HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Board of Civil Authority - 04/13/2023BOARD OF CIVIL AUTHORITY 13 APRIL 2023
The South Burlington Board of Civil Authority held a meeting on Thursday, 13 April 2023
at 7:00 p.m., in the 301 Conference Room, 180 Market Street.
Members Present: C. Shaw, Chair; D. Kinville, T. Barritt, B. Gross, A. Gross, B. Nowak, L. Benner,
J. Martinez, P. Mahoney, C. Wagner, J. Kirchick, J. Quinn, C. Trombly, H. Riehle, S. Katz
1. Agenda Review: Additions, deletions, or changes in the order of Agenda items:
No changes were made to the agenda.
2. Review evacuation plans in case of an emergency:
Ms. Kinville reviewed emergency evacuation procedures.
3. Comments and questions from the public not related to the agenda:
No comments or questions were presented.
4. Approve Minutes of 16 February 2023:
Ms. Gross moved to approve the Minutes of 16 February 2023 as written. Mr. Kirchick
seconded. The motion passed unanimously.
5. Discussion of bi-annual challenging of voters:
Ms. Kinville explained the process. She then reviewed the numbers of voters who have not
voted, 3000 since November 2022 and 2400 since the Town Meeting election when everyone
was mailed a ballot and about 300 if we go back to the Presidential election in 2020. She asked
where to draw the line for challenging voters.
Ms. Riehle said she preferred going back to a Presidential election. After discussion, members
agreed to go back to the Presidential election of 2020.
6. Discussion of increasing Presiding Officer pay with same yearly increase as minimum
wage:
Members discussed possibly paying everyone the same. Ms. Kinville noted the extra
responsibilities of the Presiding Officer.
Mr. Trombly suggested paying the Presiding Office $5.00 more than the other workers who
receive minimum wage.
Mr. Barritt moved to pay election Presiding Officers $5.00 more per hour than other election
workers who receive minimum wage. Mr. Kirchick seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
7. Discuss senior housing election visits:
a. Purpose?
b. Who needs our services?
c. All elections?
BOARD OF CIVIL AUTHORITY
13 APRIL 2023
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Ms. Kinville explained the need to decide what the Board is comfortable doing. She noted that
senior housing visits began because there had been a problem with some residents not signing
their ballot envelopes or making other procedural errors. There is now a process for those
errors to be corrected. With 8 senior residences, the visits are getting to be too much for the
clerk’s office to handle and to find BCA members to attend the visits.
Mr. Shaw suggested that 4 of the senior facilities (Level 3) are worthy of visits because of the
nature of the residents. He also noted that if they don’t go to those facilities, they can be called
and the JP’s would have to do this on a one-on-one basis.
Members agreed with Mr. Shaw’s suggestion and felt this should be done for every election at
those facilities.
Ms. Riehle then moved to amend the first “bullet point” on the Mobile Polling Procedures to
read: The City Clerk shall notify assisted living and Level 3 residences prior to every election of
the availability of mobile polling. Further to delete the fourth “bullet point.” Mr. Trombly
seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
8. School’s rules regarding school property – does the school have any enforceable rules
that we could use on election day?
Ms. Kinville noted that there are election rules (e.g., placement of signs) but C. Shaw has
questioned and wishes to discuss with the school if they had specific school rules which could
prevail. She suggested they work together with the School District on this. Members agreed.
9. Other business:
Ms. Kinville reminded members of the voting dates for 2024:
March 5 – City Election and Presidential Primary
August 11 – State Primary
November 5 – Presidential Election
As there was no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned by
common consent at 8:00 p.m.