Angelike Contis

Mount Mansfield Community Television

Angelike Contis is comfortable behind the camera. The Jericho native spent years as a documentary filmmaker before returning to her hometown and taking the helm at Mount Mansfield Community Television, a job she has held since 2012.

MMCTV, a non-profit organization, was founded in 1997. The majority of the station’s output involves filming municipal meetings in Jericho, Underhill, and Richmond. Since starting work as Executive Director, Contis has presided over a number of changes. Initially, all the meetings were just shown on cable television but now, everything except for some copyrighted events like concerts, are available online. MMCTV used to be funded through cable subscribers but with this change, they have requested and received additional funding from the towns they cover.

The station also does media education and partners with local non-profits including schools, libraries, and senior centers, filming events for them and also editing work that they submit. Often middle school students help out as volunteers and become paid workers when they reach high school. MMCTV also takes part in a number of community events.

After graduating from MMU, Contis got a degree in Social Studies from Harvard and then worked for an Argentinian documentary filmmaker in the Boston area. When her sister moved to Greece, Contis decided to follow for a year to do a documentary on the island of Tinos. One year turned into eleven during which she made videos about people behind the scenes at the Olympics, Greek dancing in the United States, and a film about stray dogs which was called Muttumentary.

Contis also wrote for the English language version of the Athens News. Her first assignment was doing movie reviews. “We were like vampires,” she said. “It was mostly American films and we’d be sitting in the dark during the day eating tiropita (cheese pies).” Contis praised the Athens News as one paper which wasn’t connected to a political party.

Contis eventually moved back to the US, settling in New York City. She wrote for Fodors, Edible Queens, Odyssey, and the English language version of the Greek National Herald. When her son was born, she decided to move back to Jericho so he would have access to green space and more time with his grandparents.

Contis continues to make documentaries but has cut back a bit on that work. She is proud of a film she made about the late Jericho artist Marcia Rosberg, and she is working on one about Deborah Rawson, the namesake for one of our libraries. “I love how documentary filmmaking lets you step into people’s lives and find another way of looking at the world,” she said.

Contis is a member of the Vermont Access Network which is a consortium of the 24 public access television stations in the state. She is currently the chair of the advocacy committee after several years as president of the organization. “These are the nicest people you’ve ever met,” she said, noting that public access TV employees were deemed essential during the pandemic.

“I think the thing that’s interesting in our field is how everything is really changing,” Contis said. In the pre-cell phone days, people would come to the MMCTV studio to film things but these days, they are more likely to borrow equipment and do the project themselves. To help get more people into the field, MMCTV leads summer camps and workshops during the February break for students. Some of the students Contis taught in those workshops are now graduating high school with plans to get involved in media. In addition to her work with MMCTV and Vermont Access Network, Contis serves on Jericho’s Town Meeting Reimagined Task Force and the Chittenden County Communication Union District.

To help connect with the past, Contis has been spending time digitalizing old shows. “I’m an archival nerd,” she said. “We’re really good at putting things online but I also have about a bazillion hard drives.” She is excited about MMCTV’s newest project. They have just received their FCC license to start a low power radio station. As the only full-time staff person for the station, Contis is just beginning the process of trying to pull together volunteers for the project, but she is looking forward to expanding the organization’s work and bringing information and entertainment to even more people.

Chris Shaheen: Jericho’s new Town Planner

Chris Shaheen, Jericho’s new Town Planner, spent the majority of his career in Washington DC. That city has a population of almost 690,000. In contrast, Jericho has just over 5,000 residents. Nevertheless, Shaheen says that a lot of the issues Jericho is facing are similar to those he encountered in DC.

Shaheen worked for over two decades in Washington at the local, not federal, level. “I was ready for a change,” he said. “I had accomplished a lot, and I was ready to try something new. Jericho seemed like a good place to do something new and different.” Shaheen’s husband grew up in Burlington and the couple had long-term plans of moving to the area. When Shaheen’s mother-in-law, a resident of Newark, Vermont, sent him a newspaper ad showing the Jericho job opening, he decided to apply. “I was really thrilled to be offered the position,” he said.

