[0:00] All right, it is 6:03 p.m. I'm going on

[0:05] Monday, October 5th. Uh, I will now call

[0:08] to order this regular meeting of the

[0:10] Wooki City Council and we will actually

[0:12] begin the evening with the liquor

[0:14] control board

[0:17] and I will

[0:21] ask uh, Councelor Goodrich to help lead

[0:25] the pledge of allegiance.

[0:30] To the flag of the United States of

[0:33] America and to the republic for which it

[0:35] stands. One nation under God,

[0:38] indivisible, with liberty and justice

[0:41] for all.

[0:43] >> Thank you.

[0:47] And

[0:49] Jenny, do you want to introduce the

[0:52] items for all together or separately?

[0:55] >> Um, it's up to you.

[0:56] >> Okay. Um well the uh consent agenda

[1:01] items are for discussion approval of

[1:03] John Ryan VFW

[1:05] um third class liquor license discussion

[1:08] approval DLP LLC or 211 Main Street and

[1:12] renewal for

[1:14] first third class liquor licenses

[1:17] outside consumption permit restaurant

[1:19] application discussion approval for

[1:21] Mountain Valley Restaurant uh 212 Main

[1:25] Street first class liquor License and

[1:27] restaurant application

[1:29] discussion approval for Yen restaurant

[1:31] 65 Wii falls way first and third liquor

[1:34] license first and third class liquor

[1:36] licenses outside consumption restaurant

[1:38] application and discussion approval of

[1:40] Onion River Hotel 111 Wuski Falls way

[1:43] for an entertainment permit.

[1:45] >> Yes, thank you. Um so actually um Onion

[1:48] River Hotel did have that on the agenda.

[1:51] I had on the agenda for August 3rd so we

[1:54] don't need to do that one. Okay. But

[1:56] here is Summer um who's opening up the

[1:59] new establishment at Yen Restaurant. So

[2:01] >> great. Do you want to come introduce

[2:03] yourself?

[2:03] >> Explain about it. Talk about

[2:05] >> just Yeah, come come on come on up and

[2:07] introduce yourself.

[2:08] >> Thank you.

[2:12] » Um do

[2:13] >> Yes, you can move that over. Yeah.

[2:16] >> Um so my name is Chuk Gale. I goes by

[2:19] summer and um I'm opening my second

[2:22] restaurant business located at 65 Wooki

[2:24] Falls Way sweet 104B which is where

[2:27] don't worry used to be in. Yeah. And it

[2:30] will be a Vietnamese restaurant um

[2:33] Vietnamese cafe and kitchen that we

[2:35] offer Vietnamese coffee drinks um you

[2:39] know some kind of cocktails and food as

[2:41] well. Awesome. Yeah. Um, business hour

[2:45] will be Tuesday to Sunday, 11 a.m. to 3

[2:48] pm and 4 pm to 900 pm.

[2:51] >> Great. Nice.

[2:52] >> When do you when are you hoping to open?

[2:54] >> I'm hoping to be open sometime um next

[2:57] week.

[2:58] >> Oh, wonderful.

[3:00] >> Um any questions from council?

[3:02] >> And Mountain Valley has one on November

[3:04] 4th.

[3:06] >> November.

[3:07] >> Yes.

[3:08] >> And is that going to be prohibitive for

[3:12] >> Yeah. cannot open. Um, yen restaurant

[3:15] can't open until I receive that

[3:17] >> certificate.

[3:18] >> Okay. And there's not an opportunity to

[3:21] >> expedite.

[3:23] So,

[3:23] >> um, not unless the code enforcement team

[3:26] has time. Yeah.

[3:27] >> Okay.

[3:27] >> And is that something you were aware of?

[3:29] >> So, not exactly. Um, last week, Friday,

[3:32] when I had the inspection done, I was

[3:34] told by the fire marshall um that um

[3:38] only because I haven't laid out all the

[3:41] tables and chairs in the dining room.

[3:43] Um, he wasn't able to calculate exactly

[3:45] the capacity just yet. Um, and I offered

[3:49] to do it right away, which he stopped me

[3:51] from doing so and saying that he

[3:53] understand that, you know, these

[3:54] meetings takes weeks to schedule and he

[3:56] wouldn't let that um delay the process

[3:59] of opening. So, I was actually unaware

[4:02] of that until today when Jenny came in

[4:04] and just had a chat about November 4th.

[4:07] That was scheduled.

[4:07] >> Okay. Um well, perhaps you can work with

[4:12] staff um to to see if there's a way to

[4:16] move up those dates. But, um

[4:19] are council comfortable um approving

[4:23] conditional?

[4:25] >> Yeah.

[4:25] >> Okay.

[4:26] >> Yes.

[4:26] >> All right. Um, I seek a motion to uh

[4:29] approve the consent agenda item as

[4:31] proposed.

[4:33] >> So moved.

[4:34] >> Seconded.

[4:34] >> All in favor?

[4:35] >> I.

[4:37] >> Thank you.

[4:39] so much, Summer.

[4:41] >> You're doing great.

[4:43] >> Um, we'll close the um liquor control

[4:47] board meeting at this time and at 6:08

[4:52] p.m. we will open the city council

[4:55] meeting.

[4:57] Um,

[4:59] we'll take a moment to look at the

[5:01] agenda review. Is there any changes to

[5:04] the agenda requested by city council?

[5:09] >> Any changes to the agenda from staff?

[5:12] >> No. Thanks.

[5:13] >> Okay.

[5:15] All right. Um, now is an opportunity for

[5:18] public comment. The city of Wooki

[5:20] encourages public comment during city

[5:22] council meetings. If you choose to offer

[5:25] any public comment, please sit at the

[5:27] public comment table um here in the if

[5:30] you're joining in person um speaking to

[5:32] the microphone um and please don't

[5:36] comment from the audience. It's the

[5:37] microphones. We want to make sure

[5:39] everybody is able to hear that audibly

[5:41] for the recording and anybody joining

[5:43] online. Uh state your name and address

[5:46] where you live. Direct your comment to

[5:48] the city council. Um and staff may

[5:51] follow up after the meeting as

[5:53] appropriate. Um keep your comment to

[5:56] comments to two minutes or less if

[5:58] possible. And if attending online, test

[6:00] your camera and microphone before

[6:01] joining. Use your um first and last

[6:05] name. Use the raise hand function uh

[6:08] during public comment to indicate

[6:09] interest in speaking. Do we have anybody

[6:12] for public comment this time? Anyone

[6:16] online?

[6:17] Okay, great. Um, I will move to the

[6:21] consent agenda.

[6:23] Quite a few things here, so I'm going to

[6:25] read through them all. Um, for approval,

[6:29] city council meeting minutes of

[6:30] September 21st, 2026.

[6:33] Uh, payroll warrant September 13 through

[6:35] September 26, 2026. Accounts payable

[6:38] warrant warrant as of October 1st, 2026.

[6:43] External commission representation

[6:45] quarterly reports for Chin and solid

[6:47] waste district and Wooki Valley Parks

[6:50] District.

[6:51] Uh review of boards, committees and

[6:54] commission structure. That's a memo um

[6:57] provided by myself and the mayor.

[7:00] approval of Vermont League of Cities and

[7:03] Towns Property and Casualty

[7:05] Intermunicipal Fund and the VCT

[7:08] Employment Resource and Benefits Trust

[7:11] um to designate a person to complete and

[7:14] submit ballots for directions and

[7:16] representatives to the annual meeting.

[7:20] Anybody any counselor want to remove an

[7:22] item for discussion? No. Okay. Um,

[7:25] everyone in favor of approving the

[7:27] consent agenda.

[7:30] >> Yes, I motion.

[7:31] >> Sorry.

[7:32] >> Seconded.

[7:32] >> All in favor?

[7:33] >> I.

[7:34] >> Great. Wonderful.

[7:36] >> All right. We will move to council

[7:37] reports and I will start with you,

[7:41] councelor Goodri.

[7:42] >> Okay. Um, the Wooki Finance Commission

[7:45] will next meet on Tuesday, October 16th

[7:48] at 6 PM here at city hall and on Zoom.

[7:51] That's all that I have. Great. Um we are

[7:55] anticipating having our regular safe,

[7:57] healthy, connected people meeting on the

[8:01] October 13th. Um the agenda and meeting

[8:04] details will be posted leading up to

[8:06] that. Um

[8:09] so please tune in. Welcome everybody's

[8:11] welcome in person or online. And I

[8:13] anticipate having the housing uh

[8:16] commission meeting on October 27th. And

[8:20] again, details for that will be posted

[8:23] online as the meeting nears.

[8:26] Um, councelor Turos,

[8:31] uh, friendly reminder, Wednesday is walk

[8:33] to school day, October 7th, um, here in

[8:35] Manuski. Uh, I've been organizing it

[8:37] along with our safe routes to school

[8:39] team and the amazing Watt. I look at

[8:40] counselor Oglevie because he's the

[8:42] reason I'm involved. Um, and so just a

[8:44] heads up that on Wednesday morning you

[8:45] will see lots of young kiddos and

[8:47] families, students, staff, neighbors,

[8:50] uh, walking, rolling, and biking to

[8:52] school. Uh, local motion will be there

[8:54] at the school along with our

[8:55] superintendent, Wilmer, who will be

[8:57] handing out prizes, um, and some morning

[8:59] snacks to some of the kids. Um, we're

[9:01] really trying to not only show our

[9:04] students and our school population that

[9:06] we are a walkable and bikable city, but

[9:07] also to the commuters who drive through

[9:09] every single day that we um need to slow

[9:12] down because there's lots of people

[9:13] using our streets. Um, and if anyone has

[9:15] any questions, I'm organizing that and

[9:16] you can email me at my city council

[9:18] email. Um, the Burlington Airport

[9:20] Commission has our next commission

[9:22] meeting on Wednesday, October 7th at 400

[9:24] PM. Um, and just in case anyone has

[9:27] follow-up questions regarding sound

[9:28] mitigation or anything like that, uh,

[9:30] you can always send me an email and I

[9:32] can follow up with them. On Saturday,

[9:34] October 10th, I'm organizing another

[9:36] Wyuski community cleanup that will be

[9:38] happening at 9:00 a.m. We can all meet

[9:39] outside specs at 7 West Canal Street.

