Two council members have weighed in on the newly passed racial justice resolution in Burlington, which includes a 30 percent cut to the police force, declaring racism “a citywide health crisis,” and a task force to “consider an apology and a proposal for reparations for the role that Burlington has played in chattel slavery.”
Independent candidate Ericka Redic has announced she is running for Burlington City Council, Ward 4. She is a native Vermonter with family ties to Burlington’s New North End.
A special committee formed in response to a couple of controversial use-of-force incidents is now initiating demographic data collection on the Burlington Police Department’s ticketing record.
The local Progressive Party made waves on Town Meeting Day as Progressive candidates won two city council seats out of four up for election.
“If that were the only item on the ballot, then you would get almost 95 percent support. But look at the curve ball that was thrown.” Question 6 passed on Tuesday with 55 percent of the vote.
“I represent a ward that definitely is divided on this question. There is a very strong camp of individuals who really are opposed to … a military presence at all, and then there’s another group of people who really want to have a military presence at the airport.”
The Burlington Telecom bidding process continued at an open City Council meeting Monday night, leaving two suitors standing to purchase the troubled municipal fiber-optics telecommunications network.
The fate of taxpayer-owned Burlington Telecom will be decided in the coming weeks as city officials negotiate with finalists in what has been a long, secretive bidding process.
Mayor Miro Weinberger has bucked a transparent process for deciding who will purchase Burlington Telecom, but individuals close to the situation disagree on whether that’s good for taxpayers, who are on the hook for millions of wasted dollars.
As the sale of Burlington Telecom looms, the City Council has left the door open for a public-private partnership, with the city retaining up to 40 percent ownership.
Ali Dieng ran largely on a campaign pledge that he would strictly adhere to voting with his constituents in Ward 7. That promise didn’t last even past the gavel strike of his first vote.