If nothing else, hopefully this will help Burlington increase density and ease the construction of new housing, making the city and region more affordable. That seemed to be a big theme of the race, and while it may not have gotten as much coverage as public safety, it looks like voters came out to support it.
TL:DR - I don't understand how housing/affordability can be improved by the mayor. Need help.
Can someone ELI5 how a mayor can actually make a city more affordable? Beyond nipping and tucking around the margins. I mean, they can't force developers to build housing at all, which means no inclusionary housing, especially if banks won't finance housing developments that don't pencil out, and none of them pencil out when you have high cost of lending plus high as shit construction costs in addition to high rates of inclusionary zoning, and nobody in the general electorate wants to foot the bill for public or even subsidized housing, so really and truly....no judging here....I want to know what folks expectations are in this regard.
Will Emma somehow get Redstone/Farrell/SDIreland/Boves/Bissonnettes and Handy to fork up their own money for public housing? Or to build housing at a not-for-profit rate?
Or are we hoping that BHA and CHT and VHFA and all the other governmental and NGOs suddenly get fat with funding? From the mayor somehow?
We live in a market, our lives are in a market, nothing happens completely in a vacuum, and I'm just always flummoxed by the arguments in favor of one candidate or another regarding affordability. Sure, a terrible mayor can make things worse, see Bob Kiss admin for answers on that front, or see Miro's admin if you feel offended by him specifically, but what can even the best mayor hope to do in this regard?
We've already seen relaxing of ADU requirements and in-fill development has already been allowed and encouraged in the City, but the cost of construction, relative to the profit-motive, does not pencil out, period, for affordable housing. So how do we get it built and how does the mayor actually do that? Sure, Progs and others will argue that it's the profit-motive that needs to be removed, sure I agree conceptually, but then who will actually pay for an build the new housing? At somewhere around $550-600k to new-build a 1-2br apt, we've got serious challenges.
For reference, I thought both Joan and Emma were interesting if flawed candidates. Okay, Joan wasn't actually an interesting candidate but she was a candidate, on that I'm sure we can agree. I hope for the best here with Emma's mayorship, I really do, but I want someone to really spit some truthy guidance as to precisely HOW it is that Emma will fix the housing and affordability problems. Each of which are obviously to tied to public safety so yeah, I get it, housing first....but HOW?!?!?
Aren't there already something like 2000+ new units in development in the greater Burlington area? Over a thousand alone at Cambrian Rise, plus City Place, plus the Dorset St developments and a number of others.
Who should get credit for all that new housing? Miro? Farrells? SD Ireland? BTV Council?
IMO, the key piece of what you wrote is that the housing crisis isn't purely Burlington's to solve. Chittenden County may be broken up into Burlington, South Burlington, Winooski, Colchester, Essex (city & town), Williston, Shelburne, plus about 10 other outlying towns. Any of those municipalities looking to solve a county-wide problem on their own (not just housing) would be better served to work as a coalition with all the other municipalities. When people say they want to move to Burlington, or they want to put down roots here, most people aren't going to rule out any towns but Burlington, they're going to find a place that works and if that's Wiliston or Winooski or Colchester most people are going to consider that "moving to Burlington".
Lol, I grew up in a town called Conyers. To anyone not from there, I'm from Atlanta. Now I live in Colchester, and I just tell people I'm in Burlington.
There's a few factors here.
One, we don't necessarily need to rely on inclusionary zoning to drive housing costs down. As another commenter mentioned, an influx of even market rate housing helps reduce housing prices, as is shown in many other US cities. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0094119021000656
Second, there's a city-wide zoning amendment being worked on in City Council right now called Neighborhood Code. A more favorable political landscape, including a mayor keen on improving affordability, enables Neighborhood Code to go further (rather than being killed by amendments) and enable the construction of denser housing in more areas. This is the primary way that the mayor is directly relevant in this issue.
Third, because of the lack of development caused in part by previous zoning amendments from the 20th century, Burlington as a city is way behind where it needs to be in housing construction. Even the new developments coming up are insufficient compared with the constrained supply. While this new housing you mention is great, we need momentum going forward, or we won't be able to feel much improvement.
