City Council

City of Winooski 27 West Allen Street Winooski Vermont 05404 Vermont’s Opportunity City 802 655 6410 winooskivt.gov Winooski City Council Meeting Monday, February 3, 2025, at 6 PM Attend in person: Winooski City Hall (27 W Allen St) Attend online: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84364849328 Attend by phone: 1 646 558 8656 Webinar ID: 843 6484 9328 Members Present: Mayor Kristine Lott; Deputy Mayor Thomas Renner; Councilor Aurora Hurd; Councilor Charles Judge Officers Present: Elaine Wang, City Manager; Paul Sarne, Communications Director; Angela Aldieri, Finance Director; John Audy, Fire Chief; Jazmine Hurley, Housing Initiative Director; Amanda Casper; Assistant City Clerk Others Present: Brian Armstrong; Dan Hogan I. Call to Order at 6 PM II. Pledge of Allegiance led by Deputy Mayor Thomas Renner III. Agenda Review Minutes: Deputy Mayor Thomas Renner requested to have item C on the Consent Agenda pulled and moved to Item B under Regular Items. IV. Public Comment Minutes: None V. Consent Agenda A. Approval: City Council Minutes of January 27, 2025 B. Approval: Accounts Payable Warrant January 29, 2025 C. Approval: Black History Month Resolution D. Approval: Fire Truck Bond Resolution Minutes: Mayor Lott introduced Items A through D for Councilor Approval. Motion: A motion was made to approve the Consent Agenda, apart from Item C, by Deputy Mayor Renner and Seconded by Councilor Hurd. Voted and passed 3-0. VI. Council Reports Mayor Kristine Lott: reported that she joined staff and school leadership at one of the Housing Authority's properties for budget engagement. It was a pretty small group, but they were engaged, generally pleased with City Services, particularly the police department and feeling safe in the community. They did raise some concerns about sidewalk conditions and pedestrian safety, which the Mayor passed along to staff. And some of  City of Winooski 27 West Allen Street Winooski Vermont 05404 Vermont’s Opportunity City 802 655 6410 winooskivt.gov the concerns are already incorporated into our ADA plan, so that was good to show. The mayor also shared that she recorded an episode of In The World of Winooski on Town Meeting TV where the developer of our hotel and housing project downtown shared project updates, so we will be sharing that out so folks know timelines and what they can expect there. Deputy Mayor Thomas Renner: None Councilor Aurora Hurd: shared a reminder that Thursday February 20th at 6 PM over zoom will be the next meeting of the Inclusion and Belonging Commission. There are a lot of really interesting things on the agenda, mostly around discussion but introducing some community partners and discussions with community partners including the School District Anti Racism Steering commission reviewing the funds left for the IMB stipends and discussing next steps around that as well as some discussions around updates on the working community challenge grant. Councilor Charles Judge: None VII. City Updates Elaine Wang, City Manager, provided the following updates: You’re Invited! You’re invited to Join the City of Winooski and Winooski School District tomorrow night (Tuesday, February 4th) for the “Our Taxes, Our Future: City and School Budget Event” to learn about City and School budgets and what will be on the Town Meeting Day ballot this year. The family-friendly event is hosted by the Winooski Partnership for Prevention and is free and open to all. We’ll have a buffet-style dinner provided by a Winooski restaurant, youth basketball in the gym for kids, and open-house activities where you can play the Budget Game, learn more about progress on our equity initiatives, and hear from special City and School guest speakers. For full details about this event and for all things ballot, budget, and election, please visit our website at winooskivt.gov/townmeeting. And, If you can’t attend, the annual Town Meeting Day Informational Meeting is the night before the election on Monday, March 3, 2025 – 6 PM at the Winooski School District. If you have questions about the budget, you can always email budget@winooskivt.gov VIII. Regular Items A. Discussion: Just Cause Eviction Charter Change Public Hearing – Elaine Wang, City Manager Minutes: The public hearing was opened at 6:05 PM. Brian Armstrong, a property owner in town for over 20 years, spoke at the meeting, sharing his background as a real estate agent and small business owner. He expressed his deep care for the communities in which he grew up, particularly Essex. He felt it was important to attend the meeting in person, given the time and effort the others put in. He wanted to show his passion and commitment to being a part of the community. Having conducted business in Winooski for two decades, Mr. Armstrong emphasized that his primary concern was not for himself, but for the future generations of homeowners and property owners. He wants the city to  City of Winooski 27 West Allen Street Winooski Vermont 05404 Vermont’s Opportunity City 802 655 6410 winooskivt.gov consider what is equitable for the community and warned that there could be significant long-term effects of certain decisions. While acknowledging that some might view the debate over policies such as "just cause" or "no cause" evictions as an easy, straightforward issue, he cautioned that a deeper analysis might reveal potential negative impacts on people who wish to buy or live in Winooski. Mr. Armstrong also referenced a point made by Deputy Mayor Thomas during a previous meeting, noting that landlords might be raising rents and asking tenants to leave, which could be a contributing factor to the current situation. He wasn’t sure if anyone was familiar with the book Freakonomics, but the gentleman who wrote it studied a bagel provider. This provider had dropped off charity bagels for three years, collected the money afterward, and tracked the data over three and a half years. The result: 89% of the bagels were paid for. The author argued that this showed 89% of people are good, honest, decent individuals, and Mr. Armstrong agrees with this statistic. He also believes there were probably some landlords out there