If elected in March 2014, she will be returning to the seat she held from 2008 to 2012. After a two-year break she welcomes the thought of serving the community once again. When Emery first ran in spring 2008, her primary goals were the following: protecting South Burlington’s open spaces and the quality of life in South Burlington neighborhoods, promoting the development of City Center, and maint
aining the quality of city services all with an eye to affordability and financial sustainability. Her goals remain the same, and she is additionally running on the platform of open, transparent, and accountable government and of increased dialog with South Burlington’s neighboring communities. Since 2008, Emery has served on Channel 17's Board of Trustees, and it is within the spirit of the Channel's mission that she wishes to return to local government. She now serves as Board President, a position in which she takes great pride. Channel 17 Town Meeting Television is the local government access channel, established over twenty years ago in order to give citizens direct access to civic conversations and monthly and special meetings of their local policy-makers. Emery believes in Vermont’s tradition of citizen meetings and participatory government; her past record on the Council demonstrates her commitment to dialog and to policy-making through thoughtful deliberation where all sides are represented and heard. When the public is invested in government, there is give and take and compromise and everyone benefits, she believes. Ultimately, with everyone at the table it is the common good that prevails. As a regular citizen over the past two years, Emery has followed City business with great interest, sitting in on Council meetings, Interim Zoning committee meetings, the City Center and Cars to People visioning meetings, and most recently the Form-Based Codes public forum. These have been ongoing discussions since her time on the Council and in some instances before, and she believes she can further contribute not only thanks to her experience but also because the vision now coming close to regulatory fruition, especially with regard to City Center, is one for which she has long advocated. In this regard, she expresses her gratitude to members of the public, the various citizens committees, City staff, and boards, present and past, who have given so much of their time, energy, talent, and creative vision to South Burlington. This is a wonderful place to live for so many reasons but most of all these, and they inspire her to serve our community again in an official capacity.
