A plan issued by Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger to improve public safety in the city asks voters to reject a question on the Town Meeting Day ballot.
A citizen petition gathered enough signatures to place a question on the March 7th ballot asking voters to establish a Community Control Board to oversee the Burlington Police Department. In the plan’s section on rebuilding the police department, Democratic Mayor Weinberger calls for rejecting the proposal.
“I think it’s not too much to say that it’s an existential issue for the police department. We’re just now starting to rebuild it. If this charter change, which would undermine that rebuilding effort, passes I think we’re going to be back in a very tenuous situation with a real question as to whether we can consistently, properly police this community. That’s not where I want to get back to.”
If the charter change is passed by Burlington voters, the Vermont legislature and governor would also have to approve the change.
