by Guy Page
Monday night, the Burlington City Council failed to confirm the Mayor Miro Weinberger’s appointment of Jon Murad as Police Chief by a 6-6 vote.
Murad will continue to serve as acting Chief. The six councilors – all Progressives – who voted no are Council President Max Tracy, Jane Stromberg, Perri Freeman, Zora Hightower, Joe Magee, and Jack Hanson. A Dec. 22 statement by the six councilors criticized Weinberger for not following city Progressive’s recommendations for the hiring process.
The statement chastised Weinberger for insisting the new chief have the power to discipline his officers, adding that “Burlingtonians want a leader who is open to creating new systems of public safety based on harm reduction, providing support and resources to those struggling, and racial equity.”
Mayor Weinberger issued the following statement:
“Tonight, the Council missed an important opportunity to confirm a highly-qualified and committed permanent chief, strengthen our Police Department, and move forward on some of our community’s most pressing issues, and instead dealt another needless blow to public safety in our City.
“The people of Burlington, however, have spoken and made clear their overwhelming support for Chief Murad.
“I have asked Chief Murad to continue serving indefinitely as Acting Chief, and he has agreed. Chief Murad has my full confidence and I continue to be grateful for his willingness to serve despite the unprecedented and unwise rejection of his candidacy by half the Council.
“Chief Murad will be Burlington’s Chief so long as he continues to serve as a full partner with the Administration and the Burlington community in forging progress on our urgent public safety challenges and advancing police transformation. It is my sincere hope that at some point soon a majority of the Council joins us in this critical work.”
Categories: Burlington
Did y’all know that you can actually see Vermont from Burlington ? It’s so close you you can almost touch it !
What a bunch of first rate half-wits. And that is being more than kind.
Stopped visiting Burlington a few years ago. It’s dirty and cluttered. It’s not safe. It has a big pit in the middle. Parking is hell. Traffic too. But especially, its not safe. Ruined by the progs and frogs.
So they have nothing against the current Acting Chief, who will indeed continue to be the Chief, they just want to punish the Mayor for not sufficiently “following the process” they that prefer — the process, I believe, that was somewhat followed and resulted in pretty much zero applicants? They want to hire some mythical police chief who will work for less than standard pay AND agree to have his police officers subject to discipline from the city council and non-police officers? (What could go wrong, right?) They are lucky to even have Murad at this point.
The ideological fantasy of the Progressives is downright pathological, the fact that Burlington voters put them in power is as pathological .
Burlington is on the same path as every other city in America that is run by Progressives (falsely, so called). Crime will run rampant, police will become the villains for doing their job, and the public will not be safe. Couple that with a State’s Attorney that refuses to prosecute offenders except in rare instances, and your recipe for disaster is complete. Wake up Burlington, if you can.
Burlingtonians are a different breed of cat from real Vermonters. And every time something like this occurs they prove it again. Is that loony tune councilor still there that thought it was a good idea that maybe cops should not have guns ? (case in point) Where else but in Boilingtin ?
I would question the mental competency of anyone who wants be a police officer let alone chief in Burlington
Stop patronizing Burlington. It rewards bad behavior. It’s going to be up to local businesses and those that rely on Burlington for their livelihood to drive real change.
Acting Chief Murad has an exemplary record as an officer of the law and is a class act in his official dealings with the public. He would be an asset to any law enforcement agency in the free world and Burlington has so far passed up the opportunity to name him as permanent Chief. Unfortunately, some members of the City Council harbor an innate and systemic bias against this man due to a hereditary condition he suffers from known as MDS, Melanin Deficiency Syndrome, also known as Honkie Syndrome. If it were not for this affliction, which he has endured his entire life, he would otherwise be considered completely qualified for the position. I call upon the City Council to re-examine their biases, check their privilege and open their minds to the idea that someone who suffers from MDS can be a fully functioning and contributing member of society.
Burlington Progerssive/regressives don’t begin to deserve Chief Murad.
“Progressives are particularly proud of their creation, the guns and drugs industry in the Old North End – which used to be a respectable neighborhood.
Pity the remaining Old North Enders – who have to shelter daily against guns and drugs, crime, violence and ,,,,,,,,,,,,,