AUGUST 4TH MEETING UPDATE

Aug 13

The August 4, 2025 City Council meeting was an important reflection of the state of the City.

The video of the meeting from Town Meeting TV can be found here on Youtube.

Public Forum topics touched on homelessness, senior services, opposition to the new nuclear

arms race and support for the Mayors For Peace resolution, inaccurate crime data promoted by

a city councilor, the climate impact of vehicle fleet purchases, increases in fees the City charges

Uber and Lyft for fares generated in the city, and open drug use and sales.

The Mayor and her team led a work session on homelessness and the City’s strategies to

confront the ongoing state and national crisis that greatly impact Burlington. Regional

homelessness conditions and actions, the lack of sufficient regional support, the impact on the

school district, the State’s responsibilities and lack of support, encampments, and best practices

were discussed.

Councilor comments discussed the crime statistics allegedly tied to the move of the lunchtime

feeding program by Food Not Cops (FNC) from the sidewalk next to the Marketplace Garage to

the sidewalk next to City Hall Park on College St..

Councilor McKnight provocatively defended her non-fact based July 14 th claim the move led to a 75% decrease in anti-social behavior,” specifically “heroin use, open crack usage, overdoses, public urination and defecation as well as sexual solicitation”. She alleged the source was the Chittenden County Sheriff but records requests and interviews proved this is inaccurate.

The sheriff does not keep records unless there is an incident report filed in the state data system. There are none that support McKnight’s claim.

It is wrong and unfair to use provocative statistics to link the feeding program to “antisocial behavior” and to present it as demonstrably accurate when there is no data backing it up.

It is harmful since it demonizes the food program, implying it will lead to more problems in City Hall Park when there is nothing to support that.

It reinforces a false belief that downtown is not safe. This is not true and not what downtown needs.

We owe it to the public not to throw around unsupported statistics. We are apt to make decisions that are harmful, wasteful, and non-impactful when we do.

We should not make bad policy with this feeding program based on non-fact based assertions. Accurate, verified data helps us build and manage programs that support the homeless. The FNC is helping so many people in need. We should not demonize them or those who volunteer on their behalf.

Seven Days reported on August 5 th that “In reality, McKnight’s statistics were not based on hard data but rather anecdotal evidence she heard from Sheriff Dan Gamelin, who had patrolled during the lunchtime hour. In a follow-up interview, Gamelin told Seven Days that he’d seen a 50 percent reduction in the number of people there — but not necessarily of specific infractions. He pointed out that his department is only there for three and a half hours each day and does not “keep stats or a spreadsheet.”

Gross receipts taxes are critical revenue sources in the City’s budget the Council approved unanimously in June. The budget focused on affordability. It includes many supports for the business community, including revenues from the gross receipts tax.

The Council approved extending the sunset of 0.5% of the gross receipts tax and allocating 7% of the 9% short term rental tax to the city’s housing trust fund until June 30, 2026.

This move was needed to avoid a huge budget shortfall since the Council had balanced the budget using these funds. Councilor McKnight voted against this essential action.

The Council approved Councilor Bergman’s resolution asking Mayor Mulvaney-Stanak

to recommit to Mayors for Peace, extending our membership since Bernie Sanders was

mayor. Three Democratic Councilors opposed the resolution.

A detailed agreement with the police union will be presented August 25. The Mayor appreciated the good faith bargaining of union representatives.

The Council increased the per-ride Lyft/Uber airport ride fee by 25 cents, for a total of 50 cents on rides starting or ending in the City. This is in line with what comparable cities like Portland, ME are receiving. The charge had not been raised since it was enacted in 2016.

295 total city vehicles, with 85 at “end of life” and 16 in critical need of replacement - 7 would be replaced now.

Progressive Councilors are focused on maximizing the electrification of our vehicle fleet, but heavy duty vehicle EV options are very limited. A Council majority agreed that a diesel fueled heavy-duty mower is prudent from a carbon-reduction and fiscal perspective.