[9:42] Again, I will I will be providing all

[9:44] materials, latex, gloves, trash pickers,

[9:46] bags, everything. Um, lovely high

[9:48] visibility vests if you want. Um, and

[9:52] uh, kids are are more than welcome,

[9:53] families are more than welcome. It's

[9:54] just a great way for us to continue to

[9:56] um clean up our city. A lot of folks

[9:58] have signed up. A lot of folks are

[9:59] really eager for this and they love that

[10:01] it feels like green update, but that

[10:02] we're doing it on a monthly basis. The

[10:05] inclusion and belonging commission meets

[10:06] on Monday, October 26th at 6 p.m. here

[10:09] at city hall. We will be engaging in a

[10:11] discussion uh a follow-up discussion on

[10:13] the background check policy as well as

[10:14] the memo that was just approved

[10:15] regarding commission structure. Downtown

[10:18] Wooki held our first Inerson board

[10:20] meeting last week and I just want to

[10:21] share that we went to the newly opened

[10:23] sneaky. It was really wonderful to

[10:24] support a local downtown Wooki business

[10:26] during that time. And lastly, I just

[10:28] want to say a massive thank you to

[10:30] Trisha O' Kain, friends of the Wooki

[10:31] River, and Cidra from the Wooki uh

[10:34] recreation department for hosting the

[10:35] Memorial Park Birdwalk on Saturday,

[10:37] September 26th. This was the first time

[10:40] in my tenure as a city council member,

[10:42] but I think that we had done something

[10:43] like this. It was massively well

[10:46] attended. I have never seen so many

[10:49] people like so engaged in that

[10:52] particular park which I know that we're

[10:53] really trying to revitalize um learning

[10:56] together. It was just like so we did an

[10:58] entire loop and so um I know that a lot

[11:00] of organization and thoughtfulness went

[11:02] into that and so I'm just really

[11:03] grateful to everyone who participated.

[11:04] Um that's it.

[11:06] >> Great council.

[11:07] >> Uh so I want to start off with

[11:09] apologizing for uh last month's

[11:11] municipal infrastructure commission

[11:12] meeting was unfortunately canled due to

[11:14] my absence. Um, I learned that city

[11:17] emails don't work internationally. Um,

[11:20] so good job keeping the city secure. Bad

[11:23] news for the people I was supposed to

[11:24] email. Um, that being said, this coming

[11:27] meeting we will continue our discussion

[11:29] about how to better improve and manage

[11:31] commission structure. Um, and we look

[11:33] forward to hearing from folks.

[11:37] >> And what's the date? It will be

[11:39] Thursday,

[11:41] October

[11:43] 22nd.

[11:45] >> Okay, wonderful.

[11:46] >> At 6:30.

[11:48] >> Staff updates.

[11:49] >> Yes. Uh, are you a resident with an

[11:51] extra vehicle? Are you a college

[11:53] student, business owner, or employee

[11:54] looking for a steady parking option?

[11:57] Need a spot in the parking garage during

[11:58] winter parking bands, or just looking

[12:00] for a place to park? The city of Wooki

[12:03] is now offering long-term parking space

[12:06] agreements in the Wooki parking garage

[12:08] on Cascade Way to individuals or

[12:10] households. Multimonth and

[12:12] month-to-month agreements are available.

[12:14] To learn more and uh fill out the

[12:16] inquiry survey to get started, please

[12:19] visit wookivt.gov/news.

[12:23] The general election is Tuesday,

[12:25] November 3rd from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

[12:27] at the Wooki Senior Center. The Vermont

[12:30] Secretary of State will mail ballots to

[12:32] registered and active Wooki voters

[12:34] beginning in October using the address

[12:37] on your voter registration. This is your

[12:39] ballot. Once you receive your ballot,

[12:41] you can return it by mail to Wooki City

[12:44] Hall. Drop it off at the city clerk's

[12:46] office or bring the ballot to the Wooki

[12:49] Senior Center on election day. You can

[12:51] check your ballot status and register to

[12:53] vote at vote.vermont.gov.

[12:57] That's all.

[12:59] Um, do you want to mention Main Street

[13:02] urban cut?

[13:03] >> Um, sure. Yeah, it was a really well

[13:06] attended event. Really appreciate that.

[13:08] Community members in addition to our

[13:09] very important folks. Um, actually, I

[13:12] guess everyone's very important. So,

[13:13] that there was such a great crowd that

[13:15] turned out and uh, a chance to reflect

[13:17] on what a big project that was, how much

[13:19] work went into that, and how much the

[13:22] community put up with and endured and

[13:24] came through the other side with. So,

[13:27] yeah, it was great to have everyone out

[13:28] and celebrate and had some nice said

[13:30] things from some nice people. Thanks.

[13:33] >> Thank you.

[13:35] >> Um, all right, on to our regular items.

[13:38] Uh, we have item A for discussion

[13:40] presentation from the tax the rich to

[13:43] fund Vermont coalition member. Um, and

[13:47] we'll invite um Matt Guyle to the table

[13:52] to introduce this item.

[13:57] Yeah. Hi, I'm Matt Guile. Um, and I'm a

[14:00] resident on Mount Street and a candidate

[14:03] for state rep here in Wooki. So, I've

[14:05] been working with the tax the rich to

[14:08] fund Vermont coalition. Um and um we've

[14:12] been working to put ballot measures on

[14:14] several different municipalities that's

[14:16] really encouraging our legislature to

[14:19] tax the rich so we can fund the sort of

[14:21] programs that really will make uh

[14:23] Vermont an affordable place for working

[14:25] people. Um so Wooki is one of the

[14:28] municipalities we're working on. Um

[14:30] there's also a measure that's being

[14:31] proposed in Montpielar and another one

[14:33] in um in Randolph. Um so we've gotten uh

[14:38] I don't have all of my clipboards. Some

[14:39] of them are still out in the wild. Um

[14:41] but we've got over 100 signatures so

[14:43] far. Um we've done two canvases. Um

[14:46] actually actually I have right in front

[14:47] of me. We were on Thomas's street last

[14:49] week, but Oh, there he is. Hey. Um,

[14:55] and really our goal with these ballot

[14:57] measures is to really put it to voters

[14:59] and to show that this is these sort of

[15:01] policies are something that really are

[15:04] um are popular among people and I will

[15:06] say talking to people at their homes um

[15:10] it is some of the easiest petition

[15:12] ballots collection I have ever been

[15:14] engaged in. Um so the uh we are trying

[15:18] to collect over 300 petition signatures.

[15:20] Our target is 350. so that it can go on

[15:23] the ballot. But I would love if the city

[15:25] council was sort of a partner um in this

[15:28] um and um you know so I think we so we

[15:31] can say in as many ways as possible that

[15:34] taxing sort of those that can afford it

[15:36] to fund the social programs that we

[15:38] really need um is something that we can

[15:40] do as a state and is something that um

[15:43] you know Wooki residents and our city

[15:46] council um could support. So um I have

[15:50] one of the petitions here. I have some

[15:52] of our tax rich to fund from a

[15:53] coalition. Um but again the petition is

[15:55] saying um we are the city council is

[15:59] going to be

[16:00] >> in progress

[16:01] >> advising the uh the the legislature um

[16:04] to uh tax the top 5% of income earners

[16:08] in Vermont and use that revenue to fund

[16:12] the social programming that again makes

[16:15] is making affordability a struggle for

[16:17] Vermoners. So, universal primary care,

[16:20] funding housing programs, really again

[16:23] the things that really are making um

[16:25] Vermont a uh a a a hard place for a lot

[16:28] of working people right now. Um but um

[16:31] but yeah, again, I I would like to if if I could open up for any questions if

[16:35] anybody has about um the petition. I

[16:38] think I had shared the the text of it

[16:39] with with Thomas earlier. Um but yeah,

[16:42] it's really been it's been a really

[16:43] inspiring thing actually talking to

[16:44] people um and just how excited they are

[16:47] when they're like tax the rich to fund

[16:49] the things that we need. Yes, please, People almost like tear it out

[16:52] of my hands. Um and then even people who

[16:55] haven't signed have been really

[16:56] interested, have taken the cards and um

[16:58] and has really initiated some really

[17:01] interesting, really fantastic

[17:02] conversations with uh with some of uh

[17:04] yeah, some of our Wiski neighbors.

[17:07] >> Matt, thank you. Apologies for being

[17:09] late. I was driving up from southern

[17:11] Vermont and can't always control how

[17:14] that's going to go. Um,

[17:15] >> my people

[17:17] >> precisely. Um, I appreciate you coming

[17:20] in today. We we spoke about this I think

[17:22] as you had started to say when I was

[17:24] walking in um for well maybe just for

[17:29] you Eli but because I think everyone

[17:32] else has seen it but at the before the

[17:34] legislature starts right after the

[17:36] elections city council sends um a list

[17:39] of our priorities um to uh the

[17:42] legislature. So, if this were something

[17:44] that voters were to approve, if it was

[17:47] to get put on the ballot, I would

[17:49] imagine that that's probably would be

[17:50] the avenue that I would look at to to

[17:52] communicate something like this. Um,

[17:55] definitely, you know, an interesting

[17:57] topic that I've been hearing about for a

[17:59] little bit and I've definitely heard

[18:01] from residents and people across the

[18:03] state really. So, um, was was very

[18:06] intrigued when you, uh, said that you're

[18:07] getting petitions for it. Um, I'm sorry

[18:11] I didn't hear. How How many have you got

[18:13] so far?

[18:13] >> So, we've got over a hundred so far. Got

[18:16] I've got 80 on my uh at my desk at home

[18:18] and then we got a couple of uh uh

[18:21] clipboards that are out in the wilder

[18:23] friends collecting some signatures.

[18:25] >> Um, but and again, this is part of sort

[18:27] of a a larger right like the WC city

[18:29] council does not set state tax policy.

[18:32] Um, this is, you know, just

[18:34] >> I appreciate that you know that

[18:37] >> one avenue of sort of demonstrating

[18:39] again putting it out to voters, having

[18:41] it on the ballot and like, you know,

[18:43] being able to go to the legislature and

[18:45] say, "Look, here is, you know, Wooki

[18:47] voted, you know, sort of hopefully

[18:49] overwhelmingly in support of this

[18:50] measure." Um, and then showing that in

[18:52] several municipalities. Um and um and

[18:55] the other the other component of this

[18:56] too is again even if the city council is

[18:59] interested in um putting it forward

[19:01] themselves, we we I still do we still

[19:03] are going to do some canvasing and

[19:04] collecting more signatures. Um because

[19:06] really the goal is to one talk to people

[19:10] um and then also get people comfortable

[19:12] talking about it, canvasing, and really

[19:14] build up a group of folks um that are

[19:17] ready when the legislaturator is having

[19:18] testimony about these things that are

[19:20] ready to show up and testify and speak.

[19:22] uh speak about it

[19:23] >> as you are knocking doors with folks.

[19:26] Have you been kind of communicating the

[19:28] process once you know if it were to get

[19:30] on the ballot, if it were to be

[19:32] approved, have you've been talking to

[19:33] people about what happens in the

[19:34] legislature cuz I think you know and we

[19:36] voted for just cause eviction for

[19:37] example. I think a lot of people thought

[19:40] oh it's law and wooi. I don't know how

[19:42] many people reached out being like but

[19:43] we have just cause eviction here. Um so

[19:46] have you been including that just so

[19:48] that people understand like what what

[19:50] could happen like ideally you you want

[19:53] something to happen but that could not

[19:55] be the outcome. So

[19:57] >> yeah yeah I think um again I have been

[19:59] talking about it as like one component

[20:00] of this larger campaign and that line of

[20:02] the Wooki city council does not set

[20:04] state tax policy is something that I do

[20:06] use regularly trying to communicate like

[20:08] what this is this is this is something

[20:10] that we're demonstrating that this is

[20:11] something that Wooki wants. Um but

[20:13] again, this is not the actual

[20:15] implementation of of that tax bill.

