City Council - Regular Meeting

Hello, and welcome to another episode of In the World of Winooski. I am Mayor Thomas Renner, and I'm very excited today to be joined by three very important people, Representative Daisy, Rebecca, Councilor Alotokos, and Matt Geil. And these three folks are all running to represent us and Winooski in Montpelier, and they're going to be running for the House. And I'm really excited that you all joined me today. Thank you so much. I really appreciate you taking the time. I know that summer is very busy. Representative Rebecca, you are the incumbent here. You have represented us in Montpelier for a few years now. So what we're going to do is we're going to have each of these folks introduce themselves. And Daisy, we'll start with you.

Thank you so much for having us. It's really good to be here. And thanks for doing In the World of Winooski. I think it's a great show, and I'm really glad that you're carrying it forward for us. Well, thank you very much. My name is Daisy Breveco and I am a mom of two And I'm the Democratic incumbent for the State House. This will be my third term that I'm asking for. And I sit as, or I serve as vice chair on the House Health Care Committee, where I have led a lot of the recent health care reform work, as well as mental health initiatives, and want to continue to elevate those two issues, which are just so critical right now, especially in a time when so much of our country is divided. It's difficult to face these issues of affordability when issues like that impact everyone in Winooski differently. So that's something that I appreciate hearing from our neighbors about because it directly informs the work that I've been doing and I want to keep doing. So thanks again.

Thank you, Daisy.

Matt? Yeah, I'm Matt Guile. I'm a K-12 librarian for the Winooski School District. I've been for the last 10 years. I'm the former president and currently a member of the Executive Council of the Winooski Education Association and a member of the Planning Commission in Winooski. We're in a moment in Vermont in our country right now with federal immigration actions, healthcare crisis, housing crisis, and I think this is all sort of the predictable and inevitable result of Our for-profit healthcare system, our for-profit housing system, that for decades has been prioritizing profits over the needs of working people. And this has created infrastructure and systems that really fundamentally cannot meet the needs of working people. I really see that there's sort of two paths that we have forward. One is that we can modify those systems to try to sort of blunt the edges to sort of reduce the impact on working people. Or we can fundamentally fix the fundamental flaws in those systems. I really feel like door two is the one that I think we need to move forward on. I mean, door one is, at best, kicking the can down the road, and that road, I think we can see, is washed out, not too far down. Door two is not easy. I don't think, have any rose-colored glasses on about that. Again, our healthcare system has been sort of distorted by years of the profit incentive. And we can fix it. We can move to a universal single-payer system. It's, again, not a simple thing. It's not a switch that we can flip. It's a system that we need to build. So I think the next step is moving to true universal single-payer primary care. I think that is something that we can do in our state. But again, that needs to be viewed as a step towards actually meeting the promise that was put forward in Act 48 of having universal single health payer in Vermont. And our housing affordability crisis is really, really, in Winooski School District, at any given time, we have between a dozen and 20 unhoused students. It's a crisis. And, you know, on the Planning Commission, I think we're doing good work of putting incentives to address that, but private development is not going to get us there. And I think we really need to rethink how we are investing in housing in our state and in our communities if we are going to have a thriving Vermont where working people can build their lives.

Wonderful.

Al?

Thank you so much for having us. Also to the folks at Town Meeting TV. My name is Al Turcos. My pronouns are they, them. I have been a Winooski resident for about three-ish years, first as a renter and now as a proud homeowner. I currently sit on the Winooski City Council. I was appointed in October of 2025 and elected this year on Town Meeting Day. And yeah, if you had asked me a few years ago if I would ever be an elected official, I would have probably laughed in your face. And that's coming from someone who has worked in the policy, legislative, advocacy world for my entire career. I've done a lot of work of supporting legislative pieces, policy, and elected officials, and never thought that I would be here. And this entire experience has taught me so much and every single day has made me want this more. And what I mean by that is to say that I think oftentimes elected officials are sort of like put up on this pedestal and we're thought that they are untouchable or that they like have magical powers. And I can assure you that they do not. And one of the reasons that I continue to learn and be stretched throughout this process is I've always said being a candidate is different than being an elected official, which is so real. And I think one of the reasons why I've really grown to want this more and more is that the more that I talk to our neighbors and our community members, is that my experience of passing landmark legislation, working in the policy field or working in state houses, is that being on the other side of this, so like working with elected officials to inform them about whether it's abortion and or sexual assault advocacy work, is that many elected officials might, say, I'm going to co-sponsor this bill. I'm so proud to be a champion on this particular issue. But it's the implementation that so often can get lost or that isn't maybe thought about in those committee tables or rooms or during floor votes. And that's a wealth of experience that I personally bring. not only my lived experience but also again just like working on a plethora of mainly social justice issues but issues that impact us all and thinking about you know like who do we serve who needs to be at the table who's not being a part of these conversations and i was having an incredible conversation with some community organizers and leaders at the ishtar collective who are an incredible organization, who are doing a lot of work to decriminalize sex work in this state, and talking to them about the idea of the people most impacted need to be the people closest to the power, which is something that Ayanna Pressley has taught us all. And so, yeah, I think for me it's really that I have loved serving on city council, and I have learned so much from our community and from the people of Winooski, about what is important to them. Again, we were just at the municipal infrastructure comprehensive plan open house, and I remember a neighbor came out who was so excited to learn that a sidewalk and some traffic calming is happening on Manseau Street. And it took quite a long time, but it was their advocacy and their work that really got us there. And so being so close to this work on city council, Being on the downtown Winooski board, I sit on the Burlington Airport Commission, has just like put me in a seat next to our neighbors. And I would love nothing more than to have the privilege to continue to be so close and accessible to our neighbors, but to represent them in the statehouse and in Montpelier.

