►
From YouTube: CHI-N State Senate Forum - 9/16/2022
Description
Opening Statement - 1:23
Redistricting - 2:20
Criminal Justice Reform - 3:50
Education - 5:39
Healthcare - 7:11
Ballot Issues - 7:56
Bond Votes - 10:30
Language Access - 12:15
Community Access Media - 13:20
Volunteer Legislature - 15:30
Closing Statement - 18:43
This video belongs to http://www.cctv.org and published with permission under Creative Commons License CCTV Center for Media & Democracy Programming is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
A
Watch
town
meeting
TV
on
Comcast
channel
1087,
Burlington,
Telecom,
Channel,
17
and
217.,
as
well
as
online
at
youtube.com
town
meeting
TV
I'm
your
moderator
this
evening
my
name
is
Christine
Lott
and
with
me
tonight
is
Irene
Renner
candidate
for
the
seat
in
one
state
senate
seat
in
the
new
Chittenden
North
District
Welcome
Irene.
Thank
you
Christine.
So
I
have
a
series
of
questions
for
you
to
answer.
You
are
running
for
the
seat
against
Leland
Morgan,
who
unfortunately,
could
not
join
us
tonight.
So
we'll
just
go
through
these
and
learn
what
your
positions
are.
A
A
B
To
first
I
should
probably
show
you
a
map
in
case
anyone's
curious,
It's,
a
little
dog-eared.
Sorry,
it's
been
running
around
my
clipboard
all
over
towns
with
me.
This
particular
District
includes
all
of
Milton.
Thank
you
all
of
Fairfax,
which
is
not
in
Chittenden
County,
but
they
are
included
in
the
Chittenden,
North
District,
all
of
Westford
and
then
the
part
of
Essex
town
that
is
north
of
15
north
of
the
Circ
and
east
of
Ellen
Martin
Drive.
B
A
B
Are
turning
together
toward
the
future
and
the
names
of
all
four
towns
are
on
this
pinwheel
I
handed
those
out
at
the
Fourth
of
July
parades,
so
that
folks
could
remember
who's
in
the
district
and
the
fact
that
we've
never
really
worked
together
as
four
towns
on
anything.
But
now
we
will
be
we'll
be
trying
to
work
on
what
we've
got
in
common
and
being
a
mostly
rural
District.
B
A
lot
of
it
has
to
do
with
preserving
Scenic
views
and
keeping
Open
Spaces
open
as
well
as
developing
thoughtfully,
because
we
understand
that
we
need
some
more
housing
and
we
want
to
bring
in
new
business.
So
the
idea
is:
how
do
we
keep
it?
Looking
like
Vermont,
because
these
four
towns
certainly
do
look
like
the
Vermont
I
moved
to
25
years
ago.
A
B
Safety
is
huge
for
all
of
us.
I
think
this
district
is
not
Burlington,
but
we
certainly
get
the
news.
Reports
from
Burlington
and
people
are
very
concerned
and
a
number
of
people
have
volunteered
at
their
front
doors
that
they
no
longer
go
into
Burlington.
They
are
afraid
to
be
here
and,
and
that's
unfortunate,
I
think
fully
funding.
The
police
is
very
important
to
the
folks
in
this
new
District,
but
they
also
understand
that
a
cop
with
a
gun
is
not
the
solution
to
every
single
call.
B
Mental
Health
counselors
are
often
brought
in,
and
in
Essex,
when
I
was
on
the
select
board
there.
We
in
fact
arranged
with
the
street
teams
from
the
Howard
Center
to
come
in
and
help
on
a
number
of
the
calls
or
mental
health
was
obviously
a
big
part
of
the
issue,
and
so
I
think
we
do
need
to
understand
that
it
takes
many
people
with
many
different
skill
sets
to
keep
us
safe,
and
so
we
need
to
spend
money
in
that
direction.
B
A
Prepared,
let
me
ask
you
a
question.
You
know
you
just
were
sort
of
mentioning
funding.
Similarly,
this
is
about
education
and
that
the
legislature
can
impact
how
education
is
funded
Statewide.
Do
you
see
the
need
for
changes
in
how
we
fund
education
or
how
would
you
use
your
office
to
move
anything
forward?
Well,.
B
Thank
you
for
that,
or
at
least
yeah
I
mean
it's
a
hard
not
to
crack
right.
Lots
of
people
have
examined
educational
reform
over
time.
We
need
to
keep
on
that.
It
is
not
working
for
people,
it's
not
done
yeah,
and
yet
we
do
need
to
fund
education
well,
because
those
children
will
be
the
workforce
of
the
future.
They'll
be
the
voters
of
the
future.
We
want
to
have
citizens
who
are
engaged.
We
want
to
have
workers
that
are
productive,
and
so
we
we
can't
ignore
the
funding.
