Thursday, August 6, 2015
The public meeting — the first of three — marked the beginning of the city's efforts to revamp the ordinance governing these vehicles.
Burlington's city council rewrote this ordinance in 2009, but the the arrival of the ride-hailing company Uber, coupled with complaints about ineffective enforcement, prompted officials to undertake the task a second time.
Chief administrative officer Bob Rusten told participants that the goal this time is to create an ordinance fit for the 21st century. Splitting into two groups, the attendees discussed some of the sticking points about Burlington's current regulations.
Local cab drivers have been fiercely critical of Uber, which began operating in Burlington last fall and recently entered into a temporary operating agreement with the city. But on Wednesday, Uber reps and local cabbies sat next to one another, along with other stakeholders, and contemplated what regulations their services require.
Tags: Uber , Burlington , taxis , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, August 5, 2015
More than 50 people crammed into a room at the Burlington Department of Public Works to oppose possible changes at the popular New North End dog park. Some park neighbors have complained it is too noisy and busy, straining the facility and a small parking lot. Speakers disagreed, and most also opposed the idea of charging fees to use the park — especially for Burlington residents.
"I think it would ruin the park and it would really piss people off," Maureen Schakey of Burlington said just after the meeting, reiterating comments she made during the session. She added: "If you have a kid you don't have to pay to go to the playground. What's the difference?"
Catherine Foley said that she hears children at C.P.Smith School saying the Pledge of Allegiance and shouting on the playground from inside her house. "I don't call the city to complain, because our kids need education," she said. Dog park neighbors shouldn't complain either, Foley said. And dogs need exercise, she said, adding, "The Starr Farm Dog Park is a jewel in the Burlington Park system."
More than a dozen people, all fans of the park, spoke during the public comments period. No park critics spoke out. City Councilor Dave Hartnett (I-North District), who has called for changes on behalf of neighbors concerned about the park, was not at the meeting.
Tags: Starr Farm Dog Park , Dave Hartnett , dogs , Image , Web Only
Thursday, July 30, 2015
Burlington school officials say they will appeal the denial earlier this month of an O-1 visa that would have allowed Yaw Obeng to start his $153,000-a-year job as superintendent of city schools.
The denial keeps Obeng in limbo. But he still wants the job. And he says he's confident he'll get a visa.
"My intention is to be in Burlington for the long haul," Obeng said by telephone Thursday. "If it takes a couple extra months to make that happen, in the long term I think it's going to be worth that effort.”
Obeng is a senior administrator at the Halton school district in suburban Toronto. He says he doesn't plan to officially resign from that job until his work papers come through.
It's unclear when and whether that will happen. U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services in St. Albans processed the O-1 application. Director Laura B. Zuchowski wrote the denial. She found the application failed to demonstrate that Obeng has the extraordinary ability and sustained national or international acclaim in his field — education — required to qualify for an O-1 visa.
Tags: Burlington , education , immigration , Yaw Obeng , Image , Web Only
Friday, July 24, 2015
There's still no firm date to remove the mountain of contaminated soil that the city plopped down in Leddy's parking lot after it was excavated from the city's waterfront for the first phase of the Burlington Bike Path reconstruction.
The city has a goal, though, for disposal: All 2,500 cubic yards of dirt should be gone by winter, says Burlington Parks and Recreation director Jesse Bridges. “It's not marooned," he insists.
Residents who live near the New North End park next to Lake Champlain want the dirt gone.
"People are pretty upset with the pile," explains Dave Hartnett, the independent city councilor representing Burlington's North District.
This week, Hartnett and fellow councilor Kurt Wright (R-Ward 4) met with Bridges to press for a removal date. So far Bridges hasn't committed to one. He says more tests must be conducted on the dirt, and then he needs permission from the state Department of Environmental Conservation and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on how to safely dispose of the soils.
Tags: Burlington , waterfront , bike path , Leddy Park , PCBs , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
"This is a momentous occasion," said Mary Brown-Guillory of Burlington, president of the Champlain Area NAACP.
The group will fight racism and work to educate Vermont on issues of fairness, she said. The chapter has 168 members so far and needs more, Brown-Guillory emphasized to the crowd gathered at the Waterman Building on the University of Vermont campus.