Thank you so much. So all of our questions tonight were sent to me from Winooski residents, so really excited to pose these to you all. Some of them you might have heard before, and at the end I have a very hard question that is of my own creation. But to keep on kind of the subject you were on, Al, as you all have been out and campaigning and doing your events and running into people at Misery Loves Company, what is the top issue that Winooski residents are concerned about right now? And Al, we'll start with you and work our way down.

Sure. To me, I think what I'm hearing the most is the intersections of people's lives. And I think that you again, this table and I love each other. I think that you the thing that I'm hearing right is I you could probably put it underneath the umbrella of affordability. And I think, you know, this summer we've really seen, like, gas prices, you know, influx and deflux, increase and decrease. And it goes to groceries, it goes to rent, you know, property taxes. And I think one of the things that has been very helpful for me is to be able to sort of differentiate between, like, this is a municipal, you know, conversation and this is a statewide and or federal conversation. But to me, I don't know that there is one single answer. And I'm not trying to skirt the question, but it's... I was going to have you tell me one. No. But I think it's the idea that, like, right, like, we, in the same way that people say, like, I'm not a single-issue voter, we don't live single-issue lives. And this is where, like, we love Kimberly Crenshaw. And it's just the idea that, like, people are three-dimensional humans, and therefore everything impacts them differently. But I think if I had to say one, it would be affordability, because it feels like everything sort of comes underneath that umbrella. But it's truly, like, everything is sort of at a peak.

Yeah. Yeah, I mean, affordability, affordability, affordability. I mean, that's what people are concerned about, right? Like the cost of health care, the cost of housing, the cost of groceries and all of these. And these things are interconnected and interrelated, right? The cost of housing drives the cost of health care and housing, and it's all cyclical. and you know i really do feel like all of these issues that we are facing really are fundamentally um come from the fact that you know working everyday people don't have a full say in our uh you know um and you know it's actually it's not disconnected from sort of the the plight of sort of migrant workers right like the fight for being able to have a you know, thriving life in a community that you love and being able to build it here, that is something that everybody is struggling with, right? And I think, again, you know, that one issue, affordability, it encompasses so much, and different people are struggling with it in different ways, but I think it's all flowing from, you know, our systems that are sort of not prioritizing the needs of working people. Thank you.

I hear a lot... of people telling me that they're struggling with things that we can lump into a category of affordability. But I also think that doing that, I'm contemplating whether that sort of gets us farther away from being accountable for finding solutions. And I know my two friends here have kind of hinted at that, right? Like we're not, we're three-dimensional. Our lives are three-dimensional. So, you know, at the center though, I think really is housing. Most of us in Winooski are renters. And, you know, a lot of conversations at the door come back to taxes. And speaking with the chair of Ways and Means the other day, she was really curious to hear that coming out of Winooski because we have a reputation of, you know, being a really high renter population. But we feel it in our rent increases.

That's the thing. I always like to remind people renters pay property tax as well.

Absolutely. So I think, you know, yes, affordability. But I also want to say my observation about what really pinching people right now is lack of connection as we're having all these crises and as we're having this social crisis right of just division and this federal narrative that is really causing so much harm so I'm curious about having that conversation with my colleagues in the state houses how do we address this lack of connection how do we support more third spaces it's it's an important one we should be having

I appreciate that. Thank you. So say I find a magic legislative wand tomorrow. I give it to whoever is elected and you can do one policy change that will benefit Winooski. What would that policy be? Matt, we'll start with you.

I mean, if it's just one quick, easy thing, I think passing our municipal charter change to end no-cause eviction. Again, if I had that magic wand, I don't know if... It only works once. It only works once. I don't know, maybe... I was at the Public Banking Congress just a few days ago. Actually, you were there, Thomas. And I found that actually a really inspiring potential opportunity that actually could, you know, actually bring sort of the investment in housing and things that we need in Winooski's community, in our state in general. But again, if I'm thinking specifically directly Winooski, I would, yeah. Wonderful. Thank you. Daisy.