B
B
Well,
I
know
that
it's
completely
unaffordable
I'm
glad
to
see
at
the
federal
level,
they've
been
paying
attention
to
the
prescription
drug
costs
and
that
some
of
the
Medicare
at
least
costs
will
be
negotiated,
but
it
needs
to,
of
course
go
farther
than
that
and
Healthcare
I
believe
is
something
that
everyone
needs
to
be
able
to
afford.
However,
we
come
around
with
solutions
to
that
I
know
the
Green
Mountain
care
board
works
very
hard
on
that.
A
B
B
I
think
it's
unfortunate
that
that
Amendment,
whose
language
is
very
simple,
has
been
I,
think
distorted
by
some
parties
and
I
see
signs
about
no
late
term.
Abortion.
Well,
I,
don't
know
anyone
who's
having
a
late-term
abortion
willingly
or
joyfully
the
rare
cases
in
which
a
late-term
abortion
happens.
It's
because
there's
dire
circumstances,
the
fetus
is
in
distress.
The
mother
has
her
health-
perhaps
maybe
even
her
life
endangered
by
that
pregnancy
and
and
those
are
situations
which
the
medical
ethics
board
at
the
hospital
gets
to
weigh
in
on.
B
These
are
not
people
just
willingly
saying
oh
I'm,
tired
of
being
pregnant,
and
it's
been
eight
months.
If
that
were
the
case,
a
doctor
would
induce
labor
and
deliver
a
baby
if
it
were
healthy,
so
I
think
there's
just
been
some
fear
generated
around
this
issue
and
that's
unfortunate
and
I
know.
This
is
where
my
opponent
and
I
differ.
He
voted
no
three
times
at
the
legislative
level
on
this
particular
language,
and
that
concerns
me
greatly.
A
On
it,
thank
you
that
was
very
informative.
I'd
like
to
ask
you
about
the
regional
ballot,
questions
too
sure,
so.
The
formation
of
a
Chittenden
County
communications,
Union
district,
a
bond
for
new
materials
recovery
facility
for
chicken
and
solid
waste
District
are
described
as
Revenue
neutral
ballot
items.
What
is
your
take
on
these?
Is
there
anything
else?
Voters
should
know.
Well,
we.
B
I've
talked
to
people
in
all
four
towns
who
don't
have
good
internet
service
and,
as
we
try
to
attract
more
people
to
Vermont
or
keep
people
in
Vermont,
it's
imperative
that
people
are
able
to
work
from
home
or
for
their
children
to
study
from
home,
because
we're
told
the
next
pandemic
could
be
around
the
corner
so
for
people
to
have
that
connectivity
is
critical.
So
I
think
that
the
folks
who
can
vote
on
that
communication,
Union
district
ballot
will
perhaps
want
to
that's
something.
B
I
personally
get
a
vote
on
the
funding
for
the
new
materials
recovery
facility
at
chin
and
solid
waste
district
is
really
also
important.
That
facility
is
30
years
old
I
believe
it's
fantastic
to
see
it
in
action,
but
it
does
need
to
be
replaced
and
again
the
the
people
who
use
that
will
pay.
For
that,
through
the
Tipping
fees,
they
will
not
see
a
tax
increase.
Interesting
trivia,
a
couple
of
interesting
points.
One
would
have
to
ask
for
a
ballot
for
that
issue.
It's
not
on
the
ballot
with
all
the
candidates
names.
B
That's
important,
as
is
the
fact
that
in
Fairfax
the
other
day,
someone
asked
me
a
question
about
that
particular
bond
issue
and
because
Fairfax
residents
don't
live
in
Chittenden
County,
they
don't
get
to
vote
on
that.
However,
their
recyclables
do
go
to
that
facility.
Oh
interesting,
they
might
want
to
encourage
their
friends
in
Chittenden.
County
too
Fairfax
uses
that
through
a
contractional
basis
and
the
people
who
sort
of
holding
the
bond
are
only
those
who
live
in
China
County.
B
B
Well,
I
think
there
are
more
and
more
people
here
in
Vermont
that
speak
English
as
a
second
language,
and
so
the
more
that
we
can
do
to
reach
out
to
people
and
keep
English
language
simple
and
understandable
and
Communications
the
better.
But
I
also
know
that
there
are
some
districts
where
they
have
translated
meeting
notices
and
things
into
other
languages
and
I.
Think
that's
really
welcoming,
especially
as
we
have
people
like
Afghan
refugees
coming
here
and
they're,
going
to
fill
a
lot
of
the
job
openings.
Perhaps
in
some
of
the
local
factories.
B
A
A
B
This
is
conflict
for
of
interest,
for
me,
I
think,
because
I
love,
Channel
17
and
how
many
television
so
I
I
would
do
everything
in
my
power
to
see
that
this
continues
to
be
funded.
