Ward 2 NPA

Meeting Notes Ward 2 Neighborhood Planning Assembly (NPA) September 11th, 2025 | 6:30-8:30pm | All are welcome Join in person: O.N.E. Community Dinner ONE Community Center, 20 Allen Street 5:30-6:30pm | Free | Donations welcome Late Summer Bounty Menu: Gazpacho, Loaded Veggie Join remotely: Cornbread Casserole, Cranberry Bean & Tomato Salad, https://zoom.us/j/93179389982 and more, with Chocolate Zucchini Cake for dessert. Music: Brian Perkins​ Facilitator: Lauren Ebersol​ Notetaker: Kason Hudman 6:30 pm Introduction 5 min Review and adopt/approve the agenda and previous minutes; introductions as time allows. 6:35 pm Public Forum (2 minutes max per person) 10 min Please state your full name, pronouns, street, and ward, and follow the NPA ground rules. -​ Ward 3 resident, mentions that Ward 3 Steering Committee elections are coming up and encourages Ward 3 residents to get involved to encourage the return of the Ward 2/Ward 3 joint NPA Meeting -​ Melo Grant, Ward 2 resident, mentions that WCAX ran an article on an apparent offer of State Police support from the Governor for the City of Burlington that Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak turned down. This offer did not exist according to the Mayor, so Melo finds the journalism of WCAX problematic. Melo also mentioned an email that the Burlington Democratic Party sent out that made references to Melo in a disparaging way, which Melo also finds deeply problematic. 6:45 pm Vote: Steering Committee Overview & Yearly Election 15 min We will be voting on renewing existing Steering Committee members, as well as any nominations from the floor. -​ Lauren Ebersol mentions that our steering committee accepts 6 members, and we currently only have 5, so folks are free to run for our Steering Committee. She also mentions that there are forms for folks to fill out in the front to talk about how we can improve the NPA, encourages people to get involved. Lauren then moves right along to the Steering Committee election, mentions that she is passionate about planning and staying on the NPA steering committee. -​ Nora Aarons, joined the Ward 2 steering committee in June, Nora encourages folks to watch the June meeting to see what she said about being on the steering committee then, but she believes in the grassroots potential of being on the steering committee. -​ Marc mentions that he joined the steering committee last year, loves the potential of grassroots democracy. -​ Kason said that he joined the steering committee in September, loves the potential of the NPAs and grassroots democracy ​ ​ Ward 2 NPA - September 11, 2025 - Notes - Page 1  -​ Charlie said that he had been on the NPA steering committee since Bernie Sanders was mayor, or close to, and he encourages folks to get involved if they can. -​ Grace Sherwood, Ward 2 resident, nominates herself for the Steering Committee from the floor, mentions that she wants to encourage folks to have empathy for others in Burlington. -​ Lauren Ebersol 25 yes, 0 opposed -​ Marc 29 yes, 0 opposed -​ Nora 29 yes, 0 opposed -​ Kason 29 yes, 0 opposed -​ Charlie G 29 yes, 0 opposed -​ Grace Sherwood 29 yes, 0 opposed -​ The Steering committee will be Lauren Ebersol, Marc Stannard, Nora Aronds, Charlie G, Kason Hudman, and Grace Sherwood 7:00 pm Burlington Police Department Intro & Vision from the Chief of Police 60 min Shawn Burke - Interim Chief of Police, BPD -​ Chief Burke mentions that he has been a Vermont municipal police officer for more than 30 years. He started in Woodstock, VT, moved to Burlington, VT in the 90s and patrolled the Ward 2 neighborhood when he started. He describes the different departments in the police department, including the community safety employees who are not sworn officers, in addition to the sworn officers in uniform. Chief Burke discusses the efforts to create safety downtown, including in City Hall Park and the Downtown Corridor. He says that he wants to ensure that the Burlington Police Department leads with empathy in every interaction. He mentions that any insinuation that there is a catch & release policy is incorrect, the Vermont state constitution has rules for who can be held pre-trail. All those who are released have committed low level offenses that do not allow them to be held pre-trail. Burke then continues explaining the new city process for those who are cited for breaking municipal ordinances, wherein they can pay their fine, get involved in the restorative justice process known as “city circle,” or get referred to criminal court prosecuted by the city attorney. Burke then mentions the police officer recruitment