[20:18] >> Awesome. Um well, the item is just a

[20:22] discussion for us tonight, which we're

[20:24] not obviously deciding anything. Matt

[20:25] doesn't know the signatures yet,

[20:26] although I fully believe he will. Um but

[20:28] when that happens, he'll inform Jenny

[20:31] and then Jenny will let me know um that

[20:33] the signatures have been collected and

[20:34] then we'll discuss what next steps will

[20:36] be. But I just thought Matt had reached

[20:38] out and asked if he could come and uh

[20:40] speak to us about this proposal.

[20:42] I love the idea. So, I'm glad that

[20:44] you're able to uh join in. I know that

[20:46] you're doing other stuff, too. So, um if

[20:49] any of you have questions, please feel

[20:51] free to ask. Melie, go ahead.

[20:53] >> Um is there anything specifically that

[20:55] you're looking for support from council

[20:57] um to advance this?

[20:59] >> Yeah, I think well, so um it can go on

[21:01] the ballot if again if we get the

[21:03] petition signatures, but I think the

[21:04] city council also has the opportunity to

[21:07] put something on the on the ballot as

[21:09] well. Um, so again, I was hoping in some

[21:11] way that the city council could be sort

[21:13] of a partner in the endeavor. Um, and

[21:15] it's not something that, you know,

[21:16] again, I I tried to I reached out to

[21:18] Thomas before we started collecting

[21:19] signatures to um, you know, because I I feel like many of you probably are are

[21:24] in support and on board. Um and um yeah,

[21:28] so I guess I guess whatever the city

[21:30] council might feel is sort of

[21:31] appropriate in in sort of supporting

[21:33] this measure and if they uh if they feel

[21:35] they're willing to um uh it could be a

[21:37] statement or if anybody's willing to

[21:39] sign a petition, I do have it right

[21:40] here. Um and uh yeah, any way that you

[21:43] could sort of support or communicate

[21:45] about it, I think would be amazing.

[21:46] >> Thanks.

[21:49] I have one. So, I'm just thinking very

[21:51] similar and I appreciate the mayor for

[21:53] asking reading my mind and asking a

[21:54] similar question. Um, I think sometimes

[21:57] and you and I both know this from, you

[21:58] know, being in politics is that uh

[22:00] people don't understand the process.

[22:02] >> And so, I guess I'm wondering like in a dream hypothetical scenario, you

[22:08] collect all your senators an excessive

[22:10] amount. It's on the ballot. It passes.

[22:14] What happens then? What's the plan?

[22:17] >> Yeah. Yeah. So, I think

[22:18] >> after town meeting day,

[22:19] >> the the really the the only thing that

[22:21] the um if it passes, it would be

[22:24] advising you, the city council, to

[22:27] inform the legislature, that they should

[22:29] be imposing a tax on the top 5% of

[22:31] income earners in order to fund robust

[22:34] social programming. Um, so again, it's it's

[22:38] really a demonstration of its popularity

[22:41] and it's not the thing itself. Um, and

[22:42] again, I've tried to be really clear

[22:44] with everybody as we're talking. And

[22:45] again, these these um these uh ballot

[22:50] measures are one part of a larger

[22:51] campaign. Um and this is just one of the

[22:54] ways that the the coalition um is trying

[22:57] to, you know, make this a really visible

[22:59] thing and activate and mobilize people

[23:01] to sort of get in involved in the issue.

[23:05] >> Thank you.

[23:09] » I don't think so. I was looking for the

[23:10] board to found it.

[23:12] >> Perfect. All right. All right. Well,

[23:13] we'll hear from you again when you've

[23:14] got your signatures.

[23:15] >> Amazing. Thank you so much.

[23:17] >> Thank you.

[23:19] >> All right. So, um we will move on to our

[23:22] next item. Discussion approval fiscal

[23:24] year 2028 budget goal setting. Uh Angela

[23:28] and Elaine.

[23:29] >> Yes, I will.

[23:30] >> Oh, I'm sorry.

[23:32] >> Um if you want to leave something

[23:33] behind, uh then councilors can choose to

[23:35] sign it once we're done.

[23:37] >> Yes, absolutely.

[23:38] >> Don't want to put any of them on the

[23:40] spot while we're still still filming

[23:41] here. Yeah. Yeah. I will uh

[23:44] >> I'll leave some materials in that.

[23:46] >> Yeah. Sorry. Thank you.

[23:47] >> Oh, no. You're good. Uh yes. So, staff

[23:50] asked for your direction uh to council

[23:53] as we work to build the proposed budget

[23:55] over the next three months. My

[23:57] recommendation is that city council

[23:59] continues the strategic investment

[24:02] approach to budgeting that you have that

[24:04] the council has began with the 2024 2023

[24:08] 2024 budget. A strategic investment

[24:12] budget allows for updating costs for

[24:14] existing services and allocating

[24:16] additional resources to priority areas,

[24:19] particularly deferred maintenance and

[24:21] underst staffing. In contrast to a

[24:24] strategic investment budget would be a

[24:26] level services budget that would be

[24:29] allowing for costs for existing services

[24:31] to be updated for estimated inflation

[24:34] and cost of living increases but would

[24:37] not increase investment in any area to

[24:40] continue catching up on deficiencies.

[24:42] Uh again in contrast to a strategic

[24:46] investment approach would be a level

[24:47] funded budget meaning the same dollar

[24:50] amount as this year. That would

[24:52] essentially mean reducing the budget

[24:53] because of course inflation forecasts

[24:56] indicate next year's dollars will likely

[24:59] be worth less than this year's.

[25:01] The reason I recommend a strategic

[25:03] investment approach to budgeting is

[25:05] because the city's strategic vision

[25:07] statement in its current comprehensive

[25:09] plan is that the community wants to

[25:12] ensure that Wooki is a livable, diverse,

[25:14] and affordable community.

[25:17] uh staff meaning mostly Angela um have

[25:19] provided quite a bit of contextual

[25:21] information uh in the memo that was

[25:24] provided in your packet. I'll highlight

[25:26] just a couple of those points from that.

[25:28] Now one sometimes we hear that Wooki has

[25:31] a very high tax rate compared to area

[25:34] municipalities. While true the tax rate

[25:36] isn't really useful for understanding

[25:38] affordability, what matters is how much

[25:41] households in Wooki are paying in

[25:43] property taxes in terms of an amount.

[25:45] and they are paying a comparable amount

[25:48] in taxes as in other comparable

[25:50] municipalities.

[25:52] The second point of context I wanted to

[25:54] highlight is that thanks to a lower than

[25:56] anticipated health insurance increase,

[25:59] we are expecting a lower than recently

[26:01] typical tax rate increase needed for

[26:04] just level services.

[26:07] And remember that benefits and wages

[26:09] make up about twothirds of the budget

[26:11] because the city provides services which

[26:14] are u mostly what we do is we provide

[26:16] services and services are performed by

[26:18] people.

[26:20] So any questions about the context or my

[26:23] recommendation uh before I turn it back

[26:26] to council for your discussion on my rep

[26:28] recommendation that council direct staff

[26:31] to develop a strategic investment budget

[26:33] for fiscal year 2028. Thank you very

[26:36] much, Elena. The one question I have,

[26:39] well, I have many questions, but one

[26:41] before we start talking is in in the

[26:45] past council's directed what we thought

[26:46] that strategic investment should be. Do

[26:49] you have an area where you were planning

[26:52] on recommending that strategic

[26:53] investment should be or your hope is

[26:55] that we will just pick one?

[26:58] uh we are

[27:01] in the process of looking through our uh

[27:04] budgets now. So it's I would say it's

[27:07] like

[27:09] steady as she goes sort of a thing. Um

[27:11] continuing what we've been doing not uh

[27:14] and I would actually request that

[27:16] council well of course if you have very

[27:19] strong opinions that we need to know

[27:20] them uh but I would like council to

[27:23] consider what we have to propose.

[27:26] >> That is fair enough.

[27:28] Um, anybody else have any preliminary

[27:30] questions?

[27:33] >> I don't know about questions,

[27:36] have comments?

[27:38] >> Sure.

[27:39] >> Um, I will share that just this within

[27:42] the last two weeks since we met, I did

[27:43] have a a resident complain to me about

[27:46] the tax taxes um that they're seeing

[27:49] already this year. So, I'm sure

[27:51] >> um I I appreciate the memo and you know

[27:55] the mentioning the average inflation um

[28:00] is higher than the average tax increase

[28:03] um but also

[28:06] your comment tying that back to what

[28:08] folks are paying um as it relates to the

[28:12] comps. Um

[28:15] I I think that

[28:18] it's this is the budget period is one of

[28:21] the most difficult times um of being

[28:26] personally for being a city counselor

[28:28] because there's so many things we want

[28:29] to do and so many difficult choices that we need to make and um also sitting

[28:36] on the reality of what the lived

[28:39] experience is for our residents. So,

[28:42] >> um, just want to acknowledge that it's

[28:44] the beginning of another very difficult

[28:47] annual conversation. Um, and to lead

[28:51] with like I know that staff put an

[28:54] immense amount of work into and thought

[28:57] into this. So, um, I appreciate that.

[29:00] Um, this is my sixth budget cycle. Um,

[29:05] so I apologize in advance for all the

[29:07] questions that I asked.

[29:09] We love your questions, R.

[29:12] >> Um,

[29:13] thank you. So,

[29:16] I too would recommend that we think

[29:20] about a strategic investment in our

[29:22] budget, um, I think that a level

[29:24] services or level funded budget,

[29:27] although it may be appealing

[29:29] financially, actually shortcuts the city

[29:32] in the long run. I think a lot of why we

[29:36] have so many things that we have want

[29:38] that we want to do and some would say

[29:41] need to do depending on the area is

[29:44] because for a very long time the people

[29:46] who sat at this table had a mentality of

[29:50] wanting to keep the tax rate as low as

[29:52] possible.

[29:54] >> Um they had their reasons for that. I

[29:56] don't say they're right or wrong. Uh,

[29:58] but what it did mean is that that list

[30:00] that we see every year um during Elena's

[30:04] presentation of all of the things we

[30:07] have to do and she's not going to

[30:08] recommend continues to grow for that

[30:12] very reason. Um, I think that, you know,

[30:15] we're going we're going to talk about

[30:16] this a little later tonight, but I

[30:19] believe we all hear from residents

[30:22] that they're paying too much in taxes,

[30:24] but we also hear that they want roads

[30:26] fixed, that they want sidewalks fixed, that uh people are speeding down

[30:31] their road and they wish that there was

[30:32] a cop sitting there to get them, that

[30:35] they wish that the pool was open uh

[30:38] longer hours, etc., etc., etc.

