 Hello and welcome! My name is Drew Darrow and welcome to Town Meeting TV's coverage of Town Meeting Day 2024. This program is part of a series of forums we are bringing you in advance of Town Meeting Day on Tuesday, March 5th. Town Meeting TV hosts forums with all candidates and covers the questions you will see on the ballot, including introducing you to the community decision makers and connecting you with the issues that shape your local community. You can find all our forums at cctv.org slash 2024 or on our Town Meeting TV YouTube channel where auto-generated captions are available. On tonight's program we will hear from the two incumbent candidates running for Wilson Select Board, the two candidates are Greta D'Agostino and Mike Aisham. Hello Drew. Thank you for joining us. We have prepared a list of questions for each of you and you'll have 90 seconds to answer each question. If you are tuning in live, we will also welcome your questions at 802-862-3966. If you call in live, we will do our best to prioritize your question, though we will screen calls to ensure questions are not repeated. We ask that you share your name, the town you live in, and that your questions are directed at all candidates, not just one candidate in particular. Let's get started with one minute opening statements and we'll start with Mike. Hi, my name is Farmer Mike. I grew up on the farm that I currently own. I've started working there since it's about knee-high to a baby calf. I also worked at IBM for 26 years, so I have earned lots of good common sense and a hard work ethic while living in this town. I think in this town we need to maintain what makes this town special and the rural characters that represent this town. I remember the old farmers like Ray Fontaine, Marvin Clark, Herb Goodrich, Howard Lunderville, Ruth Painter, Deb Beckett, and many others that made this town special before me. I hope that I can respectfully represent them as well as the new people in town today. New people in town, including James Heltz, Sally Metro, Stockwell, Crystal Lee McSweeney, Ginger Morton, Carter Smith, and many others that I admire and hope to represent. Our town's history from Thomas Chittiton to today has always been quality over quantity. Great, thank you. And Greta. I have been on the Wilson Select Board for the past three years and it has been one of the greatest privileges of my life. I have been really honored to represent the Willistonians, all Willistonians. I grew up with a single mom and one of her core values for us was civic engagement. She made it a point to always be involved in our community and instilled in my sister and I that give as much as we can however we can. And so I am continuing that tradition with my Select Board membership and I have been using this position to really represent the voice of many of the Willistonians I speak with on a daily basis. I work within the schools, I am a social worker by trade, and I feel that when I use my voice I am speaking for many of my fellow citizens. Great. Great. And thank you. And so for this next section, I'll start asking questions. You'll have 90 seconds to answer the questions. And then if a direct candidate's name is mentioned, you'll have 30 seconds for a bottle. So Greta, we'll start with you for the first question. Do you support the proposed town budget of 15.35 million dollars representing an increase of $1 million over the last year? So the budget was voted on unanimously by the Select Board this year and I do support it. I recognize that this is a tough increase for our town and for our citizens. Any increase in taxes is felt. And then we worked very hard as a Select Board to keep this increase as low as possible. But many of the dollars this year are going towards things, unfortunately, that are outside of our capacity to change. We need to pay a fair wage. We need to meet rising costs of insurance, which is a huge part of this year's budget. And we also need it to address citizen concerns. So you will see that there is a new police detective position as part of this budget. We do have an HR director position as part of this budget. This is all attempt to make sure that we are responsive to our town staff, to the citizen concerns about public safety, and to deliver the same quality service that everyone in town has come to expect of our town and our town services and staff. Thank you. And Mike? Yes, I also support the new town budget. Most of the increase is just due to inflation and the health benefits cost things that are beyond our control. We worked very hard on identifying our wants versus our needs. I believe we did a good job at it. Great. Well, thank you. And so for the next question, we know that the school budget and everything's trying that is quite up in the air right now. So I will ask a question just about about the budget specific to the area. So state legislatures are considering repealing the 5% cap. Do you support the effort to rescind the 5% property tax increase cap? And how would that impact CSVD schools and taxpayers? And so we'll start with Mike this time. I think the school budget is a very complicated issue. I don't really understand it that well. I believe it's a legislative issue that will need to be resolved by our legislator. It's nothing a flatline budget this year is an 18 to 20% increase for every town across the state. So we can't we can't blame our school boards for this. This is something we need Mom Peeler to work on. Great. Thank you, Mike and Greta. So the the bill in question here Act 127 that the goal of this was to make funding more equitably available to school districts that have higher student needs. So I obviously, you know, as someone who's worked in education for many years myself support, you know, kind of an equitable distribution of funds. All Vermont students deserve the highest quality education. Unfortunately, the effects of Act 127 and that 5% cap have impacted some of these same towns that were intended to benefit from this process in a negative way. And and they are going to be paying disproportionately higher taxes than intended when Act 127 was passed. So I know that this is all still being worked out in the legislature. And I do hope that they are able to resolve this in a way that kind of lessens the impact for each town, especially again, those with the highest student needs. What I will say is I, you