who would cause evictions solely to line their pockets, but estimates it is a much smaller percentage, perhaps around 2 to 3%. He said this is based on his 35 years of experience running real estate companies. He trusts that 89% of tenants are great people too but acknowledges there is a portion—around 11%—who could pose problems. He asks how the system could address those issues. He continued by explaining how he, personally, has two tenants who have been with him for 20 years and whom he has tried not to raise rent on every few years. He has worked hard to build relationships and kept rent low. He asks if it could be possible that someone who works hard to provide for their family and own property might need to sell at market prices to build equity? He shared with Council that he has worked two jobs for 30 years, mainly owning apartment buildings. He asked if, after keeping rents low, if he died and his heirs sold the property at today’s rates, the new buyers—who he assumes would intend to also be a good landlord—would likely need to raise rent to cover their mortgage costs. Mr. Armstrong raises the issue of interest rates, pointing out that many sellers had properties at 3.5% interest rates, and that new buyers might have no choice but to raise rents to make their ends meet. He clarified that this wasn’t about driving luxury cars but about making his way and supporting his family. He also shared a personal story about his first wife, who had worked hard to buy her first duplex to save for her son’s college education. Mr. Armstrong described a troubling situation where a tenant felt unsafe in their building because of a neighbor’s threatening and misogynistic behavior. He asked Council if they would advise a single mother, working hard to support her son, to buy a property in a town where she didn’t feel safe going to collect rent. He recounted another experience where he had concerns about drug dealing in one of his properties and had to work closely with the police to address the issue. He explained that no-cause evictions were never used simply to raise rents but as a necessary step when issues like drug dealing or hoarding couldn’t be proved in court. In one case, after months of trying to resolve a hoarding situation diplomatically, Mr. Armstrong ended up buying out a tenant. Mr. Armstrong also mentioned the problem with no-cause eviction laws in situations where tenants are difficult to remove, such as when they don’t fulfill lease obligations but are hard to evict. He also discussed the challenges of working with tenants who had bad credit or references but whom he still gave a chance to, even offering a six-month lease. When the tenants didn’t honor their agreements, he faced the difficult process of evicting them. He pointed out how long it could take to evict a tenant through the courts, sometimes six months or more, and how that could hurt a small landlord’s ability to manage their properties. He expressed pride in his involvement with the refugee resettlement program, highlighting that it was a win- win situation for both the city and the tenants. However, he noted that many landlords were hesitant to take on tenants without good references, especially if no-cause eviction was eliminated. He feared that small landlords would be disincentivized to invest in their communities, especially if they risked not being able to collect rent for extended periods due to lengthy eviction processes. He wrapped up by asking the council to consider the long-term effects on small landlords and their ability to provide affordable housing in the city. He pointed out that if property taxes continued to rise, homeownership and renting would become even more difficult for everyone. He cautioned that this could lead to larger corporations dominating the housing market, while small landlords like him might have to leave the market altogether. He expressed concern that if the legislation passed, it could have unintended negative consequences for both landlords and tenants. Finally, he thanked the council for listening and shared that his goal was not just to benefit financially but to make the community a better place. He concluded by urging the council to focus on other issues, like supporting  City of Winooski 27 West Allen Street Winooski Vermont 05404 Vermont’s Opportunity City 802 655 6410 winooskivt.gov homeownership and funding schools, rather than pursuing legislation that could harm small landlords and their ability to provide housing. Mayor Lott responded to Mr. Armstrongs concerns and thanked him for his time and for shedding light on potential unintended consequences from Just Cause and expanded on where the City was in the process and clarified that Just Cause was brought on by residents within the City. Discussion ensued. The public hearing was closed at 6:30 PM B. Discussion/Approval: Black History Month Resolution Minutes: Deputy Mayor wanted to approve Black History Month separately to show Winooski’s support and continued recognition of Black History Month considering Black History Month is no longer being recognized Federally. Motion: A motion was made by Councilor Judge, Seconded by Deputy Mayor Renner. Voted and passed 3-0. IX. Executive Session – City Manager Review Pursuant to 1 V.S.A. §313 (3), the appointment or employment or evaluation of a public officer or employee Motion: A motion was made to hold Executive Session by Councilor Judge, Seconded by Deputy Mayor Renner. Voted and passed 3-0. Motion: A second motion was made to enter Executive Session by Deputy Mayor Renner, Seconded by Councilor Judge. Voted and passed 3-0. Entered Executive Session at 6:33 PM Motion: A motion was made to exit Executive Session by Councilor Judge, Seconded by Deputy Mayor Renner. Voted and passed 3-0. Exited Executive Session at 8:19 PM X. Adjourn Motion: A motion was made to adjourn by Councilor Judge, Seconded by Deputy Mayor Renner. Voted and passed 3-0. The meeting adjourned at 8:20 PM Attest: __________________________________ Amanda Casper, Assistant City Clerk City of Winooski 27 West Allen Street Winooski Vermont 05404 Vermont’s Opportunity City 802 655 6410 winooskivt.gov