iction that we're seeing right now on the streets they might be a different level and you would utilize different investigative avenues to maybe get to that next level person we have not seen this out here what we're dealing with and so I think as we manage the things day-to-day and we build there is no short-term solution but I think we're going in the right direction with the programs where we have our civilian counterparts and our you know government or non-government organizations out there meeting with people and trying to encourage them to get help get treatment get all of the service aspects tied up so that they can maybe move in the direction that we heard some of the people speak and move on to good productive lives enforcing as far as an enforcement aspect we are not we're not going to enforce our way out with the lower-level individuals who are addicted and suffering from all a bunch of other things kind of in that bucket so we are I think in the right direction as far as the open air and I know it's tough I know there's social media I know there's things that are out there and it's shocking to the conscience as we continue to build up when I look back in 2009 or 2015 or 2019 the amount of officers that we had on patrol the amount of supervisors that we had the fact that we had marketplace on top of that we had street crimes on top of that we had SROs on top of that we had the resources that when we were handling priority calls we still had officers who could go out and do proactive policing and that proactive policing could be all sorts of things it could be DUI enforcement it could be drug interdiction it could be just patrolling for people out lurking in the shadows and breaking into cars and so our goal is to get back to that but it is going to take time and it is a tough struggle to manage our resources to meet all of today's needs but we're doing our best thank you councillor Bergman we'll go to councillor Jang and then councillor Shannon thank you President Paul thank you for being here and to break the ice thank you for dressing up better than Chief Mirat you guys nailing it right now thank you I think sometimes it's good for you to dress up like this right we saw another face of the great work that you do and I'm appreciative of everything you do every single day right and I want to recognize also what councillor Grant said I would have loved to to to get this presentation a little bit earlier and would love to be able to engage more right everything that you talked about I almost forget about it so next time please send it to us a little bit earlier you know and I think what I what I captured is you said it right basically this is a crisis everyone here public forum you talked about it you understand and all of it right but I want to understand couple of things your your work in collaboration with surrounding municipalities surrounding police right around drug trafficking and our controlling drug trafficking if you can talk about that that'd be good also if someone is admitted up at the hospital because of overdose do you follow up with that person after hand in order to identify where this drug come from and I know if someone got shot you follow up with that person to identify to try to apprehend the shooter but with the drug crisis does that happen that's your unit and okay let me allow you to answer those and then couple more thank you so I'll speak generally and and Sergeant Tremblay can maybe speak to the current collaboration as I said earlier when we briefly discussed recruitment and retention all surrounding agencies are struggling to recruit and retain people and I don't claim to know all of the staffing issues with departments in the county but I know that we're all fighting for the same individuals and we're all struggling to hire we do routinely in the past during my time period we would work collaboratively with other detective bureaus to address these issues I don't know if the same thing is going on as consistent as it was a decade ago during my time but I do know that our bureau actively works with surrounding agencies the state police their narcotics team when working cases that either touch Burlington or have connections to Burlington there used to be a time period where people wouldn't dare come to Burlington to sell drugs at least that was my experience during my time now maybe not so much but as far as the collaboration I I think it's still happening and Phil can can add to that as far as the overdose deaths I'll let Mike speak to that generally in my experience when we have had it I've had unfortunate cases where I worked patrol and we would go to a house and three or four people had overdosed at the time it was it was heroin and this is a decade ago and we're not even done dealing with the scene before they're back from the hospital basically not cooperating don't want to talk to us about anything like like they had just went out to get lunch very shocking in some instances and there's a there's a bunch of reasons why people struggling with things do or don't want to cooperate with the police and I don't think that's you know fit for this discussion here but I'll let Phil briefly discuss collaboration with surrounding agencies short answer for collaboration yes and it's out of necessity so I'm happy to say my personal opinion if we were to do say a controlled purchase where we're doing a controlled purchase of an illegal drug in my opinion the safe the minimum number of investigators to be involved would be four I believe I illustrated in the presentation that our current drug unit combined with our lack of free crimes is four so for us to do anything we are at the bare minimum so we rely heavily on other agencies and other agencies don't have those four officers dedicated to drug investigations so they rely on us we're very grateful for the collaborations and I think it's worth noting that we have a once a month meeting over at the state attorney's office where all of the Chittenden County law enforcement folks come in and that's specific to drug related investigations so that we're at least we're seeing if we're dealing with the same problems here as in Colchester Winooski which probably won't come to any surprise that we are thank you and the urgency of the problem we all recognize it and creative solutions is exactly what's needed and I think Burlington from here this is a call to please be the leader of bringing them together more than once a month and try to solve this problem this is not our problem alone right and yes now the last question I have for you is in regard of the six people in the academy right now to become police officers and was just wondering if you will prioritize having them as to join this unit and thank you so unfortunately no the trainees in the academy will go through their academy training and then they will come out and do their post basic and then their field training where they can learn to build their foundation to be good solid patrol officers the benefit though is as we build up those academy we can take our more senior seasoned officers to then look to backfill into the street crimes unit and that's obviously our goal or one of our goals thank you councillor Jang will go to councillor Shannon thank you President Paul I have a question I've just been wondering for a really long time so since you're here I'll ask it I have noticed a lot of cars around town don't have license plates or they have what appears to be bogus license plates and something must have happened during COVID that the DMV doesn't seem to be issuing the temporary plates that they used to issue and I also hear from people all over the city who are watching drug deals go down all over the city that many of those cars don't have license plates can you explain what's going on and if somebody is talking to DMV about this and am I wrong is this just anecdotal and there's not actually a relationship so I do have DMV counterparts that I could follow up with and get more information but the smaller version is obviously during COVID a lot of in-person services ceased to exist and I think if I remember correctly registrations and things that were done through clerical work at the DMV's a lot of that went to online or a lesser version of in-person and during that time period they were issuing I think people were printing them if I remember correctly like temporary plates and then you'll see they get wet or they're not protected and then they throw them on some cardboard or they put them in their back window where they tape them up and with I'm going to assume the backlog at the state level with issuing of plates they're created this window where there were cars out there operating in that nature I don't I don't want to misspeak on the details of what exactly took place with DMV but but that is my understanding and that is why you tend to see that now that doesn't mean that you know people abiding by the law and printing the plate and having it valid and waiting for their plates are doing the right thing and that other people who aren't doing that are just scribbling something down and writing and the only way that that potentially would be found out would be through traffic traffic stop traffic enforcement to look further into if there was a violation and obviously they're dealing with whatever they're going to deal with on a civil side of things for traffic interactions they would maybe find out if that was bogus or not the problem I believe at one point was as temporary registrations are in limbo in the systems they're not like your hard plates your green and white plates that are in the system when you run them thank you so you don't know what DMV is planning on doing because I understand there's still there's still just people printing off their own plates and when people are printing off their own plates it seems right for taking advantage of that system and I know when we had drug dealing going on in my own neighborhood what we were all told to do is report the plates but you can't report the plates when either it's something that's just a small thing in the window or it doesn't have a plate and there is no enforcement of actually having a plate anymore I think that this goes towards you know what one speaker said tonight this kind of breakdown of just even the expectation of having a license plate seems like one one piece of this but if you can yeah I think it'd be great if you could talk to DMV I'm not hearing you say that this is problematic in terms of addressing the crime that's going on in the city am I misinterpreting that so without getting into a whole different topic I believe in this is my my opinion as a law enforcement officer that proactive policing which includes traffic enforcement is an important tool in our toolbox when it comes to deterring crime keeping the streets safe of intoxicated drivers or anything else that you might find somebody doing that is acting in a criminal manner and so we obviously in our current situation and as the numbers show have not been engaging in traffic enforcement as far as traffic stops as we have in years past for a number of reasons and a lot of that is obviously that is a can be a proactive interaction and right now as we prioritize and triage our resources we we have to focus our shifts downtown and like this evening we had four officers on you know there's no officers like there were years ago to be out doing traffic enforcement to that level and that personally bothers me because that's not the way I came up in the department policing yes well I just wanted to add we're also slightly inhibited by certain recent policies surrounding non-public safety related traffic stops and proactive efforts to interdict beyond that traffic stop and that's just essentially memos from the state's attorney's office that we're abiding by so essentially a non-public safety stop which would be a registration issue you essentially are prohibited from enforcing the drug crime beyond that well I will say that when I I was in South Burlington following a car without a plate and I called to report that and the response was similar in South Burlington so I'm not saying it has anything to do with with Burlington really but it seems like actually the DMV should maybe enforce this and the DMV should provide something that is unique to the DMV and distributed by the DMV and not printed on our home computers and if there's anything you can do to expedite that or that I could do please let me let me know beyond that you had mentioned that the numbers for your drug tip line and that you don't you want to provide responses it's not your top priority to provide responses and you don't want to see the drug drug tips going down but aren't we seeing that from the numbers that you showed us which was 405 drug tips in 2022 and 202 and 2023 assuming three quarters that's about three quarters of the year to date which should be if it were on par it should be around 300 and it doesn't seem like our drug crime has gone down in that time frame again anecdotally feels like it's going up so do you think maybe we are reaching that point and then again maybe that's not really the most important thing and you need to focus on the other aspects of your building cases but I do know that members of the public want to be helpful in the effort there's also a difference between feeling helpful and actually being helpful so I think being honest about what you really need and what's really helpful would be good thanks thank you very much counselor Shannon did you did you want to respond to that or I apologize my apologies go ahead so I obviously can't tell you why the numbers are what the numbers are and I could make assumptions that people may or may not be calling because they don't feel that they're getting a certain response but I think as we we said during the presentation and as we said during previous conversation that we want people to continue to call and submit tips and I hopeful hopeful hopefully this was informative to people that