efforts and says that about 8 new officers every year for the time being is the goal. -​ Ward 2 resident asks Burke, does Burke think that we need the State Police in our town? Burke answers, the State Police has the same vacancy rate as the Burlington Police Department. Burke thinks that they are stretched for resources and Burke doesn’t think it would be a good use of the limited resources to ask the State Police to come in outside of special teams. Burke mentions that the lack of police officers is a nationwide problem. -​ Ward 2 resident asks, what is the BPD protocol for domestic violence disputes? Burke answers, the BPD has a domestic violence advocate on staff that does victim support work, and that if the evidence bears out that an assault has taken place, they will make an arrest -​ Ward 2 resident asks, what do you think of is the future of the CARES program? Burke mentions that the CARES program lost some state funding, which prompted the city government to increase funding for the Howard Center, and the police department works closely with the Howard Center Street Outreach Team. -​ Ward 2 resident mentions that Burke mentioned root causes for social issues, wonders what Burke and the BPD can do to address those root causes. Burke answers that it’s ​ ​ Ward 2 NPA - September 11, 2025 - Notes - Page 2  difficult for the police to address those root causes, but identifying that people are struggling and finding ways to refer them to social services is something that the police can do. -​ Ward 2 resident asks Burke about a problematic answer to a police call wherein the response was dismissive. Burke mentions that he hopes that the new dispatchers are better at customer service skills and that any future experiences are better for the caller. -​ Ward 2 resident, talks about traffic violations, particularly running red lights. The resident then mentions that police officers are often driving dangerously as well, and wonders if the police chief can act on that. Burke mentions that the police officers are human, but agrees that traffic violations can be dangerous, and agrees that if police officers are involved in that, it should be met with some discipline. -​ Ward 2 resident, Grace Sherwood, asks about police officers resting their hand on their gun, and mentions that many people might find that uncomfortable or dangerous. Burke responds that police officers are again not perfect, but that it could be a good time to have a conversation with a police officer to let them know that resting their hand on the gun can be frightening for some people. -​ Charlie G asks, how often do the Burlington Police Department work with the federal government. Burke answers that the federal government provides support with drug trafficking as well as gun violence issues, since they just have better technology and investigative potential on these issues. -​ Ward 2 resident asks, would someone with a prior criminal conviction still be considered for the police? Burke answers, it depends on what the criminal conviction was. As an example, he mentions that someone with a prior small misdemeanor may still be considered. -​ Gene Bergman mentions that Burke has drastically improved the BPD, then asks Burke to talk about the Overdose Prevention Center. Burke mentions that he is in favor of all harm reduction tools being on the board, but he does worry that people may have very high expectations for what will happen once the OPC is here, and he asks people to temper their expectations that this will fix all the problems at once. -​ Ward 2 resident asks Burke to elaborate on the role the police will play with the OPC. Burke mentions that police officers will work in collaboration with the city to ensure safety around the OPC, recognizing that the OPC itself will be managed by its own staff as a harm reduction tool. 8:00 pm Vote & Presentation: Resolution to Strengthen the Relationship between NPAs & the City 30 min Jonathan Chapple-Sokol - Ward 1 NPA Steering Committee Carter Neubieser - Ward 1 City Councilor -​ Carter opens, mentioning that this is a simple resolution strengthening the relationship between NPAs and City Council, addressing some lack of transparency between city decisions and NPAs -​ Jonathan mentions that this resolution has a history, drawing from the failure of the city government to always inform NPAs about decisions made that affect their neighborhood by the city council. This resolution aims to address that lack of collaboration when NPA issues are defined by the City Council. As an example, Jonathan mentions that the city council might sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the University of Vermont without ​ ​ Ward 2 NPA - September 11, 2025 - Notes - Page 3  informing the Ward 1 NPA. This resolution is aimed to ensure that larger city decisions are not made without further involving the NPAs. -​ Kason Hudman asks, it seemed that the NPAs could previously spend part of their budget on community projects, but now they can only spend that money on NPA promotion. When did that change? Jonathan answers, those restrictions were in place for a long time, but it was only the last few years that those restrictions were actually enforced. -​ Solvé, Ward 2, mentions that the resolution includes no binding authority for the NPAs on the city government, which is perhaps why NPAs no longer have the organizations or attendance that they did in the past. Carter and Jonathan both answer the question, mentioning that the NPAs never had any binding authority. -​ 11 in favor, 2 opposed, 2 abstentions. Ward 2 votes in favor of the resolution. ​ ​ Ward 2 NPA - September 11, 2025 - Notes - Page 4 -​ ​ ​ Ward 2 NPA - September 11, 2025 - Notes - Page 5 8:30 pm Door prize drawing + Adjourn! Our next meeting is Thursday, October 9! Scan the QR code (or click here) to: Email us • Go to our website • Watch meeting recordings on CCTV's website • Connect with us on Instagram • Request a time slot with CEDO’s request form • Get to all links related to this meeting Appendix to the Agenda Ward 2 NPA Steering Committee To contact the entire Ward 2 NPA Steering Committee, email ward2npa@googlegroups.com Name Email Joined Term expiration Lauren Ebersol lebersol27@gmail.com 2023 2027 Kason Hudson kasonhudman@gmail.com 2024 2028 ​ ​ Ward 2 NPA - September 11, 2025 - Notes - Page 6 Charlie Giannoni charliecpg@gmail.com 2024 2028 Marc Stannard Marc.Stannard@outlook.com 2024 2028 Nora Aronds noraaronds@yahoo.com 2025 2029 Vacancy NPA Guiding Principles ●​ Operate through democratic principles and democratic procedures. ●​ Provide a safe and welcoming forum where residents can actively share their voices about issues that matter to them, and where they can learn from the voices of others. ●​ Cultivate involvement by a diverse spectrum of community members through active outreach and through eliminating barriers to participation. ●​ Operate in a manner that models respectful, inclusive, culturally, and economically aware practices. ●​ Be a fun, creative, and vital organization that provides value and benefit through the multitude of perspectives shared by those who participate. Ward 2 NPA Ground Rules ●​ Meetings should have clearly defined agenda and roles. ●​ Honor time limits: A best effort must be made to start on time, follow the agenda, and finish on time. ●​ Listen to others: Make efforts to be an open-minded member of the group. ●​ Respect the agenda and the process: Try to remain focused on the issue at hand. ●​ Share your opinion respectfully: Speak out, but not over, others’ comments. ●​ Treat people how you would like to be treated: Be respectful of everyone, including guests. ​ ​ Ward 2 NPA - September 11, 2025 - Notes - Page 7 Elected officials representing Ward 2 Mayor Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak Progressive mayor@BurlingtonVT.gov City Councilors Central District (Wards 2 & 3) Melo Grant Progressive megrant@burlingtonvt.gov 802-310-0962 Ward 2 Gene Bergman Progressive gbergman@burlingtonvt.gov 802-598-3602 School Board Members Central District (Wards 2 & 3) Jean Waltz jwaltz@bsdvt.org 802-355-7856 Ward 2 Polly Vanderputten pvanderputten@bsdvt.org 802-578-8653 Vermont State House Representatives Chittenden-15 Troy Headrick Independent theadrick@leg.state.vt.us (802) 828-2228 Chittenden-15 Brian Cina Progressive/Democrat bcina@leg.state.vt.us (802) 828-2228 Chittenden-16 Kate Logan Progressive/Democrat klogan@leg.state.vt.us (802) 828-2228 Chittenden-16 Jill Krowinski Democrat jkrowinski@leg.state.vt.us (802) 828-2228 Chittenden-17 Abigail Duke Democrat aduke@leg.state.vt.us (802) 828-2228 Vermont State Senators Chittenden-Central Tanya Vyhovsky Progressive/Democrat tvyhovsky@leg.state.vt.us (802) 828-2228 Chittenden-Central Martine Gulick Democrat mgulick@leg.state.vt.us (802) 828-2228 Chittenden-Central Philip Baruth Democrat/Progressive pbaruth@leg.state.vt.us (802) 503-5266 ​ ​ Ward 2 NPA - September 11, 2025 - Notes - Page 8 ​ ​ Ward 2 NPA - September 11, 2025 - Notes - Page 9 ​ ​ Ward 2 NPA - September 11, 2025 - Notes - Page 10 ​ ​ Ward 2 NPA - September 11, 2025 - Notes - Page 11 ​ ​ Ward 2 NPA - September 11, 2025 - Notes - Page 12