I would not use that wand myself because I do not support authoritarianism.

Oh, I fell into the trap. No, you didn't. I didn't know it was a trap when I set it up.

Matt did not support it because you said you would support the charter change, which is something Winooski voters have already advanced, and it's being held up in the Statehouse. So, kudos. No, I have no idea. We should literally sit down and have a meeting with the community because there are, like we just noted, so many things that factor in right now to just being able to afford to put a roof over your head, have groceries, and afford child care while you go to work. Oh, if you can find a job.

Oh, if you can find a job. What do you think, Al?

So my first, this is where it's like my logistics brain is getting the best of me because my first thought is, and I don't think we could do this because it'd have to be federal, but I agree regarding authoritarianism and I also agree regarding no cause eviction. But I would love to finagle a way where we could, right? So in Winooski, we are one of the only cities in the state of Vermont that has non-citizen voting for town meeting day. I would love to extend that to statewide elections. And I think I'm like taking this magical wand too far to be like, could this happen? Is it federal, et cetera? And so I'm just gonna like sit and live in this magical world and say, i'm going to like sort of in concert use what the two of you are saying which is that the best way to have people at the table is to utilize their vote but so many residents and when you see are not able to vote in statewide elections because of their status etc and so could we do a charter change or something right to But that's what I would want to do is engage more people in the civic process.

Thank you. All right. This one's a little tough. I think merging could help with school costs, at least merging principals and superintendents. I think you all don't support school mergers of any kind. Is this true? If so, how else could we lower taxes going to schools? Representative Rebecca, we'll start with you.

I support school mergers, and I think the way that I support them is voluntarily. Some schools in the state would prefer to merge. Winooski doesn't, and I don't think I would support Winooski merging because my understanding is our administrators do not want it. And so for everything, for education policy. I look to the incredible leadership at our school who are really statewide leaders in education.

Looking to the experts.

Yep, look to the experts. I don't know, I know hardly anything about education. I'm not kidding anyone. So, you know, I let our leadership, our local leaders at the school guide me. You know, I think the legislature's done some creative things around education this last session, but we have a long way to go, and I'm nervous about Winooski losing some of the unique things that we absolutely need in order to serve our children and families the way that they deserve and the way that they need in order to graduate and go into this world well-prepared.

Daisy, could you talk a little bit about what those things are? I know we at this table know, but maybe some folks who are watching won't know what those special things are at Winooski that helps our students.

I'm looking at the guy that's worked at the school for 12 years.

Yeah, I think it's something we should talk about. I mean, Winooski, our school district, does, like, such amazing things to support, like, the unique needs of our students, right? We have our multilingual liaisons, which, you know, function, you know, often as translators, but really are connections to sort of our sort of diverse communities. We have, right, like, we have really robust health center in our school where students can actually get access to dental care at school during the school day. We have this Veggie Van Go program which lets community members come in, get access to fresh, healthy food. Our students are supported with, you know, we make sure they have access to weather appropriate clothing all through sort of donations in the school. Our school does our local rapid response group does amazing work internally, with the Winooski Neighbor Group, which Al is the leader in, coordinates some of that work that we do supporting our migrant populations, and we do a lot of work. I mentioned earlier that we have between a dozen or 20 unhoused students at any given time, and our school does really amazing work. making sure that those students can make it to school, the transportation from shelter, and make sure that as best that we can, they're able to show up and be ready for their education. Thanks for sharing that.

That was said so much better than I could have summarized it. I also just want to say, like, due to the size of our school, like... Our youth know the staff and they know who they can safely go to and say, like, we're sleeping in a car. We need another sleeping bag. We I mean, kudos to Mo and all of the staff and Patrice who really keep the kids and the entire family safe. It's just we have the best school in the state. I'm convinced. And it's because of our staff up there.

I ran into one of your colleagues, I won't say who, Daisy, but they live in a more rural part of the state, and they told me if they ever plan to have kids, they're only doing so if they can move to Winnieski because they want to be in our school.

That's why I moved here.

So Matt, back to the question. Do you support school mergers? And if not, what, let me make sure I read it right. If so, how else could we lower taxes going to schools?

