Thursday, March 25, 2021
If given the go-ahead by the Vermont Labor Relations Board, the department's 15 sergeants and lieutenants will be able to hold an election to form a collective bargaining unit. These officers are not members of the city's existing police union, the Burlington Police Officers' Association.
A successful union drive would mean that only the Burlington police chief and two deputy chiefs would not be protected by a union.
The New England Police Benevolent Association filed a petition on behalf of the Burlington sergeants and lieutenants on March 3. The city responded on March 15, asserting that the arrangement would be “problematic” as lieutenants serve as sergeants' direct supervisors. Further, the city wrote, the state labor board ordered sergeants and lieutenants removed from the existing police union in 2001 “because they are supervisory employees.”
“The City does not believe that any circumstances exist to change that prior determination,” assistant city attorney Justin St. James wrote in the two-page filing.
Tags: Burlington , Burlington Police Department , union , Vermont Labor Relations Board , police reform , Web Only , Image
Wednesday, March 24, 2021
Property owner Jeff Nick tore down the 1950s-era motel last month, hiring a crew trained in asbestos removal to discard the remnants safely. The process took six weeks.
The cordoned-off lot is now filled with gravel, but Nick plans to convert it into a grassy space that he hopes will spur redevelopment of the so-called “gateway block” to the Queen City.
“Hopefully when COVID’s over, everybody can refocus and figure out what should happen on this block,” Nick said, referring to the area contained by Main Street, South Union Street and South Winooski Avenue. “It’s prime even in today’s market.”
Tags: Midtown Motel , Burlington , development , historic register , Jeff Nick , gateway block , Web Only , Image
Monday, March 22, 2021
The cash comes from the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law earlier this month. Burlington’s piece of the pie includes a $19 million city allocation, plus an $8.3 million "county allocation," Welch said. Additionally, the Burlington School District will receive $14.3 million.
Half the cash should be available within 60 days, Welch said, with the balance to follow in six months to a year. Municipalities have until 2024 to spend the funds.
Tags: Burlington City Council , Miro Weinberger , Tyeastia Green , stimulus , American Recovery Act , coronavirus , Web Only , Image
Wednesday, March 17, 2021
Weinberger had announced on Monday that he’d replaced Green, the only Black department head in the city, with Darren Springer, a white man who serves as general manager of the Burlington Electric Department, to oversee the study. The police assessment has been planned since last summer, when the City Council voted to reduce the size of the department by 30 percent amid a racial justice movement inspired by allegations that officers had used excessive force during arrests.
The mayor told members of the Police Commission and City Council in an email that he’d replaced Green to insert an “independent department head who has been neutral and separate from the contentious debates in recent months over proper officer staffing levels.”
Tags: Miro Weinberger , mayor , Burlington , racial equity , Darren Springer , Tyeastia Green , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, March 16, 2021
Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger has installed a new person to oversee a major study into policing in the city, a decision that drew outrage from city councilors and police commissioners during a meeting on Monday.
Darren Springer, the general manager of the Burlington Electric Department, will manage the contractor responsible for the operational and functional assessment of the Burlington Police Department. He’ll replace Tyeastia Green, a Black woman who serves as the city’s director of Racial Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging.
The change was made, the mayor said in an email Monday to members of the council’s Public Safety Committee and the Police Commission, to insert an “independent department head who has been neutral and separate from the contentious debates in recent months over proper officer staffing levels.”
Tags: Burlington , police , law enforcement , politics , Web Only , Image
Wednesday, March 10, 2021
She'd noticed the window display at the former Gap store on the Church Street Marketplace earlier this winter. The large, colorful illustrations depict people riding bikes, pushing a stroller and flying a kite. But one image in particular caught Johnson’s eye.
A Black man sitting in a wheelchair is shown with his hand proffered, as if asking for change from the white man standing beside him, Johnson said. The white man has his hand on his hip and appears to be looking down at the Black man.
“I looked at it, and I said, ‘That’s not right,’” said Johnson, who is Black. “But I didn’t do anything about it.”
Until she did.