[30:41] Unfortunately, all of those things cost

[30:42] money to do. Um, and you all have told

[30:47] me that even when you tell people that

[30:49] these things cost money, uh, they still

[30:51] want them even though they don't want to

[30:53] pay the extra taxes. So, that's our job

[30:56] at the end of the day is to find that

[30:57] balance. I think in doing a strategic

[31:00] investment that's the conversation we

[31:02] can have is how much are we increasing

[31:05] or not increasing but to not put

[31:10] any

[31:12] increase well there's always an increase

[31:13] actually because costs go up. So even if

[31:15] we're level funded we're still raising

[31:17] the tax rate at some point but we're not

[31:19] then having a conversation about what

[31:20] investments we need to do. And then I

[31:23] think in that we are hurting our

[31:25] residents. If we, you know, have this

[31:27] conversation, we say we can do an extra

[31:30] 5% in investments, we'll have to explain

[31:32] what that means. If we say we can only

[31:34] do a 0.05%

[31:37] investments, we'll explain what that

[31:39] means. But I think we should at least

[31:41] have the opportunity to explain those

[31:44] the raise as opposed to not showing

[31:47] anything to our residents who want and

[31:50] deserve honestly. um more services and more out of city hall. So

[31:58] that would be my recommendation for this

[32:00] body. I'd love to hear what you all

[32:02] think.

[32:08] » Well, I want to first say the the memo

[32:09] is beautifully done. So kudos to Angela

[32:12] because I thoroughly enjoyed reading

[32:13] this. Um

[32:16] I uh I'm looking for a little history. I

[32:19] uh

[32:21] what was the last time we did a level

[32:22] services budget and I'm just kind of

[32:27] curious. Yeah,

[32:28] >> level services budget would have been

[32:30] I've been on council for five years,

[32:33] four years, the year before I came on

[32:37] so

[32:40] >> Angela I would pitch that to Angela for

[32:43] an accurate answer.

[32:46] I'm sorry. I don't know when

[32:48] specifically we had considered level

[32:51] services. I know that we have been

[32:52] adding staff over the last several

[32:55] years. Um, and that's really been the

[32:59] investment. It may have been since

[33:01] before Jesse Baker was city manager that

[33:04] we did a level services budget. And

[33:06] honestly, uh, in my early tenure with

[33:09] the city, it wasn't even a level

[33:11] services budget. we were given a fixed

[33:14] percentage that we were allowed to

[33:16] increase the tax rate by and we had to

[33:18] fit um all of the services within that

[33:21] amount.

[33:23] >> Yeah. And that's the closest that I

[33:25] remember since I've been on council.

[33:30] » And have we ever sorry have we ever done

[33:32] a level funded service?

[33:35] >> Level funded budget.

[33:36] Sorry.

[33:40] Uh not sure what you mean by level

[33:42] funded.

[33:43] >> Oh, just like the same dollar amount.

[33:45] Yeah,

[33:45] >> never. Not in my history here. It's

[33:47] usually when they did set a percentage,

[33:50] it was 1 and a half to 2% that they

[33:52] would set as an escalator just because

[33:54] we are locked into union contracts that

[33:57] require um pay increases and then uh

[34:00] annual benefits increase as well. So,

[34:04] it'd be very very difficult to absorb

[34:06] that within a fixed dollar amount.

[34:09] Okay, thank you.

[34:18] » I have comment.

[34:19] >> No,

[34:21] >> I I I I appreciate the memo. I think

[34:24] it's beautifully written as well. Um and

[34:27] I would be interested in looking at a um

[34:29] strategic investment. Um, bearing in

[34:32] mind how often we do hear that taxes are

[34:35] high and there are many people on fixed

[34:36] budgets, but I would be interested in

[34:40] looking at the things on the still the

[34:42] to-do list and seeing what we can cross

[34:44] off. That's awesome.

[34:52] » I mean, I have lots of thoughts, but

[34:54] >> you can share your thought. I mean, I

[34:55] just this is warrant for an approval, so

[34:58] we do have to direct something at the

[35:00] end of this.

[35:01] >> Um, I mean, I I support uh strategic

[35:05] investment. Okay.

[35:06] >> If that's what you're looking for,

[35:07] >> I believe that is what the degree,

[35:09] that's what you're looking for right

[35:10] now. The degree we'll discuss. degree of

[35:12] strategic investment I have a lot more

[35:14] thoughts about but um yes I I don't

[35:18] believe that level funding is feasible

[35:22] and I I don't think level services also

[35:27] are feasible. Um

[35:30] there's a lot that will go into what

[35:33] exactly strategic investment looks like

[35:35] and that's just a discussion that'll

[35:37] play out for the next four months.

[35:39] >> Exactly.

[35:41] There's lots of things. So, yes, better

[35:44] discuss it in public than behind staff

[35:46] doors,

[35:47] >> Mayor,

[35:48] >> please.

[35:49] >> I agree with everything that the deputy

[35:51] mayor just said, and obviously, as the

[35:54] mayor indicated, we'll be talking about

[35:55] this later tonight, but I do just want

[35:57] to highlight that my hope is that like we as a council, right, I

[36:04] remember when this is my second budget

[36:05] season cycle, whatever we call it. Um,

[36:08] and I remember someone described it to

[36:10] me so beautifully, which is that like we

[36:13] vote as council to adopt the budget and

[36:16] then we like go out into the community.

[36:19] And my hope is is that no matter the

[36:21] outcome of what the budget h what

[36:23] happens is that we really engage in

[36:25] those conversations so that then when

[36:27] someone comes to us, right, someone will

[36:28] still come to us and say, "You guys ever

[36:30] talked to you know, whatever. That

[36:31] always happens. But just the idea that

[36:33] like

[36:34] starting sooner rather than later and

[36:36] just having these conversations, I think

[36:38] can be really helpful. And I know I

[36:39] wasn't on council yet at this time of

[36:41] last year. So even just having them now,

[36:43] I think I can only assume is helpful for

[36:45] you and the staff and and for us. So I

[36:47] just appreciate that. But I'm just

[36:49] hopeful that we as the communicators

[36:50] around the budget can also just

[36:52] understand that no matter what happens,

[36:53] it's then, you know, our role to take it

[36:55] really seriously.

[36:59] » You want

[37:00] Oh, I also support strategic investment.

[37:02] I was looking for history to see last

[37:04] time we haven't done one.

[37:06] >> Okay. I was wondering if you're going to

[37:07] be like, "It's been a long time. We're

[37:08] doing mobile."

[37:15] » Um, okay. Awesome. Um,

[37:19] in that case,

[37:27] is there a specific class? No. Okay. Um,

[37:30] I will seek a motion to direct Elaine

[37:32] and staff to begin the budget work on a

[37:36] strategic investment budget.

[37:38] >> So moved, seconded.

[37:40] >> All those in favor?

[37:41] >> I wonderful.

[37:43] >> Thank you so much.

[37:44] >> Thank you. Um,

[37:47] >> call.

[37:49] >> Yes.

[37:51] >> All right. So, there are some memos in

[37:54] the packet. The I'll just pick out a

[37:57] couple of

[37:59] It flopped away. It's still alive. Okay.

[38:02] >> Well, if it was a person, that would be

[38:04] a completely different thing. So, I was

[38:05] like, is that a person or is that a

[38:06] bird? Sorry. Bird. We can keep going.

[38:11] >> Poor thing. All right. Uh, so there are

[38:13] some memos in the council packet. Um,

[38:16] I'll pick out a few highlights from each

[38:17] one. for cross cutting meaning

[38:21] tasks that affect more than one vision

[38:23] area of the comprehensive plan. We've

[38:27] got CC5 regarding cross cutting five

[38:32] goal five or task five rather uh

[38:34] regarding parking revenues for the

[38:35] Cascades garage.

[38:37] >> We have a trickle of inquiries. Don't

[38:39] know yet that we will make our financing

[38:41] deadline so to speak, but we'll keep

[38:44] working on it. I don't currently have an

[38:45] ask of council but keeping you in the

[38:47] loop and uh thank you to Angela who's

[38:50] been very helpful in managing the single

[38:52] vehicle inquiries.

[38:54] Maybe we will get there that way.

[38:57] um economic vitality for the first

[39:00] action there. Community lay the

[39:03] community lays on for the Burlington

[39:07] Wooki bridge replacement project uh that

[39:10] was hired thanks to generosity from the

[39:12] Vermont Agency of Transportation and

[39:14] their foresight in seeing how that work

[39:17] that position worked in Mbury and

[39:19] recommending it to us. the person that

[39:22] um our owner's representative on the

[39:25] project at um which is H&TB the firm the

[39:29] person that they hired as a Wooki local

[39:31] his name is Tim CC he's been phenomenal

[39:34] he's basically been on the job for a

[39:35] year now which is wild uh in a part-time

[39:38] capacity he's been facilitating an

[39:40] advisory group uh task force on business

[39:43] engagement both in Burlington and Muski

[39:46] representatives from both places um as

[39:48] well as representatives from the Vermont

[39:50] agency in transportation. It's really

[39:52] been heartening to see how much how

[39:54] supportive uh the state is and the

[39:56] region partners are. And he's drafted a

[40:01] business engagement support plan which I

[40:03] reviewed the second draft of yesterday

[40:05] when we were tableabling at the farmers

[40:06] market which was a beautiful day for

[40:08] that. Anyway, so the point being like

[40:10] progress is being made. I really wish we

[40:13] knew that we could do something like

[40:14] this before the main street project but

[40:16] we do know now and that is partly why we

[40:18] have Tim now. So,

[40:20] >> uh, that's been that's been really good

[40:21] and looking forward to some good

[40:24] strategies. He's been really making the

[40:26] rounds with the business community,

[40:28] >> uh, most of our business community,

[40:29] honestly, because it's within kind of

[40:30] the impact shed, if you will. Uh, most

[40:33] of the city is in that impact shed. So,

[40:36] um, and he's gotten some very useful

[40:38] feedback and has a sort of an activating

[40:40] effect on the business community, which

[40:42] is great.

[40:44] Somebody uh one of the news agencies

[40:47] that interviewed me ahead of the ribbon

[40:49] cutting. I don't think it made it in,

[40:51] but they asked me um what is it that

[40:55] Oh dear, I've just lost track of what it

[40:57] was.