know, know that our school board is recommending that they do continue with the vote for the school budget on Town Meeting Day, and feel that there is, you know, not a lot of wiggle room in their budget as well, so that they can provide our students with the highest quality service. And so we're still waiting to see with a school, whole school word votes to continue with the process on Town Meeting Day, but I do support our school board. Great. Well, thank you. And so I will move on to bond questions next. So the bond question is, do you support the bond votes to expand the Town Hall parking lot? And then follow up to that is to install a new fire suppression system on the old Brick Church. So Greta, would you like to begin? Sure. So in terms of the Brick Church bond specifically, first, I'll start there. The Brick Church is a Williston landmark. It is something that we have heard again and again from our constituents that that they really value about our town. It is used for town concerts and other events. And it really is something that is is a key feature of the Williston Village. And so I do support the bond to add the fire suppression system, because as we know from a few years ago, you know, acts of nature can happen. And and we want to keep that safe for generations of Williston to come. And so this this is the way to do that. As far as the parking lot, I also support that bond. The parking lot has been in need of repairs for many years. There is need for additional space. And so this would allow us to, you know, address drainage issues and space issues. But it also is looking into the future as well, because we are going to add some sustainability features and and hopefully implement things so that we can electrify our fleet vehicles within town. So the town hall parking lot is also used by our police station, looking forward to electric potential police vehicles in the future, town fleet vehicles and so forth. And also, you know, public use charging. So I think this is great step forward for our town as well. And I hope that the citizens will vote for that bond. Great. Thank you, Greta. And Mike, same. Yes, I also supported putting these on the bond, let the voters decide, you know, the Old Brick Church is a historic monument in the town holds a special dear place to many people in a fire suppression system would be important in there. And I also believe, you know, the parking lot is old. It does need a lot of work. But you know, I think it's important that we let the voters decide on that, rather than add it to the general budget. Yeah, great. Thank you. So for our next question, want to move on to policing. The proposed FY 25 budget will create a new detective position. But there are currently two unfilled officer positions in the Wilson Police Department. What would be the impact of the new detective position? How would how should Wilson address ongoing challenges in police department, recruitment and retention? So, Mike, would you like to begin? I support the detective position. I believe it's important because it would allow continuity and allow more focus on the town's retail theft problem that we have. By having a police detective, it'll allow our patrol officers to do what, you know, do what they're, you know, hired for doing more patrolling. I think, you know, right now there's a real we need that support for the police department. I think it's important that we have a police detective. Wilson's having a hard time retaining police officers. There's a real shortage of police officers across the nation. And we need, you know, we need to grow the department size. We've learned that several years ago through the Jim Baker report. And again, that report this year has again, showed a lot of shortcomings that we have in our police department by having more more help for our patrol officers. So I do support our police public safety is number one. Great. Thank you very much, Mike. And Greta. Yeah, so as Mike mentioned, you know, we recently had hired Jim Baker to conduct a study to address, you know, the future of our of our police department and what that should look like and where our needs are. And and he did identify many issues. One of the things he said to is that is that we do live in a safe town that we live in a town that is growing and that our town needs to address that within our police department as well. And so while he identified several positions in discussions with the police chief, the first and greatest need he felt for a police department this fiscal year was a police detective position, which would free up time from our officers so that they can do their jobs on the roads and and addressing other, you know, things in town do more community policing and so forth. And the detective will allow us to address investigations quicker and for there to be continuity in those investigations. So I think that this will motivate other potential other new police officers, because they'll see that there is room for growth within our police department. We like many other towns are facing recruitment challenges. But when they know and they see the Jim Baker report and see that the select board is behind them and is creating an environment for growth and potential for them, we hope that that will draw new officers. Great, thank you so much. So I'm going to move on to climate change next. And our climate change question is, how is Wilson dealing with the impacts of climate change? What can the select board do to reduce emissions and prepare for climate impacts? So for this we'll begin with Greta. Great. So over the past few years, the select board has undertaken several things to address climate change. The first was implementing or adopting the energy plan, and then establishing an energy committee, which is robust and been very active. And then utilizing input from that energy committee and from the energy plan to address climate change where and as often as much as we can. We also consult with our conservation commission so that we can keep, you know, land, you know, as protected and that that as another way we address it. We've done things like adding charging stations to some of our parks. And again, adding charging stations to the town hall parking lot will be part of that. One thing that may not be immediately noticeable is is the plowing of all of our town sidewalks. I see that as a really