Voters decide on police oversight board

US Senator Bernie Sanders speaks about Donald Trump before the election on November 5th

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders told reporters outside the Ward 7 polling place in Burlington on November 5, 2024 that there is a “reason” why many Republicans and former allies of Donald Trump no longer support the 45th President of the United States.

Voters in Burlington, Vermont, approved two ballot measures, one for police oversight and one for Burlington Electric's infrastructure projects.
The amendment to the Police Oversight Charter will establish an independent body to deal with disciplinary decisions on police misconduct.
The Burlington Electric Department's revenue bond will fund grid reliability improvements, renewable energy projects and electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
The bond will be repaid through electricity rates and has no impact on property taxes.

The two items that appeared on the back of the Burlington ballot both passed: a charter change that will affect police oversight and another request to borrow money for Burlington Electric infrastructure projects.

Burlington Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak released a statement following the election results saying she was grateful to Burlington residents for “turning out in significant numbers” and for endorsing these two items.

The Police Oversight Charter amendment passed with 62.4%, or 11,426 votes.

The BED Net Zero bond was approved with 79.6% or 14,341 votes.

Mulvaney-Stanak said residents approved Burlington Electric's revenue guarantee, stating that “voters overwhelmingly approved Burlington Electric's revenue guarantee, which will ensure BED's continued efforts to make our grid more reliable and reduce our net Advancing net-zero energy goals while reducing the impact on ratepayers.”

Old North End resident Michael Zakaras said anything that addresses climate change is worth supporting. He said there will be costs to change, but “there will also be costs if no action is taken.”

Mulvaney-Stanak also said voters approved the Police Oversight Charter Amendment, which will create an independent board of three to five members to make disciplinary decisions on officer misconduct when there is a disagreement between the chief and the Police Commission.

What was Vote Question 2: The Police Oversight Charter Changes

This article stems from years of public interest in being more involved in the events of the Burlington Police Department. After efforts to create a community oversight board in 2023 failed, the City Council instead passed a resolution to find another way to increase community participation in police review. This ballot item is the result of those efforts by the City Council in collaboration with the Mayor's administration and with significant public participation.

The charter change would accomplish the following:

Create consistent charter language to clarify that the police chief, like all department heads, is subject to the ordinances, resolutions and orders of the City Council and the authority of the mayor, who retains the executive powers and duties delegated to the mayor by the charter.
Codify current practices into law that ensure police transparency and scrutiny through existing departmental directives and mayoral orders. These policies allow the Police Commission to review all community complaints against the Burlington Police Department and require increased scrutiny of use-of-force events.
Allows the City Council to delegate authority to the commission to audit and oversee the police department and to adopt rules and regulations for the department.
Ensures that the Commission provides the resources necessary to carry out the work and that the composition of the Commission reflects the diversity of the City.
Establish an independent panel of qualified community members to make police disciplinary decisions when there is a disagreement between the police chief's discipline recommendations and the recommendations of at least two-thirds of the Police Commission.
The independent committee consists of 3 to 5 people and the composition of the committee is determined by a regulation. This includes the number of members, what professional or life experience is required of the members and who appoints the members.
The decision of the independent panel is final. This means that neither the police chief nor the police commission can change anything about it. However, union members would retain their grievance and arbitration rights to challenge any decision by an independent panel, just as they can challenge a decision by the police chief.

What was Ballot Question 1 for the Burlington Electric Department Tax Bond?

The new BED bond will have no impact on the city's property taxes or debt ratio and would be solely BED's responsibility to pay through electric rates. However, the new bond will minimize pressure on ratepayers by allowing BED to fully fund several important projects related to climate and grid reliability.

The bond would fund several projects including:

Supporting strong grid reliability, which has long been a top priority for BED customers.
Increasing grid capacity from 80 megawatts to 90 megawatts to power even more electric vehicles, heat pumps, geothermal systems and electric buses.
Further investment in renewable energy generation assets, including the relicensing of the Winooski One hydroelectric facility.
Bring 200 electric vehicle charging ports, including 47 fast chargers, to Burlington by matching funds for a $4.8 U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Program grant.
Expansion of the BED fleet with 12 electric vehicles, including a second fully electric bucket truck.
Complete modernization of technology systems to enable more dynamic tariffs that reduce peak energy consumption and make electric heating and transportation more affordable.

What was Vote Question 2: The Police Oversight Charter Changes

What was Ballot Question 1 for the Burlington Electric Department Tax Bond?

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