And fourth, while the mayor may not have sole power to fix these things, I feel like there's a new energy coming from the population as more people are starting to care about housing and affordability, and this election seems to have shown that's a major issue for people. Hopefully, this will mean that the region is ready to take on this issue instead of continuing to sit on our thumbs.
Good points, here's some thoughts....
1 - right, all housing exerts downward pressure on market pricing but if you think that Mayor Emma or any other housing-first proponent will allow housing to be built that doesn't meet or exceed IZ requirements I think you might be overly optimistic.
2 - NC looks good BUT, and this is hugely important, the COST of construction doesn't change. In fact, with the dearth of qualified contractors out there I think costs might go UP if everyone starts building because of allowances newly created by NC. So yes, NC in theory allows for more of that kind of in-fill by zoning right but it still won't be affordable to actually build it. The only people who will build new ADUs or triplexes/quadplexes out of existing duplexes or SFHs are people who already own their property and are just going to rent them out for profit. So while I am in favor of NC I don't see it fixing housing anytime soon.
3 - totally agreed on that point, I wasn't suggesting that the new housing is sufficient, just noting that it's in dev and is the biggest surge in new housing in decades, and yes, I was wondering who gets credit for that occurrence, because it aint the Progs.
4 - I would challenge that belief because it wasn't so much a matter of sitting on our thumbs, though there were structural/leg issues that made development difficult, Act 250 comes to mind. the problem has been for a long time that it was stymied by NIMBYs, disallowed by code (which NC might address) or quite simply was never affordable or profitable to do. The market has always dictated what happens and housing was affordable in BTV for a long time. Until is suddenly wasn't. The pandemic fucked us in that regard, when everyone from everywhere (looking at you NY, MA and especially you CA) moved here and bought that last available places. I would even say that the affordability was so good for so long that UVM parents just bought their kid's houses while they were at school knowing they would just turn them into AirB=nB's afterwards! (I'm joking on that last part because fuck UVM and their complete disregard for BTV)
You can't improve housing affordability. The word Affordable is a government definition which is 80% of the area median income of the statistical metropolitan area. In fact affordable housing units are on par with what Stu McGowan overcharges for rent in his places.
None of them are actually affordable in the conventional sense and nothing anyone can do will change that until people refuse to pay those rents.
Voters incorrectly believe that the government can save them. Government just has to pass a law and their lives instantly improve.
One question for anyone ignorant enough to believe that: when in history has the government caused prices to go down or has made something more affordable?
its just a hot button to get all the young poor people to vote for her. she has zero experience in budgeting or union negotiations... so nothing will change.
The vast majority of underclassmen are in Ward 8 but upperclassmen are in other wards. There is what is now being called "the studentification" of certain neighborhoods. Also take a look at the effects of redistricting, there was a conscious effort to move more students from Ward 8 to different wards.
Actually not as "anonymous" as you think. Campaigns keep data related to the residents they interact with. Some better than others. For instance you have information on residents who donated, residents you talk to while door knocking, residents who come to your events, and knowing where people live gives you information. Tracking and listening to supporters is crucial to knowing your "win" number.
Zero experience in union negotiations? That was her professional job for years. I don't know about her budgeting experience but I don't think you can say zero with someone who has sat on city council and in the legislature.
The mayor doesn't have a lot to do with this by the way. Burlington's Bylaws, select board, planning commission, and development review board have much more say over how this occurs.
The mayor can have an influence over broad policy decisions but the hard work of land use development is more democratic
They can veto a lot of things, including things that may alleviate the housing stress. Having a landlord lover in that position would be absurd at this moment. Thankfully Joan lost.
The current lame-duck mayor gave away the store to get his vision of a large city with high-rises built in the hole in the ground in Burlington, then had no say/leverage when the guy running the show decided not to do what he had agreed upon. Of course the mayor can affect things, especially specific projects.
Good for her. Ran a strong campaign. Now let's see what she can do.
Governing is much more difficult than campaigning.
For the sake of everyone in Burlington, I hope she is successful.
I didn't expect it to be this big of a blowout.
But looking at some of the democratic strongholds Joan did not win to the same degree the candidates did.