important step towards this. This past year is the first year we've done that, but it allows for our town to be a more walkable town and walkability, you know, is is in key to addressing climate change. You know, we are looking at things with ARPA funding like addressing our town lighting, the purchase of the solar panels that are on the public works building. All of these are ways in which we are doing it. And we are even looking forward in the electrification of our fleet vehicles. Great. Thank you. And Mike, climate change. I agree with Greta, the town of Williston select and the select board have done a lot on energy efficiency. At the farm, you know, we have a wood lot. Since 2007, we've we put in a gasification boiler, a frolling. We heat our house with wood. In 2010, I put into all earth trackers. So we use we generate our own electricity at the farm. The farm four years ago started a nonprofit called the First Earth Project. All of our performing arts series, all of the excess revenue that we generate at the farm goes to a Vermont environmental group. So I feel that, you know, we all have a part that we can play in this. It's important that we all do it ourselves as well as what the town has done. The town's done a great job. Great. Thank you. So my next question is going to be about development for for the town. So how is Williston dealing with the impacts of Oh, no. Can you identify a current development project in Williston that you are proud of and think you'll and think will support sustainable economic growth? So Mike, I'll start with you. I believe the Glacier project is one of them with the inclusionary zoning. It's in an area where it's approximately 100 acres. Half of that was given to the town. Part of it as a view shed, part of it as to go for the, you know, the horse farm to continued use. I believe that, you know, that is an area where it was zoned for three to five residential lots per acre. So the compromise of 108 homes is a very good compromise. We're getting a lot of pressure from the state to, you know, increase housing in this area. This area has very high housing costs by increasing housing. We believe this will lower the price. These will be there'll be a mix of affordable homes in this building area. So I believe the town, the town is working at it. It's not something that's going to happen overnight, but this is a good good start. Great. Well, thank you. And same question. I agree with with Mike. I think that the Glaser project is kind of a pit-a-mises of what this town can do when we all work together and when we see people passionate about an issue. When the Glaser specific plan first came before the planning commission, we saw a lot of opposition from folks in the town. And as the process unfolded and there was the committee to study it and we got input, we really, you know, as a town we're able to address the needs. We do need more housing inventory. And we need it at all ends of the spectrum. And so this will add more inventory. Again, it maintains public spaces. It does include some affordable housing. And above all else, you know, it's responsive to the town's desires for kind of measured growth and so forth. I will also highlight, you know, that their poly is building or has submitted a proposal for a new project within the form based code area. And I'm particularly excited about this. It is a multi-story dwelling that has quite a bit of affordable housing. And we know that multi-family dwellings are much more environmentally friendly. And so I am excited to see where that project develops as well for our town. Great. Thank you. So my next question is going to be on the inclusionary zoning. The town of Wilson approved a by law amendment last fall to enact inclusionary zoning requiring a certain number of units provide affordable rent. Do you support inclusionary zoning and what impact does it have on development of the town? So, Greta, can I start with you? Sure. I think that the lack of housing, again, across, you know, all income brackets is a major issue for the state. It is a major issue for Williston as well. And so I do support inclusionary zoning. I do believe that we need to use whatever tools we can to encourage developers to build more affordable housing. Housing is a right and I believe that all are entitled to fair and safe housing. And with inclusionary zoning, this would encourage developers to to build affordable housing and those that choose to not go the path of inclusionary zoning have the ability to then pay into the housing trust fund as an alternate route, which would then allow our housing committee to determine how to use those funds to in turn build more affordable housing. So I do see it as a win-win and I hope that in the future we can even increase, you know, the limits of what would be included in there. Great. Thank you Greta and Mike. Yes. The inclusionary zoning, the objective is to add more affordable housing to Williston and what's important about that is that it includes housing in the Taff Corners Growth Center. This does not affect the rural part of Williston. It only affects the town growth center where public water and sewage around Taff Corners. I think that's a great idea. Great. Yeah. Well, thank you. So I think for the next question I'll move on to some some challenges you think the community is facing. So what do you see as the biggest challenges facing the community and how would you use your seat on the select board to address these issues? What is your vision for the future of Williston? And Mike, I'll start with you. I kind of like what Governor Scott said about the number one thing in, you know, for Vermont is public safety. You know, as Williston becomes a suburb of Burlington, we're becoming an East Burlington and we're seeing the problems of Burlington come into Williston. I think, you know, public safety is important. Supporting our police department is important. Supporting our fire department is important. I feel like affordability is number two. Our older residents of Williston are no longer can afford to live in Williston. I think that it's sad when the indigenous people of Williston are the old Willistonites. I can't afford to live here anymore. Number three is, you know, affordable housing. We need to do something to keep our young people from going out of state to find other jobs. Vermont needs to keep our, you know, our