I mean, I think, you know, the seesaw framework that was set up that sort of consolidates, right, like HR and payroll across districts, right? Again, I think that creates some opportunities maybe for some savings. But I think this idea that mergers immediately and inevitably lead to savings is just not the case, right? I think... Amanda Genou had this amazing line that I'm going to steal, that there's this ideological commitment to the idea that scale will provide efficiency, and that just doesn't play out, especially in rural communities where you have these big geographic, you know, we've got mountains between districts, right? What does that look like in transportation and all of those things? So those decisions do need to be made by local communities where the school is sort of fundamental in the heart of a community, and that decision cannot get made without the input of that local community. And if it's being pitched as simply a way to save costs, at the forefront of these discussions needs to be what is, how are we providing the best educational opportunities for our students, right? And if a community can be convinced that, you know, we will actually increase the educational opportunities for your students with these mergers or with these changes or whatever it is, that's a very different discussion than we're going to take, right, like this school that you and three generations of your family have all attended and close it for maybe seeing some savings 10 years down the road. And again, in Winooski, we have this really, really beautiful, beautiful, special community. And I do think that there are opportunities for collaboration with Burlington and other neighboring districts to provide more educational opportunities for our students. But we have these school community meetings for our high school. And I think in a lot of districts, that's probably a really boring thing. the guidance counselor talking about SAT scores and all of that but in our school you have the guidance counselor talking about SAT scores and then you have a Nepali dance crew doing this like dance with these beautiful flowing dresses, a kid rapping in Arabic and like there really is something special about Winooski and any changes to what our district looks like need to be made with the direct input and say of this community.

Once again, I feel like I'm in concert of the two, where, similarly, I'm not an expert on education, nor will I ever pretend to be, and I think one of the greatest things that someone in our current position and or potential elected position can do is to say, this is not my area of expertise, I'm going to bring in... someone who thrives here. I know earlier this summer I sat down and had an incredible conversation with Nicole Mace, who is the current school board chair, and learned so much from her. Also, like, did not realize, like, truly the wealth of knowledge and her depth of background that she has. And so I would, like, rely on folks like her and on Wilmer, our school board, our teachers and our faculty. And then also, you know, to ask students And what is their experience currently? And while we might not be able to predict what can happen in five to 10 to 15 years, but I think sometimes what can happen often in the sort of policy shifting legislative world is that we're operating from a model of scarcity versus operating from a model of abundance. And one of the things that I've seen Wilmer in particularly do since he became the superintendent of Winooski is to really shift shift that and to start to operate from a model of abundance and to say like, our students, our families, Winooski residents in our community deserve everything. They need everything. And like Matt was saying, the services that are available to students at the school is something that you don't see very often. And so I think when it comes to the merger conversation, Again, it's the idea of like, you know, the neighbors in the community and the students have to be at the table. And then I think of, again, Nicole wrote this incredible op-ed last year in June of last year for VT Digger, just about like the evolution of the public education system and how much that's needed. And so I think just really going back to our local experts is so helpful.

Thank you. One more quick point. I think the overwhelming driver of the increases in our school budgets has been the increasing cost of health care. So if we do want to address our increasing school budgets, like if we're not addressing the cost of health care, then we're not actually addressing the fundamental cause.

Maybe I know the answer to this question for you, Matt. Imagine it's two years from now and you're asking Winooski voters to re-elect you. What specifically should they be able to point to and say, you helped me with that? I think Al, we're going to start with you.

I love these questions. My first hope would be understanding how the statehouse works. I think one of the things that can happen and that is happening is that I always sort of say this like bureaucratic systems. We've seen this in City Hall. I've seen this on the Airport Commission. is that folks just sort of, like, understand that this thing exists, right? That, like, our state house exists or that, you know, we, if you're old enough, we, like, watch School of Rock and how a bill becomes a law. But I think to actually, like, sit down with someone and to explain not to explain in like a mansplained sort of way, but to sit down and just sort of be like, this is, you know, like what is important to you. Maybe it's housing, maybe it's, you know, whatever. But to walk through like what is, what happens inside the committee room, right? Because a lot of people aren't watching that live stream. So just like gaining a better understanding and understanding that like that state house does not belong to the elected officials. That state house belongs to the people. That state house belongs to the residents of Winooski, of, you know, every single person who lives in Vermont. And so really just like breaking down those barriers and making it more accessible. And that is one thing that I know that I can promise. I think otherwise it would be disingenuous to say like this is a thing that I'm going to do as a freshman member. I don't, you know, I can't predict the future, but I know that that is something that I would still be so deeply connected to our community.

Yeah, one bill that had gotten put forward last session that didn't end up getting passed was, it was put forward by Lenore Dodge, that would guarantee access to an immigration attorney in an immigration hearing, and that's something that I do want to champion. Now, I actually hope that no Winooski resident needs to have access to that, but it seems inevitable. You know, we had a second grade student back in December. He and his mother had gotten detained for seven weeks. And again, this beautiful Winooski community fundraised and made sure that they had access to an immigration attorney, but that's not guaranteed for everyone. And, you know, so I really, that's something that I really feel that we as a state, we're, you know, put our monies where our mouths are, right? If we want to talk about protecting sort of our migrant populations, this is something that we can do. And again, something that I think would be really important for our Winooski community. Thank you, Daisy.

