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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 03/07/2018 CITY COUNCIL 7 MARCH 2018 The South Burlington City Council held a regular meeting on Monday, 7 March 2018, at 6:30 p.m., in the Conference Room, City Hall, 575 Dorset Street. Members Present: H. Riehle, Chair; P. Nowak (via phone), M. Emery, T. Barritt, T. Chittenden Also Present: K. Dorn, City Manager; T. Hubbard, Deputy City Manager; D. Kinville, City Clerk; P. Taylor, J. Dinklage, Burlington Deputy Police Chief S. Burke 1. Election of City Council Officers: Mr. Dorn presided over the election of a City Council Chair. He opened the floor for nominations. Ms. Nowak nominated Ms. Riehle. Ms. Emery seconded. There were no further nominations, and Ms. Riehle was elected unanimously. Ms. Riehle presided over the remainder of the meeting. She thanked the Council for their support and said she will try her hardest to be fair, to be sure different opinions are heard, to work toward compromise, and to keep things civil. She felt incorporating public dialog into meetings has been helpful. She emphasized good process, making good decisions, and doing the best for the city. Ms. Riehle then asked for nominations for Vice Chair. Mr. Chittenden nominated Mr. Barritt. Ms. Nowak seconded. Mr. Barritt declined the nomination. Mr. Barritt then nominated Ms. Emery. Ms. Riehle seconded. Ms. Nowak nominated Mr. Chittenden who declined the nomination. In the vote that followed, Ms. Emery was elected by a vote of 4-1. Mr. Chittenden then nominated Mr. Barritt for Clerk. Ms. Emery seconded. There were no further nominations, and Mr. Barritt was elected unanimously. 2. Set dates and time for regular meetings: Members agreed to continue meeting on the first and third Mondays of the month at 6:30 p.m., except when holidays occur on those Mondays in which case the meeting will be the next day. 3. Annual Appointments (motion to specify length of appointment) to be made by majority vote of City Council pursuant to City Charter, Chapter 13, Section 301(2): Ms. Riehle read the list of one-year appointments as follows: City Treasurer …………………………………… Tom Hubbard City Attorney ……………………………………. Andrew Bolduc Zoning Administrator ……………………….. Ray Belair Asst. Zoning Administrator ………………. Cathyann LaRose Asst. Zoning Administrator ………………. Marla Keene First Constable …………………………………. Deputy Chief Paul Edwards Second Constable …………………………….. Corporal Kevin Grealis Grand Juror ………………………………………. Kevin Dorn City Agent & Trustee of Public Funds… Kevin Dorn Code Enforcement Officer ……………….. Ray Belair Asst. Code Enforcement Officer ……….. Cathyann LaRose Asst. Code Enforcement Officer ……….. Marla Keene Telecommunications Officer ……………. Ray Belair Asst. Telecommunications Officer ……. Marla Keene Emergency Management Director …… Doug Brent Health Officer ………………………………….. Justin Rabidoux Ms. Emery moved to approve the one-year appointments as presented. Mr. Barritt seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 4. Designate Official Paper of Record: Ms. Emery moved to designate The Other Paper as the Official Paper of Record. Mr. Chittenden seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 5. Designate Official Depositories: Ms. Emery moved to designate the Community Bank as Official Depository. Mr. Barritt seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 6. Appoint Council Representative to the Pension Advisory Committee: Ms. Emery moved to appoint Ms. Nowak as Council Representative to the Pension Advisory Committee. Mr. Barritt seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Dorn then introduced Burlington Deputy Police Chief Shawn Burke as the future South Burlington Police Chief and invited Deputy Chief Burke to address the Council. Deputy Chief Burke said he has served the Burlington Police Department for 21 years, holding every role a Police officer can have. He has done extensive work on drug issues and has the added perspective from a wife who is a nurse. In transitioning from drug enforcement to the “general crimes,” unit, he was the lead on a number of high‐profile cases and understands the impact of crimes. In 2008, he was promoted to uniform Sargent where he worked on a number of high liability, high risk cases. He then went back to the drug unit and often worked with South Burlington officers from 2010-2012. He was promoted to Lieutenant in 2012 where he had to lead officers in the field. In 2014, he began to chart a course for his future, returning to college to finish a Bachelor’s Degree and attending the FBI National Academy. He returned to Burlington in 2015 and was chosen to serve in the Detective Bureau in 2016 as Deputy Chief of Operations where he has served ever since. His work has included serving as public information officer and working on strategic design for the Burlington Police Department. Deputy Chief Burke said he has a strong desire to serve and to police, and he does not want to leave Chittenden County. He noted that the structure of the South Burlington Police Department is similar to Burlington’s and that South Burlington is a city that cares about its Police Force and the quality of life of its residents. This suits his personality and what he has been trained for. Ms. Emery asked what he would envision for the South Burlington Police