do watch to know that they do have the ability to do it and we want the information to come in but then also understand that it's different than a 911 call and we we're going to do our best to continue to try to get to them and we've been discussing trying to prioritize like a reasonable timeline to address those those issues inside the drug unit and and we'll work towards when we do have someone who receives a call back that our detectives will kind of give them a they tend to like a very general overview of what may or may not be able to come from that tip or what we might be looking for or you know what other information they could provide I think a lot of times when people call they obviously expect to speak to somebody and if we can if we can speak with them and have that communication I think we'll be better off so hopefully this dialogue will encourage people to continue to call but also hopefully and I say I know I say be patient with us but it's hard when you have this stuff going on in your neighborhood but know that we are we are we're we're doing our best to try to handle these these issues and we will continue to do so you can put a two-minute time around me if you'd like reference the the drug tips as well I think what's important is that hopefully there's some education going on in that that's that's not an appropriate spot for drug use tips which is actually a number of them where it's hey there's somebody who appears to be you know shooting up and in this particular location that's not when when that tip is being received that's not really actionable on our side of things because it's over and done with it maybe happened two days to a week prior so there's not really much follow-up that can be done from there those tips are the most advantageous thing that comes from those tips is reoccurring behavior or or be yeah mostly reoccurring behaviors and locations and license plates as you alluded to that those are the most effective tips and I will say that when we took took upon the priority response plan a lot of the drug use things were getting sent to that drug tip line which I guess I don't have a better answer for where they should go because an officer's probably not going to respond to it live so it seems fitting to go there but just so folks that are listening understand that an active drug use situation isn't really appropriate for that we'll always take it it gets logged but the most advantageous thing is that reoccurring behavior that's helpful thank you thank you so much councillor Shannon we'll go back to councillor Jang and then we need to move on yes and this is also for the public to know that under the circumstances you are you are also doing great work if I tell you a blue house in the new north and how you dismantled that drug ring it was just really amazing people complained talk to you talk to you but you guys were doing your investigation behind the scene but when the time was right you came and took it down and I just want to say thank you for that specific dismantlement and we want to see more of those and dress up more than the chief do thank you guys thank you so much thank you I know I got the side eye from the city council president data do you have a way without compromising any investigations where you can just give a number of the current cases that you're working or and or numbers of cases that have been submitted to the state's attorney so in the moment we're at this is now we're not going to provide that type of intelligent information to individuals I understand there's a need for data and transparency and I think we do a real good job of providing that online I think it could be more of a after the fact kind of like you know this year or these cases were conducted during this month type of thing where it's not gonna okay yeah yeah you know the like Phil said hiding in the shadows and so we probably won't go in that direction as it stands now but we can explore you know kind of working backwards of this is what we had done I'd appreciate that I think the public would appreciate that as well because data is something that is is something that's being asked about in terms of what is happening around building cases and submitting cases to the state's attorney's office and then the court system because it's not state's attorney's office is a county office it's not a city office they can't specify ongoing cases they can't pull that information in that that way of just looking at anything extra that can help keep the people of Burlington informed and engaged regarding drug use which drug use going to the tip line with that still be looked at as possibly helping to provide a heat map to say okay a lot of people are reporting individuals using this particular street at these times do you ever use those for heat maps I'm not aware of us doing that obviously any any sort of data points if you're getting information you can plug into to a heat map and create that okay I think we know internally where a lot of stuff is going on as people do externally but that's not something that we I think we're experiencing most of that downtown in the downtown corridor blocks and so I don't know if there's a direct correlation to you know dealers upstairs and I'm on the stoop using but I think as we continue to move forward we you know we'll always look at different ways to process data okay thank you and the last thing I was not really questioned just a quick statement regarding the how did you put it the non-public safety stops also known as pretextual stops so one of the reasons not only our state's attorney but other states attorneys across the country have been looking at those is because of the history of the racial disparities on them so overall if departments across the country can improve that then that can come back to be a useful tool that personally is something that torments me because that'll be a tool but I know why it's not being used so I just wanted to to mention that because there was a reason for that for not using that tool and thank you very much again for your time and your information thank you councillor Grant thank you to all three of you for your work please extend to your entire team our gratitude for the work that you do on this important issue the next item on our agenda councillor Travers just briefly I would move to suspend the rules to allow for the completion of our agenda as approved we can certainly do that we do that at 10 30 but I think there's no question that we're going to get to 10 yeah that's what I was okay acting city attorney Peller when we do it earlier okay so there's a motion to suspend our rules is there a second to that motion seconded by councillor Jang any discussion on that motion seeing none all my apologies councillor Barlow thank you president only just a clarification is this to complete our deliberative agenda or was it to complete our entire agenda I believe the motion is to complete our entire agenda okay thank you so with that if there's no other if there's no other questions will go to a vote all those in favor of the motion to suspend our rules please say aye aye any oppose please say no that motion passes unanimously and just also wanted to note that councillor Carpenter is joining us on zoom the next item on our agenda 6.2 which is a resolution declaring the unprecedented increase in substance use a public health crisis and together with drug activity in our city to be our top public health and safety priority and amending appendix B rules and regulations of the city council to add a standing item to every agenda for for this item I am going to pass the gavel to councillor Travers so that I may participate in this debate councillor Travers acting president Travers okay well thank you councillor Paul this is as you know an agenda item that comes to us from the Public Safety Committee you councillor Paul councillors Doherty in grant our agenda has provided 30 minutes for this item and to introduce the motion we will turn to you as chair of the Public Safety Committee thank you thanks very much so this is the first time in my 18 months as council president that I'm passing the gavel and it's my sincere hope that this deliberative action will convey not only to the council but also to the community the profound gravity and importance of this resolution I believe this resolution is the single most important one that we will pass all year and I and we need to pass it unanimously our community needs to hear us speak with one voice and this is what they need to hear us say that we are committed to addressing the unprecedented drug activity that's harming the fabric of our city we need no other indicator than to look at the sheer number of community members that showed up in con toys for public forum and the nearly 100 community members that were joining us on zoom to show us that our committee our community is enormously concerned even with all the good work being done our community wants strong and definitive action from us and we are taking it with this resolution in two ways first with regard to harm reduction this council has been unequivocal in our support of harm reduction strategies I wrote the first two of three resolutions that this council has overwhelmingly passed on harm reduction and this resolution tonight will deepen that commitment we all want those of us that are suffering from substance use disorder to get well we all want them to be safe we also want the greater community to be safe and right now we know that many people in our community do not feel that sense of safety now we can't we can't make our community safe by simply arresting prosecuting and incarcerating those who are suffering and I in all the people that I have spoken with over the past month and or two about this issue I have not spoken with one person who supports these measures as a blanket solution but make no mistake as many have said tonight we are truly at a pivotal moment in our city and the harm and the lack of safety is palpable we are all feeling it we're witnessing an unprecedented increase in crime every day I hear from families and I'm sure everyone at this table here's from families who are weathering the psychological erosion that comes from feeling unsafe in one's home and one's neighborhood businesses are feeling the economic impacts of a challenging environment downtown which is alarming and we hear all of these voices it's well understood and well documented that if public behavior like we are seeing is allowed to continue it will become the norm and that is unacceptable to all of us no one wants to see this for our city so the resolution before us is about action steps that we'll be taking in the next month to move our public safety and our health priorities forward chief among them this resolution will create at least two forums for our community to come together I have always believed that some of the smartest minds on the planet are in our city if we can come together listen and learn from experts harm reductionist law enforcement and community members and we can exchange ideas we can come up with bold new solutions to tackle this crisis we must stop with what we are often known for which is extensive studies and years of public process together we must find and pilot new responses to address this crisis now despite the hurdles that we all know are out there we can find the solutions together and we can do that amongst ourselves in this community and with many county and state partners I believe that it is the sincere hope of this council that through these forums we will create a shared vision for our community and with vision comes decision this council will hold itself accountable with regular updates as a standing item on every council agenda in closing I'd like to offer thanks first to my fellow counselors on the public safety committee to counselor Grant who came to me with several of the ideas that are developed in this resolution I appreciate and I respect your commitment to this issue and to counselor Dority for his insistence that the time for urgency was now and finally by supporting this resolution I do want to note one thing and make sure that we publicly say this that the city council by approving and supporting this resolution is expressing our collective appreciation for our police officers our firefighters our community-based partners for their continued work on this emergency and it is with resolve that we are supporting the recruitment efforts to expand the ranks of our first responders we need these professionals in our community who are doing this hard work every day and we offer them our heartfelt gratitude and support I will begin I will end where I began we must act now and we must act together we need to speak with one voice one call to action a unanimous vote in addressing this pressing emergency thank you thank you counselor Paul I believe I am correct in assuming that you're moving the recommended action on our agenda which is to waive the reading and adopt the resolution that is the first thing that I that is the first thing that I should have said yeah I would move the resolution waive the reading and adopt the resolution and actually we needed to ask for a second yes is there a second thank you seconded by Councillor Doherty are there any other no worries are there any other counselors that wish to speak to this resolution Councillor Doherty thank you acting President Travis and thank you President Paul like everyone on the city council I'm sure I received daily communications from Burlingtonians Berlin Burlington business owners people who work in Burlington and people whose children attend public schools in Burlington all of whom are expressing worry and frustration about the current public safety situation in our city I've heard the same sentiments from folks who come to visit Burlington to enjoy our restaurants shops music art and cultural events and we heard overwhelmingly today from participants in the public forum the same thing I very much share these worries