I want to advance universal primary care in a meaningful way. I think we've laid a great foundation for it the last four years under the leadership of Alyssa Black and Laurie Houghton. But I think stakeholders are really in a great place to kind of continue that work. And so I'm so excited for that, especially after the public hearing we had at the end of last year. To be really specific, some school-based mental health initiatives. There was a bill I passed last year that got vetoed by Governor Scott.

That guy. Let's do it again. Can I ask a follow-up question?

What does meaningful way mean? That was in regard to health care reform. Sorry, in regard to... Primary care.

You said you want to do something meaningful with advancing it, but what does a meaningful way mean?

A meaningful way for... to me would be a way that the public could see that we had taken action that there were next steps coming that were clearly laid out and they knew were going to benefit them and ones that they could hold us accountable for that's meaningful to me okay thank you i appreciate that thank you listen i'm not a democrat but there are no republicans in this race how will you think about

future constituents, if you're elected, constituents like me when you're making a decision. Daisy, let's start with you.

So I have a history of working across all the party lines. I co-sponsor bills and lead sponsor bills with people of all parties. I work incredibly collaboratively in my committee with people of all parties. And coming from a home in rural Alaska, a Republican home, I don't really always see those lines. The thing that is challenging for me, in all honesty, like personally, is when someone has a social cause that we really separate on that's harmful to others. That's difficult for me. um but i have worked on bills that address those you know gender affirming care i've worked on bills where uh with republicans who wanted parental involvement in in youth mental health care because they had similar issues around youth being trans um and you know i think that you know back to what's going on just across our entire country as well as in winooski these social divides there's only one way they're gonna stop. And it's if we can kind of remember, like when I'm talking to some of these folks who we really have these cultural and social differences, I try to remember my dad. Right? Because I have similar conversations with him. And if that doesn't work, I bring him some halibut from Alaska and we trade venison or whatever they do. You get down to the real practical, real life things and see each other as humans and the fact that you both want your residents to be happy and take it from there.

Thanks, Stacey.

Similarly thinking of dads. I think for me, and this has come up a lot just like in conversations with folks about the idea that I think so often people can think that if there is a, and I'm gonna put this in scare quotes, like division that if you feel a certain way about something and if I feel a certain way about something, that the thing that will give us both this assumption of safety is distance from each other. When in reality, the thing that will actually bring us closer together is truly being in relationship. And we've seen this in, like Matt referred to, in Winooski, what Daisy was talking about regarding this loss of connection. In Winooski, we have this incredible mutual aid group and a way for hyper-local neighborhood connection. Um, and it's not based on any certain, like, right? Like, it's not partisan, et cetera. It's really just the idea of, like, we are neighbors, literally. And we, you know, like, do you need something? Can I borrow something? Whatever. I remember, um, my wife and I got married last year. I, like, asked the entire city of Winooski if we could borrow chairs from them. I literally borrowed chairs from Matt. It was great. He was at my wedding. Um, and so I think it's the idea that... going back to what do we both value? So you might identify as a Republican, I might identify as a Democrat, but do we both love our families? Do we both want our families to thrive? There may be Republicans in the world who, actually there are Republicans in the world, who don't believe that I deserve to live as a non-binary person, right? My identity as a non-binary person falls underneath the trans umbrella, who don't see that like my wife and I, our love should not, our marriage should not be real, right? And so there's so many things that like my lived experience, in some Republicans' eyes, I'm not a real person or I don't deserve the same rights. that's not how I'm going to approach a conversation. And so to me, it's just the idea that like, what is our desired outcome? And it's, you know, like healthy people treating people with unity, respect. And so that's how I always approach things. And I know like I've worked on abortion access for years, which some people think is a deeply controversial issue. But it's really just like, do you think that people should be able to go to the doctor's office? Cool. Me too. We can both get there. And so I've had deep success working across party lines, and I know that I would continue that in Montpelier.

Thank you.

