around things related to housing and accessibility and police transformation and As relates to my approach to representing people and when I talk about this idea of servant leadership It looks and sounds very different. Uh instead of somebody who's going to be Coming to you with a political agenda. I'd be putting people first instead of making a Facebook post or something that Uh goes on a diatribe about an issue and says get on board with how I see things My approach to engaging people is going to be one of curiosity and genuine interest in understanding What their problems are and then working really closely to elevate those stories and bringing them to the city council And to the public so that we all have a better understanding of what it looks like My name is Owen melm I'm running as an independent You can check out my website at oan for burlington dot com and I Am excited to get your vote on august 17th Great. It is exactly eight o'clock and that never happens. I don't want to jinx it Uh, I'm going to thank you all for coming and I want to emphasize that A large part of your job is actually showing up to the npa meeting once a month And eating fairly decent food And participating Is our pleasure to have our counselors and representatives um Yes, uh, please We will Yep I can't facilitate that because I know nothing about technology, but uh, I'm sure somebody just heard you Um, but thank you again for coming and regardless of if you win or you don't win Please keep returning The npa is a valuable asset and in wards to our three it is extremely valuable and a lot of us hold it dear We'd love to see the you know repetition repetition repetition of faces is wonderful um That's going to Are you going to do six months right so you better show up? We have Oh quick We have one announcement from parry Just someone had reached out to me to announce that the old north end mutual aid um, we'll be hosting a barbecue free food potluck On saturday july 17th to connect with community to learn more about how to get involved in mutual aid It will be at rosavel park from 4 to 7 p.m Excellent. We have a quick comment. Sorry to hold you all up. You know, so I i'm max tracy I'm the board two city councilor just wanted to let folks know that city council will be going to be back in person this monday And con toys auditorium our first meeting back And so um, would welcome anybody who wants to come to the meeting to just join us I'm really excited to be back in person. Thanks everyone. Okay. Thank you all again for coming and we will be back live here 5 30 for community dinner follow up 6 37 Hopefully 6 30 for our npa meeting on in september September 9th to be specific. Thank you. Jess Who does most of the work charlie does most of the work? There is not there is not there is not thanks again. Hopefully see you in september. Thank you. Thank you This is your ward Oh, it's tough. It is tough. Well, it's good to see all the zoom questions too, you know, except people watching so good Yeah, great. Thank you. Yeah, thank you