September 9th - City Council Preview
Neighbors --
Here's a breakdown of tonights meeting, as always please don't hesitate to reach out to me with questions, ideas, or concerns.
Monday's City Council meeting starts at 6:30 PM, starting with the Public Forum. You can join and sign up to speak in person at City Hall's Contois Auditorium, or can join virtually: https://zoom.us/j/97026676849 Or Telephone: +1 305 224 1968 (US Webinar ID: 970 2667 6849) and sign up to speak here: https://www.burlingtonvt.gov/citycouncil/publicforum. View the full agenda and related materials here: https://burlingtonvt.portal.civicclerk.com/event/7008/files/agenda/11745.
You may have seen recent reporting about the upcoming city council meeting. This is because on Monday evening, the Council Democratic Caucus will be bringing forward four resolutions related to public safety. There are other items, but I would like to focus on these first, because they are important.
Some of the substance and problems identified within these resolutions are items I agree with and am sympathetic too.
We are facing really difficult public safety issues, our first responders are a critical component to responding to these challenges, and I want to make clear to our first responders & community that I deeply appreciate their work. Whether you're working at BPD, BFD, or in healthcare/social services - you have an incredibly difficult job that we all need done well in order to keep our community safe and healthy.
There is also concrete steps being taken that should make all of us hopeful for the future. That work is outlined in detail by the Mayor in a post released yesterday: https://www.burlingtonvt.gov/Press/9824-mayors-community-safety-message (this was also in yesterday's Front Porch Forum)
This is a must read post if you want to stay informed on what the city is doing to address our safety + health challenges like youth involved-crime, gun violence, overdoses & drugs, public investment in public safety and more.
As I said, there are certainly some ideas I can support in these resolutions but there are some serious issues I am hoping we can address. To that end, after receiving all four resolutions on Wednesday afternoon, along with the Progressive caucus I sent amendments that would help address the following issues …
-> There is a lot of content in all four proposals that is duplicative of current work underway by city staff, department heads and the mayor. In some cases, vast portions of a resolution was duplicative.
-> Some of the information provided / proposed actions are either counter to best practice, inaccurate, or are unrealistic as recommended by a number of subject matter experts including our own police department and the Department of Justice. Other actions proposed have no information or data as to their effectiveness provided.
-> There are some "mechanical" issues with the resolutions like, in my view, whereas clauses not relating to resolved clauses.
-> There are areas that Burlington Fire Department and the issues they are dealing with go unmentioned, where I believe it is appropriate to include them.
A note on process & collaboration:
The Democratic caucus did not communicate any of this in advance and did not invite collaboration from department heads, the mayor, or the progressive caucus (with one exception that I am aware of). Receiving four, consequential resolutions, for the first time Wednesday afternoon does not provide me adequate time to represent the views of my Ward. This is the opposite of what we as a council have said is important. I heard from voters - all of my neighbors - that they were tired of divisiveness when I was out knocking doors. For such wide-reaching resolutions that deal with potentially millions of dollars in tax-payer funds and for an issue as important as public safety, this was disappointing.
Many of the problems that the amendments I am supportive of help solve, could have been addressed earlier, or avoided altogether, resulting in less divisiveness and more effective and serious governing. Though I think we got it wrong this time, it is still my hope that this council can leave the divisive politics of the last few years behind, and move forward in a more productive manner.
That's a very, very high level summary. I will be speaking, in detail, as to what I mean by all this during the council meeting for each resolution. As always, I am happy to speak 1 on 1 with folks, so please do not hesitate to reach out.
Other resolutions we'll discuss tonight are a bit less political (better news for all of us)!
These include:
-> a resolution honoring the service of Rep. Curt McCormack to our community
-> a resolution congratulating the State champion Burlington American Little League team
-> reviewing a proposal for a shelter space at 58 Pearl
-> considering RFPs for the McNeil plant, sent our way by the TEUC and Electric Commission.
Thank you as always for trusting me to serve as the City Councilor for our Ward - Onwards!
Sincerely,
Councilor Neubieser
cneubieser@burlingtonvt.gov
