Mayor Weinberger Officially Launches New Workforce Training Program for Licensed Nursing Assistants 

Thirty-five students from Burlington’s Underserved Communities Enrolled  

Burlington, VT – Today, Mayor Miro Weinberger officially launched the first-ever Community & Economic Development Office (CEDO)-Licensed Nursing Assistant Workforce Training program ‘Moving On, Moving Up’ at a press conference at Cathedral Square Assisted Living. The year-long project encompasses 10 weeks of specialized training for five groups, a total of 35 students. Eligible trainees who complete this free training, and successfully pass the state licensing test, will apply for and receive the Vermont State Board of Nursing licensure as a Licensed Nursing Assistant. 

The program kicked off on May 24, 2021 with seven students drawn largely from Burlington’s Black, Indigenous, persons of color (BIPOC) population, including immigrants and refugees, and the second cohort will begin July 13. The ‘Moving On, Moving Up’ program, a partnership among the University of Vermont Medical Center (UVMMC), Cathedral Square and Ethan Allen Residence, will upskill and re-skill students to fill the scores of open positions at the UVMMC and other assisted living/long-term care facilities.  

“The experience of the Covid-19 pandemic has made the essential nature of caregiving and healthcare services crystal clear”, said Mayor Miro Weinberger. “As we work together to make progress on both our economic recovery and tackling racism as a public health emergency, I have great hope that the Moving on, Moving Up program, and hopefully future programs like this will have a real and immediate impact – by supporting BIPOC Burlingtonians in moving into meaningful and well-paying careers and by expanding both access and equity in healthcare across our region.” 

'Moving On, Moving Up’ launches against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic and the associated job losses that have disproportionately affected Burlington’s low-to-moderate-income workers, women, and persons of color, including immigrant and refugee populations. Many of the beneficiaries of this training will be persons who were previously unemployed or employed in low-wage sectors.

The CEDO-LNA Workforce Training program is being delivered by TLC HomeCare, a local, minority, nurse-owned and operated organization specializing in-home care and healthcare staffing services. Founded in 2006, TLC HomeCare operates with a team of licensed, bonded, and professional care providers and employs a staff of over 300 healthcare professionals throughout Vermont and New Hampshire. 

CEDO Director Brian Pine said, “This program was built to meet the needs of employers in the healthcare and long-term care industries, but more so to meet the needs of Burlington’s underserved populations, including BIPOC and immigrants and refugees who have historically experienced the greatest economic marginalization, and will be even more vulnerable without an intentional and concerted effort to center their needs and ensure equitable participation in the region’s recovery from Covid-19.” He added that, “CEDO’s focus on workforce development intentionally and explicitly prioritizes equitable economic recovery and improving job quality for local residents.” 

The Program has three principal components: (i) a technical course which is conducted remotely (ii) laboratory (in-person) training and (iii) thirty-two hours of paid, hands-on supervised clinical experience. Eligible trainees who complete this free training, and successfully pass the state licensing test, will apply for and receive the Vermont State Board of Nursing licensure as a Licensed Nursing Assistant. The training also makes provision for each cohort to receive six (6) hours of professional development delivered by ReSOURCE, which will cover topics like Problem Solving, Time Management, Critical Thinking, Customer Service and Workplace Communication. The professional development training also entails preparation of resumes and mock job interviews.  

With their LNA certificates in hand, the program will work with successful students to support them with their job search and job placement efforts. For graduates seeking to further their careers in health care, having an LNA certificate is a key step up the career ladder. 

Built into the CEDO-LNA Workforce Training is a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) component. Specifically, students who undertake their clinicals at Cathedral Square and Ethan Allen Residence will each receive three (3) hours of DE&I training. Managers and supervisors of these facilities will also be participating in this training.  

The Program also provides wraparound support to ensure that students have the best chance of success.  These include Chromebooks for those students who are in need, transportation and child-care assistance. 

To date, there has been overwhelming interest in the LNA Workforce Training program, based on the number of applications received. Upcoming LNA training sessions are July 13, September 8, October 26, and December 13, 2021. 