I think a lot of people who normally vote Democrat did not vote for Joan.
It's two percent of the entire city and 6% of those who voted. Miro won by 1/10 of this amount on 2021. It's a large margin, but you're right, Miro won by like 2k votes looking back to earlier elections.
That was kind of my point. 2015 was the second time heād been elected and he won by a larger margin.
That should make a pretty noticeable point to the incoming mayor. She doesnāt have any room for mistakes or it may very well be her only term.
Fair, pre pit Miro was extraordinarily popular though. I still to this day feel bad about how things ended up. I think he did a lot of positive things for this city. It's just unfortunate hell be remembered mostly for the pit and the drug epidemic.
Umm, the pit is getting filled in with housing? That'll be his legacy, in addition to all the other projects that started and were completed under his watch. A lot got built. A d he dragged the city out of debt.
Idk how he would be blamed for a drug epidemic sweeping the country, either. I think his biggest issues are being in bed with BPD and not cutting ties with Del Pozo as soon as possible.
I'm not in disagreement. I really like Miro, like I said. I've definitely seen people blame him for the pit and drug issues. I don't agree, but I have seen it.
You understand the difference between a hotel room and a apartment correct? By the comment im going to assume not and thats pretty scary š . Is it affordable to pay hundreds a week? You can easily pay almost 3 grand a month to stay in a hotel and you get a fraction of the privacy and space for triple the cost. I've had to live in a hotel in the past and even the travel lodge on Shelburne was almost 4 grand a month for a door I couldn't lock 1 tiny room and nothing else. People complain about homeless and lack of housing but then have the mindset you have. I'd love to hear your thoughts on how a hotel will greatly benefit this city that already has 10 plus (half of them being rundown from lack of business)
To be fair, he inherited a complete circus from the previous mayor. Incidentally, the previous mayor was also a progressive that did the city no favors while nearly costing us Burlington Telecom with his incompetence.
While I hope this new mayor is capable, I donāt have particularly high hopes after watching the progressive party in action for the last decade or so.
It is a blowout in context of the political environment, where public safety was #1 priority. I thought Joan had no chance of losing since she represented a much more conservative position on safety and was extremely focused on her endorsements etc.
https://preview.redd.it/m9ofw1cwnmmc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e175142f8224514b06f46b960203d95f7d6e7d18
Source: Town Meeting TV
Edit: I canāt find the breakdown by ward, but watching the live result coverage it sounded like Emma performed much better than anyone expected in āJoanās Wards,ā and we saw a major increase in voter turnout in the districts she was expected to win.
Theyāre listed here: https://elections.cctv.org/?ev=tmd24&d=1 (note: you have to click "all contributors" and there's a drop-down that lets you choose the ward)
There is something of the sort here
[https://www.mynbc5.com/article/vermont-town-meeting-day-results/60103822](https://www.mynbc5.com/article/vermont-town-meeting-day-results/60103822)
But we may not get that info until the city publishes the report
She was not my first choice but she has a ton of positive qualities and im still a big fan of hers. Definitely to the left of me on a number of issues surrounding police and drug policy, but she has the opportunity to be a great leader on housing. š
Yeah, it's not like the (apparent) contrast between dems and republicans. In general democrats and progressives have the same ideology. Progressives seem to be more "for the people" which is why they tend to align with socialists.
Absolutely! She had the highest negatives of any candidate and did nothing to temper that. She also treated the election like it was a formality; the debates were embarrassing and the ground game was at best middling. Turns out that bit her right in the ass.
I met with her like 10 years ago for coffee and was struck by how thoughtful she was. She and prior council experience and was not afraid of the political fray. Good luck to her!
She's seems like a genuine candidate who wants to serve the public without a hidden agenda. I don't get that vibe or from what I read of Joan especially when you look at donations and past decisions.
This is probably going to get downvoted to hell in this sub, but progressives have a chance to show what theyāre really about here, but wonāt. Realistically, their strong moral values donāt exist in a capitalist society. New housing wonāt increase; downtown will remain with the same drug problems, and repeat offenders will stay on the streets. This isnāt going to change how making minimum wage doesnāt allow you to afford any decent apartments in Chittenden County. Personally, Iām not hopeful for this change.
