After a majority of Burlington voters said “no” on Tuesday night to a proposal for a police oversight board, residents are now looking to the city council to see what considerations it will prioritize this year.
The charter change proposal was one of the most debated topics in the lead-up to the 6,653-3,864 vote. Democrats, who largely opposed the version of police oversight that was on the ballot, maintained control of the city council.
Police oversight remains likely to be one of the first subjects discussed, as a pair of previously passed council resolutions make it clear that the subject won’t go away.
One resolution, passed on Feb. 6 despite opposition from Progressives, said that “upon defeat of the proposed ballot initiative,” council committees should hold meetings to gather input on the subject of police oversight and discipline.
Council President Karen Paul told the Police Commission in a Feb. 28 meeting that the issue will be on the council agenda soon.
“That would be my top priority,” Paul said.
The other resolution dates back to the fall of 2021, when the council passed a measure directing the city attorney’s office to draft an ordinance to expand the authority of the Police Commission to “manage complaints about police conduct,” according to the resolution.
The Police Commission commented on the draft ordinance in April 2022. But Dan Richardson, who was city attorney at the time, left the office when he was named to be a Superior Court judge. With turnover in Richardson’s former office, the draft ordinance languished.
Mayor Miro Weinberger said in an interview on Wednesday that he was in talks last year with city councilors about addressing the issue with an ordinance or charter change. But he said he didn’t find any willingness from Progressives on the council while the proposed community control board vote was pending.
“I think now that that has been decisively rejected by voters, I think that’s going to allow us to have a serious conversation about what additional reforms and improvements can happen to that system,” Weinberger said.
The draft ordinance that arose from the 2021 resolution would expand the Police Commission’s authority, giving it input into department policies and procedures, the ability to review citizen complaints and to provide feedback on discipline.
The police commission resurrected the issue in its meeting on Monday. Commission Chair Stephanie Seguino asked members to review the ordinance and send further comments.
“We’ve learned a great deal in the last year and a half on the Police Commission about oversight,” Seguino said in an interview on Wednesday. “And so we are likely to have some additional input that would perhaps lead to not so much changes in the resolution, but that would inform the new ordinance.”
Seguino said the issue would be discussed again at the commission’s March 28 meeting. She said she thinks the commission can play an important role in civilian oversight of police in the city.
“I think there is a lot of appetite for expanding our ability to provide oversight as well as other mechanisms to increase transparency and accountability on the part of the police department,” Seguino said.
Weinberger said he thought it makes sense to continue the conversation after Tuesday’s vote.
“I think what you’re going to see between now and June is we are going to look at other charter changes that I could support, and I think that the voters would support, that would further refine and strengthen, clarify the role of the police commission,” Weinberger said.
One of the Progressives that strongly supported the control board charter change, Gene Bergman, P-Ward 2, said he believes there is a path forward.
“I think it is absolutely necessary to enhance the powers of the Police Commission,” Bergman said.
But Bergman also said he wondered whether an enhanced role of the commission would be asking too much of the body. “I think that we should be open to another institution and I think that is consistent with the resolution that was just passed,” Bergman said, referring to the resolution passed last month.