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Mayor’s Fiscal Year 2022 Budget Passes the City Council Unanimously, Restoring City Services and Launching New Initiatives  

Amidst a Citywide Reappraisal and Economic Recovery, the FY22 Budget Significantly Limits Tax Increases While Making Bold Investments  

Burlington, VT - At its meeting tonight, the City Council approved the Mayor’s Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22) budget unanimously by an 11-0 vote, continuing the Administration’s track record of responsibly stewarding the City’s finances while making new investments in equity, climate, and the economy.  

“Last year we faced a dramatic reduction in revenues that forced us to eliminate virtually all discretionary spending. This year, the infusion of $27M in federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) revenues created a complex and exciting challenge,” said Mayor Miro Weinberger. “The budget my administration put forward and the City Council approved restores full city operations and makes structural progress on strategic priorities, all while carefully limiting the impact of lost revenues due to Covid on hard hit taxpayers. This budget is foundational to our City’s recovery.” 

Faced with unique challenges in the FY22 budget, Weinberger led a collaborative budget process that sought input from the community and the City Council.  

In May, Weinberger announced a set of guiding principles which included minimizing tax increases. Of the itemized rates that make up the municipal tax rate, Weinberger exercised discretion where possible to minimize impacts on taxpayers. The Mayor’s budget keeps tax rates $.0233 lower than authorized by voters, thereby avoiding a nearly 3.5% tax increase in the municipal rate during this early stage of the economic recovery by dropping itemized rates for Parks, Highway, Library, the Housing Trust Fund, and Open Space Land Conservation. The FY22 Budget does see increases; in the Public Safety Tax, as approved by voters in 2020, and in the City’s retirement service. 

FY22 Budget Principles 

The Administration began the FY 22 budgeting process by laying out principles that would guide our work to develop the budget. Those principles were:  

• All City services will be restored to pre-pandemic levels. 

• Investment in critical infrastructure should continue at pre-pandemic, enhanced levels to address aging assets and advance Net Zero Energy City goals.  

• Emergency reserves should be restored to address FY23 economic uncertainty. 

• Tax increases should be minimized as much as possible. 

• City will make overdue investments in racial equity and justice, language access, and livable wages. 

• Municipal City enterprise funds severely impacted by the pandemic require support. 

• The use of significant ARPA funds will be necessary to make good on other budget principles. 

New Investments in the FY22 Budget 

The FY22 budget makes significant investments in our efforts to become a more racially just community, including: 

• Increasing the REIB Department staff will from three to eight employees, adding a Racial Equity Data Analyst, Equal Opportunity Specialist, Anti-Racism Curriculum Manager, and moving two Public Health Manager positions from the Innovation and Technology Department to the REIB Department.  

• Support for a citywide Juneteenth event in 2022. 

• $165,000 for a public art sculpture about inclusion and belonging. 

• Funding for all City employees to be paid a livable wage, regardless of whether they are eligible per the City ordinance.  

• Funding within the Human Resources budget to expand diverse and recruiting initiatives for all Departments.  

• $150,000 of funding so that all Burlington board members and commissioners can be compensated for their service on a per meeting basis. 

• Resources to implement the City’s newly adopted Language Access Plan. 

• Support for the Trusted Community Voices.  

The FY22 budget makes substantial investments towards the climate emergency and Net Zero Energy City goal, including:  

• $2 million in energy efficiency funds and over $675,000 in Tier 3 electrification funds to support customer incentives and continue the Green Stimulus incentive programs within the Burlington Electric Department budget, including rebates for heat pumps, electric vehicles, and more. 

• More than $700,000 (funded in significant part by a $560,000 State grant) to  purchase  a new electric bucket truck, and new charging stations for electric vehicles in Burlington, including a potential DC fast charger.  

• Multiple environmental analyses will be underway in the coming year, including a $250,000 study by the Burlington International Airport to develop a Net Zero roadmap for airport operations, and a division-wide assessment of Water Services, through the Department of Energy, to evaluate energy efficiency opportunities across all plants and associated infrastructure. 

• Upgrading HVAC systems in City facilities and evaluating energy efficiency of City buildings. 

