Viens faces rebuke and petition to resign over policing proposal

October 24, 2020  |  By Lisa Scagliotti

Select Board Chair Chris Viens. Courtesy Photo.

Select Board Chair Chris Viens who is running for a Vermont House seat began the week at a candidate forum to talk about the election campaign and ended with members of the community circulating a petition calling for him to step down from the elected local office he already holds. 

By Saturday morning more than 300 people had signed a petition on the website Change.org created in reaction to Viens suggesting a segregated police force as a way to address racial discrimination and inequity in policing. Viens proposed the idea on Monday during a broadcast forum with the three other candidates running for the two Washington-Chittenden House seats. Viens later reiterated the idea at a Select Board meeting and in subsequent media interviews.

By Friday, Viens offered an explanation and an apology in a discussion on the Dave Gram Show on WDEV. The radio program included Xusana Davis, the state’s executive director of racial equity, and Viens said he thought their discussion was productive.

Viens said he realizes now that in answering a question during the Monday candidate forum, he used the wrong term. "I apologize for using 'segregation.' ... It was truly a mistake," he said in the Friday radio interview. He called the reaction on social media in recent days a "shark frenzy" that's been difficult for his family. 

He said his original comment was intended to express that he was looking for "hope and ideas" in suggesting that "maybe a minority police officer can better relate to minority issues they're responding to and diffuse the problem without people getting killed, without people getting hurt on both sides." 

A Waterbury Center excavation contractor and select board member since 2012, Viens denounced calls this year by anti-racism activists to “defund police” in response to deaths of Black individuals at the hands of police around the U.S.

The comments came during a Monday candidate forum hosted by WDEV and the Waterbury Roundabout with the four candidates running to represent Waterbury in Washington County, as well as Bolton, Huntington and Buels Gore in Chittenden County. A reader-submitted question was put to each candidate. 

The Waterbury resident wrote to say he had attended racial justice rallies in recent months where he heard people of color share experiences with racism in Vermont and in the community: “It is apparent we have work to do to make all feel welcome here. I would like to know what each candidate will do to work towards making people of all races feel welcome and safe in their represented area and Vermont as a whole.”

Viens, the Independent candidate in the race, answered last.

He first suggested that “minority” community members offer a list of issues that need to be resolved. He then shifted to the topic of policing: “I'd rather see a segregated police. I'd rather see more minorities brought into the police department. When calls come out that are minority-related, those police officers that are of minority will address those issues. ... That way it would solve, I would hope, one thing if there is a tragic shooting. The whole racist issue might be put to rest because you have a minority police officer dealing with a minority issue."

Viens added that he would encourage anti-racism activists to help create a platform to address racial inequities in Vermont.

“To continue to blame Vermont for mostly being a mostly white state is kind 

of a slap in the face. That’s just the way things evolved. It wasn’t on purpose,” Viens said. “I think that there’s plenty of work to be done. Rather than tearing down people's buildings and screaming at each other, let’s put a platform together. Let’s act on it. Let’s move it in a better direction.”

The topic came up toward the end of the forum in which candidates were asked to answer questions but not respond to each other. 

Later Monday evening, Lt. David White of the Vermont State Police attended the Waterbury Select Board meeting on Zoom to update local officials regarding State Police activity in town. During the discussion, Viens shared his suggestion from the candidate forum with White.

“I said from this racial equity thing, the problems we’ve had, Black Lives Matter concerns (and) all that. Rather than defunding the police, I suggested we try to segregate the State Police more - bring in more people of minority into the State Police positions and somehow allow them to deal with minority … calls that came in that were minority-related and be able to send these minority troopers to deal with that rather than the troopers that have been doing it, and maybe take out this racial part-problem. Do you think there’s any (possibility) of that happening?” Viens asked.

White answered by discussing police recruiting. “Simply getting any qualified candidate wanting to do this job right now is difficult,” he said. “Trying to diversify our membership has been something that we have been attempting to do for years now. … It’s certainly not a lack of effort on our recruiting division. It’s just a matter of finding anyone that’s capable and wanting to do this job, period.”

Media coverage

During the next two days, Viens’s proposal caught the attention of Seven Days newspaper and WPTZ TV. The subsequent coverage was shared widely on social media.

When asked for their reactions to Viens’s comments, two of his opponents in the House race -- incumbent state Reps. Tom Stevens and Theresa Wood, both Waterbury Democrats -- condemned Viens’s suggestion.

“The ideas put forward by Mr. Viens are classically racist ideas. I'm not calling him a racist - all white people, including me, are capable of racist ideas. I'm concerned that when asked what would make Black people more comfortable in Vermont, he responded in a way that purported to solve the problem of Black people being more comfortable when being arrested, or in a confrontation with police. Why go there?” said Stevens who is seeking a seventh term in the House.

He called the notion Viens put forth “shocking because they expressed a cultural insensitivity that seemed so out of time. Our eyes, once more, have been opened to the reality that these views still exist, and that we have a lot of work to do,” Stevens added.

Wood, who is running for a third term, said her “jaw dropped” at Viens’s comments in the forum. She also said the answer by Republican candidate Brock Coderre to the same question was out of bounds.

“I find the comments made by candidates Viens and Coderre to be totally unacceptable, and they clearly demonstrate a lack of knowledge about the issues related to racism in our community and our state,” Wood said. “Neither individual expressed a desire to better understand the issues that (Black, indigenous and people of color, or BIPOC) citizens experience, nor work towards respectful solutions. Proposing a "segregated" police force or thinking that if we just don't talk about racism, it will go away, are just flat out wrong.”

