To prove a point, Doug Dunbebin once cracked an egg on his forehead. “This is the face of Burlington,” he said, goo dripping down his face. He argued that while local officials had squawked about the Iraq War, they failed to support efforts to keep the Vermont Air National Guard at home.

Dunbebin, a Progressive who served on the Burlington City Council from 2001 to 2003, was passionate politically, earnest about everything he did and full of life.

Friends and colleagues were shocked and saddened by Dunbebin’s death Friday of a sudden, undisclosed illness at age 53. He is survived by his wife, Trina Magi.

Mayor Miro Weinberger is hailing an upgrade to Burlington’s credit rating that took place Wednesday.

Weinberger came into office in 2012 pledging to improve financial management at City Hall. This marks the second upgrade in the city’s credit rating during his tenure: In March 2015, Moody's Investors Service raised it one step, from Baa3 to Baa2, and yesterday, it raised it two steps to A3. 

Burlington’s credit rating plummeted six steps under Weinberger’s predecessor Mayor Bob Kiss, in response to the tenuous financial situation at Burlington Telecom.

The paint is peeling, and the "L" in Elihu B. Taft's name is askew on  the school building named for the philanthropist who donated the land in the late 1920s.

So it would seem the right time for the University of Vermont to begin its $2 million-plus  renovation of the Taft School on South Williams. 

There's a problem, though. Two years after the Burlington School District and City Council agreed to convey the 1938 building to UVM under a $1.6 million, 80-year lease, the two public-school alternative programs now operating at Taft are stranded.

UVM's lease begins July 1. But there is still  no "permanent home" for the OnTop and Horizons programs, says Burlington School Board member David Kirk, Ward Seven. He's chair of the board's Infrastructure & Technology Committee, which is overseeing the relocation. 

Kirk declined further comment. 

The delay rankles some who opposed the lease to begin with,  including Colchester Avenue resident Martha Lang. She finds it troubling that district officials, even with ample time, have failed to relocate students. "They still don't know where they are going to put them," Lang said.

She objected to the lease, arguing that it went against the provision in Taft's will that directed the property be used for school children and, failing that, for indigent men.

The courts took a different view and, after a lengthy legal battle, allowed the lease of the long-closed  neighborhood school.  School officials had been trying to sell it for years.

A new location soon could be settled for at least one of the Taft programs, OnTop. It serves special-education students in grades five to 12. 

The district wants to put 27 OnTop students in leased space at the Chace Mill on Mill Street. Redstone Commercial Group, which owns the space through its  Catamount Holding Co., is seeking a zoning change  from "warehouse/office/lab" to "school."

 The Chace Mill is on the banks of the Winooski River, and safety has been part of the discussion. Redstone has offered to put up new guard rails and barrier fencing in response to concerns.

A Burlington Development Review Board  hearing is set for March 2.  According to the application and supporting paperwork from Redstone, the 8,000-square-foot space would have five classrooms and accommodate 16 school employees along with the students. 

The Chace Mill space has already been used for education, apparently without the zoning change. State records show that Petonbowk Academy operated there during at least the 2014-2015 school year.  The state-licensed independent school was authorized to enroll 15 students with autism and other disabilities. 

The Burlington School District  is looking at other locations for  Horizons, a program for students at risk of dropping out of high school. It typically enrolls 30 to 40 students.

Horizons and OnTop program director Lynn Kennedy declined to comment on the relocation and referred a reporter to Superintendent of Schools Yaw Obeng.
"We are considering several options and trying to be creative, while looking for the best accommodations for these students," he said via email.

Obeng declined to elaborate further and said there will be an update at the next school board meeting on March 8.

The UVM art department will use the Taft building, which will be renovated in two phases.   

Update 2/26/2016: Mayor Miro Weinberger has announced that the city won't prosecute people wearing masks during the upcoming Mardi Gras festivities.

Until recently, it was an ordinance few people knew existed. But after a couple of questionable incidents — and a subsequent push by the American Civil Liberties Union of Vermont and a group of “furries” — city councilors appear poised to roll back a longstanding ban on masks in Burlington.

The ordinance in question prohibits anyone age 21 or older from wearing masks, hoods or other face-obscuring garments in public places. According to the Vermont Historical Society, it was originally passed in response to local Ku Klux Klan activity.