and feel this frustration but I do think these sentiments sometimes can understandably translate into people believing that the city is not doing anything to address the situation and it's important to say that nothing could be further from the truth we heard today from the mayor about the the city's ongoing policy initiatives and moreover every day our police fire departments employees as well as city employees across a broad spectrum of our city's departments are working very hard to address the opioid epidemic the resulting public safety issues and to make the city a healthier and safer place for everyone and so to the state's attorney's office the state's attorney the prosecutors and staff in that office who particularly given the difficulties in our court system created by the COVID pandemic have worked incredibly hard under daunting circumstances even in the under the best of conditions which these few years last few years have not been all of these jobs I imagine can feel very thankless at times and I want to acknowledge and express my ongoing gratitude for everybody who's currently engaged in this work and I don't think this resolution this resolution does not and does not is not intended to diminish this incredible work that's already being done every day and at least as far as my perspective this resolution is not also not intended to convey pessimism I work downtown downtown Burlington I have a business in downtown Burlington to my children go to schools in downtown Burlington and I love the vibrancy of downtown Burlington where I've spent most days of now what is the better part of my adult life and I love it more and enjoy it more every day my two older children walk and ride their bikes downtown on their own and my spouse and I believe that they are safe to do so and I'm very excited about the positive developments in Burlington including the new businesses that have been added in recent years and the progress on city place all of which I think bodes very well for the future of our city but this resolution is at least in part a recognition that more needs to be done to ensure that Burlington will continue to be a healthy and safe place for everyone that additional solutions need to be brought to bear and that there is a tremendous urgency to this situation which President Paul just so articulately stated to put it bluntly it is unacceptable that our retail establishments are losing tens of thousands of dollars to retail theft it's unacceptable that people with jobs in downtown Burlington are subject to violence and harassment when they're at work or when they're going to and from their work in the city it's unacceptable that our public school students are subject to that same harassment on their way to and from school I had the opportunity to meet with with an after school group that my son is involved with down at the high school today before this meeting and it this is a incredible incredibly important topic of conversation at the high school among our high school students what they see here and experience every day and it should be an unacceptable to all of us it's unacceptable for people to drink alcohol and use drugs in our public spaces and outside our schools where it's already illegal to do so and it's unacceptable that Burlingtonians particularly our elders and our caregivers are frightened to use our public parks and enjoy our public spaces and if we do not act with a renewed sense of urgency I believe we risk grave damage to the civic cultural and economic health of our city so with that sense of urgency there are several components to this resolution that I think make it an important and worthwhile step first as president Paul noted the resolution creates a regular agenda item in our city council meetings for us to address the public health and safety crisis which I hope will force us to maintain our sense of urgency and remain accountable to the public on this issue second the resolution reaffirms the city's long-standing commitment to a policy that acknowledges substance use disorder as a disease requiring medical treatment and the opioid epidemic is a public health crisis that requires public health solutions that center on harm reduction strategies this is long been the city's policy and the mayor's office and many people on the city council deserve much credit for their initiatives in this area this resolution very clearly reaffirms that pop public policy approach which I fully support this resolution also however does recognize and what I believe is plain common sense language that there is a very important public safety component to this crisis that also requires attention and renewed thinking too often the political discussion in this area is presented as a binary choice between those who support law and order and those who support harm reduction and social services this I am convinced is a false dichotomy that does a real disservice Burlington deserves better we can support both the compassionate response to those in need and insist that people are held accountable when they break the law and interfere with the rights of others third the resolution calls upon leaders in Montpelier to also act with urgency urgency which I think has been lacking to provide additional judicial and prosecutorial resources if that's necessary for our county and to quickly release the available opioid settlement funds that are so urgently needed and I was heartened to hear from the mayor today that that seems to be in the works by making these requests this resolution recognizes that the challenges we are facing in Burlington are regional if not statewide challenges and a commensurate and fair response is required by the state of Vermont and finally as president Paul noted this resolution calls for a series of public forums in which stakeholders and community members can gather and provide data and information and furtherance of new policy ideas we ask the police and fire departments for certain categories of data for example as well as the state's attorney's office and it may be that some of what we ask for is unavailable but I hope that this can serve as an invitation for dialogue with these stakeholders so that we in our constituents can better understand what information is available and increase visibility on these issues and finally to echo what president Paul said this resolution was the product of a very lengthy process and counselors Grant and Paul worked incredibly hard on it and deserve much of the credit for it no one got all the language that they preferred they preferred in this resolution there were significant compromises but everyone by everyone but I think that's what our constituents expect of us and I think this is an important step forward and I hope that the council will support it thank you councillor Doherty councillor McGee thank you acting president Travers I have remarks for the resolution as it is but I also have an amendment that I would like to offer so we'll do that first my amendment can be found under JM underscore all proposed underscore amendment pull this up quickly this is largely the same as the proposed amendment that I had sent to the first council to the council first earlier today actually sorry chair would it be best for me to move the amendment and then go through it or go through yes I think that'd be the appropriate action to right move the amendment receive a second and then thank you so I will move to amend the resolution using the document that I just stated and ask for the floor back after a second thank you councillor McGee there's a motion from councillor McGee to amend the resolution to reflect the changes in JM all proposed amendment resolution seconded by councillor Bergman councillor McGee I assume you would like the floor back yes thank you this amendment goes through and most of my changes here helped to clarify the language and cut down some of the wordiness of some of the clauses I online 36 in the second resolve clause I took out the language that said associated with substance use that endangers the safety of our community because I don't like the insinuation that all of the crime that we have seen in our community is the result of substance use I think this language is stigmatizing and doesn't does not help us actually address this problem the next amendments that are I think the most substantive begin on line 64 related to recruitment and retention for deputy state's attorneys in conversations with our state's attorneys Sarah George I have learned that her office is actually one in the state that does not have recruitment or retention challenges and so I think it is a mischaracterization for us to put that in this resolution and the last I think something to have information yes I was just wondering if councillor McGee is moving all of the amendments and we vote on all of them at once or will he be doing it one by one by line I believe the motion is to entirely replace the resolution with that version that council McGee has moved but is that correct council McGee that is correct so all of the amendments at once okay thank you council McGee my next amendments are to the resolve clause in this version lines 89 through 97 relating to data from the state's attorneys office this amendment comes as the result of significant engagement with our state's attorney regarding the limits of the system that they use to collect and maintain data they are not able to break out data by municipality and so I think it is wrong for us to include language in this resolution that has the state's attorney for something that she cannot provide we have tried several avenues to get this language into the resolution and for reasons passing understanding and has not made it in there yet and so I am presenting it here tonight I'm happy to answer any questions about these changes thank you thank you council McGee the question is on the proposed amendment are there any councillors who wish to speak to the amendment council grant I just regarding the data so data data data data data data data it's my mantra it's very important and I think what happened here is like wow this would be great to know we need to know this because we can all agree that we've just not been giving Burlingtonians enough information and as a council we we've had we've had information gaps and so I think I I tried to resolve this at the public safety committee meeting but I guess I wasn't making myself well understood it as we have it written it's it's not correct they're not a city office their state office the software that they use has limitations so the state's attorney came back and said there is certain information I can give you it's not to the full specificity that we would like to see it's just that software system doesn't have that capability so it would not be good to have it within this resolution when we we know that we won't be able to get those specific things thank you thank you councillor Grant council Bergman well I would just say that these seem to be technical amendments that are totally consistent with the rest of the the resolution they correct a couple of substantive errors which I think we can and we should correct if we can right now and in terms of the data clearly what this does is is totally in line for the what councillor Daugherty said in terms of even if they if they cannot provide us with the information that we're asking at least it begins the the dialogue and what this does is says let's start the dialogue we can give us the information and I hear that the state's attorney is willing to to come so I would actually hope that these would be friendly amendments and would be incorporated by the the makers of the the resolution and the in the motion and we can then move on with what I think will be a very harmonious action by the full council thank you councillor Bergman we have been in the practice of allowing friendly amendments councillor McGee are you asking whether or not the maker of the underlying motion is friendly to the amendment I would welcome that councillor Paul are you friendly to the proposed amendment I am not okay thank you the question is then on the proposed amendment are there any other councillors who wish to speak to it yes councillor Paul thank you so I'd like to explain why that why this why these resolute why these amendments are not friendly as a group and I'll I'll just give a couple of examples you know I do want the public to know that the Public Safety Committee spent nine hours of committee time on this resolution we sent several drafts of resolutions to the full council we we welcomed other input from other councillors and in fact there were several councillors who gave us input while we were doing this process we went through line by line in a four-hour meeting talking about talking about developing it with the end result being developing a carefully crafted collaborative amongst the three of us and including a number of councillors who did attend those meetings we tried to come up with a product that reflected for the most part nobody got everything that they wanted but reflecting a very well-developed well-thought-out resolution and I'll just sort of give and I'll give you one example there were prior versions of this resolution that mentioned the categories of illegal activity that are online 94 in the one that I'm looking at this is the this is the amended resolution that councillor McGee has proposed and we talked about the categories of illegal activity that were occurring in our community and we named them those categories of illegal activity were in the resolution twice and there was a concern that we shouldn't include them and so what we did was we compromised we took them out of a whereas clause and we put them into the resolve clause and even though some of us didn't want them in at all others wanted them in and that was the compromise that we that was the compromise that we struck in order to move on in developing the rest of this resolution this resolute the these and this amendment takes