City Council - Regular Meeting

Hello. Thanks for tuning in to Town Meeting Television's coverage of Town Meeting Day 2026. My name is Elaine Haney and this program is part of a series of candidate forums hosted by Town Meeting TV in advance of the Town Meeting Day election on Tuesday, March 3rd, 2026. These forums are made possible by Townmeating Television's generous underwriting partners. You can find all our forums at cctv.org/tmd2026 or on our Town Meeting TV YouTube channel where autogenerated captions are available. If you're tuning in on YouTube, click the subscribe button to stay tuned to Local Democracy this election season. On tonight's program, we will hear from two candidates who are incumbents running for city councelor positions in the city of Burlington. Those candidates are Carter Newbieser, progressive from Ward 1, and Gene Bergman, progressive from Ward 2. Welcome.

Hi, thanks for having us. We have prepared a list of questions for each of you, and you will have 90 seconds to answer each question. Rebuttals will only be allowed if a candidate is named directly, in which case you will have 30 seconds to respond.

Okay. If you're tuning in live, we also welcome your questions at 8028623966. If you call in, we'll do our best to prioritize your question, though we will screen calls to ensure that questions are not repeated. We ask that you share your name, the town you live in, and that your question be directed to all candidates, not just one candidate in particular. You can also submit questions for future forums at our website, cctv.org/tmd2026. So let's get started. Each of you can have a one minute opening statement and we will start with you Gene Burkeman. Okay. Well, first let me say I'm really pleased to be serving with Carter. We are running unopposed. Okay.

So um this is really not a debate between us and we our colleagues on there. Um is the question I guess that I've been asked to say what I love about Burlington and why I want to serve why you want to serve

why I want to serve as a a city counselor. Um, boy, I have lived in Burlington as an adult since I was 18 and the scale of the city, our neighborhoods. I've lived in the old north end for virtually all of that time. So, I love the diversity. I love the fact that I am in a workingclass community. Uh, I was able when I worked at the Free Press in production to ride my bike and it took me three minutes to get to work. Um, I love 10 seconds.

10 seconds. I love the views of the lake and the mountains and I love being able to get to all of that. And there you go. That's great. Thank you, Carter. Um, yeah, thank you for having us. And it Yeah, it made me chuckle. Uh, the rebuttal line. I was like, I'm gonna 15. We have specific rules.

No, it makes sense. It's good, good practice. Um, well, yeah, thank you so much for for having us, like I said, and I think the main reason that I'm running for re-election is because the first time around, I talked a lot about tax fairness reform, affordability, um, trying to move the needle on making life just a little bit cheaper for folks in Burlington. Uh, whether it's housing costs, uh, property taxes, etc., healthcare costs are out of control. They're only getting getting worse. And so I think uh we've made some good progress. Um I'm really excited about some of the initiatives that I think we'll talk about later tonight um that Burlington's pursuing around housing and tax fairness reform. Uh and I want to continue that work. So that is why I decided to jump in for a second time.

Great. Thank you. Let's talk about city finances. So as a counselor, you're going to be asked to vote on the city's budget. And for the last two years, we've seen what the mayor has called a structural gap between revenue and expenses. What solutions to the budget gaps do you think the city needs to consider? And let's start with Carter.

Yeah. So, when we're talking about the structural budget gap, there's really uh a few pieces that are causing that because I've had a lot of questions from constituents like, you know, we had a gap last year. Why are we talking about another gap this year? Um, first and foremost, I want to highlight for folks and this is on the ed side. This is every public institution, every private institution. uh health care costs are out of control. Um so even if you sort of uh level services and you don't increase hiring or you don't you know stand up new programs uh the cost of just staying the same is getting wildly more expensive. Um so that's a that's a big piece that we're navigating and trying to deal with. Um the second piece is our grand list in Burlington grows around I think it's like a 1% per year. Yeah, 1% per year something like that. I can't remember off the top of my head, but um that is just not keeping up with uh the increased costs that we're seeing for example like in healthcare. Um and then the final piece is and this was a little bit before my time but throughout sort of co we got a huge influx of federal money and so we used that uh to create a bunch of ongoing positions but we never as a city identified how we're actually going to fund those positions once those federal funds uh dry up. We actually stood up an entire department which I think we'll maybe touch on tonight. Uh the REI department uh was 20 over 20 staff uh full-time uh and we used onetime fund for the funds for that. And so now we're uh going through the process of um writing the ship a bit and making sure that we can create a budget that's sustainable.