Matt? Yeah, I actually have had some what felt like really interesting, productive discussions knocking on doors with people who immediately identified themselves as conservative. Once we start talking about like the actual, you know, practical issues in your life, right, like what are the ways that we can address it, right? I was actually, I was talking with this one guy and he was, you know, ranting about the Democrats. And then, you know, a private jet flew over our head. And I was like, do you think the person who's flying in that and, you know, landing in the airport out in Stowe should be paying the same property tax that you're paying? And he's like, absolutely not. I was like, I agree, right? Like, we can sort of fund the things that we need. You know someone with air traffic control and you're able to schedule that perfectly? Yeah, it was like a pretty great time. And, yeah. You know, when we're bringing it to, like, the real practical things that people experience in their workplaces, right, when we're talking about sort of worker solidarity and, you know, union power, those are things that people can get on the same page about, right? Like, we're fighting, again, in union work, you're often fighting together with people that are coming from with very different sort of opinions and backgrounds and all of that, but you're coming together to fight for your contract. You're coming together to, you know, fight together for the things that you all collectively need. And, you know, again, might not see eye to eye with everybody in every single issue, but what are the things that we collectively need in our community and how can we fight productively together? I was out in Barrie canvassing for the Tax the Rich to Fund Vermont Coalition, and again anticipating these being this is a really conservative part of Barry and anticipating a lot of like you know people slam on the door in my face but it was the response was actually really really amazing because people are frustrated with like the fact that our infrastructure isn't you know meeting their needs are feeling stretched and pulled thin and you know that there are solutions and you know we can achieve them collectively thank you

Tell us about an issue where you've changed your mind. What changed it? Matt.

Oh, my goodness. That's quite the question. Yeah. So I think, I mean, this is a path that sort of I've been on for some time. But going from sort of cynicism to feeling like we actually can address these problems, right? I think, you know, for, you know... you know much of my life you know maybe i would you know flip on the daily show and maybe like shout at fox news but feeling like oh that's all we can do right like it's all pointless it's just a big joke it's uh you know this is just you know it's like uh it's like a game um and when i started working at winoski again i grew up in colchester and coming and working in this really diverse community you know and soon after i started was when trump first got elected um i remember after the Muslim ban, the travel ban came into place, had a student literally the next day just crying because his grandmother, who was coming from Iraq, and he didn't know if he was ever going to be able to see his grandmother again. that shifted it for me. This like this is not sort of like a game where like people are just like hashing out like abstract debate. These are like these policies have like direct impacts on individual children that I really care about. And you know that was the start of feeling like we can do something. And then actually the Winooski students for anti-racism which was this amazing inspiring student group that actually did enact change and, you know, I think it was just so inspiring to see and really that was, that's like the journey that I'm on right now really sort of initiated with, you know, our Winooski students. Thank you.

I love this question and I think I could have a lot of answers but the first one that comes to mind is my relationship to policing. content trigger warning but I was kidnapped at gunpoint and sexually assaulted I'm a multiple sexual assault survivor but in 2017 and was and reported to the New York City Police Department and my case was horrifically mishandled there was a lot of callous disregard etc which led me to filing a landmark lawsuit against the city of New York and the NYPD And my experience in that moment, right, it was, it happened in 2017. I filed my lawsuit in 2019. George Floyd was murdered in 2020. I was living in New York City at the time and there was just a very large, COVID was obviously rampant, just a lot of like anger that none of us really knew where to put. And I was really directing it towards, yeah, just like major institutions, the NYPD being one of them. And I definitely had very polarizing thoughts regarding policing. And... Yeah. And I'm sure like, you know, if we were running for higher office, people would like pull. I remember my favorite thing maybe is like someone posted on Reddit that I'm unemployed and I hate cops. And I was like, well, that's my brand. That's my brand. But I say that to say that it has taken me. I remember when I applied for city council, you and I sat down and you had said to me that when the city when city council approves the budget, the largest line item that we will approve will be policing. And I said, I'm unafraid of that. And what I mean by that and like shout out to Justin, who is our chief of police, who I have a really wonderful relationship with, is that one of the things that I have learned regarding policing and I give such credit to abolitionists like Miriam Kaba, like Angela Davis, who have taught me that in order to do true abolition work, you have to have one foot rooted in reality and one foot rooted in the future. And so the way that I approach policing work and sort of anti-policing work and the survivor justice work that I do is that do we all dream of a world where, right, like the carceral system doesn't exist? Sure. Will that happen tomorrow? No. But we can live and operationalize our values in the way that we implement policy and the way that we write it and the way that we move through the world through truly like in collaboration with police departments, thinking about fair and impartial policing. You know, I think of a very dear friend of mine who has sort of become a member of our chosen and found family, Jose Jerez, who recently just filed the lawsuit with the ACLU against ICE, right? Like using the systems that are there to then hold police accountable and, you know, federal law enforcement, et cetera. And so, yeah, it has just like shifted for me. And I know I've said this to you and to so many people, like when I was younger, I'm 38 right now, there's no way that I could have done this because I would have been in such a polarizing space of like, this is right, this is wrong, this is black, this is white. I did not understand what nuance was. And it has been my own personal experience being in state houses, in legislative spaces, passing, you know, policy, like advocating so deeply, you know, like being in front of the Supreme Court, like doing all of these things and really learning that, like, you have to reach across the aisle. You have to have these conversations. The way that police are treating particularly black and brown bodies and queer and trans folks is abhorrent. and we can do something about it. But it also doesn't mean that we need to completely abolish the system, nor will it happen tomorrow. So it's just, it's like very complicated, but it has truly changed something for me. And I know I'm in conversation with activists constantly here and I have felt so honored to be with them. And the last point I'll make is, Like yesterday at the Airport Commission, no, Wednesday at the Airport Commission, we celebrated that there has not been ICE presence at the Burlington Airport for a year. And there has not been a single flight coming out of the Burlington Airport. And that is because of incredible activism and community organizing that was done. And when I joined the Airport Commission, my first meeting there, there were all of these anti-ICE activists. And I remember texting my wife and being like, how do I let them know that we're besties? I have since joined them in a lot of that work and I'm so grateful to the Burlington Airport team but it's just work like that that people in positions of power can also be doing that work so it's my very long tangent to say it has been a journey and I'm so grateful to the people who have been on it with me but it's definitely my relationship to policing and law enforcement Thank you Daisy I feel like I could