that out and that was an agreement among the three of us who are sponsors of this resolution that we would include it in that clause so to take it out is is not is not something that we the three of us agreed to there are other things for example and I'll just give one other and then I will I'll I'll you the floor we talk about the fact that online 43 that or 41 that we reaffirming and reiterating our strong and unwavering support for all evidence-based harm reduction strategies we have never discussed we have never as a council put in a resolution information about drug checking programs so with a compromise that we made was because there there was a counselor who wanted to include drug-checking programs we added another resolve a resolve clause and that was that the council affirms its strong and unwavering support for these programs but we have never we can't reaffirm something that we haven't previously affirmed and so that was the that was another one of the compromises that we made some people didn't want a second resolve clause but others wanted the drug-checking programs in the resolution so that was the compromise we also compromised on the fact that we did not know all of the information that we could get and there were some that wanted to be able to find that out and so what we did was as opposed to obligating the state's attorney to give us information that she might not possibly be she she might not be able to give us we added the word if pot words if possible and the three of us agreed to that so I guess this is a long-winded way of me saying that there was a lot of effort that went to into this resolution and most people that I have spoken with have said that they read it and it flows and it makes sense and it covers everything and it's transparent and is and it is what many people who were involved in this process want to see us do in moving forward so I do appreciate the effort that is made here but for those reasons I can't support I can't support the motion thank you thank you Councillor Paul. Councillor Grant did you want to speak again to the amendment? I had you next on the list. There were things where I was outvoted so be it I I guess I'm not going to speak on the amendment I will come back and speak on the resolution itself. I also have you next up on the underlying resolution. Councillor McGee I had you next before turning to you just are there any other councillors that wish to speak on the amendment so Councillor McGee will turn back to you and then perhaps turn to a vote on the amendment. I'll save the rest of my remarks for the underlying thank you. Okay to confirm are there any other councillors that wish to speak on the proposed amendment then we'll go to a vote I believe that there is a sufficient break sorry yeah right because we have Councillor Carpenter online and I believe this will not be unanimous we will need to take the vote by roll call and so we'll turn to the city clerk for roll call vote thank you Councillor Barlow no Councillor Bergman yes Councillor Carpenter no Councillor Jang no Councillor Doherty no Councillor Grant yes Councillor King no Councillor McGee yes Councillor Shannon no Councillor Paul no and then acting City Council President Travers no so we are now back on the underlying resolution vote yes could the clerk thank you for suggestions here could the city results three eyes eight nays one absent okay so the amendment fails we now return to the underlying resolution and as indicated Councillor Grant you were next up on that and then Councillor McGee the initial discussion that was the driving conversation for this resolution occurred at the Public Safety Committee meeting on August 17th I really encourage everyone to go listen to that conversation starts at one hour 13 minutes I don't take a lot of credit for a lot of stuff I kind of stand around and I I get loud about things sometimes and then sometimes things happen when I get loud it's what happens when you're not being heard and I felt that I was representing burlingtonians that were not being heard and have had it I think the term we've been using a lot is compassion fatigue right we all feel compassion fatigue I wanted especially with regards to City Council agenda I think we weren't putting anything on our agenda so we weren't actually communicating with the people of Burlington people were going to meetings and as a City Councilor I started going to the Comstock meeting which I think is probably the most important meeting that I go to with regards to this crisis and yes and the mayor will have to forgive me I go to his coffees I have these conversations with him and sometimes it's just like pole pole pole to to get out information that he does have in his head and that he is working on but is not sufficiently communicating like I think the things that happened here tonight were like the best things the the council has done with regards to communicating with the City of Burlington definitely since I've been a councilor and as a commissioner I fought for these levels of engagement to improve as well so I'm going to vote for this resolution because it is important to me and because I was kind of yelling about it at this meeting at some point like we do need to do some things and so there's been these lovely statements about it which is great but we have lost some of my intention and I I am fearful about that I'm just going to give one example and then let other people speak when it comes to the public forums it's not about gathering experts like we should be during our council meetings and through our public safety committee meetings having experts come and speak and then getting that information out these forms in my mind were meant to engage the public kind of in the way that people were engaged when they were speaking here at a public forum was that we needed members of the public to talk to people in Mount Pilier in a different sort of way we don't have anyone lobbying for us effectively and we need to lobby for ourselves and we need to tell our stories take two three minutes to say this is my story as a resident of Burlington this is my story as a employee of Burlington this is my story as a visitor of Burlington so that Burlington has a face Burlington has a voice not just emails but the audio the video and my idea of the forums was like we could be recording people making videos getting really effective with Instagram stories other social media emails to people that are not only part of our delegation because the Burlington delegation does understand but not other people that are on these committees that have to make the decisions to release money to us so we can have more resources people think we have too many resources and that just blows my mind because we do not have enough especially with trying to get people into recovery I I don't want these forums to be just they're not meant to be bitch sessions and they're not meant to have people be there who would control the voice of Burlingtonians I wanted so that the voices of Burlingtonians are heard because these specific stories when taken as an aggregate are impactful we have a current governor who is not engaged in what is happening here I think in the past we were able to have momentum because we have we had a governor who was we have a governor right now is not and and we need to get him to that space we have some state legislatures who are not thank you thank you council grant council McGee thank you acting president Travers I want to start by correcting a troubling narrative that I've heard repeated repeat I've heard repeatedly in recent weeks and I've heard numerous times here tonight I've overheard and read comments from a great many people suggesting that we somehow have an imbalance in our response to the overdose crisis focusing too much on harm reduction and not enough on enforcement and that's just patently false and I don't appreciate community leaders who continue to perpetuate this false narrative I worry that somehow this resolution feeds that narrative as well and I think judging by the turnout that we saw at the public forum tonight that that's correct we have not dedicated near as many resources to harm reduction and health approaches to the overdose crisis as we have committed to fighting the war on drugs through bloated law enforcement budgets and this is true at every level of government we've made a great effort in this country to criminalize poverty and despair by designating acts of despair is criminal we've opened the floodgates dedicating resources to law enforcement in an effort to disappear people who are suffering the unfortunate truth is that federal state and local governments have historically decided that it is easier to incarcerate or murder by neglect those who are suffering rather than dedicate resources to help them find lasting stability and I want to be very clear Burlington and Vermont have come a long way in the way that we talk about this crisis and our city has taken great action to begin to embrace harm reduction but we have not realized the promise of what true harm reduction and true health responses to this crisis could look like and it shows it shows in the ways passers-by sneer at those who have no other place to go and it bring all their worldly possessions to City Hall Park it shows in the Instagram accounts that post videos of people using drugs on a public bench because they have no safe private place to use decades of this mentality have led us to where we are now under resourced and overburdened support services in a carceral system twisting itself in knots in an attempt to arrest prosecute and incarcerate those who have been left behind I appreciate President Paul you using that line in your remarks as well folks who have been left behind by an economy that commodifies basic needs I don't think that this is the world that we want to live in and I want folks to imagine for a moment what it could have looked like if 50 years ago when the war on drugs began we had acted in a radically different way creating a robust network of well resourced support services to ensure that no one ever reached their lowest low it's time for us to wake up to the cruel reality of the system we've played a role in creating and committed to doing things differently it may be called radical some will say we are out of our minds many will caution that too much compassion could lead to more danger and I just want folks to come to this with an open mind that if we embrace true health focus solutions to this crisis things will get better and I am very wary of the fact that we continue to call for a very short-sighted solutions in name of being comfortable when we have the opportunity to radically change how we handle these things in the future this resolution is not a magic wand and even though it carries with it many things that I have supported and advocated for in nearly my entire time on the council I will be voting no on it tonight partly due to some of the language that stigmatizes those who use drugs and partly because of the process that got us to tonight because I simply can't understand why when we are told repeatedly by a fellow elected official someone who is our partner in solving this crisis why we would not make changes that they say need to be made to this resolution in order for it to be correct I simply can't stand by that I don't think any of us should I'll leave it there thank you very much thank you Councilor McGee are there any other Councillors who wish to speak to the resolution Councillor Bergman sure I I really believe what I said that the the amendments were totally in line with what we are proposing in this I understand there's a few nuances there but I really do believe that I would have loved for us to unite around that that being said I know how to lose and I also know how to to look step back and take a look at a big picture and when I read this resolution I see a basically balanced approach and I'm impressed with that I would like to have had those amendments because I think they would have clarified and corrected inaccuracies but be that as it may that'll get corrected in life and we'll we'll move on this is a next step I think that when councillor McGee talks about it not being a magic wand we need to be clear I think when the public hears the presentation and the direct questions related to City Hall Park and we get the answer which I accept and thank the officers for that it's clear it's not a magic wand this resolution that's okay there is no single solution to this problem to this crisis and I think that at its heart what it what it speaks to is the need for new and innovative actions on both the public safety and the enforcement and the and the health aspect I happen to come from somewhat of a prosecutorial background I actually believe in enforcement I don't believe in folks who are causing harm and particularly one who are profiting from harm to act with impunity so that bothers me a great deal but this as we heard consistently from the public and the police is a really complicated matter we heard that it includes not just the wellness but includes affordable housing it includes livable wages we we have a serious job it's why I actually think that the declaration of a crisis around the old around opioid epidemic is really important and the numbers that we were shown by the police really show that so I think it's absolutely appropriate that we do this I mean we have now gonna have a regular city council place for bringing this up I often bring up things related to the climate crisis I really encourage folks to bring that up in the same way it can be hard it can feel like something that we would pass over pro forma but it's not and it's very important to do the the public forums the working with the state the working with the state's attorney and the judiciary getting data all are essential and it seems clear that we're not going to get a unanimous vote but I do believe that we will get a strong affirmative vote and we should also take the