BURLINGTON, Vt. -
Burlington
voters said yes to four ballot measures at the polls by wide margins.
A big ballot issue over the mayor's
fiscal stability bond has been approved.
The count was 11,429-4,420. The bond
needed two-thirds approval to pass and it did-- 72 percent said yes.
That means Burlingtonians support the
mayor's $9 million plan to stabilize city finances after credit rating agencies
downgraded the city because of the Burlington Telecom fiasco.
Though there were four issues on the
ballot, Mayor Miro Weinberger says approving the bond was paramount.
"It was an important
moment for Burlington. It means we'll be able to do much more together. It
means we made the right decision to spend a couple of months focused on this,
and now we can move on to the next challenges," said Weinberger,
D-Burlington.
In a non-binding question,
Burlingtonians voted to legalize marijuana on a count of 11,374-4,837.
Weinberger says he has no plans to look at the issue, but thought having the
opinion of the state's largest city might be helpful in future state and
national policy decisions.
Burlington voters also
said yes to a TIF to
revitalize the waterfront. That passed with 74 percent of the vote.
They also approved an increased tax to pay for bike path
repairs. That passed with 73 percent of the vote.