"We cannot do this without you," she said.
According to the organizers, the chapter is the first in Vermont to affiliate with the national civil rights group, which since its founding more than a century ago has played a pivotal role in battles for equal access to jobs and housing, integrated schools and voting rights. There was an earlier effort to create a chapter in Vermont, but that group was not directly tied to the national organization, Brown-Guillory said.
Tags: NAACP , Mary Brown-Guillory , Image , Web Only
Monday, July 13, 2015
Del Pozo, 40, is due to start September 1 in the $114,363-a-year job. Mayor Miro Weinberger chose him from a field of nearly 30 candidates. He replaces Michael Schirling, who retired in June.
Councilor Joan Shannon (D-South District) abstained, citing a work conflict of interest. The remaining 11 councilors voted for del Pozo.
Despite the council’s support of del Pozo, it was a tumultuous evening. About 130 people filled city hall’s Contois Auditorium, the majority protesting del Pozo’s appointment.
A long line of critics argued that del Pozo should be rejected because of his 18-year career with the New York Police Department, where he is a deputy inspector. Some blatantly accused him of being responsible for the department’s racial profiling, systematic infiltration of Muslim communities and mistreatment of protesters.
Tags: Burlington Police Department , Brandon del Pozo , Michael Schirling , Image , Web Only
Friday, July 10, 2015
The Winooski resident is hardcore: He commutes year-round on a bike to his job at CarShare Vermont in Burlington. He was one of about 40 people who attended a public workshop Thursday night to brainstorm about ways to expand bike and pedestrian access.
The recent fatalities of three cyclists outside the city and a serious accident that injured a cyclist on Pine Street last week are reminders of the need for change, Stoops said.
"It's very sad and tragic."
Burlington can lead, he added, by creating "real, protected bike lanes and slower speeds for cars and actually enforcing the speed limits."
Tags: Burlington , cycling , Image , Web Only
Thursday, July 9, 2015
Every step of the way Brandon del Pozo scored high marks for his responses. On Tuesday, Mayor Miro Weinberger announced he'd selected the New York Police Department deputy inspector as the next chief to oversee Burlington’s 100-officer police force.
What the search team and Weinberger didn’t know was that del Pozo had written a paper published in 2001 that raised the notion that racial profiling in limited circumstances might have a place in police work.
Nor does it appear that the search team asked the veteran officer, who has served in high-level posts, about his views on the NYPD's systematic profiling of Muslims and the infiltration of mosques following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
As the Burlington City Council prepares to vote Monday on del Pozo’s appointment, some are questioning whether he was fully vetted. An online petition is calling on the council to reject the appointment. If approved, del Pozo is slated to start as chief in September, replacing Michael Schirling, who retired in June.
Tags: Burlington Police Department , Brandon del Pozo , Miro Weinberger , ACLU , Burlington City Council , Image , Web Only
When the Farrington's Mobile Home Park went on the market for $5 million last November, its inhabitants worried they'd be displaced by a developer looking to capitalize on the prime real estate. Located just off North Avenue, the 11-acre property with 120 lots offers what is widely considered to be the most affordable home-owning option in a city where the cost of housing has escalated.
Residents voted to form a cooperative, with the goal of purchasing the property themselves. Robert Farrington, one of several family members who inherited the New North End park, told Seven Days at the time that he was "100 percent" in support of their effort.
But the looming question for months was: Could the residents — many of whom are on fixed incomes — actually cobble together the money to make it happen?
Tags: Farrington Mobile Home Park , New North End , co-op , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, July 7, 2015
Hours before Brandon del Pozo was introduced to the media Tuesday as Burlington’s next police chief, he got a taste of how local residents might react to his appointment.
He was standing outside a house on South Union Street that he and his family hope to buy. After witnessing a woman fall, he dialed 9-1-1 and later introduced himself to one of the first responders.
“You’re the guy up from New York City,” the responder told him.
That guy from New York City is Mayor Miro Weinberger’s choice to serve as police chief of a municipality smaller than most New York City police precincts. If the Burlington City Council approves his appointment Monday, he will replace recently retired police chief Michael Schirling on Sept. 1.
Tags: Burlington , Miro Weinberger , Brandon del Pozo , Image , Web Only