►
Description
For more information about upcoming Town Meeting Day 2023 coverage visit https://bit.ly/TownMeeting2023
https://linktr.ee/townmeetingtv
00:00:00 Introductions
00:01:14 Opening Statements
00:04:44 Budget
00:10:56 Ballot Items
00:14:55 VT Legislative Initiatives
00:18:37 Housing
00:23:35 Love of WInooski
00:27:18 Climate Change
00:28:45 Language Access
00:29:42 Closing Comments
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
Hello
and
welcome
to
ongoing
town
meeting
day
coverage
here
at
town
meeting
television,
we're
bringing
you
candidates,
budgets
and
ballot
information
in
advance
of
March
7th
when
you
will
go
out
and
vote
on
all
of
those
local
issues
and
in
Winooski,
maybe
help
me
out
is
Winooski
mailing
ballots
to
Residents.
No.
B
A
Not
not
so
if
you
want
to
vote
in
winnerski
and
we're
here
today
with
Brynn
Oakleaf
and
Charles
judge
who
are
candidates
for
the
two
seats
and
they
are
the
Winooski
city
council
seats,
I
assume
it's
a
two-year
and
a
three-year
seat
is
that
correct.
Both
are
two.
Both
are
two-year
seats
great.
So,
if
you
want
to
vote
in
the
upcoming
election
in
Winooski,
you
will
go
either
go
to
your
local
polling
place
or
you
can
request
a
ballot
in
advance
from
your
city,
clerk,
welcome,
Brandon
and
Charles,
and
we
have
Charles
zooming
in
our.
A
You
know,
virtualizing
in
from
the
sphere,
and
we
have
Bryn
here
with
us.
Welcome.
Thank
you
for
joining
us.
Thank
you
and
we're
going
to
start
out
with
a
little
some
questions,
a
opening
statement
from
each
of
you
and
if
you're
watching
from
home,
feel
free
to
call
802-862-3966
with
your
calls
for
these
candidates,
and
you
know
again,
you're
uncontested,
you're
not
running
against
each
other.
B
D
C
C
A
B
Some
accounts,
thank
you
well,
I
want
to
just
thank
thank
you
and
thank
the
voters
of
Winooski
for
being
here.
I'm
running
for
a
second
term
on
the
Winooski
city,
council
I
was
first
elected
in
2021,
so
I
and
at
the
time
I
was
a
writing
candidate
and
I.
This
time,
I'll
be
on
the
ballot,
so
it
feels
very
exciting.
B
I
I.
For
me,
I
really
think
that
there
are
a
number
of
initiatives
facing
the
city,
we're
in
a
time
of
rapid
growth.
We
have
Main
Street
revitalization,
we're
looking
at
using
our
federal
arpa
dollars
our
coveted
relief
funds.
We
have
a
number
of
equity
initiatives
underway
as
well
as
economic
Vitality
opportunities.
B
So
to
me,
I
I
really
am
excited
to
be
part
of
this
growth
and
to
ensure
that
some
of
our
core
values
are
Stay
Stay
top
of
Mind
as
we
go
through
this
growth,
ensure
that
we're
not
losing
our
sense
of
community
and
and
things
that
we
love
about
Winooski,
so
much
and
and
that
Collective
community
and
pride
and
culture.
So,
for
me,
I
am
very
happy
to
be
up
for
a
second
term
and
those
are
things
I'm
excited
about.
Most.
A
Great,
so
the
next
question
has
to
do
with
the
budget,
and
this
is
it's
got
two
parts
to
this,
so
we
might
take
a
little
longer
on
this.
Will
you
be
supporting
the
Winooski
City
budget
of
9.2
million?
That's
a
six
percent
increase
from
last
year's
budget,
and
that
gives
us
a
tax
rate
increase
of
5.9
percent.
B
B
I
think
it's
been
a
challenging
year
to
ensure
that
the
impact
to
taxpayers
is
as
low
as
as
we
can
make
it
we're
using
some
of
the
one-time,
coveted
relief
funds
to
reduce
the
tax
rate
from
nearly
12
percent
to
just
just
over
five
percent.
That's
actually
lower
than
the
rate
of
inflation
right
now,
which
is
6.5
percent
I,
think
we
had
to
make
a
lot
of
difficult
decisions
to
reduce
some
of
our
expenses
while
retaining
core
services
that
the
community
needs
and
values.
So
I
I
certainly
will
be
voting
for
this.
B
A
Great
Charles,
how
about
you,
the
budget?