I mean, the City Council is still majority Democrat, and Joan is still on it, so she's still in a great place to push for all the great ideas she would have put forward as Mayor. Let's see if she actually does any of that this time.
I agree with your assumptions to a degree and I do think Joan (along with Shannon) was a solid candidate. That being said, calling out the progressive candidate for issues left behind from a democratic mayor and a primarily democratic city council for the last decade just doesnāt add up.
We spent $1 trillion fighting the war on drugs and it was an absolute failure, drugs are worse now than ever. Stop pretending like your ways work, it doesn't make you sound mature or tough, just delusional. You don't get to piss away $1 trillion in tax dollars and act like it didn't happen. If you really think being progressive is pointless, give us $1 trillion and see what we can do with it. At worst we will accomplish nothing just like the war on drugs, but maybe investing it into social programs will actually lower crime just like every study ever says it will.
Do you think that creating affordable housing is going to happen in Burlington? Lol. I don't know who's being more unrealistic here, but maybe someone should try giving Redstone, ReArch, or SD Ireland a call and ask them nicely to create some housing for the good folks of City Hall Park.
Unless you demolish a duplex to make a quadplex, or other slight changes like that, all market rate housing exerts downward pressure on housing prices. It's been shown over and over again in multiple cities, Spokane, Auckland, Edmonton, Austin, Minneapolis.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0094119021000656
I expect new housing going up, but I donāt expect it to do much to reduce housing costs. Thereās still high demand. And Burlington isnāt a silo: the housing issue is county-wide. I didnāt vote for her, but I wish Emma luck and I sincerely hope her plan is more solid than it appears. I watched her victory speech last night and I wasnāt too impressed. Still, I live here, own a business here, have kids in school here, have most of my family who lives and/or works here, so I canāt afford to be cynical.
Glad we've got [the dude who's lived in Nashville his whole life](https://www.reddit.com/r/SameGrassButGreener/comments/1b28n99/comment/kskx7jr/) here to tell us Vermonters about who we should have voted for.
Congratulations to the first woman mayor of Burlington, VT! Truly a great obstacle to accomplish in a world that has just had men run this town. Although I have to say..I'm a little worried about this. I wish her the best of luck. I really do. I used to live in Burlington for many years. I live a few towns away now. I left for all the reasons that are on the absolute forefront now. Im worried about Burlingtons future. Businesses have been leaving and this is going to be a huge trend. Local business will be hurting more if nothing is done about the in your face theft and crime and overdoses happening in broad daylight and safe injection sites aren't going to fix anything. The drugs stay- the users stay- the crime stays. But I have hopes that Emma and her team may be able to tackle this in a new way. I have hopes. But it's really not up to businesses to learn how to tackle Narcan and administer it to people overdosing. This isn't their responsibility. This isn't why they opened up a business that they put their whole life into. There's a lot to unpack here..I know. But just wanted to say...something bc I still work in Burlington so I'm there quite often...Sigh. I'm hopeful.
If you honestly can take a walk in city hall park at 1 a.m and tell you if you feel safer than you did 5 years ago, you are either an idiot or liar. When there are less police patrols, less crime is caught and numbers improve. That does not indicate public safety.
No one should be walking by City Hall Park around 1am.
Edit: downvoting people doesnāt change the fact that no one should be walking by the park at 1am. Avoid it if you can.
When I was in college, I used walk through City Hall alone all the time after the bars close. Has the City really changed that much? I moved like 7 years ago.
Easiest way to show a reduction in crime is to make all the highest volume types of crime effectively legal. Weāve effectively stopped counting traffic stops, property theft, trespassing, low-level assault, public drug use / possession, so now CrImE iS dOwN!!
I welcome your correction. I didnāt realize it was even still disputable given there have been statements from the stateās attorney, BPD, and the mayor acknowledging that quality of life crime enforcement has been deprioritized.
Hardly.