On Tuesday, the three members of the Ordinance Committee voted to send to the full city council a significantly scaled-back version that would outlaw masks only when a person is breaking the law or harassing someone else.

Oddly enough, an attempt to enforce the mask ban at an anti-Ku Klux Klan rally held in November 2015, helped spark an effort to overturn the ordinance. 

A $60 million, 6,000-seat arena that would host University of Vermont hockey and basketball games — as well as conventions and concerts — could sprout in South Burlington's new downtown.  

Two locations top the list of possible sites: the parcel now occupied by the Rick Marcotte Central School adjacent to Williston Road and the ailing University Mall property on Dorset Street. 

City and UVM officials debuted the idea Tuesday at a press conference. They announced the formation of a joint committee to study construction of a 230,000-square-foot, multi-purpose arena, tentatively named the Catamount Center.

"This facility would provide a high-quality venue for UVM sports and other programs, concerts, family entertainment like Disney on Ice, and also provide convention and trade-show facilities that this area badly needs," said Kevin Dorn, South Burlington city manager. 

He went on to say the arena could provide a "powerful economic stimulus" for the region and become part of South Burlington's pedestrian-oriented, mixed-use City Center proposal. The city would own the facility, but seek financial assistance to build it from UVM and its donor base. Tax-increment financing and local-options taxes also might be tools to help fund the arena, according Dorn.  
  
UVM has considered building a new sports complex — both on and off campus — for at least two decades. Tom Gustafson, vice president for university relations and administration, said at the press conference that the school is proud of its Division I athletes. "We're somewhat less proud of some of our facilities at the university," Gustafson said. "We've been looking at what we can do with them, given the fact that  they were built at a time when our student body was about a third of the size it is today."

Bob Corran, UVM associate vice president & director of athletics, also spoke about the inadequacy of current facilities. He said they do not meet the standard "we see at the Division I level, and they certainly are not at a level which really encourages our recruiting efforts."

The new South Burlington arena would seat 5,000 for athletic events and as many as 6,000 people for concerts. That plan could change depending on the findings of market studies. 

UVM's hockey team now plays at Gutterson Field House, which has a capacity of about 4,000 and frequently sells out  games. The basketball team plays at the 1963 Roy L. Patrick Gymnasium, which has about 3,200 seats. 

UVM is keeping other options open and is talking with the city of Burlington about potential partnerships for athletics at Memorial Auditorium, Gustafson said. The city of Burlington is planning to seek proposals for redevelopment of the auditorium parcel downtown at Main Street and South Union.   

The study committee will produce a report by August 15 for UVM President Tom Sullivan and Dorn, who will then send the report to the UVM trustees and South Burlington City Council for consideration. 
The committee will explore locations, design needs, legal issues and financing. Both sites mentioned Tuesday are equally practical, Dorn said, although the renderings of the proposed facility focused on the Marcotte School parcel. The video and renderings showed new pedestrian access from Williston Road and connections to the downtown-style development that South Burlington leaders have been trying to build in the core of the suburb for decades. 
 
Thus far, the South Burlington School Board has declined offers to sell the 11-acre Marcotte School, which remains in operation. Some parents don't want to see the school shuttered. The arena proposal could put new pressure on the school board, which is currently weighing options.

Meanwhile the owners of the University Mall have already announced their desire to revamp the aging retail center into a mixed-use development in line with the general goals of the South Burlington City Center vision. The arena would likely take up just a portion of the mall's acreage, if it advances. Todd Finard, who co-owns the mall, gave approval to have the site considered in the arena study.

Dorn said that the city will seek approval from the Vermont Economic Progress Council to include the mall property in the South Burlington City Center's existing tax-increment financing district. The city is hoping for authorization from the state board by the summer. 

Marcotte school is already part of the City Center TIF district. If TIF subsidies are tapped for the arena, South Burlington city voters would first have to authorize bonds in connection with the project. Such a vote could happen as early as November, but would be more likely for spring of 2017, if the arena project moves forward. 

There were signs Tuesday that the Burlington City Council debate about vehicles for hire would be a contentious one. The first came early in the afternoon, when Mayor Miro Weinberger circulated an annotated memo making his case for the new rules.

The second came a moment before the debate Tuesday night when council president Jane Knodell handed her gavel to Councilor Kurt Wright, freeing herself to participate in — rather than moderate — the debate. 