the concerns that our colleague has raised about this to heart as we look at the next steps going forward because I do believe that we are very much on a a similar road if not walking hand-in-hand so I will be voting yes for this thank you Councillor Bergman are there any other councillors who was to speak on the resolution or Weinberger thank you councillor Travers I'll try to be brief I just want to make it clear I stated this during the briefing when asked by the media the briefing that we gave middle of the day that I very much welcome this resolution I welcome the Public Safety Committee taking the time to work on it further over the last month and make it a balanced resolution welcome the opportunity for the BPD to be able to present directly tonight the presentation they did my feeling is that this resolution brings the council and the administration into further alignment further clarity that it is the position of the city to do what I think we heard forcefully said tonight is pursue both public safety enforcement efforts as well as stick with and continue to work very hard on on harm reduction efforts I do do want to be clear from my perspective we we do attempt and do actively communicate about these issues frequently anyone who is watching this who is not on the mayor's office newsletter encourage people to go to the website and sign up for that we have had many updates on these issues in recent years we will continue to do so we had a mass communication about the overdose levels in July that provoked a lot of the attention to how the overdoses numbers were changing so dramatically this year and we will continue to bring forward a steady set of actions to respond to this crisis to this body we took action together in in August to fund opioid settlement investments to put money into the harmonious for criminal justice reform tonight when we finish this item we'll be taking action to have the fire department respond to overdoses in a new way we will continue to act and put decisions in front of this body to to move forward and appreciate the collaboration on it thank you Mayor Weinberger councillor shannon did you wish to speak to the resolution yes thank you I would like to thank councillor Paul for bringing this forward sorry President Paul not at the moment but I'm for bringing for bringing this forward and note that what we're really doing here is affirming work that we have done or stated before and we're opening a conversation which is a first step and what I think that Burlington really needs is an intervention and interventions don't happen out of anger they happen out of love they happen to save people's lives and like many people at this table I have my own experience with substance use disorder and I participated in my first intervention at 19 years old and you don't know what's going to happen and what will be said when you get around the table but people need to be held to account what we're doing isn't working we need to recognize that we can't solve a problem without recognizing our problems there's a reason why there's no safe space for people to shoot up and that's because in our own homes we don't allow it it's not acceptable and when the only place left to do it is our public streets that's not acceptable either and it's not benefiting anyone and we need to remember how people that are in this situation are victimized themselves I appreciate the comments about involuntary commitment saving at least one life I think it saved many many more and it doesn't have to be incarceration we need to offer people help and we need the state to help us offer that help there's certain things we can't do very well as a municipality and we really need to lean on our state and federal partners to get the help that we need for people these are our loved ones that live on the street but that doesn't mean it's okay and that and that being endlessly tolerant is going to help anyone so thank you for bringing this forward thank you for opening the discussion and I hope that we have the courage to really discuss this honestly thank you thank you councillor Shannon woe is me is as acting president to try to enforce the time limits we agree to in our agenda but we're about 15 minutes past the 30 minutes that we had allotted for this agenda item but are there other councillors who wish to speak to it I'll turn to councillor Jang and then councillor Grant thank you acting president traverse yes and again I echo the sentiments of thanking my colleagues that worked on this very hard over the past couple of weeks and months to bring this resolution actually attended at least one of your meetings and my staff also directed him to show up right so that we can discuss his better because this is such an important policy item this is a big problem that we are conquering as a city and as a state but I also just wanted to make sure that people understand this is not the first time we have been trying to do something Mira Weinberger on his own initiative had something for quite some time to bring experts together to try to solve this issue with tangible data and being also the first person who actually hired the city staff to do this work to bring because this has been an opiate crisis for so long now it has gotten to a point right something needs to be done I loved some elements of country McGee's amendments but unfortunately it was all brought together for one vote reason why but some elements I did love them right and I also know that he been also attending that the committee because some of them he was always there he cares he have brought so many other resolution around this crisis but I think it doesn't matter where we are at but it is this is currently right now a time where we can come together like right here is for us to lose but for the community to have hope that we all agreed behind this crisis I think that's one step the leaders of this city care enough to recognize that this is a problem I think that will allow us all to vote yes especially when the mayor is in support so we're sending a message of hope as a hold hand to support those who are struggling in our community right what I do definitely think about this resolution from my perspective it's not doing what needs to be done this resolution is not talking about prevention this resolution is not talking about providing more resources to the police to track down drug dealers is not providing more staffing to the mayor's opiate person for more money it's not asking this city to provide more resources this resolution is talking only about having two community forums where people can come we'll talk and we leave the best work the city has done the best work why Wellington is no because we study things we are known yes for being we study we do a lot of public process and actually that's what got this city great things we take the time we study things we take action I thought we definitely learned a lesson in 2020 with the police how it ended up how it costing us now more money because we being reactionary let's take the time to solve the problem that's what I think but I will support this resolution for the sake of the people who are struggling among us but I would have loved at least to have a task force of seven people experts who have staff look at the aging commission of the city of Burlington look at the dog tax force look at so many great people community members just coming together to try to solve one problem and those if you look at it they don't make a lot of noise but they bring solution to our problem I hope that we have that mindset of taking the time to do things and do them also very right what am I going to do and tell the governor about this problem I don't know right I will support this resolution I want to again thank those who worked very hard on it thank you okay thank you councillor Jang before turning to councillor Grant are there any councillors who have not spoken on the resolution that wish to speak to it after councillor Grant will there be any councillors who wish to speak to the resolution again councillor Grant would you like the floor and then perhaps we'll turn to a vote after that certainly thank you so Scott Pavak is a department of one he needs more resources no question I agree with that the resolution does speak to the fact to continue supporting recruitment for all employees that are at the front line of this this crisis including the policing department there have been approved bonuses approved increase in salary we've done a lot and now we need to we need to think about retention keep going back to this whole like the politics of this get dirty sometimes we really need to just keep it out we keep going back to a vote the vote didn't fire anybody they left they left Burlington they left other cities and towns in Vermont they left the Vermont State Police they left across the country wasn't about politics it was about other root causes that give me a call we'll have some tea and we can discuss it the resolution my idea was to actually address some things that we are not in fact doing which is communicating we are not communicating to the are we gonna reach every person in Burlington no I'm not asking that but there needs to be acknowledgement that we can do better and I'm on the mayor's newsletter I open it I read it is every Burlingtonian on that newsletter is that newsletter the end all get all are these things on the our agenda no and even when we had something that was important related to the funding that we have received and how we are allocating it it got dug into got put into the deliberative agenda which everyone should read but I know they don't but it sometimes is a place where good information goes to die you know anything related to this crisis needs to be simply and deliberative just so it's discussed with the people of Burlington and there's other things in there that we aren't actually doing thank you thank you Councillor Grant Councillor Paul you indicated you'd like to make additional comments it's your motion so we'll give you the last word and then go to a vote okay thank you thanks so much acting President Travers you know it I find it it's interesting that in the short time that we've been and I say short because hasn't been that long but the short time that we've been talking about this resolution there's actually a number of ideas that have been brought forward just from this table and honestly if bringing this for this resolution forward elicits that many ideas from 12 people just imagine what it will do at a community forum I I think that we have to be very careful when we're talking about a resolution that I think it does have several action steps that we not minimize them and the point of these public forums is not for everyone to get together and talk about what's wrong in Burlington we're talking about what's right in Burlington the opera the idea of these public forums is to elicit ideas and to be able to find solutions by talking with community members so that we're all coming together with the same information and we are all working towards a shared vision and as I've said before you can't have decision without vision but with vision you can move forward and that is what this resolution is saying that is that we need to try new approach approaches pilot new responses be bold and not afraid to test these approaches we're going to hear about one of them very shortly from chief Lachance that is this is this was a care carefully crafted agenda we talked about the drug crimes unit we moved on to a resolution we're going to hear about one program that is exactly what we're talking about in this resolution and there are many many more of them so you know I I think that it's important that we be positive about the fact that really truly I meant what I said some of the smartest people some of the smartest people on the planet live in this city and there are plenty of people who will come forward will be part of those community forums and are anxious to give those ideas so let's move forward from there let's not worry about for now let's please not worry about how we got here let's worry how we're going to move on and how we're going to figure this out and we're going to make Burlington better so the people who walk on the street are no longer concerned about what they see and they and they feel good about our downtown they feel good about their neighborhoods they feel good when they walk their child to school we can do all of that and we have it within all of us to get this done so that's that that's my that's my if this is the last word that is I hope that is the law I hope that is the last word thank you so much believing that is the last word and seeing no other speakers we will go to a vote will the clerk please call the roll Councillor Barlow yes Councillor Bergman yes Councillor carpenter yes Councillor Jang yes Councillor Doherty yes Councillor Grant yes Councillor King yes Councillor McGee Councillor Shannon yes Councillor Paul yes Acting City Council President Travers yes Travers Ten eyes one day one absence the resolution carries thank you President Paul thank you very much and thanks for thanks for taking care of that so that I could speak to this resolution so this brings us to item 6.3 which is the Burlington Fire Department Community Response Team and for this item we have Fire Chief Michael Chance I believe that we also have Lieutenant Kyle Blake president of the Burlington Fire Fighters Association joining us thank you so much for being here this evening we are all looking forward to this agenda item and before before we go before we come to the two of you we will go to a motion Councillor Barlow thank you President Paul I moved to approve and authorize the Chief Administrative Officer to make any and all necessary budget amendments to allocate and use the assigned opioid money fund to support the formation and associated costs of a community response team operated within the Burlington Fire Department for six months with a budget not to exceed one