Shaheen has a Bachelors of Landscape Architecture with a minor in Urban Planning from Ball State University, and a Masters of American Studies from George Washington University. He started his career in the private sector with a landscape architecture firm in Maryland. “That’s where I learned accountability and staying on task,” he said. Shaheen followed that job with a stint of four and half years as a preservation planner for the National Park Service and then as a Neighborhood Planner for Arlington County. From there he began work in Washington DC, finishing his urban career as DC’s Lead Community Planner.

Despite the obvious differences between Washington and Jericho, Shaheen said he was surprised at how easy the transition has been and how many similarities there are between the two locales. Working in DC involved multiple levels of bureaucracy, but planning at the town level also requires cooperation with county, state, and federal entities.

Shaheen said that everyone he has met has been very friendly and inviting. He enjoys the relative lack of traffic for his commute, particularly since he travels from Burlington to Jericho while most drivers are going the opposite direction. “I’m really impressed with the professionalism of the zoning regulations and planning in Vermont, in general,” he said. Although he has never worked at the municipal level, he believes that his position as Jericho Town Planner combines his early work protecting agricultural land, his park service work, and his urban planning.

Shaheen said the two major issues facing DC are affordable housing and climate change and he was pleased to see those two items flagged in the new Jericho Town Plan. He praised the breadth of knowledge of Planning Commission members. “There are so many people here who are so passionate,” he said. “I’m excited to work with all the people I’ve met.” Shaheen stressed that he will be creating his own work plan, but Planning Commission members will be partners. “I want to work with them on Jericho’s journey forward,” he said. Shaheen has a lot of experience designing pedestrian thoroughfares and recognizes that Jericho does not have many sidewalks. “That’s an area we can improve on,” he said. “We’ve got plans for walkable village centers, so this gives us a great opportunity.” Shaheen noted that sometimes it’s better to start from scratch than to have to improve on substandard facilities. “This gives us a chance to do it right the first time,” he said.

In his spare time, Shaheen likes to read, bake, and go to the gym. In Washington he was a member of the Virginia Bronze handbell group, and he has joined the Northern Bronze ensemble. He just bought his first ever set of snow tires. “I’m looking forward to exploring all the natural beauty Vermont has to offer,” he said. Shaheen has been taken on walking tours by several members of the Planning Commission and hopes to find time to visit the rest of the town.

With his background in historic preservation, Shaheen is pleased to see so many of Vermont’s historic structures still intact. “I think all of Vermont’s planning involves conservation,” he said. “That’s something I found really appealing about the job. You get to do it all. It’s great to work on village centers and great to work on the conservation of natural resources but they go together and the strength of one makes the other more meaningful.”

Susan Harritt: Using her legal training to help her town

In 2014, when it appeared that the Underhill Jericho Fire Department was going to convey land they owned to the town of Jericho, the town responded by creating the Jericho Community Development Corporation to see if the parcel might be suitable for development. The JCDC is a public benefit, non-profit corporation whose purpose is to “foster, encourage, and assist the Selectboard in the development of projects that contribute to the economic, cultural, recreational, and environmental well-being of the community.”

Attorney Susan Harritt was one of the people invited to join the group. When the project did not come to fruition, the committee became inactive but when John Abbott was hired as Town Administrator, he asked the group if they would like to start meeting again. “I tip my hat to him,” Harritt said “because he got us moving again.”

There have been some personnel changes on what was originally a five-person board and Harritt praises the addition of Joe Flynn as having helped revitalize the group thanks to his background in surveying and land development. Harritt said the JCDC is working on creating guidelines and developing procedural steps for looking at property. “We want to help the town reach its goal of adding to the housing stock so the population can reflect diversity and affordability,” she said. Harritt described the group’s goals as mirroring those of the Town Plan in wanting to protect the environment and the character of the community while also adding to the housing stock to bring in younger families who might have children attending our public schools.

For the last five years, Harritt has also been a member of the state’s Human Services Board which reviews recommendations made by hearing officers after evidentiary hearings. Those recommendations include determinations on whether someone belongs on a state registry and issues of entitlement to programs like SNAP or housing benefits. The Board hears the appeals of people who disagree with the officers’ recommendations.

