BURLINGTON — Mayor Miro Weinberger called the city “reunited and stronger” after weathering storm after storm during his 11-year tenure as mayor — a period he described as “one of the most momentous and tumultuous periods in American history.”
In a packed City Hall with two-thirds of Vermont’s congressional delegation in attendance (U.S. Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., and U.S. Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt., were both on hand), Weinberger said it was his 12th time — “somewhat surprisingly to me,” he admitted — he was delivering a State of the City address.
Weinberger used the occasion Monday night to draw comparisons between the state of Burlington in 2012 and the present day, arguing that “we have faced crises since the day I took office.”
Back then, Weinberger said, the city had a grim financial outlook and was “pock-marked” with incomplete projects. But now, he said, the city could look to such projects as the revived Champlain Parkway, renovated Moran Frame and the recent groundbreaking for the nearly $200 million Burlington High School construction project.
Over the previous three years, Weinberger acknowledged, he faced “gridlock” with the City Council, but he sought to characterize the results of Town Meeting Day last month as an opportunity to move forward, arguing that the “priorities of the community are clear.”
“When we meet again in two weeks, I will be asking for the council’s approval on outstanding elements of the most recent public safety plan I announced in January,” he said. Those items include a plan to retain senior officers in the police department, hiring an assistant director in the department to oversee a new crisis response team and to continue to partner with outside agencies on downtown patrols until the city’s own department is fully staffed.
Also on the topic of police, Weinberger called on the city to provide the Police Commission an expanded role in police oversight, a matter the mayor called an “unfinished debate.”
“We should bring this process to resolution by formalizing the Police Commission’s role in a manner that promotes public trust and carefully protects procedural justice for our officers,” Weinberger said.
The mayor also focused on housing, blaming state lawmakers for “just plain bad state policies that make it harder to build homes in Vermont than just about anywhere else.”
Specifically, Weinberger railed against inaction on Act 250 reform, Vermont’s strict land-use law. Weinberger said he and other Vermont mayors and the Vermont League of Cities and Towns have been arguing that changes to the law would have “an immediate positive impact.”
“For years, these pleas have been ignored, and that seems to be happening again,” Weinberger said. “Just last Friday, the Vermont Senate voted to study Act 250 yet again, as has been done many times before.”
The housing issue was not the only issue that Weinberger pushed for state action on. He made multiple calls for the state to be “all-in” on gun reform, child care and substance use disorder.
“When the state goes all in on these critical challenges, Burlington will benefit greatly,” he said.
City Council
In a unanimous vote, Councilor Karen Paul, D-Ward 6, was elected president of the council for a second consecutive year.
Councilor Ben Traverse, D-Ward 5, nominated Paul, saying it’s “lost on folks” how much work goes into the role of council president.
“We’re glad you’re the one doing it,” Traverse said.
Paul said that one year ago, councilors took a “leap of faith” in supporting her for president and that she was “deeply appreciative and equally humbled” to get another nod.
Much of her acceptance speech followed the theme of cooperation.
“The community expects us to rise above the rhetoric in the heat of any debate and not allow the moment to blur what we all know to be true in each other,” Paul said. “Our differences should never come first.”
Five City Council terms began Monday night. Newcomers Tim Doherty, D-East District; Melo Grant, P-Central District; and Hannah King, D-Ward 8, all took their oaths of office. Joan Shannon, D-South District, was sworn in, as well, following her reelection. Also reelected was Mark Barlow, I-North District, who attended virtually.
Councilors Joe Magee, P-Ward 2; Ali Dieng, I-Ward 7; and Barlow were named to the powerful Board of Finance.
