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Thursday, March 25, 2021

Posted By on Thu, Mar 25, 2021 at 2:42 PM

click to enlarge Burlington Police Sergeants, Lieutenants File Petition to Unionize
File: James Buck ©️ Seven Days
Protesters last summer in Burlington
The City of Burlington is opposing an effort by police higher-ups to form a union.

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.

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Wednesday, March 24, 2021

Posted By on Wed, Mar 24, 2021 at 2:45 PM

click to enlarge Deemed Not Historic, Burlington's Midtown Motel Is Demolished
Courtney Lamdin ©️ Seven Days
The site of the former Midtown Motel
The space where Burlington’s landmark Midtown Motel once stood is now an empty lot.

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.”

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Monday, March 22, 2021

Posted By on Mon, Mar 22, 2021 at 11:56 PM

click to enlarge Welch: Burlington to Receive $27.3 Million in Federal Stimulus Cash
File: Paul Heintz ©️ Seven Days
Rep. Peter Welch
Burlington will receive $27.3 million in federal stimulus dollars to help recover from the coronavirus pandemic, U.S. Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) told the City Council at a meeting on Monday.

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.

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Wednesday, March 17, 2021

Posted By on Wed, Mar 17, 2021 at 3:41 PM

click to enlarge 'I Made a Mistake': Weinberger to Allow Racial Equity Director to Oversee Police Study
File: Courtney Lamdin ©️ Seven Days
Mayor Miro Weinberger
Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger has reversed course and will allow Tyeastia Green, the city’s director of racial equity, inclusion and belonging, to manage a planned assessment of the police department — and issued a frank apology about his own bias.

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.”

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Tuesday, March 16, 2021

Posted By on Tue, Mar 16, 2021 at 12:25 AM

click to enlarge Weinberger Removes Racial Equity Director From Oversight of Policing Study
File: Courtney Lamdin ©️ Seven Days
Mayor Miro Weinberger at an event last summer
Updated at 11:04 a.m.

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.”

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Wednesday, March 10, 2021

Posted By on Wed, Mar 10, 2021 at 9:00 PM

click to enlarge After Complaint, Chase Bank to Remove Ad From Church Street
Derek Brouwer ©️ Seven Days
The window display at Chase bank
The “coming soon” ads for a new Chase bank branch in downtown Burlington just didn’t sit well with Jenni Johnson.

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.

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Friday, March 5, 2021

Posted By on Fri, Mar 5, 2021 at 6:21 PM

click to enlarge Dispute Over Parking Could Delay CityPlace Burlington Construction
Courtesy of Freeman French Freeman
A rendering of CityPlace Burlington on Cherry Street
The redesigned CityPlace Burlington project won unanimous approval from the city’s Development Review Board this week, but a group of opponents is already planning to appeal the permit.

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.

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Tuesday, March 2, 2021

Posted By on Tue, Mar 2, 2021 at 8:22 PM

click to enlarge Burlington Voters Back Ballot Measures on Weed, Evictions By Big Margins
Luke Awtry
Voters checking in at Edmunds Middle School
Updated at 10:43 p.m.

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.

City residents also opted into a retail cannabis market by an overwhelming margin, paving the way for legal weed sales to begin there in fall of 2022.

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Posted By on Tue, Mar 2, 2021 at 8:17 PM

click to enlarge Weinberger Fends Off Tracy, Wins Fourth Term as Burlington Mayor
Luke Awtry
Mayor Miro Weinberger at the ECHO Center on Tuesday
Updated at 11:01 p.m.

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.

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Saturday, February 27, 2021

Posted By on Sat, Feb 27, 2021 at 12:03 PM

click to enlarge Weinberger Maintains Fundraising Lead
Courtney Lamdin ©️ Seven Days
Candidates Miro Weinberger (left) and Max Tracy at a honk-and-wave Friday evening
Burlington's mayoral election has yet to be decided, but incumbent Mayor Miro Weinberger has undoubtedly won the money race.

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.
click to enlarge Weinberger Maintains Fundraising Lead (2)
Courtney Lamdin ©️ Seven Days
Mayoral candidate Ali Dieng waving to motorists on North Avenue
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.

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