Tuesday, August 10, 2021
A resolution to increase the roster cap to 82 officers, up from the 74-officer limit enacted during historic protests and calls to "defund" the police, failed on a tie vote, with Councilor Zoraya Hightower (P-Ward 1) absent.
The vote came as interim Police Chief Jon Murad, Democratic Mayor Miro Weinberger and others contended that the Burlington Police Department is experiencing a free fall in its ranks as demoralized officers flee. Supporters have also pointed to heavily publicized gunfire incidents in recent months as signs that a hamstrung department is less able to keep Queen City residents safe. And a survey conducted by the police officers' union found that roughly half of Burlington cops were actively seeking employment elsewhere.
Tags: Burlington Police Department , Burlington City Council , Police Staffing , Criminal Justice Reform , Ali Dieng , Miro Weinberger , Jon Murad , Burlington Police Officers' Association , Web Only , Image
Friday, August 6, 2021
Released Friday evening, the mayor's guidance comes just two months after city councilors rescinded a previous masking mandate in Burlington. The 12-member body unanimously agreed to lift the requirement in June after nearly 80 percent of eligible Vermonters had received at least one vaccination dose.
But while that number now exceeds 84 percent, the state has seen increased case counts and hospitalizations in recent weeks. The Vermont Department of Health on Friday reported 88 new COVID-19 cases and 12 hospitalizations — the highest number since May. Eight people are in intensive care.
Tags: coronavirus , pandemic , COVID-19 , vaccination , Vermont , masking , Burlington , Mayor Miro Weinberger , Web Only , Image
The organization, however, says it will not publish the results of its inquiry despite requests by Mayor Miro Weinberger that the findings become public.
Hanson is accused of assaulting a former VPIRG canvasser, who was his subordinate, four years ago. The allegation became public last month after a local activist posted the anonymous person's account on Instagram. According to the post, Hanson initiated sexual contact after a party when the person was "incapacitated and very very vulnerable."
Hanson has denied assaulting the person, saying they consented to being physically intimate and that they did not have sex. The person later volunteered on Hanson's 2019 election campaign, and Hanson said that they've been friendly since the night in question.
Emails obtained by Seven Days show that Weinberger contacted VPIRG executive director Paul Burns about an investigation shortly after last month's city council meeting, when several people in attendance called for Hanson to be held to account.
The emails indicate that Burns initially declined to conduct an inquiry because it could endanger the alleged victim's privacy and put VPIRG in a position of determining whether Hanson should resign. Weinberger responded that VPIRG was "best positioned to quickly and comprehensively establish the necessary facts" while still protecting the person's identity, and clarified that he didn't expect the organization to "assess Councilor Hanson’s fitness for public service."
Tags: Jack Hanson , Burlington , City Council , sexual assault , allegations , VPIRG , investigation , Web Only , Image
Monday, August 2, 2021
The ultimate decision will lie with the city council, which is next scheduled to meet on August 9. It's unclear if the body will take up the issue then.
The vote marks the second time in several months that commissioners have called on the council to raise the staffing cap. And it comes as local business leaders have renewed their calls for an increased downtown police presence in light of recent violent incidents.
"We're losing a downtown for everyone because it does not feel safe and secure for people who want to come here," Kelly Devine, executive director of the Burlington Business Association, said prior to Monday's vote.
Tags: Burlington Police Department , BPD , Staffing , Cap , Officers , Web Only , Image
Friday, July 23, 2021
Burlington residents received their fiscal year 2022 tax bills this week, nearly three months after a citywide reassessment recalculated their home values. The results have sent some Queen City taxpayers into sticker shock.
"I took a very deep breath. It was like, Oh, my God," Meryl Goldfarb, 62, said of receiving her tax bill. "I literally lost sleep that night, because I was like, I don't know how I'm gonna get through this."
Before the reassessment, the city valued Goldfarb's three-bedroom condo in the city's South End at $218,600; today, that value has jumped to $353,900, a 62 percent increase. Her tax bill increased 16 percent, or about $1,000.
Goldfarb isn't alone. Many of her neighbors have complained about their new valuations; others have taken to Front Porch Forum and social media to air their grievances.
Tags: assessments , homeowners , taxes , Web Only , Image
Thursday, July 15, 2021
Redstone has dropped its lawsuit against the City of Burlington and has also agreed to drop its lawsuits against the beleaguered CityPlace Burlington project as part of a global settlement between the parties.
The city also agreed to provide Redstone with up to 200 parking spaces in city-owned garages, at the city’s prevailing rate, for at least five years. The settlement is the result of two mediation sessions between the city, CityPlace team and Redstone.
“I initiated and led this mediation because it was clear that Redstone and the developers of CityPlace were on a path of serious and deepening disagreement that threatened to delay or terminate the long-anticipated, transformative downtown project,” Mayor Miro Weinberger said in a statement Friday. “I am grateful that the two sides set aside their differences and worked hard to get to this agreement that will do so much good for the community.”
The agreement still must be approved by both the Burlington City Council and, because TIF funds are involved, the Vermont Economic Progress Council.
Once final, the agreement will resolve Redstone's four legal challenges against the project, the first of which was filed last summer. That civil suit claimed that the 2018 teardown of the former mall damaged 100 Bank Street, and that Redstone had to "accept less in rent than it otherwise would" because of the gaping pit left behind.
