• While authorized department staffing exceeds pre-pandemic levels (144 vs 140), we should consider further expanding hiring caps for modern professional support staff including Community Service Officers (CSOs) and Community Support Liaisons (CSLs).

• Consider expanding Urban Park Ranger program in the Parks Department.

• Consider extending signing bonuses to cover unsworn as well as sworn officers.

• Continue aggressive efforts to re-staff to current sworn officer cap, which by all accounts will take several years, despite raises and retention and signing bonuses. Loss of police officers has been a big problem everywhere: Democratic mayoral candidate CD Mattison has highlighted that 900 police officers in the state of VT quit in the year after George Floyd’s murder in 2020. 

• Deploy resources efficiently: per the December chief's report, "we had a strong contingent of officers (13) on overtime" for the tree lighting ceremony; this is probably too many, given that regularly scheduled patrols are understaffed.

• Work with Fire Chief LaChance, who was able to stand up a CARES rapid response team in a matter of weeks (based on CAHOOTs model).

• Ensure cases are reaching State's Attorney Sarah George's desk in a timely manner in order to better address issues like repeat larceny offenses.

• Ensure BPD has at least one entrance open to the public.

• Properly train sworn officers in de-escalation and mental health response to build community trust and mitigate use of force lawsuits which have cost the city dearly.

• Ensure BPD accountability and transparency (e.g., online incident reporting response details need to be publicly available on a regular basis and cases should not be closed without communication). 

• Expand City Center Area patrols, posting community service liaisons in City Hall Park and on Church Street every day to increase safety downtown and get needy individuals connected to social services.

Support Harm Reduction 

• Work with our state representatives to expand methadone access, bring an overdose prevention center to Burlington, invest in detox facilities, and modernize public health response systems.

• The opposite of addiction, crime, and other anti-social behavior is connection: we must get at root causes by following through on CEDO's Neighborhood Project and further supporting partner organizations such as COTs, Vermonters for Criminal Justice Reform, Howard Center, the Community Justice Center.

• Evaluate effectiveness, neighborhood impact, and scalability of Elmwood Community Shelter, and consider using Housing Trust Fund to bring unhoused individuals directly into housing.

• Take creative approaches to dealing with problems like graffiti, such as designating a public place where graffiti is permitted, and hiring local artists to add murals which have been shown to reduce graffiti.

Independent Climate Policy Development

Comprehensive Measures for Emission Reduction

• Double councilor pay to make city leadership positions more accessible to working class.

• Expand state public campaign finance program down to municipal level, similar to how Portland ME, Seattle WA, and other cities have done.

• Ensure the council is responsive to the incredible public input we receive for such a small city.

• Stop shutting down public comment at city council meetings before everyone who has signed up has had a chance to speak.

• Show respect for the public by putting qualifying advisory ballot items on the ballot.

• Support a version of 'Prop Zero' to enshrine voters' democratic right to putting binding ballot on the ballot.