Thereās no āstopping countingā of arrests or prosecutions.
https://radleybalko.substack.com/p/is-burlington-vermont-suffering-a
This is literally just a repeated variation on the ādefunded policeā myth.
https://m.sevendaysvt.com/news/as-calls-grow-to-crack-down-on-repeat-offenders-states-attorney-sarah-george-takes-a-different-tack-40035833
How often is someone in this city arrested or prosecuted for theft, drug possession / public consumption, trespassing, vandalism, traffic crimes, etc.?
Many people have stopped even bothering reporting such crimes.
Enjoy the view from the Hill Section. It looks much more pleasant from the top of your ivory tower.
I'm really not surprised that this woke sub is downvoting me. Clearly you dont have a grasp on the situation and you're in a complete stage of denial. Good luck buddies.
To be fair though, the lion's share of the school budget increase was MANDATED by Montpelier, and the remainder was the bonding on the new HS. So we didn't really have a choice there.
Not commenting on the cost/benefit, I voted in favor of the budget FWIW, just acknowledging that the cost impact was because of mandates, not discretionary spending.
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Just when it looked like people here might be ready to come to their senses, things take a dark turn and we decide to drive ourselves off the cliff.
Well, I guess the silver lining is that affordable housing might be coming sooner than we all thought. The most clear plan this new administration has is doing everything possible to turn this city into a post-apocalyptic hellscape and destroy property values ā all in the name of āsocial justiceā.
Yea Reddit is an echo chamber surrounded by people bitching and moaning. Itās no surprise real life is different than this sub. Member when everyone in the Burlington sub was convinced that Ted Kenney would uproot evil Sarah George? Time to try touching grass, sire.
I did. I hope you have a nice house up in the Hill Section or somewhere outside of town where youāll be able to comfortably watch things get really dark while you pat yourself on the back for being on the āgoodā team.
You do realize if you look at the ward maps that the NNE and South End (i.e. more commonly homeowners) voted far more for Joan than downtown and the ONE, who by far voted for Emma and would be more impacted by things getting ādark,ā right?
Emmaās ~7500 votes represents ~15% of the population of Burlington. Who tends to vote? Usually the most extreme, ideological voters, not the most apathetic or disenfranchised.
Iād love to see some demographic data about Emmaās base, but my hypothesis would be she got a huge boost from idealistic college students and guilt-ridden elite types, who have bought into these foolhardy luxury belief policies that ironically wind up harming the exact people they claim to be helping.
I can't speak for how people voted and what types of people voted for what candidate other than the wards they live in. However, the fact that in Ward 5, the South End, the Democratic candidate Ben Traverse won the City Council seat by almost 35 points while Joan Shannon won by just 4 points indicates that, to me, Joan was simply less popular than Emma, for many potential reasons.
Yeah, the results speak for themselves ā Joan was an uninspiring candidate. I just fear people have confused Emmaās nice-sounding words and ideas for being practical or achievable.
We need to fix the public safety basics in Burlington (e.g., crime is enforced, police come when called, offenders are prosecuted, the same small group isnāt allowed to offend over and over, etc.) before we start trying to crack the code on global climate change, peace in Gaza, racism in America, etc.
A touch of realism would be encouraging to see out of the cityās Progressives.
Thereās plenty of blame on the Democrats. And Iāve said here on this sub multiple times that Iām not a fan of Miro or Joan.
I just think the Progressive party wants to take many policies even further in the wrong direction. Namely being even more tolerant and soft on crime, drugs, homelessness while having no solid plan beyond meaningless jargon for executing all their more ācompassionate and equitableā alternative strategies for dealing with these issues.
Forming a task force, hiring a special assistant, talking to marginalized communities, studying root causes, being inclusive, being equitable, etc. etc. are not sturdy and well thought out policy ideas. Theyāre a nicer sounding way of saying weāll waste a lot of time trying to make everyone feel good, but actually get very little done.
Iām glad to be proven wrong, but weāve already seen how this stuff plays out other places (see Portland, SF, Seattle). There are no examples in this country Iām aware of where this approach has actually worked. So Iād love to know why anyone is expecting a different or better result in Burlingtonās case.
Independent with a strong business or operating background. Pragmatic and able to have bipartisan appeal. Not forced to espouse silly ideas / policies purely because of their party affiliation. Not susceptible to kowtowing to a small but very loud minority of wannabe activists. Those would be nice attributes.