However,
it
needs
to
be
and
I
understand.
The
cable
portion
of
the
funding
is
changing,
and
this
is
incredibly
important
for
people
to
be
able
to
not
only
tune
into
meetings
as
they're
able,
but
also
to
have
those
archives
stored
in
a
place
that
is
neutral
and
accessible.
B
Nobody
Does
it
Like
Channel
17,
when
I
was
on
a
select
board.
If
I
need
to
go
back
and
check
something
that
videotape
was
always
there.
When
I
was
running
my
local
newspaper,
it
was
great
to
go
back
and
fact
check
double
check.
The
quote
that
I
was
going
to
use
in
my
article,
it's
just
a
gold
mine
of
information
and
it's
a
real
way
to
preserve
democracy
by
having
that
accountability,
that
people
can
watch
and
listen
and
tune
in
and
see
what
their
elected
officials
are
doing.
It's
it's
just
so
important.
B
I've
also
seen
the
flip
side.
I've
seen
democracy
undermined
by
people
who
have
zoom
accounts
who,
during
the
pandemic,
recorded
things
recorded
meetings
of
elected
legislators
at
the
state
level
and
those
have
now
vanished
and
to
me,
that's
completely
unacceptable
to
have
that
kind
of
record,
be
a
proprietary
record
rather
than
a
public
record.
So
once
again,
I
can't
say
enough
good
things
about
Channel
17
and
the
fact
that
the
public
can
always
access
your
records
and
has
these
archives
available.
Thank.
A
B
There
insisting
that
their
corner
of
the
community
in
in
this
state
be
heard
and
not
be
forgotten
and
I
think
that
we
will
lose
something
if
we
had
lawmakers
who
were
solely
lawmakers
and
and
might
have
lost
touch
with
that
day-to-day
working
in
sort
of
the
trenches
but
I'm
not
surprised
that
a
lot
of
them
are
burned
out.
I'm,
not
surprised
that
a
lot
of
people
find
it
unaffordable.
I
know
several
younger
legislators
who
are
just
like
can't
do
it.
B
B
It's
it's
really
tough,
to
see
some
of
our
best
and
brightest
work
so
hard
to
get
elected,
and
then
they
have
to
throw
in
the
towel
a
couple
years
later,
because
they
just
realized
it's
just
not
sustainable
for
them
and
for
their
families
and
and
for
their
life,
their
work
life,
and
so
it's
it's
another.
One
of
these
issues
that
we
need
to
keep
talking
about.
Yeah
can
I
continue
about
that
as
well.
B
B
End
quote
and
so
to
me
that's
just
maybe
not
all
1
000
bills
were
worthy
of
consideration,
but
I
would
like
to
think
that
more
than
a
few
weeks
should
be
spent
on
legislation.
Given
how
hard
some
of
us
work
to
bring
Charter
changes
forward,
for
example,
and
to
see
them
dismissed
or
left
on
the
wall
year
after
year
after
year
is
very
concerning
to
me
as
a
resident.
So
I
would
hope
that
we'll
find
a
way
to
somehow
extend
the
legislative
session,
and
so
maybe
it's
going
to
be
a
combination
of
things.
B
Maybe
we
extend
the
legislative
session
two
months.
Maybe
we
pay
people
a
little
more
to
make
up
for
the
fact
that
they
can
now
work
even
less
for
their
employer,
but
but
something's
got
to
change
because
there's
just
too
much
good
legislation,
I
think
that
can't
possibly
in
my
opinion,
as
someone
who's
not
been
in
the
State
House
can't
possibly
be
yeah
addressed
adequately
in
such
a
short
time
period.
A
B
Okay,
nobody
works
harder
for
voters
than
I.
Do
I.
Think
I've
proven
that
in
Essex
over
the
17
years
that
I've
been
involved
both
as
an
elected
official
and
as
an
Engaged
citizen
I've
worked
to
bring
people's
voices
from
their
front
doors
into
the
halls
of
power.
Sometimes
elected
officials
forget
who
elected
them
forget
to
call
and
contact
their
constituents
and
and
ask,
is
what
we're
doing
making
sense,
and
that
was
what
my
purpose
I
felt
was
to
truly
represent
the
people.
B
A
Tuning
in
to
town
meeting
TV
ongoing
coverage
of
Statewide
and
Regional
candidates
and
ballot
items
don't
forget
to
vote
on
or
before
November
8th
this
year,
ballots
will
be
mailed
to
all
registered
voters
in
the
state
to
confirm
you're
registered
we'll
be
receiving
a
ballot
at
home
visit
the
Secretary
of
State's
online
portal
at
mvp.vermont.gov.
Thank
you
for
watching.