Okay. Thank you. Gan, what is your uh understanding of the structural gap? uh I mean simply you don't have enough money to cover the expenses that we have and I don't think anybody would say that we are engaged in really wasteful spending. Sure there can be um improvements there's always efficiencies you're always going to look at that but the roads you you look at the basic things that we're doing and uh that's what we're spending our our money on. So the choices that we've got in terms of gaps or to raise more money, I have been proposing, Carter's been proposing uh trying to get more progressive forms of taxation on things that are going to have the people in our community um who have the resources to be able to pay for that, you know, um because the the property tax is regressive. Um I think you need to grow the grand list and you also need to have proper um uh rate tax rates and we have a proposal to increase the police and fire um tax rate and that will address tremendous increases in um in spending that we've had to the for the police and the fire departments over the last two years. And I don't think hear anybody saying that we shouldn't have been spending that money. We shouldn't be trying to recruit more officers, keep more officers, retain more officers, and um also deal with the fire um department. We need state revenues. There's 8 million 8 to probably 10 million of funding that we spend on uh addressing the homeless and the uh the drug crisis. So, we have to do that. And then we we we do and will have to cut spending and it is going to be miserable. Okay.

Can I rebut very briefly and never so certainly um I know he didn't specifically say your name. No, it's okay. Go ahead.

Yeah. Not to take up too much time, but I I just want to reassure folks because, you know, I'm a property taxpayer. I do not uh celebrate at all putting forward uh any sort of tax increase to voters. Um with a roughly 10 to12 million gap, 3 million of that gap will be made up by increasing revenue. the rest is coming through uh reductions in our spending in various ways. And so um and and other efficiencies we're finding and ways to raise more revenue without raising property taxes. Um but that's been the case for the last few budget cycles. So we are doing that hard work of uh cutting spending and and cutting expenses and it's it's been certainly painful for our community. So on to a part of the tax payment pie that taxpayers deal with is the school budget, which is not your jurisdiction, but it's a big part of the conversation. So school district administrators have proposed an over $140 million school budget representing a 4.47% increase from last year. Do you support this budget and why or why not? Please, let's start with you.

Yes, I do support it. I think this school board has done a great job of trying to uh make sure that we've got an equitable um school curriculum and policies and they have worked really hard to make sure that all of our kids are thriving and they're doing an excellent job and they've done it under extremely hard circumstances like the high school having to be closed down and demolished and rebuilt all on our dime. Yeah,

this is a a pretty small increase knowing inflation and when you look at the health care costs that are being um driven on a statewide level, not our own level, um this seems like a a a very reasonable approach. And again, the alternative is austerity just cutting. And that is a a a death spiral because if parents can't send their kids to good schools, they're going to leave town.

So I think it's really important. We need alternatives and that's why folks like in public assets institute and other folks are pushing for changes on the state education um tax form because that's really what we need to to be to be looking at. All right. Right. Thank you. Carter, what is your take on the school budget?

Yeah, very similar to Gan. I I am going to vote for it personally. I'm not too much, like you said, it's the the school board's sort of perview, so um I'm not too much of a subject matter expert, so I just want to sort of throw that out there. Um but from my everything I understand about it, uh again, they're not drastically expanding services. They're not making all these new hires. um they've actually done a lot of uh sort of reigning in of spending and because of these things like health care costs which are just out of our control as a on the local level and on the schoolboard level um they are needing just to maintain services to raise additional revenue. Um I do think as as Gan spoke to um this a conversation more for the state legislature. Uh but there are a number of proposals a number of ideas that have been discussed um across party lines in the legislature uh that have not moved forward uh around progressive taxation about how do we raise the necessary revenue because austerity is uh in fact a death spiral. How do we raise the the necessary revenue uh from folks at the very top who are doing phenomenally well uh and have received some of the largest tax cuts uh in modern American history uh over the last few years. So I think we can sort of backfill some of that revenue uh on folks who are making quite a bit um and that's hundreds of millions of dollars right there even that we could uh use to support uh critical public services like our schools. So that is uh that's my take.