In his reply to the reader question, first-time candidate Coderre, who is also from Waterbury, suggested emphasizing teaching civics in schools as a way to encourage students to be more engaged with politics, think about what it means to be an American, and learn how to disagree civilly. Eventually, Coderre said, discussing race won’t be necessary. “I think we should just stop talking about race in general because if it’s not on your mind, and you’re not talking about it, then you can’t treat people differently because of it,” he said.

Coderre declined to comment on Viens’s statements, adding his disappointment that his name was mentioned in a negative light by Wood. “My response was surely misinterpreted by fellow candidates so it could understandably go similarly misunderstood by viewers, listeners and voters,” he said.

Backlash

By midweek, the strongest reaction was coming from the community itself with many local residents discussing Viens’s comments on social media including Front Porch Forum and Facebook. Many commenting are expressing not only opposition to Viens as a candidate for state representative, but to his continuing to lead and even sit on the town Select Board.

"I am Puerto Rican. If I call the police do the State Police have to dispatch a Puerto Rican and only a Puerto Rican? Is an African-American officer OK since it is a 'minority issue?'" wrote Waterbury resident Michael Frank on Front Porch Forum. "I can't stand by when Chris Viens, the chair of the Select Board, calls for segregating our police. That is a racist statement, plain and simple. Chris Viens needs to step down from the Select Board. Waterbury needs to be led by someone that isn't pushing for segregation." Frank, who serves on the Harwood Union School Board, stressed in a follow-up email that his comments were made as an individual.

Comments by Brian Kravitz mirrored many who rebuked Viens: "If people didn't understand why 'Black Lives Matter' is important in Waterbury, I hope that this incident sheds some light on it. We have an elected official, running for state Legislature, whose response to systemic racism is more systemic racism. It is insidious and pervasive. Maybe we can use this as a starting point to engage in the discussions and changes that are necessary."

The petition

The Change.org petition titled “Chris Viens has to go!” was posted online Friday afternoon demanding that he resign from the town board. “Chris Viens has proven himself to be unfit for the role and does not represent the beliefs and values of our community,” the petition states. By Saturday morning it had more than 340 signatures and multiple comments from signers.

Reached Friday evening by phone, Viens said no one contacted him before launching the petition. "There's been no effort to reach out and say, hey, can we sit and talk," he said.

And by Friday evening, several comments supporting Viens were posted on Front Porch Forum.

"Chris Viens is not racist," Kent Gardner stated simply while Kym Asam called for "compassionate" conversations. "We are all in different places on our journey toward learning and unlearning about our whiteness, privilege, racism and white supremacy. I hope we can consider inviting people into conversation when we feel their comments and/or actions constitute racism and remain compassionate in our responses so as not to further alienate but rather engage in uncomfortable yet important discussions about race," she wrote.

Former select board member Carol Miller said her political beliefs “differ dramatically” from Viens’s, but she said she is looking at this situation in a broad context. “Chris -- like all of us who are white -- struggles to understand the role of race and ethnicity in our history and current challenges,” she said. “I certainly don't fault people for coming down hard on people they perceive as suggesting racial boundaries or race-colored policies, but I do wish we could have enough compassion to understand that not everyone who is insensitive to racial issues means to be that way. We are all products of our experiences.”

Elections have consequences

Community members are sending messages to the rest of the select board with an eye toward raising the issue at the next board meeting scheduled for Nov. 2, the eve of the general election.

The board continues to meet via Zoom video call recorded by ORCA Media in Montpelier because of COVID-19 public-health precautions. It’s unclear how many people may join the online calls.

Aside from public pressure, the petition carries no weight nor do voters have any official process to remove an official who was duly elected. A check with the secretary of state’s office confirms that there is no “recall” option that applies. An official may resign their position. Otherwise, voters may elect someone else for the position when the official’s term is up.

In Viens’s case, that would be March 2023. This past Town Meeting Day in March, Viens ran for the third time unopposed for another three-year term on the select board. And in his previous elections for one-year seats in 2012 and 2013, he was the top vote-getter in three- and two-way races, both of which filled two seats, attesting to a dearth of competition for public offices in Waterbury.

Viens acknowledged the perennial challenge to attract candidates for local office and he said situations such as what has played out this week make it harder. "When you get into a demonizing political setting, it decreases the chances of anybody in the future wanting to step forward to run," he said.

Whether Viens remains as chair of the board is a decision up to the board itself. Select boards typically decide the roles of chair, vice chair in an organizational meeting following Town Meeting Day elections when the makeup of the board changes. Those choices are made by a majority vote of the board. 

Against the grain

For many of the petition supporters, Viens's comments come as some in the community are moving toward a heightened awareness of instances of racial discrimination with the aim to address racism and promote better understanding of racial justice.

The new grassroots group called the Waterbury Area Anti-Racism Coalition formed in June following a local rally and march that drew more than 500 people including many families with young children who listened to Black teens and even elementary school-aged students share stories of racism they experienced in school. The Harwood Union Unified School District has launched anti-racism training for staff and its school board; it formed a task force to look outward into the community.

Maroni Minter a Black community member who led the June rally, is working with the new group, and helped organize the petition seeking Viens’s resignation. He and others in the anti-racism coalition attended Select Board meetings this summer to share an idea for a public mural and to ask permission to hang a banner near the municipal offices with the message “Waterbury Stands with Black Lives Matter.”

The board gave permission for the banner and its support for the art effort, but both interactions were marked with tense exchanges between Viens and the group leaders, Minter in particular.

“I don’t have to deal with that at all,” Viens said in response to the suggestion that racism exists in the community.

Minter pushed back offering personal examples from high school into adulthood. “The majority of Waterbury are good people,” Minter replied. “There are a few among us who are racist.”