Statement on the 5/19 Downtown Resolution

This past Monday, a resolution was brought to the City Council that prompted a large amount of community debate. This item was prompted by an open letter from a number of small businesses located on Church St and the surrounding area. An additional open letter signed onto by other organizations, businesses, and unions was also circulated on the topic.

The Progressive Caucus noticed that inside this resolution, the item sought to relocate an important public service, a free lunch program located inside of the Church Street Marketplace Garage. This is a totally volunteer run effort, and has been running for years. This service has provided both housed and unhoused members of the Burlington community with a stable, wholesome and filling lunch for free. As Councilor Broderick stated, “Providing for people's basic needs makes them less likely to resort to crime to survive and people who are fed typically behave better than those who are starving.” We understand the vast majority of those using this service are simply people who are in need of food, which is a basic need.

The Progressive Caucus had supported much of the underlying resolution and had worked with our colleagues across the aisle to improve it leading up to our last Council meeting, as it reflected the work our Mayor and city staff are already engaged in to support our downtown core. We did work to remove language that referenced the free meals program, as it was actually counterproductive to our colleagues stated goal. Community partners were very close to an agreement among all stakeholders that would have found an alternative location for the program - that work isn’t flashy, it takes time, and it means building trust and understanding. The entire council knew this work was underway. The Progressive Caucus warned our colleagues that by including this provision in the resolution would cause an immense amount of divisiveness in the community and break that trust the Mayor was successfully building, which is exactly what has happened.

In the end, we are left feeling disappointed that we, the city council, unnecessarily broke down trust within our community, and continue to use the council floor and important resolutions, as opportunities to build support for the election-cycle. Free food programs for hungry neighbors are not to blame for the challenges we are working to address as a community. The organizations and people doing that important work should be celebrated, not made to feel unwelcome.

We are going to continue the work of running the city. We are going to continue to fight for affordable housing, fair taxes, clean energy, community safety, and much more. We hope that all our neighbors - regardless of party or politics - will join us in that work.

Sincerely,
The Progressive Caucus in the Burlington City Council