Monday, November 8, 2021
Sponsored by all six council Progressives, the resolution also tasks officials with analyzing the fairness of the city’s tax system.
The measure was spurred by public concern over this summer’s reappraisal, the city’s first in 16 years. Residents complained that the city downplayed how the reassessment would impact their tax bills, and that Tyler Technologies, the city’s hired consultant, made numerous errors in its calculations.
"These stories paint an unfortunate picture of a system that is not designed to support our neighbors," said Councilor Joe Magee (P-Ward 3), the resolution's lead sponsor.
"If we're serious about addressing the housing affordability crisis and truly wish to make homeownership more attainable for more residents, then we have to examine the inequity that's inherent in this regressive property tax," he added.
Seven Days documented residents' concerns in two cover stories earlier this year, including one that examined how homeowners were saddled with higher taxes while commercial property owners got a break. The pandemic played a role in both: home values skyrocketed during the buying boom, whereas commercial values — which are based on buildings’ cash flows — dropped due to the economic shutdown.
Tags: Burlington City Council , Mayor Miro Weinberger , Burlington , reassessment , property values , tax bills , short-term rentals , redistricting , Web Only , Image
Friday, November 5, 2021
In a press release Friday afternoon, Weinberger said members of the city's search committee had asked to advertise the position with a higher salary but that council Progressives didn't support the idea. The current ad offers a salary range of about $119,000 to just under $133,000, depending on experience.
Weinberger also blamed councilors for undermining "the effectiveness of our once world-class" police department by voting last year to reduce the officer headcount — a move they partially reversedlast month — and by supporting a police oversight model that would have removed the chief's disciplinary authority.
"Numerous times, I warned the Council that it was weakening the Department and risked creating an environment in which we would struggle to attract a permanent Chief," Weinberger wrote in a letter to councilors, which was attached to the press release. "This has now come to pass."
Tags: Burlington Police Department , police chief , police chief search , Mayor Miro Weinberger , Max Tracy , Burlington City Council , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, November 2, 2021
Superintendent Tom Flanagan recommended the site following a six-month process led by real estate consultants White + Burke. The firm initially identified 16 possible locations, then whittled it down to three: two sites on the Institute Road campus in the New North End, and the downtown Gateway Block on Main Street.
"We did a serious review of the entire city and all the possible sites that were there," Flanagan said at Tuesday's meeting. "And we have weighed the site evaluations, feedback from the community, and our own assessment of the educational needs of the community."
Tags: Burlington School District , Tom Flanagan , Institute Road , Burlington High School , PCBs , Kids VT , Web Only , Image , Kids VT
The City of Burlington may proceed with disbanding the Sears Lane homeless encampment, a Vermont Superior Court judge ruled on Tuesday.
The decision comes days after camp residents Grey Barreda and Alexys Grundy appeared in civil court to ask the judge to stop the forced move-out. The residents had argued that the city's order violated its policy on camp removal, which was adopted in 2019 as part of a settlement with the American Civil Liberties Union of Vermont .
Judge Samuel Hoar wrote that unlike an ordinance, the city’s policy does not have the force of law.
“On its face, the document is more aspirational than binding,” Hoar wrote, adding that despite the policy being part of a court-approved settlement, “there is no evidence that it was ever incorporated into any consent decree or other court order.”
Tags: Sears Lane , homelessness , lawsuit , Vermont Superior Court , Burlington , Mayor Miro Weinberger , Web Only , Image
Thursday, October 28, 2021
The court is considering whether Burlington's camp removal policy has “the force of law” similar to a city ordinance or state statute.
“That’s an important determination the court would have to make before the court even went down the path of determining whether or not the city has or has not complied with the policy,” Hoar said.
Tags: Sears Lane , Vermont Superior Court , City of Burlington , Mayor Miro Weinberger , homelessness , Web Only , Image , Slideshow
Thursday, October 21, 2021
John Belter alleges that the chemicals came from a firefighting foam long used by the Vermont Air National Guard, which leases a portion of the Burlington International Airport. The per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, contaminated the groundwater and a stream that runs across the farm, Belter has previously said.
Tags: PFAS , contamination , Burlington , Vermont Air Guard , Winooski , groundwater , dairy , Web Only , Image
Wednesday, October 20, 2021
Gene Richards, who was fired last month from his job as director of the Burlington International Airport, has sued the City of Burlington in an attempt to regain the post.
The suit, filed in Chittenden Superior Court on October 12, also demands that
Richards be given the full, complete documents related to an investigation into his conduct. If he gets neither his old position nor those papers, he argues, he should receive “a proper post-termination due process hearing, compensatory damages for lost income” and his legal fees.
"The City disputes the substance and supporting statements of the appeal and at the appropriate time and manner will reply through counsel," she wrote.
Richards was placed on leave June 30 after a complaint about his conduct. The union that represents airport workers urged the city to fire him. But Richards refused to step down, and on August 27, Mayor Miro Weinberger said he would begin the process to fire him.
Tags: Gene Richards , Burlington International Airport , Mayor , Miro Weinberger , Web Only , Image
Residents of the Sears Lane encampment are asking a judge to issue a preliminary injunction against the City of Burlington to stop a planned eviction there next week.
The one-page filing from Alexys Grundy and Grey Barreda says the city's October 14 eviction order does "not meet the criteria for emergency and exigent circumstances" and amounts to cruel and unusual punishment.
"We need this [injunction] because this 68 Sears Lane is our home and for most of us this is all we have," Grundy and Barreda wrote. "We need to have reliable, generative conversations and realistic time span expectations to start making the progressive changes both the City and the Camp want to see."
Tags: Sears Lane , Burlington , homelessness , Vermont Superior Court , eviction , Mayor Miro Weinberger , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, October 19, 2021
After months of vociferous debate, the Burlington City Council voted to effectively allow the police department to hire up to 87 officers, up from a limit of 74 set in June 2020.
The early Tuesday morning vote technically set the limit at 79 officers, but the figure did not include the eight cops who are assigned to the Burlington International Airport.
The measure passed 8-4 after hours of debate at a meeting that began Monday evening. Progressive councilors Zoraya Hightower (Ward 1) and Jane Stromberg (Ward 8) joined the four council Democrats and two independents in favor.
"This is within range of what CNA recommended," Hightower said, referring to the Virginia-based nonprofit whose assessment of the department recommended a higher cap. "I think it is time for us to stop talking about numbers."
Also at the meeting, Mayor Miro Weinberger announced that the city would extend its deadline to evict the two-dozen residents of the Sears Lane homeless encampment in the South End — another highly charged topic.
Tags: Burlington Police Department , policing , authorized cap , CNA report , Burlington City Council , Burlington , Mayor Miro Weinberger , homelessness , Sears Lane , Web Only , Image
Saturday, October 16, 2021
The Seawolves — a football team made up of Burlington, South Burlington and Winooski players — bested the St. Johnsbury Hilltoppers 35-14. But the loudest cheers from the color-filled stands came during a halftime performance that featured around two dozen costumed students and teachers strutting their stuff in a runway-style drag ball.
Burlington High School's Gender-Sexuality Alliance club planned the event — a striking juxtaposition to the robust masculinity typically on display during football games — as a creative way to show support for the LGBTQ community.
Tags: Burlington High School , Seawolves , drag , LGBTQ , halftime drag show , football , homecoming , Web Only , Image , Slideshow , Video