Do
you
support
the
Winooski
City
budget
of
9.2
million,
a
six
percent,
a
six
percent
increase
from
last
year
with
a
tax
rate
increase
of
5.9
percent,
and
do
you
support
the
school
budget
of
25.4
million
up
20
from
last
year
at
an
estimated
tax
increase
of
9.66.
A
D
A
D
A
Thanks
yeah
ballot
items,
so
Winooski
has
two
other
items
on
the
ballot
articles:
article
three
that
allows
the
city
to
accept
funds
from
sources
other
than
taxes
and
Article
4.
That
would
give
the
city
council
the
power
to
provide
ordinance
protections
for
residential
tenants
from
eviction
without
just
cause.
Tell
us
your
thoughts
on
these
and
why
you
will
or
will
not
be
supporting
them
in
March
and
we're
going
to
start
with
you
Charles.
C
B
A
B
B
I
think
that
there
there's
a
bill
proposed
at
the
state
level
h301
that
I
would
love
to
see
adopted
at
the
state
level,
I
think
at
the
core.
It's
trying
to
prohibit
Bad
actors-
and
we
know,
especially
in
shooting
County,
that
there
are
landlords
that
own
properties,
multiple
municipalities
in
the
area,
so
I,
don't
see
why
there
should
be
different
standards
held
to
these
Property
Owners,
depending
on
what
municipality
they're
in
so
I
think
it.
B
It
really
is
important
to
have
that
standard
and-
and
you
know
the
rental
population,
it
moves
from
municipality
municipality,
so
having
expectations
of
Protections
in
one
municipality
and
then
to
lose
them
in
another.
Doesn't
have
the
consistency
of
protection,
so
I
do
think
it.
Hopefully
they
can.
The
legislators
will
see
a
move
from
the
municipal
level
since
there
are
a
number
of
ballot
items
in
the
state
where
this
is
coming
up.
That
Statewide,
a
Statewide
law
is,
is
needed
and
is
of
the
best
interest
to
our
renters.
So.
A
B
So
I
think
rights
and
democracy
has
been
sphere
heading.
The
effort
Statewide
getting
as
many
municipalities
as
possible
to
look
at
a
charter,
change
and
I.
Think
at
the
core
of
it
is
trying
to
move
some
legislation
at
the
state
level,
but
it
would
be
good
to
have
them
in
for
an
interview,
I'm
sure.
A
That
goes
right
into
the
question
of
Vermont
legislative
initiatives.
The
Vermont
legislative
season
is
underway.
What
are
some
important
initiatives
to
the
community
of
Winooski
that
you
will
be
tracking
and
supporting
as
part
of
your
work
as
a
city,
council
member
and
we're
going
to
start
back
with
you
Brian
sure
great.
B
Essentially,
yes,
you
got
it
and
and
providing
incentives
for
property
owners
that
want
to
modify
that
space
with
a
requirement
that
just
has
to
maintain
affordability
for
five
years,
so
I'm
very
excited
to
see
both
of
those
pieces
of
legislation
moving
in
I.
Think
other
things
of
interest
are
S60
are
the
local
options.
Tax
Winooski
doesn't
have
in
order
to
increase
our
own
local
options
test.
C
A
Great
thanks
housing,
I,
think
I
know
where
you're
going
to
go
on
this
Charles,
but
is
does
housing?
Does
Winooski
have
a
housing
crisis?
What
do
you
see
as
the
nature
of
housing
in
Winooski
and
how
to
meet
the
need
for
safe
and
affordable
housing
for
residents,
students
and
visitors?
And
so
when
we
talk
about
the
nature
of
housing,
you
might
talk
about?
Is
it
heavy
on
the
rental?
Is
it
heavy
on
single
family?
Is
it
heavy
on
single
bedroom
units
like
talk
to
me
about
what
does
Winooski
housing?
Look
like.
C
A
C
B
C
B
B
Thanks
I
think
this
is
one
of
our
priorities
with
the
city.
Council
is
improving
the
the
the
number
of
homes
that
are
available
looking
at
affordable
homes
as
well
as
market
rate
homes,
as
well
as
homes
that
are
three
bedroom
or
larger,
improving
density.
So
city
council
has
already
worked
on
improving
hesitancy
through
our
ordinances,
incentivizing,
three
bedroom
or
greater
looking
at
parking
minimums
to
help
again
incentivize
more
affordable
homes
with
developers.
B
Just
this
past
year,
we've
approved
the
Housing
Trust
Fund
and
approved
our
first
application
for
the
Housing
Trust
Fund.
So
we
that's
a
significant
amount
of
work
that
has
come
through
councilor
Duncan,
who
will
be
sipping
out
of
his
seat.
This,
at
the
end
of
this
term,
very
excited
about
that
and
I
think.
