First ever
Perfect season
Girls’ softball team wins championship tilt
Ultimate Frisbee team takes Division I title
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South Burlington’s Community Newspaper Since 1977
the JUNE 16, 2022
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VOLUME 46, NO. 24
Hiring new fire chief ‘unique exception’ City manager explains why AVALON STYLES-ASHLEY STAFF WRITER
PHOTOS BY AVALON STYLES ASHLEY
Congratulations Class of 2022! The South Burlington High School Class of 2022 graduated last Friday to raucous cheering and cap tossing. Some highlights from the event included the school chamber choir rendition of “Sing Your Way Home,” the recognition of Big Picture graduates, some jokes about pandemicera camping chairs and the many, many awards for service, academic excellence and resilience that students were given. See more starting on page 11.
No one except a few high-ranking officials knew that the South Burlington Fire Department was getting a new leader until two weeks ago. Most in the community found out Burlington’s fire chief will replace South Burlington’s chief Terry Francis later this year when a press release was issued June 3. No public input was sought, nor a national or statewide search conducted, but city officials say this was a special case. “When the best wants to come serve with you, you say yes,” city manager Jessie Baker said, referring to Burlington Fire Chief Steve Locke, who will take over in South Burlington in August while Francis maintains his duties as city fire marshal. The best after Francis, she said. In explaining why the process was not more transparent, Baker said in an email that as her team recruits and hires “professionals, especially exceptional professionals who are leading teams in our region and who are looking to hold the trust of their current staff and communities, we do our utmost to maintain the confidences of our applicants.” Separating the duties of fire chief from fire marshal was a major reason for the personnel change, Baker said, adding that she and the current chief have talked for months about separating the jobs and about his eventual plans for retirement. Francis has handled both jobs since he took over as interim chief in 2018 — he became permanent chief in 2019 — but the workload is See FIRE CHIEF on page 20