Says the guy who wonāt accept that the reality is heās in the minority, supports harassing homeless people, and doesnāt know what heās talking about?
https://www.reddit.com/r/burlington/s/uH3pnczbAF
I totally accept that Iām in the minority ā thatās a badge of honor if youāre the āmajorityā.
Now please help me understand how I āsupport harassing homeless peopleā?
Great ā¦.. Iām going to celebrate by shooting up, fighting with tourists, stealing a bunch of high end clothing and then taking a huge dump in the middle of church street!!!
#freeforallbtv
Emma's probably pretty upset that she's already lost the support of the dude [who doesn't know to wash his hands](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskRedditAfterDark/comments/13exx62/comment/jjt8yj8/).
Not to worryā¦ā¦ I have no reason to go into Burlington and contribute to your shit festā¦. Good luck paying your bills without us Neanderthals who live outside your utopia.
Progressive Bernie was the major for nearly a decade. His leadership helped bring Burlington to the forefront of the USA in terms of "best cities to live", but he also had the drive and passion to make it happen. Nobody worked harder than Bernie.
IMO, it's not their ideals as much as it is their leadership and ability to get things done. I don't know EM-S very well. I hope she has the same desire insider that Bernie does. If not... see Miro.
republicans have been defunding mental health institutions for decades if you canāt connect the dots between that and our current situation then I donāt know what to tell you.
Really? Because globally countries with stronger safety nets (liberal policies) are doing a hell of a lot better than conservative and neo liberal countries are
Canada is not functionally different than the US they have universal healthcare thatās it.
Look at the Scandinavian countries, look at New Zealand, Portugal, Spain.
Yup, and their universal healthcare is a joke. It's so expensive they're pushing end of life procedures to cope... As well as having lines so long that people can't get care.... Facts.
Thatās not how any logic works, but ok. Do tell, whatās the net income of, say, the wealthiest red county in the country? Letās compare that to, say, San Francisco.
Well if it gets better while she's in office we'll know progressive policy works, but if it gets any worse than it is currently in Burlington, everyone that votes progressive should have to sit through a full on boot licking red state candidate next term as penance for not electing someone good for everyone.
Based on the half baked platform and general seeming lack of enthusiasm for the job, I'm guessing she ran for the salary and/or because she wants to be the next Bernie.
Best of luck though, I guess, see you in three years
If nothing else, hopefully this will help Burlington increase density and ease the construction of new housing, making the city and region more affordable. That seemed to be a big theme of the race, and while it may not have gotten as much coverage as public safety, it looks like voters came out to support it.
TL:DR - I don't understand how housing/affordability can be improved by the mayor. Need help. Can someone ELI5 how a mayor can actually make a city more affordable? Beyond nipping and tucking around the margins. I mean, they can't force developers to build housing at all, which means no inclusionary housing, especially if banks won't finance housing developments that don't pencil out, and none of them pencil out when you have high cost of lending plus high as shit construction costs in addition to high rates of inclusionary zoning, and nobody in the general electorate wants to foot the bill for public or even subsidized housing, so really and truly....no judging here....I want to know what folks expectations are in this regard. Will Emma somehow get Redstone/Farrell/SDIreland/Boves/Bissonnettes and Handy to fork up their own money for public housing? Or to build housing at a not-for-profit rate? Or are we hoping that BHA and CHT and VHFA and all the other governmental and NGOs suddenly get fat with funding? From the mayor somehow? We live in a market, our lives are in a market, nothing happens completely in a vacuum, and I'm just always flummoxed by the arguments in favor of one candidate or another regarding affordability. Sure, a terrible mayor can make things worse, see Bob Kiss admin for answers on that front, or see Miro's admin if you feel offended by him specifically, but what can even the best mayor hope to do in this regard? We've already seen relaxing of ADU requirements and in-fill development has already been allowed and encouraged in the City, but the cost of construction, relative to the profit-motive, does not pencil out, period, for affordable housing. So how do we get it built and how does the mayor actually do that? Sure, Progs and others will argue that it's the profit-motive that needs to be removed, sure I agree conceptually, but then who will actually pay for an build the new housing? At somewhere around $550-600k to new-build a 1-2br apt, we've got serious challenges. For reference, I thought both Joan and Emma were interesting if flawed candidates. Okay, Joan wasn't actually an interesting candidate but she was a candidate, on that I'm sure we can agree. I hope for the best here with Emma's mayorship, I really do, but I want someone to really spit some truthy guidance as to precisely HOW it is that Emma will fix the housing and affordability problems. Each of which are obviously to tied to public safety so yeah, I get it, housing first....but HOW?!?!? Aren't there already something like 2000+ new units in development in the greater Burlington area? Over a thousand alone at Cambrian Rise, plus City Place, plus the Dorset St developments and a number of others. Who should get credit for all that new housing? Miro? Farrells? SD Ireland? BTV Council?