[41:00] Oh, actually I think it was during the

[41:01] ribbon cutting. Anyway, the question was

[41:04] um what do you think it would have taken

[41:06] to um engage the business community

[41:08] ahead of time? And I was like I think

[41:11] honestly was doing another project of a

[41:13] similar scale then subsequently people

[41:16] like oh this is how bad it could be. So

[41:18] again the business community now is much

[41:20] more aware of what could happen and

[41:22] thankfully we have this year-long um

[41:25] year-long break where people can

[41:28] hopefully shore up their reserves and to work through the the more impactful

[41:33] years to come

[41:35] for your economic vitality too. the

[41:37] second task there, the economic mobility

[41:40] manager. Just want to read off the

[41:42] bullets there on the activities that

[41:44] she's been facilitating. Um, again, that

[41:46] person's name is Simone Bedford. She is

[41:49] hosted by the Chen County Regional

[41:50] Planning Commission. In the three focus

[41:53] areas for that uh program for

[41:56] entrepreneurship,

[41:57] the four community partners, South

[42:01] Burlington, uh Wooki, Essex Junction and

[42:04] Shelburn uh delivered the first workshop

[42:07] of a business networking and learning

[42:09] series on in August that was quite well

[42:12] attended especially for our first time.

[42:14] We're very encouraged uh for governance

[42:17] participation. That track uh we are

[42:19] developing a a community academy

[42:21] program. Excited about that. It'll

[42:23] hopefully help people get more engaged

[42:25] in all kinds of governance. One of the

[42:27] outcomes might be engagement in

[42:28] commissions, but that's of course not

[42:30] the end all and be all, but that will be

[42:32] a nice outcome. Uh regular economic

[42:35] mobility, communities of practice

[42:36] meetings for each focus area is another

[42:39] activity. So been great to have that uh

[42:42] person working with our across our

[42:45] communities.

[42:47] And then uh the last memo was on equity.

[42:50] This is my quarterly update on our

[42:52] equity efforts. This is always in the

[42:54] crosscutting goals. Um a few highlights

[42:57] here that are um related to housing are

[43:00] actually kind of the I would call the

[43:02] main star of this show, but I don't want

[43:04] to steal our housing initi director's

[43:06] thunder. Her goal update is coming up.

[43:08] So can wait look forward to that. The

[43:11] one note I'll make from the equity

[43:12] update memo is that Paul Sarn our

[43:15] communications director has been doing a

[43:17] great job maintaining the language

[43:19] access procedure um per the procedure

[43:23] and for example doing he's just finished

[43:26] the first update of the language list

[43:28] with the help of the school district

[43:29] which is also in the procedure

[43:32] and that's all I had unless you had any

[43:34] questions about that.

[43:35] >> Great. Thank you very much. Um, I don't

[43:38] have any questions. Council,

[43:40] >> um, just a couple short things. Uh, do

[43:43] you know if the engagement draft

[43:45] engagement plan is posted to the VR site

[43:48] or where that is available for folks to

[43:50] review?

[43:51] >> Uh, no. Once it is, it's going through

[43:56] I think it's with VR right now and then

[43:58] it'll go through the task force and then

[44:01] it'll actually I'm not sure what the

[44:03] publication plan is after that, but

[44:04] that's where it is right now.

[44:06] >> Okay.

[44:07] Um, unrelated to that, um, I was doing

[44:13] the, uh, annual trek for some foliage

[44:16] leaf peeping this weekend. I happened to

[44:18] notice a municipality also seeking

[44:22] public comment for their um, draft plan

[44:25] and they had posted yard signs

[44:28] throughout town with QR codes. Um, so as

[44:32] a I I think that's been an a strategy

[44:36] utilized for some of the active

[44:39] transportation. I'm not going to get the

[44:40] language right, but um soliciting

[44:43] feedback on uh transportation

[44:45] improvements um in and around Wooki. So,

[44:49] uh that was just something that caught

[44:50] my eye in addition to the beautiful

[44:52] foliage that um is around Vermont right

[44:55] now. But um it felt noteworthy um since

[44:58] this doesn't seem to be a strategy that

[45:00] we've used and I don't know uh what the

[45:04] current response rate is since it seems

[45:06] to be predominantly

[45:08] uh digital digitally uh solicited

[45:12] feedback.

[45:13] >> Sure. Yeah, I'll check in with Robie

[45:15] about that. And just for the public

[45:16] awareness, I think council knows this.

[45:18] we were well you should because it

[45:21] was an agenda some time ago though. Um

[45:24] the strategy for this for the outreach

[45:26] for this particular comprehensive plan

[45:27] is more of a it's more of an update

[45:30] process because we could tell that the

[45:32] themes are generally still the themes.

[45:35] So it's really tweaking and updating the

[45:37] plan as opposed to kind of reimagining

[45:40] from scratch. Um so we haven't put in

[45:43] like a full court press effort. The

[45:45] other reason is because we've actually

[45:47] surveyed this community a lot recently.

[45:49] So we didn't want to get put people

[45:51] through fatigue. Of course, that sort of

[45:52] thing is more passive and might be inc

[45:55] um seen favorably. So, I'll check in

[45:57] with the planning director about that.

[45:58] >> Yeah, just creative ways to help um get

[46:02] some more awareness and um potentially

[46:05] feedback. So, that was something that

[46:07] stood out to me. Um and then

[46:10] >> it's funny once what you notice once

[46:12] you're in government.

[46:13] >> You would be surprised.

[46:17] Probably not.

[46:20] Um,

[46:22] I would love to hear more updates. Um,

[46:27] I'm not sure when the uh safe healthy

[46:31] connected update is scheduled. Um, but

[46:34] I'd love to hear more about how the uh

[46:37] move to and with the mayor's approval um

[46:41] the move to have the senior center

[46:43] position full-time, how that's

[46:45] progressing. I know we're only a

[46:49] you know, a first quarter in, but kind

[46:51] of want to keep a a pulse on that since

[46:53] that's something that we invested in for

[46:54] this fiscal year and it will be in

[46:57] informative in the budget moving

[46:59] forward.

[47:00] >> Sure, I will check in with Ray about

[47:02] that. Okay.

[47:03] >> Um, and then there is a little bit of

[47:05] there's a hint of it if you compare the

[47:08] senior center activity list from the

[47:11] current newsletter to like a few months

[47:14] ago.

[47:15] >> Yeah.

[47:16] >> Thank you.

[47:21] Um, yeah. So, I'm looking at the the

[47:24] Cascades garage. It's been an ongoing

[47:26] challenge for the last few quarters. Um,

[47:29] do you foresee bringing anything to

[47:32] council about doing a different approach

[47:34] for stabilizing the fund?

[47:37] >> It might I might have to.

[47:39] >> Okay.

[47:40] >> Yeah.

[47:41] >> I'm not there yet, but yeah, I might

[47:43] have to.

[47:44] >> Okay.

[47:45] Do you know what the last number is of

[47:48] how many leases or how many spots are

[47:50] need to be leased?

[47:51] >> I think we're

[47:53] we Angela able to um finalize four more.

[47:58] So I guess we're down to 207 instead of

[48:01] 211. We had a couple of inquiries come

[48:04] in over the weekend. I don't think

[48:05] either any of them have um

[48:08] actually been finalized yet. They've not

[48:11] been finalized, but we we've got quite a

[48:13] few individuals looking from uh the

[48:17] Riverhouse and Riverrun properties

[48:20] um that are parking a little bit further

[48:23] away right now.

[48:25] >> I know we communicated with landlords.

[48:27] Have we considered doing like a like a

[48:30] mass mailing to

[48:32] >> Yeah, we actually did that um earlier

[48:35] this summer. We did a mass mailing and

[48:38] had pretty much zero responses, but we

[48:41] do have emails for most of them. So, I

[48:43] sent out an email to everybody with two

[48:46] or more units, which is the whole

[48:48] registry. Um, that we hadn't already

[48:51] been in touch with. We did that last

[48:53] week. And then I sent a follow-up today

[48:57] to those that are within a half mile of

[49:00] the garageish.

[49:02] >> Yeah.

[49:02] I picked streets because it was

[49:03] harder to narrow down. So,

[49:05] >> Okay. There's some streets that are some

[49:07] parts of streets where people are

[49:08] further away.

[49:09] >> Yeah. And that was to the landlords or

[49:11] to the

[49:11] >> to landlords. Yeah.

[49:12] >> But I was talking about to

[49:14] >> Oh, to the tenants individual like

[49:15] residents

[49:16] >> cuz I recalling a conversation that

[49:20] happened at the end of the ribbon

[49:21] cutting where a landlord mentioned need

[49:23] resident their tenants needing parking,

[49:25] but I don't know if they followed up

[49:27] with you on getting that parking. So, I

[49:28] wonder if like maybe the landlords

[49:32] aren't communicating it too much. So, if

[49:34] we could go right to the tenants, maybe

[49:37] we'd see an update.

[49:38] >> That is a good thought. Yeah, that's a

[49:40] good point. So, I'm not sure if we can

[49:42] do this. It's easy to do a mass mailing

[49:46] to every address, but that would be

[49:48] >> probably very frowned upon by most of

[49:50] the people getting it. Um, but if there

[49:52] was a way to narrow down to u probably a

[49:54] quarter of a mile and email everybody,

[49:57] that would or mail to everybody, that

[49:59] would probably be worth doing.

[50:02] um just like my own mailings. Um I think

[50:05] you can wooi is just one zip code

[50:08] obviously but you can

[50:09] >> narrow down by some sections

[50:12] >> from what I understand.

[50:14] >> Okay, I'll look into that. Thank you.

[50:18] >> Thanks for bringing that up.

[50:22] » Yeah, I just want to say this is a very

[50:23] difficult task and I don't envy your

[50:25] position of trying to find uh customers.

[50:28] So, um, thank you for your work.

[50:31] >> Yeah, thank you. Um, yeah, this this was

[50:35] some of the math that was going through

[50:36] my head when we were negotiating about

[50:39] rates in with one larger user and I was

[50:44] like, could I rent out this money? I

[50:45] don't know. But yeah, had to reach a

[50:49] uncomfortable compromise, which is a

[50:51] sign that it was a good one. Like both

[50:53] of us weren't particularly thrilled, but

[50:55] we're okay with it. So yeah, now I'm

[50:57] dealing with my own decisions

[51:01] >> or technically recommendations to

[51:03] council, but yes, certainly.

[51:08] » Okay, thank you.

[51:09] >> Thank you.

[51:10] >> All right, our last item of the night,

[51:12] discussion, approval, council engagement

[51:14] on city budget. Council Turos, I

[51:16] >> feel like we're doing great this evening

[51:18] on time. Um, I'm deeply appreciative to

[51:22] everyone for putting this on the agenda.

[51:24] I also just noticed a typo, so I ap Oh,

[51:27] no, this is right. 2027. Sorry, I don't

[51:29] know what days are. Um, so the memo is

[51:32] shared with you all. It's also shared

[51:34] with the public. Um, I've been sort of

[51:37] like talking about this for a long time,

[51:39] but I think I just wanted to and also

[51:40] with the nudge of the mayor and the city

[51:42] manager. Um, wanted to sort of bring

[51:45] this out into as James Bald as James

[51:48] Baldwin says, sunlight is the best

[51:49] disinfectant. And so just having a

[51:51] conversation in the open air about

[51:55] how hard it is for our neighbors, I'm

[51:58] trying not to use absolutist language,

[51:59] how difficult it can be to understand a

[52:01] budget. And I know before I joined city

[52:04] council, I had like no idea what a

[52:08] municipal, local government, city budget

[52:10] entailed, all of the line items, right?