The question at hand was whether the council should approve a new vehicle-for-hire ordinance that increases enforcement and, controversially, allows "transportation network companies" — such as the ride-hailing service Uber — to operate in the city. The council ultimately signed off on the new rules in a 9-3 vote. 

The main sticking point was whether companies should be able to conduct their own background checks — a role Uber has insisted on retaining. Weinberger argued that new rules included safeguards to make sure companies comply, by enabling periodic audits and requiring company officials to swear under oath that they're meeting the city standards. 

Unconvinced, Progressive Councilors Knodell and Max Tracy countered that the arrangement forced the city to "trust" Uber, while allowing it to maintain what Tracy called "opaque operating practices." Fellow Progressive Selene Colburn joined them in voting against the new ordinance. 

The Burlington City Council is expected to vote Tuesday night on a new set of rules governing vehicles for hire. One question could split the council: Can the city trust private companies to conduct their own background checks on drivers? 

In deference to Uber, the proposed rules would permit companies to carry out their own checks, provided they meet the city’s standards. To make sure companies follow through, city officials would “audit” a random sampling of background checks twice a year. 

Progressive Councilor Max Tracy said he isn't comfortable entrusting private companies to vet their own drivers, and he plans to introduce an amendment that would keep this responsibility the city's. Audits will offer little assurance, Tracy contends, because Uber refuses to disclose how many drivers operate in the city, making it difficult for officials to know whether their sample size is sufficient. "We’re allowing Uber to remain behind the scenes," he said. 

Tracy is seeking support for his amendment, while Mayor Miro Weinberger advocates for the opposite.

Weinberger said the audit system would be "robust" and he expects Uber to cooperate. He also expressed frustration with the emphasis on this question, pointing out that the ordinance includes several measures, including hiring an enforcement officer, that will increase oversight over the industry. "From a public safety perspective, if this passes we're going to be safer than we were without this," he said.

Contract talks between Burlington teachers and school district leaders have hit a wall.

On Wednesday, the two sides announced they had reached an impasse. The city school board issued a press release calling on the district's roughly 400 teachers to increase their share of health insurance costs from 15 to 19 percent and accept pay increases averaging 1.8 percent.

Teachers are asking for raises averaging 7.4 percent, according to the school board.

Burlington Education Association president Bob Abbey did not dispute that number in an interview with Seven Days. He said the increase is necessary to keep an average teacher salary in the city schools at the middle of the range for teachers in Chittenden County.

He also questioned why, after Burlington taxpayers had approved large budget increases for much of the recent decade, the board's position on raises is, we don't have the money. Too much funding is going to central office positions and other costs that need to be explained, Abbey said. "Where is all the money going?"

A Burlington landlord locked in a high-profile battle with the city has gone on the offensive. 

Mayor Miro Weinberger's administration is pursuing criminal charges against Soon Kwon, who has accrued — and challenged — a host of code violations in his apartments. The Burlington Free Press has documented the ongoing feud for many months, reporting that Kwon's alleged violations include faulty smoke alarms and fire escapes and the presence of mold in his rental units. 

The already contentious case took a bizarre turn Wednesday evening.

On the eve of his arraignment, Kwon, who contends that code enforcement director Bill Ward has unfairly penalized him for "petty cosmetic issues," attempted to give city officials a taste of their own medicine. 

His lawyer, Will Towle, emailed to Seven Days the results of an "inspection" of Burlington City Hall carried out by "agents of Soon Kwon." 

Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger brought new ammunition to the fight over gun control Thursday, as he urged state legislators to let Vermont's largest city ban guns in bars and make other firearms restrictions.

Two years after Burlington residents voted for three gun-control measures — and a year after state lawmakers dismissed the charter changes as unconstitutional — Mayor Miro Weinberger tried to make the case to legislators that there’s nothing outlandish about what the city wants to do. He argued that the three gun-control measures the voters approved are legal, doable and accepted elsewhere.

“I think we made a stronger case this year,” Weinberger said after speaking at the Statehouse. “I sense it’s being treated differently.”

Earlier, Weinberger told the House Government Operations Committee, as about a dozen gun-rights activists waited to counter his arguments: "Gun safety is not an area where Burlington is trying to chart some new path. Today, we are trying to catch up with laws in Texas, Montana, and Alaska."

Sixteen states ban firearms in bars and restaurants, according to information Burlington city attorney Eileen Blackwood supplied the committee.