Thank you. So, keeping with items on the ballot, um what is your position on the items that voters will see on the ballot in March? Specifically, the charter change item for the formation of the racial equity, inclusion, and belonging office, the REIB, and the proposal for a 5-cent police and fire tax to support the public safety budget. Let's start with Carter. Yeah, I I am supportive of the uh 5% both of our 5-centent rather, I should say. Sorry.

Big difference. big big difference and important difference. Um so thank you for that. Um 5-cent increase on the public safety tax. Uh it's a dedicated revenue stream. It's one of our splinter taxes on the local level. Uh both the uh police union and fire union support uh this uh being put on the ballot in front of voters um and spoke to why it is so necessary. Again, I want to reassure folks that we are not um simply coming in and saying we're just going to raise revenue and not look at the painful work of reducing spending uh across every department in the city. We're looking at a 5 to 10% uh reduction. Um and that will vary slightly between departments, but when all said is done, uh when is when all is said and done, um we will see uh significant cuts to what we're able um to do as a city. And that's just a financial reality that we need to deal uh with and be responsible about. Um the REIB charter change, this is a department that again we're not standing up anything new. Um it's actually quite when it was first stood up over 20 uh staff. It's it's quite reduced in size and capacity because of the financial realities of needing sustainable revenue streams for uh that important work. I do support it. This is a city department. It is important that we particularly in this time with our federal government uh codify the fact that we're committed to equity and justice in this city and this is an important piece uh to making that happen.

Great. Thank you, Jean.

Yep. So, I've already said that my piece of in terms of the the tax uh REI really is necessary particularly in light of the nature of our city. We have a really diverse city uh with us and Wooki the most diverse in the um in in the state and folks need to have a um an office that is going to be looking at their needs, looking at things like language, looking at things like the the the special cultural things that are um are part of their lives here. and make sure that um we as a city are are considering that taking care of folks that our departments like our police department are culturally sensitive, right? So that we don't have incidents uh like we've had in the past, right? And that led to the genesis of this. So it's it's critically important and in the uh you know in the old north end what what I represent. I mean my neighborhoods are got many many black and brown people and so this is this is really really important for us. This is the strength. You look at the businesses that people are you know developing you look at the cultural events uh we need to take this out of politics and put it in the same sort of standing that the public works department is in and any of the other departments.

Great. Thank you. So, the city council voted not to include the tax fairness advisory question on this March ballot. This was a question developed in committee to put put together by the mayor to address who shoulders tax burdens in the city. What is your thinking on this and other advisory questions that have been prevented from moving forward to a citywide vote by the council? Go ahead, Jean. Whoops. I've lost my thing. Give me some minutes or seconds. skip to Carter and you can go ahead. Yeah, go ahead Carter. There you go. Um,

it is concerning and frustrating and I've spoken to this uh a few times and I spoke to this on the floor when we decided not to put that as a council on the ballot. Um, we are living through a moment I think across political spectrum. You talk to anybody, whatever party they identify with, if they're conservative, liberal, progressive, whatever. Um, property taxes are an issue and we pay an incredibly high uh amount in property taxes as residents of Burlington. and I'm uh glad to do that and I live in a community where we see the the fruits of that. Um but we need to figure out ways to provide relief to working and middle class folks. And so, uh, the mayor's tax advisory group, which was a group of experts, residents, folks from both parties, came together and released a series of proposals that said, "Okay, at the municipal level, um, given the realities that that we have versus the authority at the state, what are some things that we can do in the immediate uh, medium, and long term to make the tax system more fair and give folks who need a break uh, a financial break?" And so this was actually the proposal that had uh near unanimous support uh among that group. Uh it was also an idea that was talked about back in 2021 when we had the urban 3 study following the reassessment that uh skyrocketed uh residents tax bills. Um, and so to me it it's simple, it's effective, and it's going to lower uh property taxes by at least a minimum of of $150 per year uh for 2/3 of all property taxpayers. So, I I think and I thought that voters should weigh in if this is the direction they want to see city government go. And I hope that we have another opportunity uh to put the actual charter change on the ballot and get that in front of folks.