people in Vermont, keep Vermont what it is, quality over quantity. Great. Thank you, Mike. And Greta. I think that Williston is such a unique and wonderful place to live. And like any town that is growing, you know, there are going to be some growing pains. But I do think that, you know, we need to address address those collaboratively. And I think that the biggest challenge right now that we need to address is housing. I, you know, keep speaking about this, but I truly do believe that Williston has a lot to offer and can be a leader in this area. And so I would like to work with our housing committee, our planning office, our planning commission, zoning to really encourage the creation of housing in a way that is measured and equitable and sustainable and looks towards the future. We have a daytime population that nearly doubles in our town. And most of those workers who come to here on a daily basis cannot afford to live here. And so I think that is a real issue that we need to address. We want to make Williston a place where I'll feel welcome and all are encouraged to live and work here. Great. Thank you so much both for that. And so I want to move on to connecting with the constituents. As a candidate and an elected official, how do you gather input and balance differing perspectives from your constituents? How do you ensure you're hearing a wide range of voices and not just the loudest ones? So Greta. Sure. So as a Williston Select Board member, I firmly believe that I represent all Willistonians. So we may not all agree on every issue, but I do, you know, represent this town and I am always available by email. I try to attend, you know, public events, participate in public forums and, you know, encourage people to reach out and show up at town meetings, show up at select board meetings. We want to hear your voice. And again, we may not always agree on every issue, but your voice does matter to us. And we do weigh that in, in all of our decision-making. So, you know, whether or not, you know, it's from the Planning Commission meetings or, you know, any of our other town committees, show up, be active, and let us hear your voice, because we want to do our best to weigh all sides when we make decisions. Thank you, Greta and Mike, connecting with constituents. I like to hear from, you know, the Williston residents, you know, especially the rural residents and, you know, and the residents around Taft Corners. I think it's important that we hear everybody's point of view. I like talking about it at the farm events. People come to the farm. They go do a farmers market. They come to the fall festivals. We've had a lot of good discussions over cutting a Christmas, you know, during cutting a Christmas tree and just a cup of coffee at the sugar house is probably my favorite way and it's sugaring seasons. I hope to see a lot of you at the sugar house. Coffee pots on. I'd like to hear your hear your stories and hear your ideas. Great, thank you. That's great. And so I have a question just about your love of Williston. So tell us a little bit about why you care, tell us a little bit about why you care about and want to work for the community of Williston. What are your favorite spots and why do you live here? So, Mike, we'll begin with you for this question. My favorite spot, of course, is the farm but my favorite part about Williston are the dedicated employees, the dedicated town employees. I think we also have very dedicated commissions and committees and boards in the town. The select board all care about you. They care about the town. I think, you know, it's amazing, you know, the number of volunteers in this town that are on the Old Brick Church trustees on the Conservation Commission, the DRB, the Planning Commission. These are unpaid jobs. People are volunteering to try to make the town a better place. I think that's really important that we have these, it's the people in town that make it special. So I'd like to thank the people in the town. Thank you. And same for you, Greta. Love of Williston. So I've been living in Williston since 2009 and I have yet to explore every, you know, possible place. But I love hiking with my children at Fyfe True Hill or Suckerbrook. We utilize the community park. We utilize the Allenbrook Nature Trail. We are constantly on the bike path. I'm a long distance runner so I have run over miles and miles and miles of roads and bike paths here in town and it's the small things that get me the most. I love that we do live in a place where people will wave to you when they see you. I love that we live in a place that people are so passionate about housing and development and growth that they will show up by the dozens and dozens for planning commission meetings. Or I love that, you know, our schools are top in the state. I happen to work at a school so one of the schools here in town. So I particularly love them. But you know, I feel fortunate to live in this town. I feel fortunate to be on this select board to represent this town and I hope to continue to do that for many years to come. Great, thank you so much. And so I would just love 30 seconds of closing statements from both of you. So Greta, do you want to go first? Sure. As I mentioned earlier, these past three years being in the Wilson Select Board have truly been an honor for me. I encourage you all to show up on March 5th at Town Meeting Day to not only vote for the select board, but to vote for the bonds, to vote on the school budgets, to vote for any time you are allowed to vote to use your voice. It is the most important thing you can do to be civically engaged. So please show up. Please use your voice. Again, it really matters. Thank you, Greta and Mike. Everyone's voice and everyone's count, everyone's voice and everyone's vote count. So be there. Perfect, thank you both so very much for joining us. Thank you for tuning in to the Town Meeting TV's ongoing coverage of local candidates, local budgets and ballot items. You can find this and many more forums at cctv.org slash 2024 or on our Town Meeting TV YouTube channel. And you can tune in to our live election results show after you cast your ballot on March 5th. Contact your local clerk to find out how to obtain a ballot and to register to vote. In Vermont, you can register to vote on Election Day. Thank you and for, thank you for watching and sharing with Town Meeting TV.