hundred eighty two thousand five hundred ninety eight dollars thank you so much Councillor Barlow is there a second to that motion seconded by Councillor Jang so Chief Lechance Lieutenant Blake thank you so much for being here particularly at this late hour I know Lieutenant Blake you've got a long drive ahead of you in order to get back to training tomorrow morning so thank you for your patience and being here the floor is yours thank you everybody I really appreciate everybody's thoughts tonight it's been an eye-opening meeting with a lot of good information so in partnership with the resolution that was just passed the Burlington Fire Department has been brainstorming what we can do to help with this epidemic this presentation that was brought to you was a bottom-up presentation this was our folks coming to me saying Chief just just let us go out there and let us try to solve some of these problems working together with Lieutenant Blake we forwarded this proposal to the mayor three and a half weeks ago honestly we started hiring for the positions before this meeting so will if it is successful we will move forward and we're going to be moving forward as quickly as Monday we're going to be have having this team on the road this team will be voluntarily over hired overtime firefighters we're going to have AEMTs paramedics in the field two-person team using department vehicles they will be running our unresponsive and overdose responses they're going to be the first ones out the door actually not out the door they're going to be on the road they're going to be out there when they're not running these are going to be interacting with the community they will be making connections with this this population as well as with other services available in the city we have been in contact with with the Howard Center street outreach I had a hour-long meeting with Cam leaf over at the turning point center this morning we've had our excellent CSL's right in the firehouse is talking with us about what's happening here so we're we're going to be reaching out sending a pretty wide net of folks that we can talk to here our goal I can't promise I mean this isn't the silver bullet this is just another tool in the toolbox to add to all the things that the city has already put out there and this is just one more thing that we feel like we can do to help move move the needle on this issue I have a quick presentation I swear won't take very long this is just showing some of the data that we're seeing in the fire department you can see this is call numbers we have in 2023 but we have already surpassed 2021 totals and on track for a 12% increase in one year this this data is interesting it shows total overdose responses you will see my numbers are a little bit higher than the police department which is not unusual there are times that they respond and we don't advise versus so our numbers aren't going to match up perfectly but you will see that they are close the in gray is the overdoses that are we that we respond to but do not seek transport those numbers rising is a little unnerving because those folks aren't seeing definitive care we're hoping that definitive care is a little more open to them if we if we have another service available to them you can also see monthly overdose numbers are rising this is just another chart showing the same data this is something that the team is going to be responding to regularly it's unknown problem person down that's these these calls are not all overdoses but some of these are this is a common response as you can see these numbers are rising exponentially as well you know we send a full contingent to these folks and sometimes they're sleeping sometimes they are they are having the desired effect of their substance so this will get them treatment we will be responding able to do everything al s that you would normally get but for those lower those I apologize it's late but for those calls that aren't quite as serious we will have a lesser response with the ability to get a full contingent there almost immediately what this this is an interesting one and it just shows this is alcohol intoxication and again this is at dispatch this is what we're dispatched to and you can see that that rise in calls is not really attributed to alcohol alcohol is a pretty steady metric it is in fact those overdose numbers that is an unresponsive numbers that is driving a lot of this our houseless population this is the homeless houseless transient or no address population and I put all those words there because when I do the query that's how I have to do it in order to glean all this data but you can see this year that has gone up exponentially too and those are not individual people those are runs so some of these runs some of these folks account for a number of these of these run and then again another another graph just to show that same data this is overdose responses as a heat map that shows responses you can see they are throughout the city the higher numbers are of course downtown where we would expect them to be but you can see that this this service is going to be city-wide they are going to have their hands everywhere and this is overdose responses by hour of day and day of the week so one thing I guardrails are low and getting this started the reason is I really am looking to make to use the time that these folks can dedicate to this to its maximum I plan to have we started it with 12 hours 8 to 8 I want to leave it open to have our folks give feedback and say chief we really don't need to be on the road from 8 till noon we should do this noon to 10 or I really want to leave it so that we can accept feedback and we can make this as as as useful as possible one thing that I need everybody to remember this is going to be staffed with overtime voluntary overtime firefighters these are folks that are working 56 hours these are folks that are working overtime voluntary minimum staffing as well as mandatory minimum staffing as well as time and dispatch the dispatch center and and this so can I guarantee two people 12 hours a day seven days a week I that's where I set the benchmark for funding I can't guarantee that but I'll tell you we're gonna give it a we're gonna give it a try it for sure and we already have for the first four or five days hired so I think what is coming before you today is the first time that we're actually using a triage model for these types of calls typically a 911 call comes in it's a medical emergency we're sending the ambulance and we're sending the engine and we do that because we don't really know what's going on there and operationally we have not been stressed to this level before where we could not handle that this call volume that you're seeing due to those specific call types the unresponsive possible overdose are stressing us in an operational way that is not sustainable so it is forcing us to be adaptive to be fluid and to be creative with a response so this unit will be rolling out the door arriving on scene and triaging that call determining the level of care that that patient potentially needs does that patient just need to be checked in on and say are you good if that's all they need that is all that we will we will give them we will have additional services available Narcan leave behind kits fentanyl test strips literature that advises of city resources but we're not looking to show up with a loud fire truck a loud ambulance and five people jumping off the truck saying what's going on are you okay we want to meet them where they're at ALS if you're not familiar with that term that's advanced life support if we do come across an individual that is in a true potentially fatal overdose we have every single tool that the ambulance does in this vehicle to start reversing that we have Narcan we have bag valve mass to help breathe for them oxygen AED we can do CPR and the they get on the radio and the ambulance and the engine are coming so we are we are truly trying to meet these patients at the level that they need us and this is really a first for the department to speak on the other aspect of what the chief hit this is voluntary overtime you heard it earlier this evening with the police department talking about their street crime unit right they were trying to staff that with voluntary overtime and they're doing the best they can that was a current service they were offering that then got pulled back that they were trying to meet this is brand new for us one of the biggest concerns that I got feedback from the membership about was well if we stand this up and and we just can't carry this load you know 12 days a week or 12 hours a day seven days a week indefinitely do we look like the bad guys and what I assure them is no because we are trying something and I think that needs to be the biggest message tonight is that the membership of this department came up with this idea wants to carry the load wants to push this forward and meet the city and the population where they're at but it is a heavy lift we're essentially increasing staffing from 22 to 24 seven days a week 12 hours a day with no actual increase in the amount of staff that we have and we're willing to do that because we want to try we want to make a difference we want to help this move forward I just ask that you consider that when we start coming back to you and looking at these numbers about is this a sustainable model like we we want to get it off the ground we want to try these dynamic things but we're gonna need some support down the road if this is successful and it's happening does anybody have any questions Councillor Jang yep thank you so much for staying so late and for everything that you do in the city and for the proposal what I like the most is actually the memo it was well written it very very clear I like that I also like the slides data and we're just wondering and I will add those to civic clerk I apologize just I just finished them today perfect they're beautiful well done especially the hours where exactly but do you now have like where those call come from if you take the mouth the city these are where the calls come from the most is it downtown is it do you have that I actually do one of the heat map showed and I apologize to miss it I'd be happy to share it again but we can share it on civic clerk and it does show those different color dots and it shows the areas where the exact you get the most calls I would love to I'm interested in seeing that thank you and was just wondering for example if you wanted to hire just new additional staff will it be at this level of cost full-time staffing I honestly it probably wouldn't be probably a higher level of cost okay just because we couldn't do it with say two people and honestly I think this pilot program is gonna give us an idea of what do we need and I think that you know my firefighters out there kind of taking that hit right now will answer a lot of questions for us what's working what's not and what do we need and honestly having employees be able to do that at their overtime rate is a lot less expensive than hiring new employees to try to figure that stuff out and lastly I mean I am a little bit concerned that basically this is just you trying it out and it's not full-time and I thought that it would have be better right to just hire two new staff at a lower cost right but I also understand your point this is just a pilot correct this is a six-month pilot yes and it's and it's honestly you know I think that there's been a there's been a lot of conversations about what we can do and the fact that we have current city employees that are willing to try this out I think is a good use of resources wonderful I thank you for your work and I support this request thank you thank you so much Councilor Jang was there any other Councilor who wanted to Mayor Weinberger thank you President Paul I want to thank both you for your hard and rapid work and bring this forward I think it is unusual to have this level of collaboration between Union and management and bringing forward an innovation and idea and appreciate how this has evolved so quickly I'm very grateful for the hard work the compassion that frontline firefighters have exhibited through this challenging period coming out of a pandemic in which you never got a break and we're asked to do so much you've been thrown into this expanding crisis and I know it's been extremely frustrating for the department very difficult for the department I appreciate that this effort takes that difficult experience and turns it into innovation turns it into a resource that has a chance to really fill a gap here and do proactive work that I have a lot of hope for I've seen the way in which everyone from the chief on down has engaged this issue try to understand it better and I'm very hopeful this pilot will very quickly produce some real results so thank you both thank you very much Mayor Weinberger there is no one else to wishes to speak to this and seeing no others in the queue my apologies Councilor Grant my apologies thank you real quick I continue to be amazed by the fire department I've since becoming a City Councilor I've learned a lot about your department and just the important role you play in public safety and in addressing this particular public health issue I love the communication that you have with your staff it really speaks to your leadership I love that the staff has the confidence to come to you with the idea and you have the confidence to to listen to them and to to come up with this I love how nimble you are I love the data I love that we get data without asking or having to beg for it I think that means everything that that shows that you're looking to see where you can be most effective I love that heat map I think that's important because I think also that can be used from an enforcement side if we know that you're going to the same places over and over and over again that's got to be an indication of some significant dealing occurring and I've definitely heard some of the