Thank you, Jean. Your take on that? So, I agree with Carter and think that it's really a deprivation of democracy that we haven't put these things on the ballot. You know, you want to have a um a a good debate, we have an election for that. And this allows people to really grapple with the issue and then weigh it and and and tell us what they're what they're saying in a mass way. So we are absolutely deprived of it. The arguments that this was not fully vetted are I think are very very weak and that's the nicest thing I can say about them. Um the studies that were existed are there. The the facts are there and if you don't like it then you get the chance to to argue against that. But instead what they do is to say no. And it's it was particularly gling because they control the charter change committee and if they wanted to have hearings on this, if they wanted to have a wholesome debate, then that's where they would do that. As far as the uh which was the other one, uh I mean the other item that was p was not passed is the aparite free communities and that's just a straight out deprivation of democratic rights of people. This is an issue which has tremendous local concern and interest. Thousands over the legal limit um put in uh signed uh petitions to put it on. There are lots of local reasons why it should have been on there. It was just a disgrace in my in my um estimation for not putting it on.

Thank you. Could you each tell us what your top priorities are in seeking to serve on the council in this next term? And Jean, we'll start with you.

Sure. Um, I mean, in So, you've got affordability and that includes taxes and again, we've talked about alternatives to the property tax and making the property tax fairer. So, that will continue to be a priority for for me. Um, I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that the alternatives that we have in place, like the gross receipts tax for people who have the discretionary spending to go out to restaurants and bars um, and hotels is not cut back because that will just give even a greater budget deficit for us to fill. So, affordability on taxation and revenue sharing is one. Housing is critically important and that includes being able to have our charter changes on on housing passed by the legislature and signed by the governor as well as the work that the mayor has uh proposed in terms of building more housing. And so I'm absolutely in favor of that. We have got to fight as much as we possibly can uh fight a climate change and the fact that the the federal government is not only walking away from that but making things worse um just means that we've got to do work um on that and that relates to transportation. It relates to building emissions. It relates to McNeel and the alternatives to McNeel. It relates to creating more opportunities for solar. And so those are my priorities and democracy. We talked about that just now.

Okay. Thank you, Carter. What are your priorities in this next term?

Um, so agree with everything Gene just said. Me personally, I I really want to focus in on I think we've been doing a lot of good work here on affordability. It is incredibly expensive uh to access health care, housing um and other basic necessities of life uh for the vast majority of our residents. So, uh, and it's actually on Carter is a shameless plug for my website, carterforbtv.com. Um, talks a little bit about, uh, what I'm calling our affordability agenda. So, there's really seven aspects to this. Uh, first is that we need to make record investments, public investment in permanently affordable housing. Burlington has for decades uh led the state, this community uh and and even the country and different parts of the world on building out uh housing models that decommodify housing, stop gentrification, slow drastically gentrification uh and provide stable affordable housing, both rentals uh and home ownership opportunities. I'm thinking of things like the Champlne Housing Trust uh that came out of Bernie's work back in the 80s. Um, so we need to fund that work because we haven't substantially increased funding uh in a long time. Uh, we need to, one of the things I'm really committed to in this second term is making sure that we put uh, a rent stabilization charter change on the ballot uh, because 60% of this city rents. And from 2018 to 2024, we've seen rent increase for a one-bedroom by 34% for a two-bedroom by 28% far outpacing inflation. Uh, and I know I'm running out of time here. exciting ways that, you know, during this last reassessment in 21, the Burlington Country Club actually saw their tax burden decrease. I think there are uh creative ways that we can raise some revenue from folks who can certainly afford it there. Uh I want to make sure that we're pursuing uh cheaper uh waste hauling for trash, compost, and recycling. Okay.

Um among many other things, but I'll stop there. Thank you. The governor took action this year to be involved in Burlington's policing and public safety affairs. Did you support this action or do you support this action or not? Let's start with Carter.