• The City’s newly established $1 million Green Revolving Loan Fund to make investments in City buildings that will result in energy savings was fully expended in FY 21 on the City Hall attic insulation and mechanical upgrade effort. In the coming months the City will receive a rebate from VGS and the Burlington Electric Department for the City Hall for this renovation and will use those rebates to partially refill the fund to pursue further projects in FY22. Additionally, the Burlington Electric Department budget assumes that the department will soon  seek voter approval for a revenue bond that would help fund key Net Zero initiatives and support associated grid and technology upgrades. This proposal would better align some of BED’s programs with revenue return from electrification, and mitigate future upward rate pressure. 

The FY22 budget makes significant investments in infrastructure to make walking and biking safter throughout the City will encourage active transportation and reduce vehicle miles traveled, including: 

• $1.5 million of bike and pedestrian improvements, including protected bike lanes on North Champlain Street, bike and pedestrian improvements on Manhattan Drive, constructing the modern, one-lane Shelburne Street Roundabout, upgrading University Place to add bike lanes and improved crosswalks, intersection safety improvements on at the Colchester Avenue/Pearl Street/North Prospect intersection, and constructing a shared use path on Mansfield Avenue.  

• $2.2 million to rebuild three miles of sidewalks  

• Resources to complete a citywide sidewalk condition assessment to prioritize our work.  

• Approximately $450,000 for funding for traffic calming projects (that also improve active transportation safety) in the Birchcliff, East Avenue, and Mansfield Avenue neighborhoods, as well as $300,000 to expand traffic calming in other parts of the City added to the budget following Council input in recent weeks. 

• $1.5 million to complete the multi-year, 8-mile long Bike Path rehabilitation with both the construction of a new alignment through Oakledge Park and relocating the path to the west side of the rail tracks in the central waterfront. 

• One of the most significant local rail investments in recent decades with $300K being dedicated to contribute to the larger State and Vermont Rail System effort to upgrade infrastructure improvements to bring daily Amtrak service from New York City to Burlington.  These funds will pay for soil management, upgraded power to reduce train idling, and realignment of Lavalley Lane to accommodate the new Amtrak railyard siding.   

The FY22 Budget advances our Net Zero Goals through the electrification of the City’s fleet and reducing vehicle miles traveled, including:  

• $75,000 for the Planning Department to complete a Transportation Demand Management study intended to result in recommendations for creating a community-wide TDM system. 

• Dedicating $500,000 to purchasing nine electric vehicles (EVs) for the City’s fleet, including an electric Zamboni, which will equate to 38% of the 24 vehicles planned for replacement in FY22. Additionally the City will purchase five hybrid vehicles, so EVs and hybrid vehicles will represent 59% of our vehicle purchases in FY 22. This is a positive trend, as the City began purchasing EVs in FY 20 and 6% of vehicles purchased in that year were electric, and 21% of vehicles purchased were EVs in FY 21. 

• As part of the City’s commitment to electrifying its vehicle fleet, the Administration is focused on significantly increasing the “fast charge” stations available to City employees in FY22. 

Information about the Citywide Reappraisal Impact on the FY22 Tax Rate  

The .6700 tax rate for FY22 (down from .9002 in FY21) was also driven by the required revenue neutral citywide reappraisal. 

• The City will soon conclude the citywide reappraisal project that has been underway since 2018. The last citywide reappraisal was conducted in 2005. Since then, the market values of properties have increasingly diverged from their 2005 assessed values in ways that are not even across Burlington. This has resulted in property valuations no longer being fair and equitably distributed across properties, neighborhoods, and property types. 

• By Vermont Tax Department standards, the City is required to undertake this citywide reappraisal. The City’s Charter mandates that this reappraisal will be revenue neutral for City government.  

• There are approximately 1,900 outstanding appeals of assessed property values. The Board of Assessors decision letter will be mailed at the end of June, and owners will have 14 days from the mailing date to appeal their property value to the Board of Tax Appeal. 

