VERMONT LEAGUE OF CITIES AND TOWNS
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
Thursday, November 4, 2021
MINUTES
Members Present (In Person): President Jessie Baker and Members: Bill Fraser, Julie Hance, Lucas Herring, Joe Major, George Putnam, Miro Weinberger, and Georgette Wolf-Ludwig; (by Zoom): Mary Ann Goulette, Charlie Hancock, Delsie Hoyt, Ken Linsley, and Lucrecia Wonsor. Members Absent: None
VLCT Staff Present (In Person): Executive Director Ted Brady, Jessi Hill, Linda Mahns, and Gwynn Zakov; (by Zoom): Katie Buckley, Elena Esteban, Abby Friedman, Lisa Goodell, Karen Horn, and Ione Minot
Others Present (by Zoom): Racial Equity Co-Chair Elaine Wang.
Agenda Item #1: Call to order by the President
President Jessie Baker called the meeting to order at 12:20 p.m.
Agenda Item #2: Additions and Deletions to the Agenda
Lucas Herring moved to accept the agenda as is. Miro Weinberger seconded the motion. The agenda was adopted unanimously.
Agenda Item #3: Consent Agenda Items
Julie Hance moved to accept the consent agenda as proposed, including approval of the September 29, 2021, meeting minutes, acceptance of the October personnel report, adopting Juneteenth as an observed holiday in 2022, and VLCT’s health and dental plan contributions. The motion was seconded by Lucas Herring. The consent agenda was adopted unanimously.
Agenda Item #4: Equity Committee Appointment
Co-Chair Elaine Wang provided updates and overview on the Equity Committee including a review of changes to the draft charter language and then asked for the Board to consider appointing a Co-Chair from VLCT Board to serve on the Equity Committee. Questions and comments occurred, and the consensus was to have a shared review/approval of the Equity Committee’s charter by the full VLCT Board at a later date. The Committee expects to approve this charter potentially at their next meeting. President Jessie Baker asked for a Board member to serve as a link to the Equity Committee. Ted Brady gave an overview of the committee meeting schedule and expectations. Lucrecia Wonsor offered to be a volunteer on the committee. Lucas Herring made the motion to appoint Lucrecia Wonsor to the Equity Committee. Georgette Wolf-Ludwig seconded. Approved unanimously.
Agenda Item #5: Organizational Update
Ted Brady provided updates on Life and Disability Transition, Local Fiscal Recovery Funding (ARPA), Municipal State Energy Management Program Expansion Pilot, Retiring the print version of VLCT News, Office space update, Risk Management Services (RMS), UVM TIF study, NLC’s upcoming City Conference, and various VLCT news highlights.
Agenda Item #6: VLCT Strategic Planning Exercise
Ted Brady went around the room to receive feedback on big picture items and asked for specific potential aspirational ideas and goals.
Agenda Item #7: Town Fair Debrief
Lisa Goodell gave a summary report on Town Fair attendance as well as showing breakdowns of numbers for specific days and sessions. The hybrid meeting was deemed a success when compared to past Town Fairs that were in-person only. Financial information was not available at the time of this meeting, but overhead costs were down, 55% of participants paid via credit card, which was a new feature, and attendance was greater due to the hybrid model.
Agenda Item #8: VLCT Investment Policy
Ted Brady gave an overview of this policy highlighting the updates and asked the members for their feedback and questions. After some discussion, President Jessie Baker recommended the Executive Committee take the considerations mentioned today to rework this policy and bring back another iteration of the draft for review at a future meeting.
Agenda Item #9: 2022 Legislative Priorities
Karen Horn presented a list of 2022 priorities for the board to consider. These specific priorities all tie back to various elements of the previously adopted VLCT Municipal Policy. Gwynn Zakov then went through a list of self-governance initiatives that the advocacy team hopes the Legislature might consider as a compromise to previous local control legislation championed by the League. The Board was asked to endorse Gwynn’s self-governance initiatives list as presented, with the addition of allowing municipalities to self-determine if certain statutory positions are elected or appointed.
George Putnam made a motion to adopt the self-governance initiatives as amended and Bill Fraser seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
Miro Weinberger made a motion and George Putnam seconded a motion to adopt the 2022 priorities as presented by Karen Horn with an amendment – reemphasizing the need to focus on the creation of affordable housing. The motion passed unanimously.
Agenda Item #10: Law Enforcement Recruitment Concept
A short discussion occurred on this concept. George Putnam made a motion for a letter to be written to the Governor, the Speaker of the House, the Senate Pro Tem, Senator Sirotkin, and Rep. Marcotte to support including law enforcement officers in the eligible jobs for the State of Vermont Worker Relocation Grant Program. Joe Major seconded the motion. Approved unanimously.
Agenda Item #11: Other Business
President Jessie Baker called to adjourn the meeting. Julie Hance moved to adjourn and George Putnam seconded this motion. The meeting adjourned at 3:25 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Linda Mahns
Executive Administrative Assistant