make a long list of things, especially legislation, because legislation is changing all the time. But the reason it changes all the time is because I think people show a willingness to learn, and I think that's what changing your mind is about, is about a willingness to learn and grow into things. I guess I think the most important place to do that, to allow yourself to change your mind, is about people. Because relationships are really important. They're important for, you know, this work especially, getting your job directive from your neighbors. You know, you can't You don't know how to vote on anything unless you read your email and people tell you or you go knock some doors. And similarly, you don't know what's in the housing bill unless you have some friends down in the housing committee and you can call them up and say, tell me about H whatever. So I think changing your mind about people and allowing yourself to decide that, you know, all Republicans aren't aren't conservative. For example, I know plenty of Republicans that are very deeply embracing LGBTQIA folks. So yeah, I think just changing your mind about relationships and people is probably the most important one.

Thank you. The next two questions are a little related, so depending on time I might only ask one. We have another big construction project coming up in Winooski. I believe it's referring to the bridge. We need help from the state. What will you do to get our businesses the help that they will need? Yeah, and you know, this is coming off of, for anybody who doesn't know, we just had a big, well, we're still going through the construction on Main Street, and a lot of our businesses during that time experienced a huge downturn in people showing up to their businesses, and some of them were like this close to having to close, and there was one or two that actually did end up closing. So I know this is a deep concern of all of yours, but I'd love to hear your thoughts. Daisy, I think you get to start this time.

Yeah, okay, so The bridge project has been a long and winding road, as Mayor Renner can attest to. And one that I think has made a lot of us nervous. And I think we'll never be prepared enough for that project to come, but we have accepted that it needs to happen and the community has supported that. But it's an interesting one to think about because, again, back to relationships. How will your state reps be able to work with you and other municipal leaders to ensure that the community has the resources that they need? And we're leveraging state and federal resources to support the local businesses and local community overall. I think we have to get creative with tapping into federal resources, especially that bridge. If I'm not mistaken, Phil Bruce was going to look at federal designation for it to get the percentage for of of funding from Burlington and Winooski more equalized. So there's been a lot of a lot of concern about the funds as far as businesses specifically. I think, you know, looking at where some of the major federal funding is coming in, we have to be super creative and we have to work with our delegation, our congressional delegation, to look at where we can tap into it. And that has to be informed by organized groups of the business owners in Winooski.

Okay, thank you. Matt?

Yeah, so I know that the city with the last construction project had set up some loans and grants for businesses to sort of help bridge that gap. I think there may be some opportunities to use some of our, we have the LIAC, which is the the treasurer's 10% to invest in Vermont. I could see some opportunity of using those funds to help bridge the gap. I guess this probably wouldn't be in place in time for that bridge construction, but again, I was just talking about public banking. I think having a state of Vermont, a bank of Vermont that's public, that is serving our you know, our state specifically, that would be an amazing resource to have when we do have situations like this where we could, as a state, offer sort of low-interest loans to, you know, businesses that might be sort of struggling through a construction project. Also, I mean, for farms and agriculture that's sort of trying to recover after a natural disaster, I think having, you know, an institution like that will be unbelievably beneficial for our state. But again, in the shorter term, I would try to look for some of those programs that we have at the state level and try to help divert them to Winooski. Thank you.

