In Burlington’s first city-wide public safety vote, the Community Control Board proposal strongly opposed by Mayor Miro Weinberger failed with 63% of Burlingtonians voting No at annual City Meeting balloting, Weinberger reported at 11 PM Tuesday.
Question #7 would have been a binding measure on the 2023 Burlington Town Meeting Day Ballot which asked voters if the City should amend its Charter to create a new control board for police oversight in the form of an “independent department” of the City empowered to hire staff, to investigate any incident, to choose its jurisdiction, and to discipline BPD staff without input from the Chief or opportunity for appeal other than to the Superior Court.
Board members could not include law enforcement and would have be appointed by a citizen appointment committee. The proposal did not include a budget or projected cost.
With over 10,000 voting, Tim Doherty (D) in the East District and Melo Grant (P) in the Central District were elected to the Burlington City Council, along with Hannah King (D) in a Ward 8 special election following the October resignation of former Councilor Ali House (P). Also elected were incumbent councilors Joan Shannon (D) in the South District, and Mark Barlow (I) in the North District.
Sourced from Mayor’s office press release.
Categories: Burlington
It’s a miracle that this didn’t pass especially in this progressive run city. I for one am extremely grateful, the police don’t need to have a babysitter of we hate the police people.
As expected, the Defund The Police movement is failing. Unfortunately, the damage caused by this movement is huge and impacts communities of color more than anything else. Sounds like the people of Burlington have sent a strong message. Hopefully, those progressives will listen.