Harritt and her husband Bill Butler moved to Jericho in 1980 after renting a house in Hinesburg. They happened to be walking around the Nashville area when they met a homeowner who was looking to sell his home. They admired the view and the Mill Brook which ran behind the house and were happy to be able to purchase the property. The couple has a garden with flowers and vegetables and Harritt enjoys making pesto and tomato jam with the fruits of their labors. She has been a member of the same book group for 40 years and enjoys traveling, particularly in the colder months.

Harrit’s first encounter with the legal system in Vermont was while attending Northeastern Law School. The school’s model alternates quarters of work with regular study after the first year and Harritt’s first assignment was in the Vermont Attorney General’s Office. After graduating, she applied for a job clerking at the Vermont Supreme Court. From there she moved to the Public Defender’s Office, the Chittenden County State’s Attorney’s Office, and then back to the Attorney General’s office where she spent the majority of her career. She then joined the Agency of Human Services before retiring after 32 years with the state.

The JCDC isn’t Harritt’s first brush with volunteering in Vermont. She served several terms on the Jericho Elementary School’s Board many years ago. “Jericho is just spectacularly beautiful,” she said. “It’s an exquisite place to live and it’s nice to be able to serve. I’m happy to donate my time and energy to the town. I’m in a position to make a contribution and I’m happy to do it.”

Jacob Johnson: Jericho’s New Highway Foreman

Jacob Johnson has been here before. He worked for the Jericho Highway Department from 2015 to 2018 before leaving to take a job in his hometown of Huntington as a highway maintenance worker. He did that for a year and a half before becoming Bolton’s Road Commissioner, but when the position of Highway Foreman opened up here, he was happy to return. “I have some family here,” Johnson said “and Jericho is a town I enjoyed working in.” Johnson enjoys the fact that Jericho has both rural areas and a busier section on Route 15 although he admits that he prefers the rural parts because of the lack of traffic and the opportunity to enjoy the natural environment.

Johnson presides over a six-person department. He said all the employees can be considered jack-of-all-trades although there is one person who is a designated mechanic and two who specialize in using the grader and excavator. The department has four tandem dump trucks, two pick-up trucks, and an International low pro which is in between the sizes of the other trucks.

Johnson enjoys the fact that his job has many different aspects. “I generally have a plan of what we’re doing throughout the week,” he said. “Even with that plan, it can change based on weather or some other road emergency that occurs.” Johnson noted that storm damage can vary from road to road. “One road might receive a lot of wind damage or tree debris,” he said “while others might have washouts or erosion. We’re only six guys and we have to figure out where we’re needed the most.”

Jericho has 65 miles of roads and Johnson said each member of the department has a route they clear of snow during the winter. “We try to do it safely for ourselves and the others on the road,” he said. “When people are in a rush that can make it difficult, but safety is our priority.” Johnson said he appreciates the feedback he gets from residents who may alert the department to downed trees or debris that the crew might not otherwise be aware of.

Storms don’t necessarily occur on schedule and Johnson notes that the crew will work on Christmas eve or the Fourth of July if the weather requires their presence. “That’s time that is taken away from our families,” he said. “It might be 2 am or 10 pm but we’re doing everything we can to make sure everyone is safe. We’re there when any storm happens.”

In his spare time, Johnson enjoys spending time with his family. He is a hunter and angler and likes to travel to New Hampshire where he goes side-by-siding in his four-wheeler.

Johnson is glad to have returned to Jericho. “I’m very happy to have come to a town where the highway department has a great team,” he said. “The folks in the office are very helpful and everyone is very focused on trying to listen to the residents, hear their opinions and look out for the best interest of the town itself.”

Karina Dailey Provides Protection for Jericho’s Environment and Beyond

(Conservation Commission)

Karina Dailey moved to Jericho in 2007. She was working on her master’s thesis at Antioch University New England and wanted to connect with her community, so she approached the Conservation Commission to see if she could help out. Chair Tom Baribault introduced her to the Town Forest and Dailey did an inventory of the natural resources there which she presented to the Commission. They invited her to become a member and the Select Board appointed her the following year.