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Mayor Miro Weinberger Statement on Opposition to Redstone (100 Bank, LLC) Motion for Preliminary Injunction and Upcoming Mediation 

Today, the City’s legal counsel filed an Opposition to 100 Bank’s Motion for Preliminary Injunction, in Vermont Superior Court in Chittenden County. Mayor Miro Weinberger made the following statement: 

“This afternoon the City filed a strong opposition to the motion for a preliminary injunction filed against Burlington by 100 Bank, LLC. Despite my surprise and disappointment at this unproductive recent action by 100 Bank, I have made good on my intention to move toward a resolution with all parties involved in the City Place project and have scheduled two mediation sessions in July with the City, Redstone (100 Bank), and the City Place Developers (BTC Mall Associates). It is my hope that Redstone and BTC will engage this mediation process in good faith, that all parties will take a collaborative and productive approach, and that with the City’s leadership -- we can quickly reach a resolution that allows this transformative project to move forward for the good of the people of Burlington.”  

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Mayor Weinberger Announces End to Coronavirus Emergency by Executive Order, City Releases Covid-19 Pandemic Response After Action Report 

In a Global Pandemic, Local Actions Matter, Key Findings Include how the City Leveraged Assets, Focused on Equity and Used Data to Drive Interventions 

Burlington, VT - Today, Mayor Miro Weinberger hosted an in-person Covid-19 briefing at City Hall to announce the end of the Coronavirus Emergency in Burlington by Executive Order, and to present key findings of a new Covid-19 Pandemic Response After Action Report released by the City.  

The report, written by Burlington’s former Covid Response Leader Brian Lowe and Burlington’s Analytics Team, details decisions and choices the current City team made in 2020 and 2021 about how to restructure City operations, overhaul existing communication practices, leverage and empower community leaders and organizations, allocate resources, and – rarely – break with conventional Federal public health guidance in the face of accumulating evidence to better serve and protect residents. 

“Our community’s performance throughout this emergency response has been exceptional,” said Mayor Miro Weinberger. “The after action report we are releasing today outlines 8 guiding principles of our pandemic response and details numerous critical interventions, best practices, and lessons learned. What I have learned over the last 457 days– and what this community should long remember – is that even in the face of a seemingly insurmountable challenge, the people of Burlington are capable of forging incredible progress.” 

"The Mayor and the City’s leadership approached this crisis with the firm belief, backed by clear evidence, that the actions taken by local governments could impact that pandemic’s trajectory for better or worse,” said Meagan Tuttle, Covid-19 Response Leader and Comprehensive Planner for Burlington. “This report was created to capture experiences and lessons learned by the City team during the pandemic with the hope that it will be valuable to our successors in the event of future crises—whether that takes the form of a public health emergency, climate emergency, or some other emergency. We also know that these lessons will help inform our work as we seek to emerge from the pandemic as a more resilient and equitable city.” 

Stephen Leffler, President and Chief Operating Officer of the University of Vermont Medical Center, and a speaker at more than 30 of the Mayor’s Covid-19 briefings attended the event and said, “I really firmly believe that Chittenden County, Vermont, has had the best response to the pandemic in the country.”

Key Findings of the Covid-19 Pandemic Response After Action Report include:  

• By February 2020, the Mayor ordered a review of readily available literature on Burlington’s response to the 1918 pandemic as well as a review of the City’s existing pandemic response plan (which was based around the H1N1 experience in the early 2010s and the planning for a potential Ebola emergency in 2014) - providing clear evidence that city government action could impact the trajectory of a pandemic locally. 

• Burlington faired remarkably well, despite being both a University and college town with a high concentration of long-term care facilities. Chittenden County ranked near the very top of counties with 50,000 or more inhabitants, tracking in the 96th percentile for infections and 92nd percentile for deaths. 

• Burlington leverage city assets and used data analysis to augment the state and federal response. For example; the combination of early warning signals from the City’s wastewater monitoring program and the clear communication among, and proactive action taken by, a network of senior service providers helped limit the spread of at least two potential outbreaks in local Long Term Care Facilities. 