Meeting Agenda Ward 2 Neighborhood Planning Assembly (NPA) September 11th, 2025 | 6:30-8:30pm | All are welcome Join in person: O.N.E. Community Dinner ONE Community Center, 20 Allen Street 5:30-6:30pm | Free | Donations welcome Late Summer Bounty Menu: Gazpacho, Loaded Veggie Join remotely: Cornbread Casserole, Cranberry Bean & Tomato Salad, https://zoom.us/j/93179389982 and more, with Chocolate Zucchini Cake for dessert. Music: Brian Perkins​ Facilitator: Lauren Ebersol​ Notetaker: Kason Hudman 6:30 pm Introduction 5 min Review and adopt/approve the agenda and previous minutes; introductions as time allows. 6:35 pm Public Forum (2 minutes max per person) 10 min Please state your full name, pronouns, street, and ward, and follow the NPA ground rules. 6:45 pm Vote: Steering Committee Overview & Yearly Election 15 min We will be voting on renewing existing Steering Committee members, as well as any nominations from the floor. 7:00 pm Burlington Police Department Intro & Vision from the Chief of Police 60 min Shawn Burke - Interim Chief of Police, BPD Meet Chief Burke and learn more about his vision for and updates from BPD. 8:00 pm Vote & Presentation: Resolution to Strengthen the Relationship between NPAs & the City 30 min Jonathan Chapple-Sokol - Ward 1 NPA Steering Committee Carter Neubieser - Ward 1 City Councilor Hear about a proposed resolution between the City & NPAs and vote to determine Ward 2’s stance on it. 8:30 pm Door prize drawing + Adjourn! Our next meeting is Thursday, October 9! Scan the QR code (or click here) to: Email us • Go to our website • Watch meeting recordings on CCTV's website • Connect with us on Instagram • Request a time slot with CEDO’s request form • Get to all links related to this meeting ​ ​ Ward 2 NPA - September 11, 2025 - Agenda - Page 1 Appendix to the Agenda Ward 2 NPA Steering Committee To contact the entire Ward 2 NPA Steering Committee, email ward2npa@googlegroups.com Name Email Joined Term expiration Lauren Ebersol lebersol27@gmail.com 2023 2027 Kason Hudson kasonhudman@gmail.com 2024 2028 Charlie Giannoni charliecpg@gmail.com 2024 2028 Marc Stannard Marc.Stannard@outlook.com 2024 2028 Nora Aronds noraaronds@yahoo.com 2025 2029 Vacancy NPA Guiding Principles ●​ Operate through democratic principles and democratic procedures. ●​ Provide a safe and welcoming forum where residents can actively share their voices about issues that matter to them, and where they can learn from the voices of others. ●​ Cultivate involvement by a diverse spectrum of community members through active outreach and through eliminating barriers to participation. ●​ Operate in a manner that models respectful, inclusive, culturally, and economically aware practices. ●​ Be a fun, creative, and vital organization that provides value and benefit through the multitude of perspectives shared by those who participate. Ward 2 NPA Ground Rules ●​ Meetings should have clearly defined agenda and roles. ●​ Honor time limits: A best effort must be made to start on time, follow the agenda, and finish on time. ●​ Listen to others: Make efforts to be an open-minded member of the group. ●​ Respect the agenda and the process: Try to remain focused on the issue at hand. ●​ Share your opinion respectfully: Speak out, but not over, others’ comments. ●​ Treat people how you would like to be treated: Be respectful of everyone, including guests. ​ ​ Ward 2 NPA - September 11, 2025 - Agenda - Page 2 Elected officials representing Ward 2 Mayor Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak Progressive mayor@BurlingtonVT.gov City Councilors Central District (Wards 2 & 3) Melo Grant Progressive megrant@burlingtonvt.gov 802-310-0962 Ward 2 Gene Bergman Progressive gbergman@burlingtonvt.gov 802-598-3602 School Board Members Central District (Wards 2 & 3) Jean Waltz jwaltz@bsdvt.org 802-355-7856 Ward 2 Polly Vanderputten pvanderputten@bsdvt.org 802-578-8653 Vermont State House Representatives Chittenden-15 Troy Headrick Independent theadrick@leg.state.vt.us (802) 828-2228 Chittenden-15 Brian Cina Progressive/Democrat bcina@leg.state.vt.us (802) 828-2228 Chittenden-16 Kate Logan Progressive/Democrat klogan@leg.state.vt.us (802) 828-2228 Chittenden-16 Jill Krowinski Democrat jkrowinski@leg.state.vt.us (802) 828-2228 Chittenden-17 Abigail Duke Democrat aduke@leg.state.vt.us (802) 828-2228 Vermont State Senators Chittenden-Central Tanya Vyhovsky Progressive/Democrat tvyhovsky@leg.state.vt.us (802) 828-2228 Chittenden-Central Martine Gulick Democrat mgulick@leg.state.vt.us (802) 828-2228 Chittenden-Central Philip Baruth Democrat/Progressive pbaruth@leg.state.vt.us (802) 503-5266 ​ ​ Ward 2 NPA - September 11, 2025 - Agenda - Page 3