Dailey is very proud of the work the Conservation Commission has done. In particular, she is pleased with the wildlife habitat overlay which is relevant to development throughout the town. She is also proud of the fact that the Conservation Commission helped spearhead a Conservation Reserve Fund which was used to help conserve Mobbs Farm and the Farm Upstream, a new agricultural venture on Lee River Road.

Dailey is a Restoration Ecologist at Vermont Natural Resources Council (VNRC). She describes her job as having two distinct parts. One involves groundwork managing dam removal. That includes managing projects all over the state, particularly those in the Lake Champlain basin, and dealing with engineers, contractors, excavators, designers, community members, landowners, neighbors, funders, and Vermont Emergency Management. In that capacity, Dailey writes grants, provides design comments, and organizes meetings.

The second part of Dailey’s job involves trying to improve state policy for water resource management. “VNRC is a convening organization,” she explained, “so we meet with other groups to share research and concerns and draft legislation as a team.” Dailey is particularly proud of this year’s Senate Bill 213 which included provisions banning building in floodplains and adding 15 new positions at the Agency of Natural Resources.

Dailey is a member of the Water Caucus, a group which meets weekly when the legislature is in session. She is a registered lobbyist but also provides outreach education related to the policies the group proposes. After the 2023 floods, the caucus organized community conversations on climate resilience in three of the hardest hit communities: Johnson, Ludlow, and Plainfield.

Dailey wears many hats including Chair of the Vermont Dam Task Force which prioritizes projects for dam removal and provides education and outreach. The task force is made up of scientists, regulators, and others who are interested in the issue. Dailey said Vermont has over 1,000 dams and at least 800 of them are derelict old mill dams which are no longer in use.

In 2021, Governor Scott appointed Dailey to be Vice Chair of the Vermont Citizens Advisory Committee on Lake Champlain’s Future. The Committee is tasked with creating an annual action plan for the future of Lake Champlain. They meet monthly, and twice a year they hold joint meetings with their counterparts in New York and Quebec.

Dailey loves the mountains which was a draw in moving to Jericho. Years ago, she taught skiing to adults at Jackson Hole and later to kids at Stowe. These days, you can find her on the lifts at Smugglers’ Notch or skinning up at other areas during off hours. Dailey also appreciates another facet of living in Jericho. “When we moved here, we knew we wanted to raise a family,” she said, “but we didn’t realize that the schools here were so good.”

Dailey said Vermont Emergency Management has an influx of funds which she is hoping to tap into. “I think there is a tremendous opportunity for flood mitigation and climate resilience work,” she said. “I think we need to be thinking about identifying those projects which might allow us to look closer at the Browns River and Mill Brook.”

Dailey would like people to look at rivers with a wider lens and see things on a watershed scale rather than just individual bodies of water. Most people will look at a river laterally and perhaps longitudinally, but she wants them to also think of them vertically regarding the ground water underneath and temporally which measures how they change over time.

Dailey would love to use her professional expertise here in Jericho to remove the dam at the Jericho Town Forest. The Conservation Commission has already written one grant to raise funds for a proposal which will be followed by another grant for implementation. “It’s a small dam,” Dailey said, “and it may not seem hugely significant, but the education and outreach component is important, and it might lead to other projects.”

Paula Carrier Wears Many Hats to Help her Hometown

(Interim Town Administrator)

Paula Carrier has a lot on her plate these days. The 18-year veteran of Jericho’s Town Offices has just begun her second stint as Interim Town Administrator. Carrier was born and raised in Jericho. Her grandfather was the owner of the now-conserved Mobbs Farm, and she is thrilled that it has been preserved for future generations. She had been working for the American Lung Association when that organization decided to merge a number of regional offices, leaving her without a position. It was 2006 and Carrier thought she would take some time to figure out what she wanted to do next, but Town Clerk Jessica Alexander suggested that Carrier apply to be her assistant. The two had gone to school together and their horses were boarded at the same barn, so Carrier decided to give it a try and was hired in May of that year.

In 2008, Selectboard member Bob Penniman told Carrier that the town was looking for an Administrative Assistant. “I love to have a challenge,” Carrier said, “and it seemed like a job where I could continuously learn things.” Carrier stayed in that role until Tood Odit resigned from the Town Administrator position in April of 2021. She was appointed Interim Town Administrator and held that post until September when John Abbott was hired. Carrier served as Assistant Town Administrator while Abbott was at the helm but since his recent departure, she has again assumed the Interim title.