[52:12] And I had like been a part of and or run

[52:14] like multi-million dollar nonprofits.

[52:16] Obviously, a city is like nothing like

[52:18] it. And last year I was so new to the

[52:22] budget process that I just was trying to

[52:24] be like don't mess up. Um and this year

[52:29] I'm really

[52:31] um pushing myself forward and as an

[52:34] elected official on city council wanting

[52:36] to like live and operationalize my

[52:38] values and therefore I believe also

[52:39] shared values of our neighbors. And so

[52:41] one of the things that I have been

[52:42] thinking about and this literally

[52:44] happened on the birdwalk is

[52:46] um myself and a neighbor and her young

[52:49] child were there and she was saying like

[52:52] wow I just feel like there's so many

[52:53] things like happening in Manuski all of

[52:55] a sudden and I literally turned to her

[52:57] and I said oh you know what insert name

[52:59] here I said this is a great thing for

[53:01] you to come and talk about at a budget

[53:02] meeting because what you're noticing is

[53:05] a literal um

[53:08] uh employment position that was like we

[53:11] talked about in budget last year, it was

[53:14] approved. It's now been implemented and

[53:16] you can tangibly see it. And so one of

[53:19] the things that I've been really in a

[53:21] loving way is pushing residents to say

[53:24] like if you see something right the

[53:26] opposite of NYPD, if you see something,

[53:28] say something. And wanting us space is

[53:31] unhappy and wanting us to really just

[53:34] notice what our city what's happening in

[53:36] our city. But then I also understand

[53:38] that there are so many folks in our city

[53:39] who like cannot come to a city council

[53:42] meeting. Um by the time that we get to

[53:45] them for council and community, the

[53:48] budget has already been passed. They

[53:50] have questions, etc. And so I guess I

[53:52] just am like throwing spaghetti at the

[53:54] wall. And I'm really just saying like

[53:56] what can we do? We don't have to do any

[53:59] of the things in this, but I'm just

[54:00] wanting to have a conversation around

[54:03] how can we help our neighbors and some

[54:06] of like right some of the people who

[54:07] live in our homes to better understand

[54:09] our budget and what these decisions mean

[54:12] and to connect it to say when you want

[54:15] us to fill in a pothole or when you want

[54:18] us to resurface a street that decision

[54:20] is made now. And I think it's just like

[54:23] trying to Yeah. Um, that's it.

[54:30] » Uh, Al, thank you. I appreciate you

[54:34] emailing me about this and having this

[54:36] conversation. You know, I think

[54:39] um, you know, outreach is and connecting

[54:43] with the community is something that we

[54:45] and I think all I don't want to just say

[54:46] we all city councils and all levels of

[54:49] government struggle with um, for so many

[54:53] reasons, right? And

[54:56] one thing that I was kind of liked to

[54:59] see here is I think a lot of these

[55:00] things we do try to do um or we in fact

[55:04] do do. I hate saying that. Um

[55:09] I and I I totally appreciate the

[55:13] sometimes it feels like maybe we've

[55:15] gotten to do these outreach activities

[55:17] too late in the process or that people

[55:20] have already voted. Um,

[55:23] and I'm not opposed in any way to trying

[55:26] to move some of those things up. I

[55:29] think,

[55:32] um, you know, one one important thing

[55:34] going into this is just remembering that

[55:37] we as a representative government

[55:40] literally should be doing this work all

[55:43] year long, right? So, like every

[55:47] conversation that we have throughout the

[55:50] year is budget outreach in a way or at

[55:55] least should be. Um, and it's our job to

[55:59] be like when we're at the farmers market

[56:01] and we're talking to somebody to try to

[56:02] like tease out some of these questions.

[56:05] >> Mhm. Um, and I think that's kind of

[56:09] like like that's kind of what I is like

[56:12] one of the biggest parts of our role is

[56:14] like we're gathering budget information

[56:16] all year long.

[56:18] >> And I'm not I don't I don't think that

[56:19] any of you are doing this, but like

[56:21] nobody's coming a week before budget and

[56:22] being like, "Oh I think these are

[56:24] my these are the things that I want to

[56:26] tell Elaine I care about."

[56:27] >> Mhm. Like I think we're in theory like

[56:29] we're gathering that information all

[56:30] year and like what I you know told

[56:33] Elaine were my priorities or like not

[56:36] what like Thomas Rener thinks are the

[56:38] best things to do but like I've heard

[56:40] from enough people in the community that

[56:42] I think that these are the best things.

[56:45] Um, you know, some of them, some things

[56:48] I suggest will never impact me, like a

[56:50] playground. The playground that I

[56:52] suggested, like probably not going to go

[56:54] play on the playground, but I've been

[56:56] told by enough people and I think that

[56:57] that's a good idea.

[56:58] >> Um,

[57:00] so I think like

[57:03] maybe trying to do some things a little

[57:05] earlier is good. I do and we we have to

[57:08] find the balance with a particular

[57:10] senior care facility. But like there is

[57:13] an importance in once we formulated the

[57:16] budget putting that out to the community

[57:19] cuz I do think there's also like a

[57:20] decent amount of people who are like

[57:23] I don't know what should be in the

[57:24] budget but that's why I voted for you

[57:26] like you figured this out. Um,

[57:31] and then there's also people who are

[57:32] like, you know, we'll ask them,

[57:35] you know, what makes it harder to live

[57:36] or work in Reuski and they'll say, well,

[57:37] we need a grocery store.

[57:39] >> We're not going to open a grocery store

[57:41] unless I don't have Mandani money, so

[57:44] can't do that. But is it important to

[57:47] know they'd like a grocery store? Yes.

[57:49] We advocated with GMT two years ago,

[57:52] last year, to get up to Shaws, and

[57:54] they're now doing that. So

[57:55] >> we couldn't get a grocery store, but we

[57:57] were able to do the next best thing in a

[58:00] way, right? So we'd heard from enough

[58:02] people, can you open a grocery store?

[58:03] That we're

[58:04] like, well, what is the way we can get

[58:06] people to a grocery store? So it's not

[58:07] that that's not important feedback, but

[58:10] we do want to be trying to make sure

[58:12] that we're getting feedback that we can

[58:15] actually turn into things that us as a

[58:17] small city can turn into a budget. So

[58:19] one thing I I really love and I

[58:21] definitely like to implement is this

[58:22] Wooki Youth Budget Lab.

[58:24] Um, I I I think that's easy enough. I

[58:28] can send an email tonight if we if we

[58:30] all would like to do that. Um, I think

[58:33] that for those of us who have been able

[58:35] to go up to the school and talk to the

[58:37] students there, they always have a very

[58:39] interesting perspective. Um I or what is

[58:43] also enlightening is that they

[58:47] generally have the same perspective as

[58:49] adults and it's like oh wow that is so

[58:52] bad that you are talking about it as a

[58:54] 12-year-old. So um yeah I totally love

[58:58] that.

[58:58] >> I think also one of the great things

[59:00] that personally is my favorite and I one

[59:02] of the great things that can happen

[59:03] there is that students can then say when

[59:06] they're talking to their caregivers,

[59:08] siblings, etc. in the community can also

[59:10] say like we're working on this thing

[59:12] about the budget. I didn't know this,

[59:13] right? And then you have sort of like a

[59:15] larger potentially familial home

[59:18] conversation regarding the budget. Um

[59:21] and so that was the other thing is that

[59:23] I think it's one of those right I always

[59:24] think about relational organizing. Um

[59:27] and that that is like where community

[59:28] and safety is held. And I think this is

[59:30] a great way to get folks um yeah just

[59:34] younger to talk about.

[59:35] >> Yeah. The the budget game. I don't know

[59:38] if we've been able to take that to the

[59:39] farmers market at all this season.

[59:42] >> Yeah, Angela did go.

[59:43] >> You did go. Okay, great. And then

[59:45] >> I've been twice this year.

[59:46] >> Oh, perfect. Okay. So, so yeah, so that

[59:50] is active and working. Thank you,

[59:51] Angela. Um, and I do always find that provides a decent amount of

[59:57] insight, but then also we have to like

[1:00:00] and the role that we have as counselors

[1:00:01] working with staff and understanding the

[1:00:03] background of it is like you'll have

[1:00:06] people who will put all of their dollars

[1:00:07] in one bucket.

[1:00:08] >> And then it's like, okay, again, fine

[1:00:10] for me, the public, but like we can't do

[1:00:13] that bucket without the other buckets.

[1:00:15] So, you know, a caveat, you know, you

[1:00:19] can all take from what what you would

[1:00:21] like from that, but I'll just throw that

[1:00:22] caveat out there. And then on top of

[1:00:25] this, and I I've sent it twice now, so I

[1:00:28] think you all have probably seen it, but

[1:00:30] the city paid for uh a survey to find

[1:00:33] what people wanted. So, to Ela's point

[1:00:36] of like over surveying people, we did

[1:00:38] survey them once.

[1:00:39] >> So, you didn't recommend a survey here,

[1:00:41] but I know we had kind of talked about

[1:00:42] it a little bit. Um, but I would just

[1:00:44] recommend if you haven't had a chance to look that over to really take a dive

[1:00:49] into that. Um, it was done really well.

[1:00:53] Um, and I think that there's some

[1:00:55] insightful things. I will say I think

[1:00:57] that I'm I'm proud that this group, I

[1:00:59] think, is very in tune from at least our last budget discussion to already

[1:01:04] being to already reflecting what was in

[1:01:06] that survey. So, I think that what our

[1:01:09] community is asking for hasn't changed

[1:01:11] too too much in the past few years. Um,

[1:01:14] but yeah, I I think this is I really

[1:01:17] appreciate the work that you put into

[1:01:18] this and I think we're doing some and we

[1:01:21] can definitely pick up some more. Um,

[1:01:24] this is that you are the city manager.

[1:01:26] Budget exercise is fun as well.

[1:01:29] >> Yeah, I just I have seen that

[1:01:32] particularly at the community dinner so

[1:01:34] many um res right. It's just it's like a g it's a a central gathering space.

[1:01:40] And so I thought like I'd be more than

[1:01:41] happy to work a table where it's just

[1:01:43] like you are a city manager and then

[1:01:46] boom there's a snowstorm a water man

[1:01:49] breaks you your plow doesn't work

[1:01:50] anymore right and I think it's one of

[1:01:53] those things that so often happens in

[1:01:55] community when you are living as a

[1:01:57] resident in a city it's just like oh

[1:01:59] well my parents will take care of this

[1:02:01] like city council and the man and the

[1:02:03] city manager and right and they don't

[1:02:05] you and I'll say I'll speak for myself I

[1:02:07] never considered like I would be mad

[1:02:10] when the sidewalks weren't plowed, but

[1:02:11] then when they were plowed, I wasn't

[1:02:13] like, I'm so

[1:02:16] >> right. And so to me, it's just the idea

[1:02:17] of like having so many entry points and

[1:02:19] potential ladders of engagement and um

[1:02:22] I'm not asking members of city council

[1:02:24] to like give more capacity than you

[1:02:26] have.

