Montpelier, Vt. – Governor Phil Scott today issued an executive order reconstituting the Violence Prevention Task Force, which will work to bring focus and clarity to a longer-term prevention strategy that prioritizes early interventions for children and families.
Reconstituting this task force is a component of the Governor’s 10-Point public safety enhancement and violence prevention action plan, which was issued in August. It will be comprised of a group of senior executive branch officials and chaired by the director of violence prevention, Dee Barbic, who was appointed to the new role in September.
“This task force will focus on keeping Vermont among the safest, healthiest states in the country by focusing on how to address root causes of violence within the communities,” said Governor Scott. “It will take a collaborative, cross-agency approach with active engagement from stakeholders to move the needle, and I appreciate the team for their willingness to get to work.”
The Task Force is charged with:
- Coordinating policy implementation across state government to help address violence against others in schools and communities;
- Identifying needed reform of existing laws, regulations, policies and programs and propose appropriate legislative and programmatic changes to adequately prevent violent crimes and hold offenders accountable; and
- Coordinating federal funding opportunities to better prevent suicide and community violence, facilitate better use of ERPO implementation/enhancements and significantly improve school safety and school violence prevention.
“There is a lot of great work happening across state government and this Task Force will enhance the state’s response by better coordinating efforts and identifying needs for change,” said Director Dee Barbic. “I look forward to working with this talented team to keep Vermont one of the safest states in the country.”
The Violence Prevention Task Force will be advisory to the Governor and will report to him regularly on its view of the effectiveness of violence prevention policy.
Click here to view the full executive order.
What does it say about elected officials who cannot govern without appointing a board, committee, or council to tell them how to govern or create policy? It says to me elected officials are unable to govern or make decisions. Those who are appointed to boards are not elected by the People. Yet, they are the ones setting policies and leading the legislative and executive branches to act. Who are these people? They are largely bureaucrats, political insiders, lobbyists, and associates with money (i.e. donors.) Vermont is a small State with a population of roughly 645,000. With that fact, elected officials cannot govern a small populace without appointing others to create policy on any given issue. It is no wonder our State is in such disarray. The bloated, unproductive governance is excessively wasteful and grifters are dominating nearly all of it.
The hypocrisy abounds in this state, as I have contacted the governor’s office multiple times over the last two years about mostly seniors being accosted by woke people. One was attacked for displaying an American flag on his car during a Veterans Day parade. The governor’s office did not respond in any way. I have no faith that this program will protect all people equally under the law.