Carrier praises the town as a great place to work. “Even though there has been some turnover, the staff is a really good group of people to work with,” she said. “We all get along and we all work together as a team, and I really appreciate that. You learn a lot of things from different departments.” Although Carrier enjoyed her time as Assistant Town Clerk, she really enjoys the challenges presented in the Town Administrator’s Office. “Every day is something different,” she said. “There is always some new thing you didn’t realize, and you have to deal with it. It keeps me busy and keeps me going all day long.”

One of Carrier’s favorite parts of the job is talking to residents who come in with issues. She believes that talking with people can create a good relationship, put them at ease, and convince them that she is trying to help solve their problems. She enjoys seeing many of the same people she knew when she was growing up in town. “It’s good to see people who stayed here,” she said. “It’s nice to see familiar faces and to talk about the past and the present.” Carrier said that one of the strengths of the town is the number of residents who care about what goes on and are willing to serve on boards and committees “They make sure that we, as a town, are in the best place we can be,” she said. She would like to see the town be more transparent and do more to make people aware of some of the things that are going on so that perhaps even more residents can become active participants in their future.

In her spare time, Carrier loves riding horses and going on motorcycle rides with her significant other to see other parts of the state. “Mostly,” she said, “I love hanging out with friends, laughing and enjoying our time together.”

Carrier is happy to have picked up a number of new skills during her time in the Town Administrator’s office. “Writing grants was a huge one,” she said. “I didn’t know how to write grants and when Todd [Odit] left, I had to get some grants out for the highway department. It was huge to learn how to do that.” Carrier also noted that the legal status of a municipality is very different from for-profit or non-profit entities. “Municipal law is a beast of its own,” she said. “It has very different rules.” Carrier is proud of the fact that she has learned to put together the town budget. “That was a huge learning curve,” she said, “but I loved it because it helped me understand the monetary side of the town.”

When Carrier joined the town staff in 2006, she wasn’t sure she was going to be in it for the long haul but almost two decades later, she has a different view. “Back then I didn’t think this would be forever,” she said, “but it seems like that’s where it’s going.”

Erik Johnson: Carrying on a Family Tradition

Erik Johnson grew up steeped in Jericho tradition. His grandparents lived on the Fay Farm at the corner of Barber Farm Road and Route 117, and his parents lived just up the road. Johnson’s great-great-grandfather bought the land in 1876 and the family lived there until 2004. Johnson and his wife were living in the Foothills section of Jericho when the farm came up for sale in 2020. “We’d been looking for something on the other side of town,” Johnson said. “We thought it was probably a little crazy to take on an older home, but we also thought it would be fun to do.”

Moving into that house was one of the reasons Johnson ran for his first term on the Select Board in 2021. His grandfather had been a long-time Select Board member, and his uncle served on the Zoning Board of Adjustment and then the Select Board. “I’d only been in the house for four months when I was asked to run,” Johnson said. “Living here was a huge factor in making that decision.”

In March, Johnson was elected to his second term on the board. The achievement that he is most proud of from his first term was navigating the question of whether masking should be required since the governor had left it up to the towns to decide whether or not to mandate masks. Johnson was working for UVM Health Network at the time and was worried about how overworked health care providers were and how many people were ending up in hospital emergency rooms. He recognized that he lacked expertise in the field of epidemiology, so he tried his best to listen to voices on both sides of the debate. “In the end I decided that if it kept one person out of the hospital, it was worth it,” he said. “That was a tough decision but I’m proud of the way we navigated it and gave everyone a chance to be heard.”

For his upcoming term, Johnson said the Select Board will work on trying to increase access to affordable housing. With the new Town Plan and a wastewater study in the works, he hopes the board will be able to find ways to make Jericho affordable for people from a wide range of backgrounds.

Johnson noted that Jericho has a number of independent entities like the Underhill Jericho Fire Department, the Deborah Rawson Memorial Library, and Mills Riverside Park but they all seem to be able to work together. That’s one of the things he likes about the town. One area where he would like to see improvement is the speed at which things get done. He is hoping that during his second term he can help the board make quicker decisions and move at a faster pace.

