Numa Haase for City Council District 1

My name is Numa Haase. I am currently retired, having done mostly computer/web programming. I graduated from CCV and UVM in Computer Science. I have lived in Montpelier for more than 30 years after having lived in Louisiana, Mexico, and Québec, as well as a lengthy stay a long time ago in India. I live with my wife, our two teenage daughters, two cats, and our dog.

When my wife Georgina came with me from Mexico some 25 years ago, there were few immigrants from other cultures. Over the years this has changed, and now Montpelier has become a much more diverse community with people from many countries around the world. Georgina has worked for many years with preschoolers at the Child’s Garden. We participate in our local Latino/Spanish group. I also volunteer with the many local Mexican farmworkers, mostly by interpreting and accompanying them to doctors and dentists, and helping them obtain driver’s licenses.

I feel very proud of our high school students, faculty, and school board that they had the courage to celebrate Black History month by flying the Black Lives Matter flag. We need to come to realize the sanctity and uniqueness of every life, of all humans as well as animals. Thinking about the young Latino girl who was yelled at and told that brown people don’t belong here, maybe we need to put up signs for all to see saying 'All are welcome here' and 'Hate has no place here'.

In this time of divisiveness in our country we need to show that we continue to respect each member of our community. We need to encourage the traditional Vermont values of working out our disagreements in a respectful way rather than by restrictive and punitive laws. More than any community in which I have ever lived, Montpelier shows its compassion and caring in so many ways.

I live right on the North Branch River, which is, in fact one of the main reasons I bought this house. After the 1992 flood, which washed away some of the retaining wall, we rebuilt with a stairway down to our strip of land on the river. Our children grew up playing in the river, canoeing, kayaking, and feeding the ducks. I feel that most people, though, do not know much about our rivers, and access to them is quite limited. This is something that I would like to change. We are also fortunate to have in our town (and our district 1) Hubbard Park, the gem of Montpelier. I am there every day with my dog. It is here for us all to share.

In short, I would like for us to celebrate our diversity, striving to be as inclusive as possible. Diversity is much more than simply people of other races and countries. It includes all those struggling to find their voice and their place in society. Diversity means all of us. We need to get to know more of our neighbors in this wonderful community. If you are looking for a candidate with lots of experience in city government, that isn’t me. This is the first time I have ever run for public office. Perhaps it is time for some new faces and new ideas on the council. Life is an opportunity to learn. I would like for it to be easy for people of Montpelier to talk with their city councilors, so that council decisions better reflect the desires of residents. I promise that I will always be open and listen to all sides and try to make the best decisions possible. I look forward to participating in the governance of our city.