Court hearing
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Police officer accused of killing cyclist with cruiser is arraigned
Checking in with South Burlington School district students
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the MARCH 20, 2025
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VOLUME 49, NO. 12
City explores using AI to streamline work LIBERTY DARR STAFF WRITER
What role does artificial intelligence have in Vermont’s local governments? While not many towns or cities across Vermont are asking themselves that question yet, South Burlington, the state’s second largest city, is beginning to look at where this growing tool could expedite some of the tedious municipal minutiae. It’s been a large part of what Nick Gingrow, the city’s IT director, and Anna Dabrowski, the city’s data manager, have been working on the last couple of months. The duo, along with the help of the city’s legal team, are putting the finishing touches on a new artificial intelligence policy that will guide how the city uses and implements AI going forward. “We’re working on an AI policy so that we have good best practices set in place before people start using it to make sure that all of the city’s data — and (that of) everyone who lives in South Burlington — is used appropriately and safely before we start getting into utilizing it,” Gingrow said. While a slew of AI tools — even those that wouldn’t be easily recognizable as such — are already readily available for the standard consumer, using the new technology in government is not as cut and dried. Since sensitive data and
information is largely a part of the work a local municipality does, ensuring each tool is up to government security standards is on the forefront of city employees’ minds. Gingrow has been collaborating with a San Jose, California-based initiative known as GovAI Coalition, a coalition of municipal governments around the country that are looking into how to responsibly, appropriately and efficiently use AI for government. South Burlington is the only Vermont city or town in the coalition. One of the first projects the city has been looking into is an artificial intelligence tool from Microsoft known as Copilot, which integrates with apps like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams. South Burlington’s city staff, across all departments, gathered last week for their first training session on the topic. Gingrow said the topics ranged from using artificial intelligence to take meeting minutes or drafting request for bid proposals for certain projects throughout the city. “That’s one of the first things that we’re looking at,” he said. “Creating (a request for proposals) from scratch can take a lot of work. So, if you could use AI to create a draft version based on three or four or five other RFPs you’ve done in the past, you could maybe get a See AI on page 12
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Professor Peter Vantine receiving an award signifying that he is a Knight in the Order of Academic Palms.
Saint Michael’s professor becomes a real purple knight, courtesy of France LIBERTY DARR STAFF WRITER
Saint Michael’s College got a new purple knight last week. Peter Vantine, a South Burlington resident and professor at Saint Michael’s college, who is also chair of the Classical and
Modern Languages and Literatures Department at the college, was recognized as a Knight in the Order of Academic Palms — or Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques. The honor is an order of knighthood in France and is one of the oldest civil honors bestowed by the French Republic.
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“I am deeply touched by this recognition granted to me in the name of the French government, under the auspices of the Ministry of Education,” Vantine said. “Everywhere in this world, here See VANTINE on page 12