Hojun Choi
By Hojun Choi
The Bridge spoke with the two candidates vying for a seat on the Montpelier Parks Commission — one of the only contested races on the city’s ballot on Town Meeting Day.
Mattison Brady, 39, and Rebecca Copans, 46, shared their priorities for the city’s parks and public green spaces and how their personal experiences prepare them for the role.
They also shared their positions on the controversial rule change related to leashing dogs at Hubbard Park, an issue that the city has grappled with for years.
The interview and candidates’ answers have been edited for clarity and brevity.
How long have you lived in Montpelier?
MB: My family has been here in Montpelier about two years; we’re up in the Terrace neighborhood. Before that, we were in Burlington. Before that, we were living in the upper peninsula of Michigan. We moved to Vermont after we had our kid; she just turned three. Mainly, we moved to Vermont because it’s the place where we wanted to live, and we’ve been really excited to land in Montpelier and just love it — not least of all for the parks and green space that we have available to us here.
RC: I’ve lived in Montpelier most of my life. We moved from Middlesex when I was 10 years old with my family, and then I left after high school. I graduated from Union 32 and left right after high school and moved across the country and then came back to Vermont when I was 21. I spent basically four years away, and then I lived a few years in Burlington, and my husband and I moved to Montpelier when I was probably 27 or 28 and I’ve lived here ever since.
What is your current occupation?
MB: I’m a forest adaptation specialist and I work for the University of Vermont. What that means in practice is that I tend to work with land managers and come up with climate adaptation strategies. I help them answer questions like how are they going to meet the goals of managing their land, whether that’s for recreation, conservation, or economic uses? How are they going to meet or change those goals under a changing climate?
RC: I work for the J. Warren and Lois McClure Foundation, and I’m the special projects manager. You may know us from the Free Degree Promise, [a program for] young people who go through the Community College of Vermont through their early college year. I served on the Montpelier Housing Committee, and the last role I served on that committee, I was a co-chair. I’ve also been involved with the Central Vermont Refugee Action Network.
How do your previous experiences prepare you for the Montpelier Parks Commission?
MB: I have a fair amount to add from a land and forest management point of view. I have a suite of experiences with mapping, land management, and climate adaptation. Sometimes those are resources that the parks department or commission may go to consultants to get reports on. I could bring some of my expertise and network to bear, because I’m connected to folks at UVM and with the state.
The primary use of municipal parks is for the people who live in the city. As a parent and someone who recreates in the parks, there’s a lot of different users that want different things out of the parks. There are a lot of different people who have different needs and wants for those parks. I’m going to be bringing my lens as a parent, as someone who hikes and bikes, but they’re not the only lenses that matter. It’s a question of consultation and reaching out to the community to see what people are looking for.
RC: My career trajectory has been in public affairs, public policy, and strategic communication, so thinking about how to find compromise is a big piece of my professional experience. Thinking about how to talk about big changes with the community is really important. I think this is really key for this work for the Parks Commission — actually listening to what the public says.
I’ve raised my children on the edge of Hubbard Park, so they have had this incredible natural resource right in their front yard their whole life. They grew up in the woods appreciating the wildlife and being able to walk their dog in the park. It has had a huge impact on who they are as young people, both from the mental wellness you get from being in nature and also the physical strength that you have climbing up the hills. I think there is something integral to living in Vermont, which is being able to access nature and to all of our citizens.
The rules at Hubbard Park as they relate to dogs seem to be on the minds of many in the city for the upcoming election. What are your thoughts?
MB: My opinion is that we’ve arrived at a compromise. You can tell from both the 2017 vote and from surveys to the public a clear division on what people want to do with the park, which to me points to needing to set up a compromise so that you can include more people. What that compromise has been is two zones in the park, one that allows for off-leash and one that requires on-leash for dogs so folks can go everywhere in the park with dogs.
Being that it was a compromise, I know that there are people on both sides who are probably not happy with exactly how it’s laid out. I think it shows that folks at the parks department and commission are operating in good faith and trying to come to a solution for more people. It’s going to continue to be an issue that requires public feedback and probably some adjustment, but the course they’ve charted already is one that’s been deliberative and careful.
You wouldn’t have this sort of issue in a city that was apathetic about its parks or didn’t feel that they were a very valuable resource. So the bottom line that’s positive here is there are a lot of people who care a lot about Montpelier’s parks; they’re engaged and they like to use them.
RC: This vote is essentially a referendum on the leash policy in Hubbard Park. The change was too absolute and without regard for a more balanced approach that could have been reached with a differentiation of time for on-leash and time for off-leash dogs in the core of the park. I want to leave it open to a conversation. I want to make sure that I’m listening to everyone before coming out with a proposal. I believe there should be the ability for people with off-leash dogs to be able to use the core of the park … which right now they’re not able to do.
Every morning, people would meet to walk their dogs and have really lovely conversations. It was like the center of our community. It was the center of my day. It was where I would see people and check in with people I wasn’t able to see in other places. There was such a cross section of people who you don’t naturally run into. The change of the park policy destroyed that community. It’s important for our public officials to listen to the negative impacts of everyone, not just the wishes of some.
I don’t know of another local ordinance change that has had a bigger impact on such a large group of people than this one by the parks commission. It has completely destroyed how so many of us start our day in a community-minded, healthy way.
What are your biggest priorities for Montpelier’s parks and green spaces?
MB: Montpelier has a lot of green space, but it’s not always easy to get to from all parts of the city without a car. Connectivity is important to me. I also think community organizations are a great force multiplier in a small city that does not have a ton of resources or staff in its parks department. These organizations offer volunteers, resources, and planning. As long as the parks commission is working with them transparently and getting public feedback, they’re a really great way to maintain and improve park infrastructure.
Additionally, I’m always interested in climate resilience. When you look at the floods that are going to continue to be severe in central Vermont, the biggest concerns are related to floodplains, the river, and the precipitation we’re getting in these severe events.
RC: Montpelier is so lucky that we have incredible open natural space across the whole city. We need to think more broadly about recreational space, not just in downtown, but in the more far-flung neighborhoods.
My other big priority is focusing on the importance of having safe places to bike, particularly for young children to get from one side of the town to the other. I think a critical issue is offering safe bike travel to use our parks and our other natural spaces to ensure that there’s safe ways for bikes to get from point A to point B.
The Bridge spoke with the two candidates vying for a seat on the Montpelier Parks Commission — one of the only contested races on the city’s ballot on Town Meeting Day.
To see the candidates official statements and the full ballot available on Town Meeting Day, go to https://www.montpelier-vt.org/922/City-Voter-Guide.