In May, Redstone appealed CityPlace's zoning permit to the Vermont Superior Court's Environmental Division, claiming that the developers failed to analyze the project's impact on traffic and stormwater. Redstone also argued that the city should have reviewed the project under former zoning regulations that would have required additional parking spaces.
In June, Redstone ramped up its opposition with two additional lawsuits, including one in U.S. District Court, that named the CityPlace team, city planning staff and members of the volunteer Development Review Board. Redstone argued that the project permit violated its property rights by allowing Pine Street to be rebuilt underneath its Bank Street building.
Tags: CityPlace Burlington , Don Sinex , Dave Farrington , Al Senecal , Scott Ireland , Mayor Miro Weinberger , Burlington , development , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, July 13, 2021
An anonymous person has accused Burlington City Councilor Jack Hanson (P-East District) of sexual assault stemming from a night in 2017 while both worked for the Vermont Public Interest Research Group.
Hanson, who was not on the council at the time, denied the allegations. He published an account of the evening in question on Facebook on Monday evening.
Shortly afterward, at the council’s first in-person meeting since March 2020, two people alluded to the accusations during public comment. Some people in the audience held signs that read, “Abolish Vt Prog Men,” “Abolish VPIRG,” and “Believe Survivors.”
“We’re here because we want to hold a city councilor, in particular, accountable for his actions,” said a woman who later declined to provide her name to Seven Days. “When you do harm, it comes at your doorstep — or it comes to city hall.”
“Jack Hanson has trampled all over the work of Black femmes in our community,” said Will Keeton, who sat next to the woman. “We’re really done with the political games to protect the reputations of politicians,” he added.
“Whose side are you on?” the woman said. “Don’t be silent. You have the name, so do something about it.”
Tags: Jack Hanson , Burlington , City Council , sexual assault , allegations , VPIRG , Web Only , Image
Monday, July 12, 2021
The 12 councilors and Mayor Miro Weinberger met in the auditorium at Burlington City Hall, the first in-person meeting of the body since March 2020.
Introduced by Councilor Perri Freeman (P-Central District), the resolution asks the council's Charter Change Committee to examine a section that empowers the council "to restrain and suppress houses of ill fame and disorderly houses, and to punish common prostitutes and persons consorting therewith."
The committee will consider a possible repeal of the section, along with possible amendments to protect sex workers, including decriminalization.
The committee is expected to report back to the full council with a recommendation by October 25.
Tags: Burlington , sex work , prostitution , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, July 6, 2021
Burlington International Airport aviation director Gene Richards is on administrative leave pending an investigation, Burlington city officials confirmed Tuesday.
The city's human resources office received a complaint against Richards and began investigating "immediately," a city spokesperson said in a brief email response to an inquiry by Seven Days. He was placed on paid leave June 30.
The city would not provide any information about the nature of the investigation until it concludes, said Samantha Sheehan, a spokesperson for Mayor Miro Weinberger. Richards did not return several requests for comment. A bounce-back message from his government email address said he would be out of office without access to phone or email from July 1 to July 6.
City leaders had not told members of the Burlington City Council or the Burlington Airport Commission of the ongoing investigation. Reached Tuesday afternoon, commission chair Jeff Munger said he learned of it by reading Seven Days.
Commissioner Helen Riehle, who represents South Burlington, said she would have expected the city to alert the advisory board if the director was on administrative leave, especially “if it's been a whole week.” Riehle said she “can't even guess” what the complaint might be about.
“Generally speaking, I think he's a very good administrator,” she said.
Burlington City Council President Max Tracy (P-Ward 2) said he heard of the complaint on Monday night from someone unconnected to the Weinberger administration. Tracy called the city’s Human Resources director, Kerin Durfee, on Tuesday morning and asked that she inform the rest of the council. Durfee subsequently sent a “very general” email to councilors on Tuesday afternoon, Tracy said.
Tracy criticized Weinberger for not sharing the news with councilors until prompted. He likened the situation to when the mayor chose not to tell councilors in summer 2019 that former police chief Brandon del Pozo had been placed on administrative leave for anonymously trolling a department critic on Twitter. Only his subsequent medical leave was publicized.
“The lesson I took from that was that we need to inform the council, to make sure that we all know,” Tracy said, adding that councilors should know “whenever a department head is placed on administrative leave.”
Sheehan said Tracy's criticism was "way off base." The mayor acted swiftly, she said, and councilors were notified "long before any potential Council action is required, or even anticipated." The administration will brief councilors on the investigation at the next city council meeting in executive session, she said.
Weinberger appointed Richards interim director in 2012. He became the permanent director the following year upon approval by the city council.
In addition to his role at the airport, Richards is a longtime landlord and CEO of Spruce Mortgage.
Deputy director of aviation Nic Longo is serving as acting director of the airport.
Courtney Lamdin contributed reporting.
Tags: Gene Richards , BTV , Burlington International Airport , Mayor Miro Weinberger , Web Only , Image
Monday, June 28, 2021
The budget is about $9 million more than the current year's, which amounts to an 11.5 percent increase. The final figure is slightly higher than the version Mayor Miro Weinberger presented earlier this month because the administration made a few additions and other minor changes.
The council also approved a municipal tax rate of $0.67, which is about 4 percent higher than the current year. The rate itself was adjusted downward to compensate for the higher property values that resulted from the citywide property reassessment.
Tags: budget , fiscal year 2022 , Mayor Miro Weinberger , Burlington , Burlington City Council , livable wage , heating systems , redistricting , Census , Web Only , Image