Um, I did and I appreciated, you know, when I first got uh elected uh and and it was the start of the mayor's uh term as well. Um, the governor wouldn't even respond both privately or publicly really to the needs of Burlington. um he wouldn't even visit the city. Uh meanwhile, him himself and his administration uh officials in his administration um were sort of like trashtalking our city and our community in press conferences. Um so that was the dynamic we started with, which is a challenging dynamic to um have a productive working relationship. That has shifted over time and I'm grateful for that shift. Um, and I and I credit uh both the governor and the mayor for uh for developing that relationship. Um, the I think it was a 14-point plan is what they called it. Um, I was supportive. There was some things that I, you know, finer details I might have disagreed with, but in general it was really helpful. Um, my main concern is that it was uh, and from the beginning always intended to be short-term. It was a 3 to four month uh, proposal set of proposals. And one of the things that a lot of folks have asked for over and over uh both from the governor and the legislature is for funding and and real support to municipalities, not just our community, but community uh communities all across the state for these big challenges like uh homelessness and addiction and so many other issues we're affordable housing. Um and so it was helpful. I'm appreciative of it. And now what's the plan for the next 6 to 12 months? And certainly we have and will continue as a city to hold up our end of the bargain. Um but we need that partnership.

Okay. Thank you, Jean. Same question.

I mean I agree. Um it was helpful but it was late and um you know the state cops are not there anymore. It's not doesn't seem to be necessary. But the um the state attorney, the special state attorney, that needs to be a long-term um commitment. Uh we need um commitment and we asked for commitment for funding for um homeless support and uh that is still woefully inadequate. I talked about how the city is shouldering about 8 to10 million dollars in our own emergency services and police services for the comprehensive approach that is clearly working right but this not sustainable and so this is not a Burlington problem although we I mean it's a Burlington problem but it's not of our making and that was one of the things that was so tragic about the governor's uh comments. It was like he blamed us for a state and national problem. So we need them to continue to increase the um the drug, the mental health, the uh the houseless um resources and then to be looking at the at the judicial system which again is not a city judicial system. People complain about people getting you know released or you know or you know not spending time in jail and one could argue about that but one can't argue about the fact that that is not a city thing. So, we need a very clear and consistent and strong partnership with the governor and the state to continue to make the progress that we are making for the benefit of not just the city but for the entire state of Vermont.

Thank you. Earlier this month, Mayor Emma Vuli Mulaney Stannic announced the launch of Burlington's 2026 housing strategy and the plan aims to put Burlington on a path towards creating 7,000 units by 2050. How do you respond to the strategy, Jean? We'll start with you.

Sure. Well, she's talking about um using city um land to build housing. Totally support that. uh I have supported the uh the infill development and the the zoning changes and she's now looking at the ways that we can make that a reality. Um that includes city lands but it also includes investments in infrastructure. I totally support that. She's looking at uh changes to the inclusionary zoning. A long time ago, I was the sponsor of the of the ordinance that was passed that lead led to um um inclusion that was inclusionary zoning. And I am absolutely committed. If you're going to build housing for rich people, you need to build it for working people. And it just that's just flat out what is you know what we need to do. There are ways that we can make this work um in a more dynamic way. things that are happening around the country that we'll look at and I actually have a call tomorrow to be talking with our planning uh director about some of that stuff. So, um I think that in general um her I mean the plan is a is a is a good one and of course that also includes making sure that we're putting the the the emphasis of the city or the the resources of the city behind passing our charter changes. Again, those those are very important to protect uh renters just cause eviction. Thank you.

Okay, Carter, your thoughts on the housing strategy?

Yeah, and hopefully I don't use all my time. Um every everything Gan just said and I'm really excited uh about some of the plans that the mayor's uh proposed and and brought forward. um the idea that we're going to go use and I didn't even know this like I looked I started to get more information about the inventory of all the land the city owns and we literally own uh fields that we just mow and that's all we do with them over and over and over. We own vacant parking lots in the core of our downtown uh that we don't do anything with. So, let's utilize some of that space to build housing and build housing that uh uh to your point, Councelor Bergman, um is for working and middle class families. Um and that really uh addresses uh the needs that our our residents have.