Johnson has spent the last 15 years in health care IT. He’s currently the manager of a team of software developers at a company which is a vendor for the U.S. Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. They work on a website which collects and distributes data on long term care facilities to help people make informed decisions for themselves and their family when it’s time to consider care options.

In his spare time, Johnson enjoys skiing, camping, baking, and cooking. He has recently gotten into making sourdough bread. He has a saltwater aquarium and spends a fair amount of time on home improvement projects. On that front, Johnson noted that his house is actually in better shape than he remembers it and credits Jason Cheney with having done a good deal of structural work including adding cement floors and lighting in the basement and levelling out the kitchen floor which used to have a sizeable dip in the middle.

Johnson believes it really takes a full term for a new Select Board member to get up to speed. He said this was particularly true for him because he had not previously been a member of any board or committee. Additionally, his first term started during the height of the Covid epidemic, so all meetings were virtual. He thinks this term will be more fun because he has a better idea of what he’s doing. He admits he sometimes questions his decision to run when dealing with some of the more challenging members of the public. “I deal with conflict all day,” he said. Nevertheless, he thinks that because he knows more people and has a better idea of the job, he’ll be able to get more done.

Johnson believes that by being on the board he has taken the family tradition full circle. His grandfather was in charge of buying Mobbs Farm with the goal of turning it into a landfill. That never came to pass, and Johnson is proud that he was on the Select Board when the property was permanently conserved.

Niels Rinehart: Planning for Jericho’s Future While Remembering the Past

Niels Rinehart and his wife Lauren moved from the Albany area to Jericho in 2012 after Lauren got a job in Burlington. They diligently researched Chittenden County towns and chose Jericho in part because of the schools. When their boys grew older, Rinehart felt a desire to give back to his community and after initially looking at the Affordable Housing Committee, he joined the Trails Committee in May of 2020.

Rinehart is proud of the new trail map prepared by the committee and of the kiosks which have been erected at trail heads. “That takes more work than one might realize,” he said. Rinehart noted that the committee has also done some hands-on work like removing stray pieces of metal which were littering the Town Forest.

Rinehart is pleased that the committee has changed their name to the Bicycle & Pedestrian Connectivity Committee (BPCC) in recognition of a broadened mission. “The mission is to expand our scope to investigate and advise about alternatives to driving,” Rinehart said. “It includes working with the Town Planner and trying to set up priorities in budget and grant applications. We want to talk about connectivity issues including kids being able to walk to school.”

Professionally, Rinehart’s career has had an interesting trajectory involving what he describes as his two big loves: music and archeology. “I’ve wanted to be an archeologist since I was a kid,” he said, “but I also enjoyed playing music.” Rinehart went to school to study classical archeology with an emphasis on Greek and Latin but gravitated towards music, instead. He played jazz on an upright bass, but he was also classically trained and played guitar and sang in rock bands. He headed to graduate school for jazz studies but after two semesters, he began to doubt that career choice and returned to archeology where he met his wife who was also in the anthropology department.

Initially, Rinehart worked as a contract archeologist on federal and state projects. “I really enjoyed that work a lot,” he said “but then I began to work with Vermont Forests, Parks, and Recreation (FPR). I’ve been there for seven years and have worked with my supervisor to create a program to help FPR comply with the federal and state regulations to protect historical resources.” Rinehart is currently working on a large project at Sandbar State Park which requires excavation to put in a new stormwater system. Most of his work is on smaller areas and trails. “I haven’t been out in the field and gotten dirty in a long time,” he said. “I miss it, but I still go out to review project areas to see if there are historic sites present.” FPR also works with architectural historians to ensure that when historic structures are adapted, they stay true to the integrity of the structure.

Rinehart is slowly returning to his musical roots. He noted that after playing six to seven hours a day, it’s hard to play at hobby level and just do 20 minutes a night. However, he has grown out the nails on his right hand and is getting back to playing classical guitar which is less physically taxing than his old upright bass.

