Title: Chris Viens has to go! Petition for his Resignation from the Waterbury Select Board

Waterbury is a community committed to diversity, equity, inclusion and justice. We need leaders in place who uphold and advance these values. Chris Viens has demonstrated he is not equipped to be a leader in our community, and we demand his resignation from the Waterbury Select Board.

We, the undersigned citizens of Waterbury, Vermont, demand the immediate resignation of Chris Viens from his position as Chair and member of the Waterbury, Vermont Select Board.

Chris Viens has proven himself to be unfit for the role and does not represent the beliefs and values of our community.

Examples of Chris Viens’ concerning behavior include, but are not limited to:
1) Calling for a segregated approach to policing in a WDEV interview on Monday, October 19, 2020
2) Stating if people of color weren’t moving to the state of Vermont, there wouldn’t need to be a discussion on racism during the June 15, 2020 Select Board meeting
3) Publicly disparaging a female Select Board member during 2018 Town Meeting
4) Repeated use of intimidation tactics to advance his business and protect his reputation, as reported by multiple community members and business owners

These comments and actions are upholding a system based on racism, misogyny and power tactics which are not aligned with our community. We understand people have different views on policies and how to make things within our town, but we all hold some basic values, which Mr. Viens seems to be lacking. Mr. Veins is either uninformed or willfully ignorant of the needs of the diverse community in which he serves. Neither is acceptable and for that we call for His resignation form the select board NOW!