Force. Deputy Chief Burke cited the number of vacancies in the Department and also the need to use crime data to focus on underlying problems Ms. Emery asked about gun laws and situations where police could intervene and remove weapons. Deputy Chief Burke said this is a complex issue. The Legislature can empower Police to seize weapons, but there is a need for adequate storage. There is also the issue of being able to adequately search and get all weapons which can lead to liability issues if officers don’t have the ability to do a full search. He added that there needs to be a discussion of bail issues, particularly in domestic abuse cases. Ms. Nowak asked if there are advantages and/or disadvantages of coming to a so closely related community. Deputy Chief Burke said the officers of both communities attended the same academy and operate under the same laws. Systems are county-based. One disadvantage is scaling down to about half of what exists in Burlington Mr. Chittenden asked if Deputy Chief Burke had any thoughts on part-time police officers to control budgets. Deputy chief Burke said the do use some part-time officers in Burlington, but they are all former Burlington police officers. Any part-time officer should be fully certified. Mr. Riehle asked what drew Deputy Chief Burke to police work. He replied that his father was a New York State police officer, and that influence was always there. He attended Vermont Technical Collage to study agricultural industry but had a strong desire to serve communities. His first job was in the Town of Woodstock which put him through the Police Academy when he agreed to stay there for 2 years. He knew then that it was his chosen career. He then applied and was hired by Burlington. Ms. Emery asked about an approach to ethnic disparity. Deputy Chief Burke spoke of the traffic stop study which began to shine a light on policing. What got his attention were the outcomes; the search rate was higher and less efficient. He noted that Dr. Brian March has trained officers across the state on “implicit bias.” He also noted that he himself has served on several boards regarding this issue. He said awareness is the key, and that it is the same in housing, schools, etc. Ms. Emery asked about the use of force, noting that the use of tasers is controversial. She asked what kind of procedure/methodology Deputy Chief Burke would put forth. He replied that “policy is great,” but training is where you see the difference. He stressed that you cannot act out of fear and that you should not induce a problem by being there. He cited the need to balance the response to people in crisis, isolating and containing the person without harm to others. He felt that using these guidelines they are now seeing better outcomes. He stressed that an officer who wants to use force is no longer working in his department. Deputy Chief Burke noted that Mr. Dorn had spoken about an “overlap period” where both long and short‐term plans could be formulated. 7. Approve and sign disbursements (City, Water) Ms. Emery moved to approve and sign disbursements as presented. Mr. Chittenden seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 8. Consider and possibly approve issuing a Request for Proposals for the Appointment of City Auditor: Ms. Riehle noted that she asked Mr. Dorn to put together different kinds of agreements that the city has with different entities and the timeframes for each. Mr. Dorn suggested putting this into the work plan so the Council is reminded in a timely way. Mr. Chittenden said the current Auditor has been doing a great job. He also cited an article by a person who is an expert in the auditor process and best practices and felt it would be a “healthy process” to go through an RFP to look for a “new set of eyes.” Mr. Hubbard cited the need to be sure any candidate can do both the city and school district and the TIF audit. He would want to get a good pool (last time, they sent out 11 RFPs and got back only two responses). The consensus of the Council was to move forward with an RFP. 9. Other Business: No other business was presented. 10. Discussion of future hiring practice guidelines for certain senior department managers: Ms. Emery said that when asked about the police chief selection process by the public, she didn't know what the process would be for hiring the police chief. In some cities, it is an elaborate process, and in some a less elaborate process. She felt it was important for there to be some public outreach in the case of Police and Fire Chiefs to get a sense of "the public culture" so that there could be a process that includes members of the community in addition to the manager. She felt that the current Police Chief did an excellent job last spring as "our moral leader," giving the community a sense of security. She felt it would be worthwhile to have a process for finalists to meet with a body of citizens including City Councilors, school people, business owners, those who work with domestic violence, etc. Mr. Barritt said police departments have come under a lot of scrutiny in recent years particularly with opioid and race issues. He felt police are getting the message that their job is public safety and dealing with people who need to be contained. Mr. Barritt also noted that sometimes he favors people who have come up through the system and noted that sometimes communities go through “gyrations” to bring in people from the outside, often at great cost. Mr. Dinklage spoke in favor of a strong City Manager form of government and felt that South Burlington’s system works very well while a neighboring community “gets all tied up.”  