horror stories about the places that everyone has to go into in order to treat these people so I am looking forward to seeing how this this works out and I think this is a great example of the type of thinking that we need the type of out-of-box thinking that we we need and and in some areas are willing to do thank you so much thanks so much Councilor Grant don't believe there's anyone else in the queue so I think we can go to a vote all those in favor of the motion as presented by Councilor Barlow please say aye aye any opposed please say no that motion passes unanimously with our thanks to both of you for being here this late this evening and your service to the community please when you see everyone tomorrow express our thanks and gratitude to every member of the Burlington Fire Department we will thank you very much thank you I would just like to add real quick Councilor Jang I apologize I wasn't as flashy as the PD I'll dress up better last time but you shaved I almost didn't recognize you the for the benefit of the public this is what happens when we get to a meeting that goes until 1135 we will move on to our last deliberative agenda item which is 6.4 the city of Burlington's seasonal warming shelter project that created creation of one FTE position within CEDO and the AHS grant agreements contracts and lease and for this item before we get to a discussion of the item I will go to Councilor King for a motion and did you did you check with the city attorney great I will not be reading the full motion so I wish to move the motion and recommended actions as indicated on civic clerk thank you Councillor King do we have a second to that motion seconded by Councillor McGee so good evening at this late hour to CEDO director Brian Pine and Sarah Russell the special assistant to end homelessness it's a pleasure to have you here with us you I imagine have a presentation for us or yes you have a presentation for us so please go ahead and then we'll go to the council for any questions or comments thank you Sarah I certainly this initiative has my full support and I did give a lengthy intro to the briefing earlier today I think given my extended comments earlier during the public safety public health crisis resolution I think I'll abbreviate them here maybe if you could put up the first slide you know I think I'm going to let you take take most of it I guess I just you want to set the stage reminding everyone how significant a change it's been to city capacity to have a special assistant and homelessness we created this position at the end of 2021 understanding that as we emerge from the pandemic we were going to be faced with homelessness challenges we hadn't seen before I don't think any of us imagine things we get quite as bad as they have gotten very grateful that we've had it Sarah in this role for approaching two years now trying to work at systemic levels and at operational levels to address this crisis and this is another example of a very granular detailed operational effort that Sarah is helping us bring forward and the rest of the CEDO team under under director pine and I think you will see in this presentation how approval of this with the funding provided by the state will further expand the city's capacity and commitment to action in this area going even deeper further into an area where that is new to us but that is very much needed right now so I think only to be very brief and say that this effort has gone from start until now in about four weeks and Sarah Russell is really the one responsible I am playing a supporting role but she's been doing all of the heavy lifting so just want to acknowledge that thank you so we have just a few slides tonight we'll go quick because I might be almost as tired as you all this evening the first slide we wanted to just sort of level set around the increases and unsheltered homelessness that we're seeing across Chittenden County we saw as you are aware and we reported to you a few months ago on June 1st 170 households were exited from the motel program many of these households were individual adult individuals or couples in some cases many of them had significant substance use or mental health challenges or disabilities but lacked the federal documentation to prove that so they were exited from the motel system so that's the majority of folks we saw leaving in June and as we saw those folks leaving the motel we saw our numbers of people who were unsheltered climb exponentially last summer we were seeing about 80 people who were unsheltered across Chittenden County this summer we have 227 self reports from July as you can see here the slide there were about a hundred self reports in March and that number has increased so much so we are working in addition to supporting households who are outside our folks who are outside unsheltered we also have outreach teams who are connecting with households that are still in the motel system under the June what's called the June cohort so folks who were in the motels and can remain in the motels through April 1st we've worked to connect to coordinated entry for those of you who are not aware I can provide a quick overview of coordinated entry we talk about it all the time and I'm not sure how much time we spend actually breaking it down but coordinated entry is mandated by HUD for communities that receive HUD funding to support specific homelessness rental assistance and service programs in Chittenden County we receive those fundings through our local continuum of care for the Chittenden County Homeless Alliance and they support rapid rehousing and permanent standard housing programs in Chittenden County coordinated entry as I said is mandated and essentially creates a no wrong-door approach for households who are experiencing homelessness ensuring that wherever they show up at whichever social service agency they arrive to they will receive the same level of service and have the same access to housing resources whether that's housing case management long-term supports rental assistance or household or excuse me rental units that are specifically homeless dedicated the last point there I think is important to note that we do have a master list in Chittenden County which is comprised of households who are experiencing homelessness that list is reviewed weekly by housing case managers to match folks with housing resources we talk a lot about how our our homelessness problem has grown and I think it's also important that we highlight some of our successes this slide demonstrates housing placements through coordinated entry so these are households who are exiting homelessness into permanent housing so you see the spikes there we track this by month in December we saw a Zephyr place open and when you scare excuse me in Williston that's CHT property I believe that we made 38 referrals for units to that property so you see that spike of 52 in December this only goes through April but we do have data for the last few months indicating that we're on track with averaging about 25 referrals per month for housing placements overall we've housed 176 households between January and August and we currently have 56 pending referrals to permanent units in addition to nine pending referrals for rapid housing or permanent supportive housing programs before we move on from that I just want to make sure everyone understands how significant it is what Sarah just said about hitting these goals of referring 25 successfully referring 25 people a month it was that that was what the Chittenden County Homeless Alliance committed to when the state legislature was deliberating a change to extending the emergency hotel program we are on track as a state to fully end the program in on July 1st of this year our team with partners stood up and said that is going to result in huge problems on our streets here's an alternative let us focus on this population let us help you wind this program down properly and what Sarah has just said is we have been delivering on that commitment to place 25 people a month in the hotel program in Chittenden County by next spring as projected I'm not sure and I'm actually skeptical that that kind of placement is anecdotally what I hear is that is not happening elsewhere in the state it's happening here in Chittenden in large part because of the efforts of the CEDO team working with partners and it's a real it's a real success definitely thanks for highlighting that I can say data that I know off the top of my head but it that is not on the slide is that in Chittenden County that June cohort was originally at 256 households now I believe that we are down to 177 in Chittenden County so we are taking away at the number that number of households who are in motels and connecting with permanent housing so while we wait for permanent housing to come online it's important that we provide a safe stable shelter setting for folks who are waiting to move into permanent housing in the last few years these are the efforts that the SIN transferred both ownership of the property from a new to CHT and operations of the low barrier shelter program also from a new to CVO they made some changes to the program that reflect best practice for permanent shelter which is non congregate shelter new place was running as a semi congregate shelter and CVO will shift that to non congregate meaning that they'll serve 35 to 40 folks at that shelter they will continue to operate as low barrier and people will be able to stay there as long as they are engaged in services to move toward permanent housing CVO also operates the community resource center out of Chittenden they had a grand reopening just a couple weeks ago and expanded their space with support from CEDO and to be able to serve the massive number of people that they are seeing visit that daytime shelter and meal site every day additionally as you all are aware we had this project at Elmwood and we are serving 35 folks at Elm at the Elmwood community shelter since we opened the very first week of February now we are because of the name because of the lack of shelter capacity within Chittenden County and the number of folks that we're seeing outside right now the city is proposing to open a winter warming shelter beginning December 15th fancy Samantha new temporary winter warming shelter at the VFW will provide overnight accommodations for up to 30 for up to 30 guests and we will have the potential for overflow capacity if necessary like I said we'll be operating summer 15th through March 15th the reason I heard some comments about opening the shelter sooner the reason that we one of the reasons that we decided on these dates is because this is typically the program at the dates that the adverse weather conditions program operates for those of you who aren't aware that is the relaxed eligibility criteria for motel access during cold weather during the winter months this is the time from up that program secondly there is we are working so quickly on this project it is not possible to be able to to open before the state we're fully funded by the agency of human services that includes both operations and a small amount of capital improvements there the shelter will be managed by CEDO and as you saw in the in the proposal that we sent to you will be utilizing a staffing company to fill those shifts and we will operate using a low barrier model the importance of a low barrier model shelter is critical especially at a time when we're seeing you know a great low substance use in our community we want to ensure that folks who are outside do you have access to the shelter the worst would be to spend time and resources and effort to stand up a shelter that didn't meet the needs of the people who needed to access it so we work to reduce to reduce those barriers whenever we can an important thing here and the mayor noted this morning that I really want to highlight is that the concerns around public safety are you know not necessarily related to creation of new shelter but that some of our public safety concerns come because we do not have enough shelter capacity to support people in a meaningful way we acknowledge that the shelter doesn't definitely does not meet the need as we know there are many many folks who are outside this winter we know from the extreme cold shelter last year we served we served at least 60 adults at that shelter and we're opening a shelter for 30 this year so we're we're gonna try to put our dent in there and hope that the that the state will continue to adequately fund their adverse weather conditions for the Motel State that is it for me happy to answer any questions yeah I'll just put a final point on the last slide there and just as we start the debate over this remind the public remind the council we have had a low barrier cold weather shelter every year since 2014 for five years the the facility existed in virtually the same place that we're proposing it here we have very few complaints from the public during that time we are envisioning a very similar facility being being stood up here we have done this since 2014 because before when we didn't have a cold weather shelter we had exposure deaths in this community they I think everyone agrees I've never seen hard numbers on it but everyone agrees that those exposure deaths have gone down significantly since we started operating such a facility the are there are other benefits to these cold weather shelters this has in the past as we I think basically heard from the from the BBA earlier there has been strong support in the past from downtown stakeholders from the business community for these these cold weather shelters because these shelters reduce disorder they improve the downtown I think the challenges that we are facing the complaints that we are hearing some tonight and elsewhere come not because we have too much shelter but because we have too little of it because the current system is overwhelmed this proposal will not keep the system from being overwhelmed but it will be a step in the right direction