Does Burlington really need a formal commission to oversee its three graveyards?
The city council is on a bureaucracy-trimming mission, taking a close look at the Queen City’s 39 boards, commissions and committees to see if any could be consolidated or eliminated. Made up of volunteers, appointees or elected officials, these oversight bodies hold varying amounts of responsibility and power. Many place demands on department heads, and city staff must schedule and attend the public meetings to record minutes.
The cemetery commission — four volunteers who meet four times a year — seemed like one the city could, perhaps, live without.
Councilors, however, underestimated how seriously the commissioners take their responsibility, which primarily consists of monitoring the Greenmount, Elmwood and Lakeview cemeteries for vandalism, broken fences and other repair needs.
Commission chair Donna Waldron dug up the history about how the commission came to be. Created after voter approval in 1864, its original members included the lumber baron Lawrence Barnes, according to her research.
“Disbanding the Burlington Cemetery Commission would be like doing away with Vermont’s country stores and covered bridges,” Waldron wrote in an email to councilors. Other commissioners chimed in, too, and the Chittenden County Historical Society sent a letter in the commission’s defense.
While not everyone may feel quite so strongly, the cemetery stewards have made themselves heard.
The issue has been tabled until October, and at a work session held Wednesday, several councilors who had previously been open to nixing the commission expressed reservations.
Councilor Joan Shannon, who continued to suggest that the cemetery commission could be replaced with a cemetery subcommittee on the parks and recreation commission, agreed to attend the commission’s September meeting and discuss the idea with them further. But even she acknowledged, “I don’t think this is worth going to war on.”
A couple of councilors muttered puns to one another at the end of the discussion. Councilor Tom Ayers declared it a “dead issue.”
Got something to say?
Send a letter to the editor and we'll publish your feedback in print!
As a Burlington taxpayer, I very much appreciate the mindset of those who think it’s a good idea to review the city government periodically and eliminate unnecessary time and waste. I don’t know who these ‘volunteers’ are, but how are we supposed to have faith in administrative officials who can’t even deal with ‘firing’ volunteers? These people need to get a life, there are plenty of organizations with vital needs for which they can volunteer without wasting the time of Burlington city administrators. And thank you to those in Burlington’s government who are dedicated and care enough to assess cost/benefit to eliminate waste and remove antiquated or unnecessary bureaucracy.
As a Burlington taxpayer, I very much appreciate the time that members of boards and commissions volunteer to provide oversight and advisement to the staff of city departments. It is time well spent for staff to be with their boards, to benefit from resident’s ideas and feedback, keep in touch with neighborhood issues, and look at ideas from the residents perspective. Staff attend board meetings and they take notes, but of course they would want to do that! They also provide information to boards so that jointly they and their boards can make wise deicsions.
This article does not explain very well all the responsibilities of the cemetery commission — time-consuming details that staff are relieved of. Free labor, taxpayers! And no benefits, health insurance, pension, or sick leave! They don’t even get reimbursed for parking. Check out the unpaid job description of cemetery commissioners at https://www.burlingtonvt.gov/CityCouncil/C…
Burlington has a reputation for being a city with a high degree of civic engagement. Most City Councilors served on their NPA steering committees and a board or commission. A former vice-chair of the DRB is now a U.S. Attorney. A former city board member is running for POTUS! Boards are valuable to city depts, valuable to taxpayers, and they are an entry into public service.