He strongly supported the current system and did not see the need for change. He felt that hearing from Deputy Police Chief Burke tonight was good. Mr. Chittenden agreed with Mr. Dinklage and was fine with the selection of Shawn Burke. He added that he had spoken with Chuck Hafter who had confirmed that there had been a committee when Chief Whipple was hired. He also felt the city should follow the dictates of the City Charter. Ms. Riehle felt there is an opportunity for a dialog with the community to hear how people might feel. She did not favor the panel idea. Ms. Nowak said the City Manager has the authority to hire the city’s Police Chief. She did not think there was a need for a broad-based candidate search. Mr. Dorn said that in the 5 years he has been City Manager, he has worked hard to keep the Council informed of what he is doing. Every hire is different. Every job situation is different. There can’t be a “cookie‐cutter approach.” He reminded the Council that he came to them in December and told them that Chief Whipple was going to retire. At that time, he said that rather than take resumes, he wanted to go out and find the best people. There was no opposition from the Council. Using this process, Mr. Dorn said he spoke with three people at the pinnacle of their careers and selected Deputy Chief Burke as the best. He added that candidates may not want it to be known that they were rejected by South Burlington. Mr. Chittenden said he reached out to 6 community leaders, all of whom said Mr. Dorn used the right process. He added that he had complete confidence in Mr. Dorn. Ms. Emery said she found Deputy Chief Burke to meet all the reasons for hiring. She added that she hadn’t understood that there would not be a public process similar to what was used when Mr. Hafter hired the current Police Chief. Ms. Riehle noted that having candidates state publicly that they are being interviewed for a new job could destroy their existing careers. People may not want that to be known. Mr. Dorn said the important thing is that the person who is hired should succeed. That is what everyone wants. Mr. Chittenden suggested this issue might be discussed with the City Charter Committee. Mr. Taylor commented that it was disappointing that Channel 17 was not at this meeting to hear from the new Chief. Ms. Riehle said he will be introduced at an upcoming Council meeting. As there was no further business to come before the Council, Mr. Barritt moved to adjourn. Ms. Emery seconded. Motion passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 8:35 p.m. Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works. March 7, 2018 MEMO TO: South Burlington City Council FROM: Kevin Dorn, City Manager RE: Re: Annual Appointments 1. Appointments to be made by majority vote of City Council Pursuant to City Charter, Chapter 13, Section 301 (2). The City Charter, Chapter 13, Section 301 (2) requires that certain appointments be made annually by the City Council. A list of those appointments and proposed appointees is listed below. All proposed appointees have agreed to serve for a one year term. Position Incumbent City Treasurer Tom Hubbard City Attorney Andrew Bolduc Zoning Administrator Ray Belair Asst. Zoning Administrator Cathyann LaRose Asst. Zoning Administrator Marla Keene First Constable Deputy Chief Paul Edwards Second Constable Corporal Kevin Grealis Grand Juror Kevin Dorn City Agent & Trustee of Public Funds Kevin Dorn 2. Other Appointments Position Incumbant Code Enforcement Officer Ray Belair Asst. Code Enforcement Officer Cathyann LaRose Asst. Code Enforcement Officer Marla Keene Telecommunications Officer Ray Belair Asst. Telecommunications Officer Marla Keene Emergency Management Director Doug Brent Health Officer* Justin Rabidoux *To enforce the ordinance relating to the use of public and private sanitary sewerage and stormwater systems as an issuing municpal official South Burlington Water Dept. Accounts Payable Check Register Date: 03/06/18 Date Check No. Paid To Memo Amount Paid 3/6/2018 3335 Aldrich & Elliott, PC 496.46 Date Voucher Number Reference Voucher Total Amount Paid 1/31/2018 VI-14468 77475 496.46 496.46 3/6/2018 3336 Besaw LLC 189.08 Date Voucher Number Reference Voucher Total Amount Paid 2/20/2018 VI-14464 REFUND 189.08 189.08 3/6/2018 3337 Champlain Water District 94,629.41 Date Voucher Number Reference Voucher Total Amount Paid 2/28/2018 VI-14471 FEBRUARY 94,507.03 94,507.03 2/28/2018 VI-14472 SBWD-328 122.38 122.38 3/6/2018 3338 E.J. Prescott, Inc. 297.71 Date Voucher Number Reference Voucher Total Amount Paid 2/9/2018 VI-14466 5349627 21.58 21.58 2/8/2018 VI-14467 5349126 129.60 129.60 2/21/2018 VI-14469 5352387 137.56 137.56 2/14/2018 VI-14470 5350769 8.97 8.97 3/6/2018 3339 FirstLight Fiber 42.24 Date Voucher Number Reference Voucher Total Amount Paid 2/15/2018 VI-14465 3985694 42.24 42.24 Total Amount Paid: 95,654.90 SOUTH BURLINGTON CITY COUNCIL _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ Printed: February 28, 2018 Page 1 of 1