Rinehart is happy to be on the BPCC because he enjoys being outside, hiking, camping, and skiing. “It’s great to have access to all these trails within a few minutes of my house,” he said. “Trails require an inordinate amount of work to keep them up. I don’t know if the public understands the amount of work that it takes including stormwater management and clearing fallen trees. It’s a lot of infrastructure work.” The good news is there is some carryover on trails maintenance from Rinehart’s day job which often deals with similar issues. “We have a lot more money in the state so that informs some of the potential problems including engineering issues,” he said. “There is a huge push to deal with stormwater runoff. There’s a real science to it in terms of the water bars and drainage ditches.” Rinehart noted that a lot of historic roads and old trails including some at Mills Riverside Park have become gullies because of erosion.

Rinehart has high hopes for the newly-renamed Bicycle and Pedestrian Connectivity Committee. He recognizes that there is some opposition to sidewalks, but he believes that cars in Jericho travel much too fast. “I look forward to having a town where people can walk more,” he said. In addition to sidewalks, he’d like to see more paths through the woods so kids can walk to school, and adults can access other destinations. “I know that these take years to make happen,” he said, “but I’d like to see a town which is much more connected. That might also slow down traffic.”

Allaire Diamond: Protecting natural communities in her professional and volunteer work

A dozen years ago, Allaire Diamond moved to Jericho. She had been living in Williston where she served as Tree Warden and began looking for ways to volunteer in her new hometown. She helped out at Jericho Elementary School but on the advice of Liz Thompson, who had been a mentor and was her supervisor at work, she joined the Conservation Commission. That group seemed to be a perfect fit for Diamond because she is trained as an ecologist. “I’m happy to volunteer in a way that uses my training and skills,” she said.

Diamond is particularly pleased with the work the Conservation Commission has done in creating the Natural Resources Overlay District which helps inform development decisions. She noted that although some other towns have those kinds of districts, most do not. “I’m really proud we have it,” she said. “Now we’re in the phase of making some revisions using better data.” Diamond noted that the formation of the overlay district required a lot of effort and collaboration, and she is proud of how the Conservation Commission worked with the Planning Commission to create and implement it.

Diamond’s parents were teachers in Springfield and Bellows Falls and her initial foray into the professional world was teaching science to ninth and tenth graders at Missisquoi Valley Union High School. She subsequently worked as a teaching assistant at UVM before enrolling there to get two masters’ degrees.

In 2011, Diamond was hired by the Vermont Land Trust as a contractor and that turned into a full-time job the following year. Diamond was very familiar with the organization. Growing up, her parents were members, and she remembers that they received a Sabra Fields print after one of their donations. She took that print with her when she went off to college and hung it in her dorm room. “Land conservation is fundamentally a good thing,” she said. “It’s really practical and I knew this was a place where I wanted to work.”

Diamond’s job involves doing ecological assessments of land that is in the process of being conserved. That work starts by using GIS, a computer system which analyzes and displays geographic information. For some projects, that is followed by field work in which Diamond looks for uncommon, rare natural communities such as clay plains, floodplains, bogs, or fens.

Although she is no longer in the classroom, teaching is still a part of Diamond’s life. She conducts workshops and other activities through her job at VLT. Diamond is also a freelance writer and has contributed to magazines like Northern Woodlands. A recent issue featured her story about beaver restoration.

Lately Diamond’s job has expanded to include more ecological restoration. That work includes water-related tasks like dam removal, culvert replacement, tree planting, and stream restoration. While some of this work takes place on VLT-owned land, other work is done at the behest of private landowners. Most of the easements owned by VLT are on private land, but the organization has a close relationship with those landowners.

Diamond noted that recent flooding events have created more interest in these types of projects, as well as greater funding. “Almost every culvert in the state is probably undersized or not sited correctly,” she said. Her work involves a type of matchmaking in which she finds interested landowners and willing funders.

Diamond stressed that wetlands are very important because of their ability to hold and clean water. “They have amazing habitat in terms of biodiversity with fungi and microorganisms,” she said. Diamond also noted that wetlands are complex in terms of climate resiliency. She said a large number have been drained or converted to agriculture and it is her hope that some of these can be restored.