All right, we have enough time for one more question, so I'm going to do that real quick. Um back to the tax fairness question. The Burlington Tax Fairness Working Group made recommendations to the city council to shift tax burdens from homeowners to higher value properties. This recommendation was not advanced by the charter change committee. So, how do you respond to folks who feel that taxes are too high? And we'll start with Carter.

I agree. Taxes are too high. I mean, this is exactly why we need things like tax fairness proposal. What this would do would say if you own a condo that's worth $250,000 and that's what you're getting taxed at a $250,000 assessment um we're going to take $30,000 off of what you're being taxed on. So now it's $220,000. Um for 2/3 of all homestead properties in Burlington, that would decrease uh their tax burden by $150 uh or more. So for the vast majority of working and middle class folks and again we we don't have the data on income. We have limitations around the authority we have as a locality but generally speaking that is going to benefit working and middle class homeowners in this community uh and support them. Um so I was really confused as to why uh I I didn't hear a strong argument as to why we wouldn't allow voters to weigh in. There's a long and proud tradition of putting advisory questions uh both around you know big issues uh but also around uh core issues here at the local level um to voters to get their opinion say hey here's what we're thinking are we on the right track um I think you had mentioned it it hasn't moved out of the charter change committee I am hopeful you know it's it's sort of a second attempt that we have to get this uh in front of voters and then hopefully implement it.

Thank you Jean. Yeah. Um, we need to propose that again, right? It's not acceptable that you can complain about the lack of affordability and not put forward a proposal, right? And you've got a a series of proposals, some that are simple like this, the $30,000 exemption that would definitely help um twothirds of Burlington taxpayers and not shift tremendously, but start to make some motion in terms of affordability for people without really burdening um the anybody else who we going to protect through where we're going to have tax um neutral revenue neutrality on. So, that's one thing. There are other ways that we can um make the tax system more progressive. You know, you've got a state education tax with with all its flaws has income sensitivity. We do not have one for the for municipal taxes. We should be looking at that. The tax fairness group said that, you know, that is on the table. There are a number of other issues that that they've got that are issues uh ideas that are on the table. we need to advance them. Um the status quo is failing and it's failing, you know, middle and lowincome people and you saw an influx of wealthier people into this community over the pandemic. Um they're part of our community and they have the ability to pay and we need them to do that and together we can actually make a really thriving um affordable city. So, I know that I'm out of time because 90 seconds is like an impossibility for being able to to talk and I stumble on my words even though

I'll tell you what, I can give you each 30 seconds for a closing statement. Why don't you start, Jean?

30 seconds. Uh, I want to thank the uh the the people of War II who have supported me uh five times in the the times that I've I've run, and I really appreciate it. I've tried to represent you. I've tried to bring your issues um to departments and get them solved. I've tried to raise and amplify your voices at the council. And um I hope that I've done uh done you proud and I will continue to to try to do that the best that I can. So, Jean Bergman for city council is uh yep.org is my website. Uh my phone number is 802-598-3602 and I just hope that uh I can uh can gain your support in this election. Thank you.

Thank you, Jean. Go ahead, Carter. Um well, yeah, thank you for having us and for letting us rant about our favorite subject here. Um uh similar to what Jean said, I just want to thank uh constituents in Ward One. Um, you know, I I recognize I'm a younger guy and I was knocking doors two years ago asking folks to um uh trust me with this really important role. Um, and I feel that uh I've I've delivered on a lot of the promises and and issues that I ran on uh but also been really focused on uh constituent services and other sort of core functions of this job. Um, so I'm grateful uh and hopeful that uh folks will allow me to continue serving. Um, thank you. And I will leave it there. Thanks.

Okay. Thank you both for being here this evening. Thank you. And thank you for tuning in to Town Meeting TV's ongoing coverage of local band candidates, budgets, and ballot items. Local bands.

You can find this and many more forums at cctv.org/tmd2026 or on our Town Meeting TV YouTube channel. And don't forget to cast your ballot on Town Meeting Day on or before Tuesday, March 3rd. and then tune in to Town Meeting TV's results recap show that evening starting live at 7 PM. Contact your local clerk to find out how to obtain a ballot and to register to vote. In Vermont, you can register to vote on election day. Thank you for watching and sharing Town Meeting TV.