and I hope it will have strong support from from the council tonight I just wanted to add the one one thing that's unusual with this particular shelter and this project is that we'll be hiring a person which you all are being asked to approve that's very unusual to do that but it's a you know unusual times call for unusual measures so it's a measure that we feel is necessary to respond quickly the only way we can pull this off and keep Sarah from working seven days a week 12 hours a day is to hire someone right thank you thank you all thank you all for for this these comments in the in the introduction and overview so the floor is open to the council for comments or questions on the motion is there anyone who wishes councilor bergman so we heard a request by former councilor busher regarding that opening the time and also the provision of breakfast instead of snacks could you comment about those please yeah so it there like I said it's it's just not possible for us to open any earlier than December 15th with staffing and there are some capital improvements that need to be made there's some security cameras that need to be installed to the property and we're working like crazy to do that but there's just no way that we can open the shelter before the 15th in terms of having a morning meal I don't I don't I don't disagree that we couldn't provide something it's not something that I feel confident I can promise at this point so we instead wrote into the proposal that there'll be some morning snacks and coffee available for folks to to make their way to sites that offer breakfast routinely so it's not something I can promise at this moment but certainly something that we can consider thank you thanks very much councillor bergman are there any other councillors who wish to speak to this motion before we go to a vote councillor Jang and then we'll go to councillor Barlow thank you I mean I think I have substantial amount of respect for your work trying to solve this issue and all the initiatives from the mayor over the over the years decades right but I do not feel comfortable voting in support of this tonight from the perspective of what's going on downtown and also what's already happening on the street where the identified site is and you know the Elmwood all the concern that we have learned I think this is not a well thought out proposal from my perspective if it was not in in the vicinity of downtown I would definitely vote in support of it but as presented like right here and my experience also about just people and house individuals and what they definitely do need made me realize that we need to think about to start to think about this a little bit differently we have one major need is to revitalize downtown and we cannot revise the light downtown by bringing people we could really definitely do need real help right from this community and because of the location that's why I am not voting in support of it thank you thank you councillor Jang we'll go to councillor Barlow thank you President Paul and thanks again I had made some comments during Board of Finance I just wanted to sort of go back to them again I wanted to thank you for the hard work that I know went into this and it was quite expeditiously sort of planned so I'm also appreciative of that and I am supportive of a cold-weather's warming shelter but I do like councillor Jang have real concerns about locating the shelter at the VFW building it's a block from the marketplace and given the challenges that we're already struggling with in the downtown I also agree that you know it adds an additional stressor to to an already you know difficult situation there were neighborhood issues with this facility when it was run as a shelter before and if our more recent Elmwood Avenue experience is a good predictor regardless of how well we run the shelter within the four walls his presence will bring an increase of drug use potentially criminal activity and not unauthorized activity excuse me it's late for me as well in private and public spaces around the shelter and I have a concern about that and I hear that concern from businesses as well and it was expressed today at the at the downtown workers public safety forum at Nectar's I wish we had considered other locations outside the downtown core to site a warming shelter I would even be more supportive of using temporary modular units in a location like North Beach and I think somebody at public forum had mentioned that idea tonight and I know that wouldn't be popular with my own constituents but it would be better for the downtown that needs some relief at this point but it doesn't seem like we have that opportunity now what I was told that board of finances the funding for this is tied to this location time is short so this seems to be the only option that we have and so this effort has to go well from the start the downtown businesses can't take and other stress or so I think I heard at the board of finance that the administration is committed to making sure that happens and will be on top of any any issues as they arise and now that we have new newly resolved council focus on this as well we'll have opportunities I guess to to check in during during council meetings and so although I came into this day not not willing to support this I'm going to support it and hope that hope that we'll be able to make this one work right from the start thanks thank you councilor Barlow were there any other councilor grant so as someone who lived in the central district for quite some time there's always been the concern about the number of services that are in our area but I think we have to welcome this I am befuddled by some of the business response because I have talked to many businesses and I also walk up and down Church Street all the time and businesses that have the recessed entryways or the alcoves whatever you want to call it are having numerous issues with people sleeping there because they're ideal for escaping the elements so we want to talk about holiday shopping season and trying to get people downtown I mean I I think that would be one of the reasons for getting it open earlier it's like they can sleep in your alcove or they can sleep in this building which would you prefer so to not have anything and to make assumptions about what might happen I think is very dangerous when we start to go down that line of thinking I'll leave it there thank you thank you councilor Grant seeing no one else seeing no one else in the queue here's we can go to a vote all those in favor of the motion is made by councilor King please say aye any opposed please say no no my apologies my apologies to the clerk we need to do that as a roll call my apologies Councilor Barlow yes Councilor Bergman yes Councilor Carpenter yes Councilor Jang nope Councilor Doherty yes Councilor Grant yes Councilor King yes Councilor McGee yes Councilor Shannon councilor Travers yes City Councilor President Paul yes 10 ayes one day one absence thank you the motion passes so that completes our deliberative agenda thank you again thank you as well director Pine and to special assistant Russell for your time and commitment to this project we will we have now completed our deliberative agenda and we have just a few items left to complete on the rest of our agenda item number 8 is committee reports are there any counselors who wish to offer a committee report are there any counselors who wish to offer a committee report seeing none will close out that item and go to our next item which is item number 9 city council general city affairs are there counselors who wish to offer comments on general city affairs Councilor Grant thank you as I believe all the council is aware of an extreme I don't have a better word for it extreme abhorrent act of discrimination that occurred at one of our NPAs and I don't know if everyone's gotten the audio but in the strongest possible terms if you have not listened to the audio please listen to it I hope the mayor if you have not gotten the audio that you requested and listen to it when people identify differently and want to be their true selves and leave and lead their lives and that comes for a whole variety of backgrounds people who work in public spaces and and want to serve have to create a welcoming and inclusive space they can do whatever they want at home they can decide whoever they want to hang out with personally but if they're serving in a public group like an NPA or in a commission or committee they have a responsibility so there was a discussion we'll be working with the city as attorney and with CEDO to come up with some verbiage that could be presented to the NPAs so that they can make sure that it's included in their bylaws it's sad that something like that has to be done I would like to think that people would stand up for the right thing that didn't happen and I guess that's all I'll say right now because obviously people are leaving so honestly want to go home but you need to listen to the audio if you didn't listen to have you all of you left here listen to the audio okay thank you tell me if you listen to the audio okay mayor if you listen to the audio I really think it's an appropriate counselor grant but I've since you asked directly I have committed to sit with the person involved and listen to the audio with thank you thank a lot has gone into this already and I don't feel like that's being acknowledged I'm okay that's that's fine I'm just saying that whoever has it listened to the audio needs to listen to the audio because it's so important and I think that I know people get mad at me especially around issues of microaggressions this wasn't even a microaggression when you hear it you will understand why I'm so upset and why I feel that it's important for the council to to voice our concern thank you thank you so much counselor Grant I will go to counselor Jang and then to counselor Bertman yes thank you counselor Grant for being that up and I think what we have received on the 5th of October that allowed two members of the steering committee of wards four and seven to be very specific in the new north end so that serious allegations very serious that are definitely putting the health of our like all democracy at risk with no doubt and what strike me the most is people defending some of those behaviors that's unacceptable not long ago as the body we pass here a resolution supporting people from the transgender community because of some harassment that they receive in the community right we did we did a declaration of racism if we don't do something about this right the policies we vote on that this mayor is signing on let's make sure that they have no meaning we need to respect to the people especially those that are stepping up on a daily basis to serve us with no pay as volunteers now we all can disagree on some elements about how the city should look like who should lead the city but we need to do it on a basis of respect of acceptance of each other of who we are what we represent what we believe in and you we embrace you and then we build this city together but I have a problem I am respectfully asking you to respect my view what I want to see what I how I want to be called and you publicly say no you refused I have my own experiences my own problem with that same exact NPA it's been six years I've been a city councilor the longest-serving city councilor of the new north end but I continue to have those issues in the dark struggling by myself with no I can't say it anywhere microaggression on a daily basis almost these things I will be making a statement and when we heard it I replied and asked as to why we haven't done nothing about this allegation that been coming since January and I respectfully called for an investigation to take place glad to hear that our city attorney is working on it to look what are what what's right this democracy we need all of us to stand up and make sure that it's safe and it's strong it's not for us but it's for the future generation and there are things that are not acceptable I generally don't speak like this but this is something that I needed to say and it was well thought out statement will be put out soon thank you thank you so much councillor Jang we'll go to councillor bourbon I look forward to hearing this and seeing something on the NPA issue I think it's very serious but actually what I want to say is that hopefully the the PAC parks arts and culture committee will look into this bathroom issue that was raised at public forum the closing of our public bathrooms the the trespass on the of the the harbor marina of somebody who is complaining and speaking to it this is that was a pretty serious allegation that I heard and I think that we need to look into that for all the people that use the the facilities that go to those events for fundamental justice for the justice related to homeless folks and their needs there there's a lot of issues there and I hope that that committee can can look into them and that's all thank you councillor Bergman does not appear that there's any other comments on general city affairs so we will move on to item number 10 which is council president updates so I just wanted to mention that in anticipation of the passage of item 6.2 the drug crisis resolution preliminary work has already started on standing up the public forums we'll have further updates at the next council meeting and as well beginning at our next council meeting we will have a new item on our agenda as passed in the resolution we will have another standing item in addition to climate emergency reports this brings us to the final item of the evening item 11 updates from the mayor mayor Weinberger the floor is yours thanks president Bob talked a lot tonight earlier today I don't have anything further back to you move to adjourn all those in favor of the motion to adjourn please say aye aye any opposed the motion passes listening our next meeting is Monday October 23rd and we'll look forward to seeing you then we are adjourned at 12 12 a.m.