• When the coronavirus struck Burlington, U.S. public health authorities were divided, providing confusing, conflicting, and sometimes incorrect public health guidance.  Burlington took critical early actions during this period of uncertainty;  

           1. Securing financial resources to address unknown future challenges quickly;  

           2. Restructuring City government to make decisions informed by data, research, and emerging best practices;  

           3. Formally activating existing “emergency” measures that fall within the City’s authorities and complement the state’s actions;  

           4. Establishing a new entity to help manage a high volume of resident needs and requests; and  

           5. Identifying a point person to coordinate the city’s response. 

• To help ensure that the response efforts were appropriately informed, the City entered into a data use agreement with VDH in order to gain access to City level and race-disaggregated data on testing, cases, deaths, and vaccinations in order to identify any disparities. In the late spring of 2020, REIB and the Mayor’s Office developed an 8-Point Plan for the City’s COVID response. That plan focused attention on critical resources like testing and vaccinations and supported the creation of a multi-lingual task force to help share vital information in videos, text, and on the City’s website across the many languages spoken in Burlington. 

The full report can be found on the City’s website here. 

Burlington’s Covid-19 Dashboard is on the City’s website here: Coronavirus Response - Who's Impacted (arcgis.com) 

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Mayor Miro Weinberger and Burlington City Council Reject Regional Governance of Burlington International Airport 

Report finds under the City’s governance the Airport has continued to thrive, and the overall value of the Airport estimated at $1.04 billion 

Burlington, VT – Tonight, the Burlington City Council voted unanimously to affirm the current ownership structure of the Burlington Airport, which is a municipal department of the City operating as a separately reported enterprise fund. The vote followed a presentation by Burlington City Attorney Eileen Blackwood of a report produced by her office in January of 2020, which lays out the history of the Burlington International Airport and addresses questions of regional governance. The full report 40-page report including an executive summary can be found here.  

Mayor Miro Weinberger, who prior to his election served on the Burlington Airport Commission for 9 years, directed the City Attorney’s Office to write the report in 2019, and emphatically supports the City Council’s actions, releasing this statement: 

“The City Attorney’s report is a comprehensive and well-written document that should be seen as the definitive answer to the questions about airport ownership and governance.  As a result of the investment by the people of Burlington and strong governance by the City, the Burlington International Airport has grown and thrived for 100 years, and is well-positioned to continue to be a driver of regional prosperity and innovation for decades to come.” 

The report’s key findings include: 

• The study documents that "substantial investment into and support of the airport by Burlington taxpayers over the ninety-nine years since it was dedicated. While much of Burlington’s investment occurred in the first 30 years of the Airport’s history, indirect support continues to this day.” (p.1) 

• “Under Burlington’s governance and operational support, the Airport has continued to thrive, serving more than 1.3 million passengers in 2018 and contributing more than $480,000,000 to the regional economy. From its initial 72 acres, it has increased in size to almost 942 acres. Including its current asset value, the Airport is estimated to have a value to the region of $1.04 billion.” (p. 2; Note: Even during the pandemic, the Airport has continued to grow. The report was completed before the recent announcement that BETA Technologies, an electric aircraft manufacturer, wishes to build a 270,000 square-foot facility at the Airport that would provide hundreds of more high-quality jobs for Burlington residents.) 

• “While the details of governance models vary, BIA’s current governance structure—a municipal department within a general government entity operating as a separately-reported enterprise fund--is a widely accepted and reasonable governance model, squarely within the range of the municipally-owned models adopted by about half of the airports in the country. Almost all of these municipally owned and operated airports were founded by the municipality and have remained in municipal ownership throughout their history (excluding during wartime when federal authorities may have taken them over).” (p. 2) 

• Issues and concerns that have been raised by elected officials from municipalities that neighbor the airport could be addressed “without risking the disruption and cost of complete restructuring, [through] more targeted changes within the current structure.” (p.3) 

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Mayor Weinberger Statement on End of Covid-19  Emergency Orders 

Burlington, VT – On June 2nd, Mayor Miro Weinberger announced that his Emergency Order for the City of Burlington would end on June 15th. Earlier today, Governor Phil Scott announced that he will allow the Governor’s statewide Emergency Order to expire on June 15th at midnight. Mayor Miro Weinberger made the following statement:  

"It is a great, life-saving achievement for Vermont to be the first-state in the country to reach the critical threshold of vaccinating 80% of the eligible population.  This accomplishment, while extraordinary, is no surprise to anyone who knows Vermonters and understands their deep dedication to community, science, and protecting the most vulnerable.  Bravo Vermont, and to everyone who took action to bring us to this outstanding milestone." 

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