In her spare time, Diamond enjoys skate skiing, classic Nordic skiing, and cycling. She is an avid reader and is currently organizing a VLT event bringing Leila Philip, the author of the book Beaverland, to the state to give a presentation in Shelburne on April 18. In keeping with her love of wetlands, Diamond thoroughly enjoys the fact that the Browns River flows through her property. “I love being able to learn about my local landscape and see if it changes over time,” she said.

Susan Bresee wants to plan for Jericho’s future

In 2015, Susan Bresee decided to apply for a position on the Planning Commission. “I had an interest in volunteering and serving my community,” she said. Although Bresee didn’t have a background in land use planning, her professional career had involved market and product planning. “It seemed like a good fit where I could translate my skills to a role in town that looked at long-term strategies,” she said. “It was a lot like what I did at work.”

Bresee was eventually elected clerk of the Planning Commission. She served two years in that capacity and when the chair had to step down in 2020, she was asked to fill that role. She was subsequently elected to that position and has served as chair ever since. She finds the role to be a challenging one because in addition to doing the planning work, she has to take other factors into account. She likens it to captaining a boat and having to consider the weather and sea conditions in addition to the route.

Bresee is still enthusiastic about working on the Planning Commission. “What I enjoy the most is working with my fellow members, as well as residents who participate in meetings, other committees, and the town staff,” she said. Bresee adds that the work done in Jericho also affects the greater community, the county, and the state. “There is so much in the world that is negative,” she said. “We’re part of an effort to make life better for a lot of people and I like being a part of that. It’s important to think of the town as a shared experience rather than everyone living within their four walls. Being on the Planning Commission forces you to look beyond your own self-interest.”

Bresee spent most of her professional career working for IDX but ironically it was in satellite offices in Boston and San Francisco. In 1997, she and her husband decided to relocate to Vermont, so she requested a transfer. She remembers driving around Chittenden County with a paper map in her rental car, trying to figure out where she wanted to live. “We fell in love with Jericho,” she recalls. “Jericho Elementary School reminded me of the school I went to as a kid.”

After leaving IDX, Bresee worked for a smaller company, mostly doing health care consulting. She currently has her own consulting business. A good portion of Bresee’s professional work has involved negotiating contracts and she believes that has informed her work on the Planning Commission. “There are a lot of similarities between contracts and regulations,” she said. “Regulations are like contracts with the town. Because of my background, the nitty gritty of the regulations doesn’t drive me crazy.”

With Jericho equidistant between the Green Mountains and Lake Champlain, Bresee gets to enjoy downhill and cross-country skiing, as well as swimming and sailing. She enjoys cooking and also gardens but derives more enjoyment from weeding and pruning than planting. Mostly, Bresee loves walking and appreciates her proximity to the trails at Mobbs Farm.

“Jericho is a really friendly town, especially for families with kids,” Bresee said. Her three children, now in their 20’s, attended Jericho schools from Saxon Hill Preschool through MMU. “I had really positive experiences with the schools,” she said, “and I still have those friendships.” Bresee considers Jericho to be a very accessible town and notes that it is easy to find something for everyone. “There are many different interest groups you can tap into,” she said. “It feels rural but it’s close to conveniences.”

The Planning Commission spent a year drafting a new Town Plan which has just been approved by the Select Board. Bresee is proud of the multiple ways the commission worked to increase citizen participation in the process including in-person events, Zoom calls, and outreach at the farmers’ market. Still, only a few hundred people provided input. Bresee said she chooses to interpret passive participation as tacit approval but wishes more people would take part in the process. “People’s concerns are legitimate,” she said, “but it’s a constant exercise to focus on the work and to hear comments as concern, not criticism while we figure out how to address those concerns.”

Bresee notes that Planning Commission work can be hard because there is so much to be done but there aren’t always sufficient resources. Although there are a lot of volunteers, the town also relies on staff and consultants to make things happen. “You have to pick and choose your priorities and balance short and long-term benefits,” she said. She praised Jericho Town Planner Linda Blasch as a great person to work with. “She has a great professional background and is a Jericho resident,” she said. “The Planning Commission is lucky to have her support and guidance.”

“The Planning Commission is cool because it’s hard,” Bresee said. “It’s more complicated than people realize. We have an incredible group of hardworking people coming at things from different points of view. We don’t always agree but everyone is looking out for the best interest of the community.”