B
All
of
that
just
helps
to
come
together
to
achieve
some
of
these
goals,
of
improving
the
accessibility
to
affordable
housing
to
market
rate
housing,
to
ensuring
that
there
is
competition,
so
the
vacancy
rate,
I,
think,
is
below
half
a
percent
right
now
and
I
think
it's
healthier.
A
healthier
Market
is
I
think
in
the
two
to
three
percent
range
for
vacancy
or
even
yeah,
or
even
more
or
even
five
percent,
so
having
that
competition
also
gives
renters
and
buyers
choice
that
they
don't
have
right
now.
You
know
speaking
to
Champlain
Housing
Trust.
B
We
we
just
had
the
ribbon
coveting
ceremony
for
for
lack
of
another
word,
just
opening
Butternut
Grove
20
units
of
perpetually,
affordable
housing
off
malletts
Bay
this
past
year.
So
there's
quite
a
bit
of
work
that
is
happening
and,
and
there
continues
to
be
a
lot
of
work.
That's
happening
and
I'm
really
excited
to.
You
know,
take
another
term
and
Council
to
see
more
of
those
efforts,
move
forward.
A
B
So
I've
been
in
Winooski,
well,
I've
been
in
Vermont
since
2009
and
I've
spent
the
majority.
You
know
probably
12
years,
10
10
12
years
of
that
time
and
Winooski
itself,
leaving
briefly
and
returning
so
I
started
as
renter
and
loved
it
enough
to
I've
been
coming
homeowner,
it's
a
place
where
I
feel
like
I,
see
my
neighbors
and
friends
with
my
neighbors
I'm
friends
with
you
know
the
city
staff
and
I
really
appreciate
the
sense
of
community
for
being
a
city.
B
It's
the
size
just
makes
it
feel
like
more
like
a
town
in
many
ways
where
you
just
know,
you
know
your
neighbors
and
some
of
my
favorite
places
are
Landry
I.
Think
we've
made
improvements
to
the
tennis
courts,
so
we
can
play
Pickleball
there
now
so
I'll
admit
that
I
take
advantage
of
that
with
my
friends
quite
a
bit
and
the
Riverwalk
I
I
think
it's
just
beautiful
space
down
there.
It's
very
tranquil
and
an
amazing
attraction
for
for
our
city.
C
D
A
B
A
One
on
Public
Safety,
one
on
climate
change
and
one
on
development
and
change
so
I'm
going
to
let
you
choose
from
the
last
four
questions.
Do
you
have
the
questions
in
front
of
you,
Charles
I'm,
just
going
to
have
you
choose
from
one
of
those?
What's
your
what's
the
question
that
you
feel
strongly
about,
and
you
want
to
answer
so
we're
going
to
start
with
you
Charles.
B
Thank
you.
I
actually
am
very
excited
to
talk
about
language
access,
so
we
have
nearly
20
languages
spoken
within
the
city
of
Winooski
and
we
translate
and
interpret
about
11
of
them.
We
have
a
vast
new
American
population
and
I
think
we
are
on
the
precipice
of
developing
our
own
language
access
plan.
B
The
office
of
racial
Equity
just
released
their
own
language
access
report,
which
I
think
will
give
a
great
deal
of
guidance,
Statewide
office,
correct
yeah,
we'll
give
a
great
deal
of
guidance
to
our
city
staff
as
they
undertake
this
next
effort.
I
I
think,
especially
because
we
have
all
Resident
voting.
That
adds
an
additional
pressure
on
us
to
ensure
that
our
language
access
plan
is
strong,
is
well
funded
and
has
full
support
of
the
city
and
city
council.
A
B
Sure
yeah,
thank
you.
I
just
want
to
say
to
voters.
My
work
is
not
done.
I
feel
like
I
too,
have
a
passion
for
the
environment
and
I
feel
like
there's
a
great
deal
more,
that
we
could
be
doing
at
the
city
level
to
reduce
and
improve,
reduce
our
own
energy
demand
and
improve
upon
our
own
efficiencies.
There
I
think
improving
upon
belonging
within
the
city
is
also
a
Crux
of
my
core
values.
Moving
forward
and
affordability.
B
C
A
Thanks
so
much
thank
you
both
for
joining
us
tonight
and
thank
you
all
for
tuning
in.
You
can
watch
Tom
reading
television
on
Comcast
channel
1087
on
Burlington
Telecom,
Channel,
17
217,
and
you
can
also
subscribe
on
our
YouTube
page
at
youtube.com,
backslash
town
meeting
TV.
Thanks
for
watching
and
good
night,
don't
forget
to
vote
March
7th!