[1:02:27] >> I'm just saying like I'm very excited

[1:02:29] about this and I know that there would

[1:02:30] be other people who, you know, would

[1:02:32] maybe just um be interested. And so, um,

[1:02:35] but I did really want to put that in

[1:02:37] there that I'm I understand that staff

[1:02:39] is already so maxed.

[1:02:41] >> Um, and I think it's just me ideally

[1:02:44] it's not me asking for anything more.

[1:02:45] It's just the idea of like let's just

[1:02:46] like tune up an equity lens maybe.

[1:02:50] >> Yeah. So, I think one thing that, you

[1:02:52] know, we should do

[1:02:54] for sure is pick back up doing council

[1:02:57] in the community.

[1:02:58] >> Um, there's a I just asked Bren, there's

[1:03:01] a couple more farmers markets. We have

[1:03:03] been to the farmers market in the past.

[1:03:05] So like I'll email Sarah and see if we

[1:03:07] can get another little city booth. We've

[1:03:09] done that before. Um

[1:03:13] and just really try to start doing that.

[1:03:15] I think that is a really and they're,

[1:03:18] you know, some are better attended than

[1:03:19] others, but um it's an easy I think it's

[1:03:23] the easiest way to get us out, you know,

[1:03:27] and I've talked to you about this

[1:03:28] before, like I think it's important for

[1:03:31] us to be going to things as opposed to

[1:03:33] trying to get people to come to us.

[1:03:35] Obviously, there are there are ways that

[1:03:36] we do want to do that and times when we

[1:03:39] want to do that, but if we can think of

[1:03:41] those ways of getting ourselves into the

[1:03:44] community in different ways more, um I

[1:03:49] think that's beneficial as well.

[1:03:53] Um I've talked a lot.

[1:03:58] Um just want to note uh thank you

[1:04:01] councelor Chos for your memo and your

[1:04:04] enthusiasm um and for highlighting that

[1:04:08] um we're meeting people along varying

[1:04:13] degrees of continuum um with their

[1:04:16] awareness and understanding of what a

[1:04:18] city budget is, what goes into it, what

[1:04:20] are immovable and movable investments

[1:04:24] that that were either um optional or

[1:04:28] obligated to and the number of

[1:04:31] conversations that that I have where

[1:04:34] it's like now's a really good time.

[1:04:36] Now's a good time to provide your

[1:04:38] feedback. Now it's like if you wanted to

[1:04:41] know when now is now is the win.

[1:04:44] >> Um and then as you know the mayor noted

[1:04:48] just the follow-up question is just

[1:04:50] saying like I don't even I don't like I

[1:04:52] don't even know where to begin. um or

[1:04:55] you know feeling of frustration of like

[1:04:57] well how do I even know like if it makes

[1:05:00] a difference

[1:05:02] >> um and and then just feeling like they

[1:05:05] took the time they put the thought into

[1:05:06] it and then not feeling like it's

[1:05:08] necessarily heard because we may not be

[1:05:11] able to provide you know a chain grocery

[1:05:13] store in town but we have other markets

[1:05:16] in town and when we can do more to

[1:05:18] highlight that those existing services

[1:05:20] exist and advocate for the um the

[1:05:24] transit system to improve the services

[1:05:27] um to to those larger stores. Um so it's a

[1:05:34] an ongoing educational process. It is a

[1:05:37] year- round process. Um and it's I think

[1:05:42] the point in time actually thinking

[1:05:45] about timing.

[1:05:47] Um and I'm also spitballing here so bear

[1:05:50] with me. Um

[1:05:53] I think as the reminders for the

[1:05:56] quarterly taxes come up are when people

[1:05:58] are reminded how

[1:06:00] >> they're impacted by taxes.

[1:06:01] >> Yeah.

[1:06:02] >> So obviously we just had that due this

[1:06:06] past month. um you know we're entering

[1:06:08] into the larger budget season but I

[1:06:10] think those are also touch points where

[1:06:12] folks feel that reality and it's

[1:06:15] tangible of like oh right I have to pay

[1:06:18] my municipal taxes now and there and

[1:06:21] that's when it's front of front of mind

[1:06:24] so I don't

[1:06:25] >> I don't know in particular if there's

[1:06:29] more that can go into the Wooki

[1:06:31] newsletter I I think how it's front

[1:06:33] porch forum or both but I think trying

[1:06:36] to catch people when the timing is front

[1:06:38] of mind

[1:06:40] >> um may help with their engagement may

[1:06:42] help with their um understanding or

[1:06:45] willing to kind of focus on that

[1:06:47] conversation at that point in time.

[1:06:49] >> Yeah, my update in this issue of the

[1:06:53] newsletter had something about the

[1:06:54] budget and we'll continue to do that

[1:06:57] until you know

[1:06:59] >> a variation of it until election day.

[1:07:01] So, um, and it's actually people do read

[1:07:04] that, which I

[1:07:05] >> a lot of people do.

[1:07:06] >> Yeah.

[1:07:08] >> Which is great. Um,

[1:07:13] >> you know,

[1:07:14] >> I wonder um about the

[1:07:18] uh I'm going to get to the language so I

[1:07:21] can um the youth budget lab. I'm

[1:07:26] curious

[1:07:29] the the vision for execution. Um, and as

[1:07:36] a followup, um, if there's I don't know

[1:07:40] if the financial literacy courses um,

[1:07:44] >> and curriculum

[1:07:46] have an opportunity. It may it may be

[1:07:48] too late for this year,

[1:07:49] >> but I wonder if there's an element where

[1:07:52] that could be a tiein for a

[1:07:55] year-over-year thing

[1:07:56] >> and not just a one point in time thing.

[1:07:59] >> So again, spitballing, I'll leave it

[1:08:01] there.

[1:08:01] >> Yeah.

[1:08:03] >> Regarding execution, I had thought I

[1:08:05] know both the mayor and myself and I'm

[1:08:07] sure others during their tenure have

[1:08:08] visited um civics classes at the school.

[1:08:11] I just went on a lovely field trip with

[1:08:13] them to the library. Um, and so I was

[1:08:16] either thinking that we could do like

[1:08:17] specific executed outreach to that

[1:08:19] particular um, class and or um, like

[1:08:24] tomorrow morning when I'm at the school,

[1:08:25] I might just off the cuff mention it to

[1:08:27] some educators and see what they think

[1:08:29] and if it could work and I right I'm not

[1:08:31] an educator so I don't know what the

[1:08:33] level like, you know, does it need to be

[1:08:34] a senior in high school or um, but I

[1:08:37] think it could be helpful regarding like

[1:08:38] budgeting and money and stuff like that.

[1:08:40] So, um, my execution originally was

[1:08:43] mainly just civics classes, but I do

[1:08:45] think it could be helpful. And I know

[1:08:47] when we've had, um, conversations, kids

[1:08:51] oftentimes are just like, what is your

[1:08:52] job as a city counselor? Like, what do

[1:08:54] you do? And then to weave that into a

[1:08:56] broader conversation regarding our

[1:08:58] budget, I think could be really helpful.

[1:09:00] >> Yeah. Will you

[1:09:03] let me just email Walmart?

[1:09:05] >> Yes. because my thought on this is I

[1:09:08] don't want to narrow it just to the

[1:09:09] civics classes. I'd almost like for him

[1:09:13] or one of the principles to communicate

[1:09:16] out to like the entire population of

[1:09:18] teachers and be like

[1:09:20] >> would having city counselors come to

[1:09:22] your class be of interest

[1:09:24] >> and then

[1:09:25] >> cuz like I don't know a math teacher

[1:09:28] could find that interesting right if

[1:09:30] we're like going to go and talk about

[1:09:31] the budget.

[1:09:32] >> So I don't want to like limit it to just

[1:09:35] because I think that's primarily who

[1:09:36] we've spoken to is the civics and like

[1:09:38] social studies classes which has been

[1:09:39] great but like I don't know maybe our

[1:09:42] class will want to have us in

[1:09:45] >> and we can just see

[1:09:46] >> yeah I think also

[1:09:47] >> pick it up cuz I I like if we really

[1:09:49] want like a youth perspective like I

[1:09:51] think we'd want to visit like multiple

[1:09:53] times. So

[1:09:56] >> I love

[1:10:00] that be cool.

[1:10:03] >> I just like

[1:10:06] » you can come visit. You can come be open

[1:10:08] a door open with me every morning.

[1:10:09] >> I wish I could have

[1:10:12] >> vis.

[1:10:17] » Yeah.

[1:10:19] >> Um I love the the discussion about

[1:10:22] closing the loop. I think that's a

[1:10:24] really important aspect. Um, especially

[1:10:27] if people do make it over hurdles to to

[1:10:30] come here or to comment or to talk to us

[1:10:32] and tell us their concerns. Um, and I

[1:10:35] think perhaps this might be a great

[1:10:36] opportunity to start a shared document

[1:10:38] much as we do for our own questions for

[1:10:40] the budget where we collect these

[1:10:42] throughout the season and the responses

[1:10:44] from the city and we work on this. Is

[1:10:46] this something that we could create a

[1:10:47] shared document of? When we hear a

[1:10:50] budget question, when someone comes and

[1:10:52] talks to us, when we have a

[1:10:53] conversation, we add that the person's

[1:10:56] name, contact information if available,

[1:10:58] and then not only do we have a shared

[1:11:01] collection of our questions over the

[1:11:02] budget season, but everyone else's

[1:11:04] feedback. And perhaps seeing that all

[1:11:06] laid out um is helpful. Um, I think

[1:11:10] perhaps it it doesn't just include us

[1:11:12] like it doesn't just limit us to be

[1:11:14] like, I had a conversation with someone

[1:11:15] that says this. We can see it tangibly

[1:11:17] laid out and that also

[1:11:20] provides a more organized method to

[1:11:21] actually respond to people to close the

[1:11:23] loop to let them know we heard your

[1:11:25] question about this. This is what we

[1:11:27] implemented or not.

[1:11:28] >> Um, so a shared repository.

[1:11:32] >> Yeah. I'd be interested to know about

[1:11:34] the staff staff oper

[1:11:38] staff can operate I can't speak

[1:11:40] >> operationalize

[1:11:41] >> if staff can operationalize that because

[1:11:44] um I think if we hear from a resident

[1:11:47] and they say I care about X and then

[1:11:50] that becomes the budget close the loop

[1:11:52] like let them know you know that's fine

[1:11:55] but

[1:11:56] is that something staff would be able to

[1:11:59] do for folks who either come here or

[1:12:01] were right. And

[1:12:05] >> so we do have budget at wanuskivt.gov

[1:12:08] just live all the time. So we that's our

[1:12:10] intent with that obviously it I mean

[1:12:13] obviously to us because we only get

[1:12:15] council question from council in that

[1:12:17] but that is not having the intended

[1:12:20] effect. So you know it it I'm not sure

[1:12:25] if we be able to manage it but uh that's

[1:12:27] certainly what we should be doing. So,

[1:12:30] let's I I think it would be fine to give

[1:12:32] it a try. I think the maybe the way to

[1:12:36] No, actually, that probably wouldn't

[1:12:37] work.