Johnson emailed city councilors last weekend with her concerns about the image, spurring a flurry of emails that eventually reached Chase. On Wednesday, the company apologized and said it will remove the ad, possibly as soon as Thursday.
Tags: Chase , Chase bank , Jenni Johnson , Max Tracy , Burlington , business , Church Street Marketplace , Church Street , Web Only , Image
Friday, March 5, 2021
Burlington-based attorney John Franco is representing four residents — Steve Goodkind, Michael Long, Lynn Martin and Barbara McGrew — in the pending appeal. He says the 422 parking spaces planned for the project aren’t enough to support 426 residential units, let alone vehicles from shoppers and downtown workers.
“I call it the ‘more cows than people’ problem,” Franco said, referring to the saying that Vermont’s bovines outnumber its humans. “That’s why we’re appealing. This will be a disaster for the downtown.”
Once the developers have the permit in hand, Franco said, he’ll file an appeal in Vermont Environmental Court.
The news comes as CityPlace developers last week finally settled a legal challenge brought by the city last fall. They aim to start construction late this summer or early fall, but the appeal could derail those plans, said Dave Farrington, one of the project partners.
Tags: CityPlace Burlington , Dave Farrington , John Franco , Burlington , development , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, March 2, 2021
Burlington Progressives failed to unseat Mayor Miro Weinberger on Town Meeting Day, but voters delivered a resounding endorsement of the ballot measures the party’s candidates had championed.
Charter change proposals to limit evictions, resurrect ranked-choice voting and allow the city to tax properties heated by fossil fuels all advanced with more than 60 percent of votes, unofficial results show.
Tags: elections , ballot questions , just-cause evictions , ranked-choice voting , electrification , Web Only , Image
Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger won his fourth term by just 129 votes on Tuesday night.
Weinberger, a Democrat, earned 43 percent of votes, just barely defeating Progressive challenger and City Council President Max Tracy, who received 42 percent of votes. Councilor Ali Dieng, an independent, came in third with 13 percent of votes.
The mayor tallied 6,189 votes compared to Tracy’s 6,060 and Dieng’s 1,830, according to unofficial results from the city.
The four other independents in the race — Haik Bedrosian, Will Emmons, Kevin McGrath and Patrick White — earned a combined 245 votes, or about 2 percent of the total.
Tags: election , Town Meeting Day , Town Meeting , Miro Weinberger , Max Tracy , Ali Dieng , mayoral , Burlington , Web Only , Image
Saturday, February 27, 2021
Campaign finance reports filed with the Vermont Secretary of State on Friday — the last batch before the March 2 election — show the three-term Democrat has pulled in $132,673 from 483 donors since the campaign's start.
Weinberger raised $6,526 since the last filing deadline of February 20, including a $1,040 donation from former Vermont governor and fellow Dem Peter Shumlin.
Weinberger has raked in six-figure donations in three of his four elections for mayor. Ahead of the March 2 election this year, he beat his personal best of close to $125,000 in 2018.
Progressive challenger Max Tracy, the city council president, has raised $66,570, including $3,234 in the last week. Tracy has received donations from from 575 people thus far — more than any other candidate, a lead Tracy has held through the duration of the race.
Independent candidate Ali Dieng, a fellow city councilor, has raised $11,317 from 120 donors. Supporters gave $397 since the last filing deadline.
Weinberger has also outspent both candidates. He's shelled out $102,010 to date, including close to $34,000 in the last week. Larger expenditures include $4,653 for yard signs and postcards, $1,344 for radio spots on WVMT and WCPV and $1,000 in online advertising.
Tracy has spent close to $52,700, while Dieng has spent just under $9,300.
The four other independents in the race — Haik Bedrosian, Will Emmons, Kevin McGrath and Patrick White — did not file any campaign finance reports.
On Friday evening, Dieng, Tracy and Weinberger all showed up on North Avenue at the Route 127 interchange along with supporters to hold up signs and wave to passing motorists.
Cost to the candidates: zero dollars.
Tags: campaign finance , Town Meeting Day , Burlington , Miro Weinberger , Max Tracy , Ali Dieng , mayoral election , election , Web Only , Image