FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 10, 2020
Contact: Olivia LaVecchia
(802) 734-0617
Statement on Next Steps for City Budget, Racial Justice, and Policing
Burlington, VT – At his COVID-19 briefing this afternoon, Mayor Miro Weinberger shared the following statement:
“The unprecedented participation in the public forum at Monday’s Board of Finance meeting and last night’s Police Commission meeting is part of the overdue and much-needed reckoning that we are having all over our country about policing and safety. I am listening carefully to all that is being said here in Burlington and around the nation, and following closely the major changes that cities are starting to announce in the wake of George Floyd’s murder.
“I am proud of the Burlington Police Department and the reforms that we have implemented in recent years, and appreciative of the role the police department plays in keeping Burlingtonians safe. I also know that we must do much more for racial justice within the police department and throughout City operations.
“The City team and I are working hard to find the right path forward for Burlington. Since my State of the City address in April, I have been clear that, while coronavirus would impact much of the City’s work in the year ahead, our efforts to promote racial justice would not be deferred and would continue to receive new investment and focus in the year ahead. We will be expanding this commitment in response to the events of recent weeks. My budget submission to the City Council on Monday will include funding to advance racial justice in Burlington, and contribute to the local and national effort we are engaged in to improve policing and public safety. I have great hope in my heart, and expect that with this budget we will make impactful and long-overdue progress toward racial justice in Burlington.”
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