The first thing that comes to my mind is how grateful I am to the downtown Winooski group and the board in particular. And I know Laura Wade, who's the board chair, and Melissa Corbin, who's the executive director, they have a monthly meeting. I'm very grateful to go to and the next one is on Tuesday where every single month the bridge project is a conversation and business owners are talking about it and they're constantly in communication with Elaine who's the city manager of Winooski and Elaine and the entire city staff of Winooski is very creative, I will say, in terms of funding sources. They're on top of everything. They know about things from a funding level and from a statewide level. As things come up, they're in communication with Vermont Trans. And I also think of Tim Ceci, who I don't want to be on my phone too much because I'm looking at things, so I'm going to get his job title incorrect. He's like the Burlington Winooski Bridge Project liaison. And so it's been incredibly helpful to have him as well. He also is an amazing Winooski resident. And so to have someone who knows what's happening and knows what's going on and then is constantly able to just liaise and provide information for us has been really helpful. And so all of those things are sort of working in tandem together. And so I don't know that I have, like, an exact sort of, you know, like, answer of this is where it would come from, but I know that there is a foundation there where I know going into the Main Street project, not that there wasn't a significant amount of planning done, but it was just the idea that, to my knowledge, maybe Winooski hadn't done something like that yet, whereas with the bridge, everyone is talking about it. It's on everyone's mind, and we are preparing, right? My favorite line is, stay ready so you don't have to get ready, and Winooski is certainly there.

Thank you. Winooski is a small city with not a lot of money. Would you advocate in Montpelier for the state to send more road repavement funds to Winooski? So currently, for folks who don't know, Winooski handles the majority of road work. The state only actually pays for state roads, which we have two major state roads that go through town. So we get that benefit. Al, let's start with you.

One of the things that I recently learned regarding paved roads and roads in general is that the amount of money that you get from the state is not based on the number of mileage of roads that you have, or that it is based on the number of mileage of roads that you have. Winooski is 1.4 square miles. Instead of basing it on the amount of traffic or road usage that you have. And I remember when I learned that, I was like, this is the new hill that I will die on. and so maybe that should have been my like magical wand that I would have changed because while Winooski has a very short amount of you know road square mileage the amount of usage that our road is getting is extraordinary and so yeah we hear about this constantly at the municipal level and so I would say certainly I would definitely need to like dive into the inner workings of this but I know that our roads get so much usage therefore they need more love and care and repavement, and I'm repaving, and so support from the state would definitely be vital.

So how I would approach this is before session, meeting with you and the city manager and making a plan, a plan for how strategically we would work together to do this and which senators from our delegation would be on board to help us because it's not going to be something that one person would... would do a bill or advocate for in the state house we would have to have partners in the senate side advocating for and pushing for it just like when you know we tried to get the bridge redesignated we worked really closely taylor and i with phil baruth and tom chittenden to get that advancing and and that's how it's done you know and mayor lott was really really instrumental in that as well and so i think you know the relationship between state representatives and municipal leadership is where things like that come in, because we don't pay attention to the nuances of municipal policy, and that's where you have to inform us, right? And then we can tell you a place in state policy where it's appropriate to carve things out and make a compelling case for it in the Transportation Committee, especially at a time when the Transportation Fund is dwindling.

Yeah, yeah. Matt? I mean, with the amount of traffic that goes through our little city, especially like heavy traffic going from, you know, northern Chittenden County into Burlington. And again, those heavier trucks do disproportionately more, you know, damage to the roads. I think it only seems equitable to have, you know, more state funds invested in Winooski because we're, you know, supporting everybody, you know, driving through. 24,000 cars a day.

Uh-huh.

And hopefully some of them stop at our lovely little coffee shops and restaurants.

I hope so. Well, Representative Barbeco, Councilor Turcos, Matt, it has been really enjoyable to have you here with me on this episode. So I've got one last question. This is the big one. What is your favorite restaurant in Winooski? I'll give you each a second, and then Matt will start with you.

Oh, well, so my wife still mourns the loss of our house. Their pulled pork mac and cheese is like, but, um, yeah, um. I think I'm a block and a half away from Tiny Thai, and oh my goodness, like, I've been like, you know, starting to order off the, you know, the Thai menu. Oh, you've progressed. Thai spicy is Thai spicy. So yeah, I got to say Tiny Thai.

This is very difficult. I, like, very difficult.

You have to pick one.

I know.

I had Melissa on here from downtown Winooski, and she had a real hard time, but I got to get you to one.

I'm... I'm going to answer as the person that I am right now. And right now, I would really like to eat a fish sandwich at Onion City Chicken and Oyster. And so that will be my answer. But I did have a lovely breakfast at Sneakers today.

Daisy.

Remember when Fauci was testifying and he said, under the advisement of my legal counsel, I am going to use my Fifth Amendment rights. Right.

I don't blame you, maybe.

We have a wealth of good restaurants better than any city in Vermont as far as I'm concerned. But I will say that my family has celebrated every birthday for the past five years at Sneakers.

There you go. Well, thank you for joining us. Thank you for joining me. This was really great. Remember to vote on August 11th. You vote in Winooski at the Senior Center from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Those doors are getting ready to close at 6.59, so make sure you are in and voting before 7 p.m. This has been another episode of In the World of Winooski. Thank you very much.