[1:12:38] >> Can I ask a question?

[1:12:39] >> Sure, Doc.

[1:12:41] >> Sorry. Um I had the same thought about

[1:12:43] the budget email and I know one of the

[1:12:45] things that I've been trying to do more

[1:12:46] recently is when someone comes when a

[1:12:48] resident or neighbor comes to me about

[1:12:50] something, I literally say, "I'm so

[1:12:52] grateful that you shared this with me.

[1:12:53] Please email the mayor and city

[1:12:54] manager." Um, and so I'm wondering if

[1:12:57] now particularly regarding budgets,

[1:13:00] >> if someone and I I'll just for myself if

[1:13:02] someone comes to me and says something

[1:13:04] about the budget, I'm going to say like,

[1:13:05] "Thank you for sharing." And just so

[1:13:07] that we have a record of it, which I

[1:13:09] think is so smart, council good to just

[1:13:11] put it in that email.

[1:13:13] >> Yes, certainly. Also, um, I don't know

[1:13:18] how many people are actually doing that.

[1:13:20] So you might if you have the capacity

[1:13:22] yourselves you might offer to write it

[1:13:24] for them as an alternative.

[1:13:28] Um, we were do I was doing that with the

[1:13:31] main street. I mean, obviously this is

[1:13:32] my full-time job, so it's a it's just a

[1:13:34] little bit different, but uh with the

[1:13:36] Main Street questions, if somebody who

[1:13:39] had of course access to email had a

[1:13:41] question about Main Street, I would get

[1:13:43] their email address and copy them

[1:13:45] >> on the question to info at

[1:13:48] >> just to again make it a little bit

[1:13:50] easier for them to get the information.

[1:13:52] >> Yeah. Yeah. I mean there also is like we are the representatives of the

[1:13:58] public. So like if somebody says to you,

[1:14:00] I want more sidewalk paving. Like in

[1:14:03] theory like you don't have to have the

[1:14:08] resident input that like

[1:14:10] >> Mhm. you are the inputter, you know, but

[1:14:12] like

[1:14:13] >> um

[1:14:14] >> so like yeah, obviously if they want to

[1:14:15] write it because they want it like

[1:14:17] officially said, but like also you can

[1:14:19] just,

[1:14:20] >> you know, as we're talking about budget

[1:14:22] like

[1:14:22] >> Yeah. And to be clear, I don't I don't

[1:14:24] think that we should be asking citizens

[1:14:26] to go through like an extra step to like

[1:14:27] report it this way. I think it should be

[1:14:29] us inputting information

[1:14:31] >> um that we heard this from a citizen and

[1:14:35] then we will all have access to what we

[1:14:37] heard from a citizen.

[1:14:39] Also, just a note, I I went to the

[1:14:41] budget email. I thought, but actually, I

[1:14:44] like um Elsie's idea of a shared

[1:14:46] document because it does take some

[1:14:48] effort to transcribe from one email into

[1:14:51] a shared doc. So, if we just start with

[1:14:52] a shared doc, it would probably be

[1:14:54] better,

[1:14:55] >> especially since you would just be

[1:14:57] relaying resident questions. It's

[1:14:58] dicier. If you have the question,

[1:15:01] everybody sees it on council. That's

[1:15:03] different. So, if it's just relaying a

[1:15:04] resident question, I think a shared doc

[1:15:06] would work.

[1:15:06] >> Yeah.

[1:15:07] And likewise, if people aren't

[1:15:09] comfortable, they don't they don't want

[1:15:11] us to follow up, they don't want their

[1:15:12] name down, it can still be I heard from

[1:15:14] a citizen this question, this comment,

[1:15:17] and we can still have those in the

[1:15:18] forefront as we're having the budget

[1:15:19] discussions.

[1:15:21] >> Thank you.

[1:15:31] » Okay. Um, this was on for discussion

[1:15:34] approval.

[1:15:35] >> Oh,

[1:15:36] >> I don't really Is there anything you

[1:15:38] need to vote for from this? I mean,

[1:15:40] besides

[1:15:40] >> Well, I'm I was thinking this was your

[1:15:43] discussion about what your what is going

[1:15:45] to do. So, it's up to you.

[1:15:47] >> Yeah.

[1:15:47] >> You haven't I Yeah, I would not ask you

[1:15:50] to direct us to do anything other than

[1:15:52] maybe provide some more information if

[1:15:53] there's something that you want coun uh

[1:15:55] staff to do. But other than that, it's

[1:15:58] just if there was an approach that you

[1:15:59] wanted to decide on. And I don't want to

[1:16:01] like I guess we could vote on it, but

[1:16:04] like whenever we've been to an apartment

[1:16:07] complex, if Angela hasn't been available

[1:16:09] to bring to bring the budget games,

[1:16:11] she's always made herself available for

[1:16:13] me to pick it up. So like I would just

[1:16:16] ask that you continue to be able to do

[1:16:18] that, Angela. Um

[1:16:21] but yeah, I mean I think like I think

[1:16:23] nobody is vastly against anything here.

[1:16:27] I think we definitely have some intrigue

[1:16:29] in the Wookski Youth Budget Lab. So, I

[1:16:32] will uh get to working on that. And I

[1:16:35] think the other thing we have to do is

[1:16:37] start scheduling some councils in the

[1:16:39] community. We have like our standard

[1:16:40] ones, but if there's any thing that you

[1:16:43] all think of as well of like a place we

[1:16:45] should go, right?

[1:16:46] >> Pumpkin carving.

[1:16:48] >> Pumpkin carbon.

[1:16:49] >> We will be pumpkin carving. Yes.

[1:16:52] You're just trying to You're just You're

[1:16:54] just trying to give me like PTSD in my

[1:16:56] head or something.

[1:16:57] >> I'm saying it's a a highly attended Yes.

[1:17:01] >> gathering point.

[1:17:02] >> It is. It is.

[1:17:04] >> Um

[1:17:06] Yeah. And then I mean I think like

[1:17:08] >> And it's inside.

[1:17:10] >> Yeah. I mean I think everybody

[1:17:11] definitely shows up to that I feel like.

[1:17:13] But um I mean I think like you know a

[1:17:16] part of the part of this conversation is

[1:17:19] just the continued conversations that we

[1:17:22] keep trying to have and

[1:17:25] reminding

[1:17:27] residents how they can learn about the

[1:17:30] budget too, right? Like we are having

[1:17:33] these conversation like yes we need to

[1:17:35] go out and do stuff but also the actual

[1:17:37] work is here. So if people can find a

[1:17:41] way to watch to come to watch later

[1:17:46] listen to it as a podcast when they're

[1:17:48] driving to work like we also should be

[1:17:51] trying to drive people to like

[1:17:54] that that source too. like it's when

[1:17:58] we're having our conversations in here,

[1:18:00] like we can have conversations with

[1:18:02] people outside and we can bring it here

[1:18:03] and we can all discuss it, but it's

[1:18:07] it is super impactful and I get that not

[1:18:09] everybody can do it, but if we're having

[1:18:10] a discussion about the budget and

[1:18:12] there's five people who are sitting

[1:18:14] right there and they're all like, "Whoa,

[1:18:15] whoa, whoa." Like, "What are you all

[1:18:17] talking about?" That also is, I think,

[1:18:20] kind of like some of the most impactful

[1:18:21] stuff. Again, it's 6 p.m. on a Monday.

[1:18:23] Not everybody can come. Um, but like if

[1:18:27] we can keep trying to remind people

[1:18:29] about one the existence of this meeting,

[1:18:31] like I still run into people who like

[1:18:33] have no idea when we meet, where we

[1:18:34] meet. So like the more we talk about

[1:18:38] that, like the more we

[1:18:40] post about it on our own personal social

[1:18:42] media when we're grabbing our coffee,

[1:18:45] say, "Have you ever seen a city council

[1:18:47] meeting?" Like,

[1:18:49] >> "How come we never see you at

[1:18:51] >> Yeah. Like, you know, you have so many

[1:18:53] thoughts. I'd love to see you at city

[1:18:55] hall if you're able to. Um,

[1:19:00] that also is super important work. And

[1:19:02] you know, I've been trying to encourage

[1:19:04] the commissions to do that. If you can

[1:19:07] encourage your commissioners to do that,

[1:19:08] they hold a vast amount of knowledge as

[1:19:11] well. Um, and also that's another place,

[1:19:14] you know, that gives people, oh, we have

[1:19:16] five commissions, five different

[1:19:18] meetings that people can go to. And

[1:19:20] again, it's still on a weekday. It's

[1:19:22] still at 6:00 or 5:30 whenever you all

[1:19:24] meet, but it gives more avenues for

[1:19:27] people to show up during public comment

[1:19:29] and and give a thought if possible. So,

[1:19:32] um, great, great, great, great, great, Um, yeah, I don't think we need a

[1:19:38] vote here. I think we're good. I also

[1:19:39] wouldn't know what to say for us to have

[1:19:41] a vote. So,

[1:19:43] >> um, but I know we've got we've got some

[1:19:45] good stuff and um I'll

[1:19:49] send you all those fun Outlook polls. I

[1:19:52] started thinking of some things for us

[1:19:54] to do. Um, and yeah, if you see like an

[1:19:56] event that's like happening in the city

[1:19:58] or like very close to, like we can, you

[1:20:02] know, I can reach out and see if that's

[1:20:04] something that city council could table

[1:20:06] at or that we could, you know, if we

[1:20:08] can't table, maybe a couple of us can

[1:20:10] just go and attend together and things

[1:20:11] like that. So,

[1:20:13] um, yeah. Awesome.

[1:20:15] >> If I may.

[1:20:16] >> Yes, please. And do let me know if if

[1:20:18] you all are appearing because uh I know

[1:20:21] you get a lot of questions you don't

[1:20:22] necessarily have the answer at the spare

[1:20:24] fingers and I might not either but I I

[1:20:26] should have more that is what I'm pay to

[1:20:29] do. So that is also an important part of

[1:20:31] my job.

[1:20:32] >> Yeah.

[1:20:32] >> So at least I wanted the opportunity to

[1:20:34] check my calendar.

[1:20:35] >> Thank you. Appreciate that.

[1:20:37] >> Okay. Well, thanks all. Thanks. With

[1:20:41] that, the time is 7:24. I will uh seek a

[1:20:44] motion to adjurnn tonight's meeting.

[1:20:45] >> So moved. All those in favor?

[1:20:47] >> I.

[1:20:47] >> Wonderful. Thanks everyone.

[1:21:46] down.

[1:21:51] Hey

Winooski City Council - 10/5/2026

Transcript