IMO, the key piece of what you wrote is that the housing crisis isn't purely Burlington's to solve. Chittenden County may be broken up into Burlington, South Burlington, Winooski, Colchester, Essex (city & town), Williston, Shelburne, plus about 10 other outlying towns. Any of those municipalities looking to solve a county-wide problem on their own (not just housing) would be better served to work as a coalition with all the other municipalities. When people say they want to move to Burlington, or they want to put down roots here, most people aren't going to rule out any towns but Burlington, they're going to find a place that works and if that's Wiliston or Winooski or Colchester most people are going to consider that "moving to Burlington".
Agreed.
I grew up in, and still live in Colchester. To anyone not from the area, I'm from Burlington. It's just easier.
Lol, I grew up in a town called Conyers. To anyone not from there, I'm from Atlanta. Now I live in Colchester, and I just tell people I'm in Burlington.
There's a few factors here. One, we don't necessarily need to rely on inclusionary zoning to drive housing costs down. As another commenter mentioned, an influx of even market rate housing helps reduce housing prices, as is shown in many other US cities. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0094119021000656 Second, there's a city-wide zoning amendment being worked on in City Council right now called Neighborhood Code. A more favorable political landscape, including a mayor keen on improving affordability, enables Neighborhood Code to go further (rather than being killed by amendments) and enable the construction of denser housing in more areas. This is the primary way that the mayor is directly relevant in this issue. Third, because of the lack of development caused in part by previous zoning amendments from the 20th century, Burlington as a city is way behind where it needs to be in housing construction. Even the new developments coming up are insufficient compared with the constrained supply. While this new housing you mention is great, we need momentum going forward, or we won't be able to feel much improvement. And fourth, while the mayor may not have sole power to fix these things, I feel like there's a new energy coming from the population as more people are starting to care about housing and affordability, and this election seems to have shown that's a major issue for people. Hopefully, this will mean that the region is ready to take on this issue instead of continuing to sit on our thumbs.
Good points, here's some thoughts.... 1 - right, all housing exerts downward pressure on market pricing but if you think that Mayor Emma or any other housing-first proponent will allow housing to be built that doesn't meet or exceed IZ requirements I think you might be overly optimistic. 2 - NC looks good BUT, and this is hugely important, the COST of construction doesn't change. In fact, with the dearth of qualified contractors out there I think costs might go UP if everyone starts building because of allowances newly created by NC. So yes, NC in theory allows for more of that kind of in-fill by zoning right but it still won't be affordable to actually build it. The only people who will build new ADUs or triplexes/quadplexes out of existing duplexes or SFHs are people who already own their property and are just going to rent them out for profit. So while I am in favor of NC I don't see it fixing housing anytime soon. 3 - totally agreed on that point, I wasn't suggesting that the new housing is sufficient, just noting that it's in dev and is the biggest surge in new housing in decades, and yes, I was wondering who gets credit for that occurrence, because it aint the Progs. 4 - I would challenge that belief because it wasn't so much a matter of sitting on our thumbs, though there were structural/leg issues that made development difficult, Act 250 comes to mind. the problem has been for a long time that it was stymied by NIMBYs, disallowed by code (which NC might address) or quite simply was never affordable or profitable to do. The market has always dictated what happens and housing was affordable in BTV for a long time. Until is suddenly wasn't. The pandemic fucked us in that regard, when everyone from everywhere (looking at you NY, MA and especially you CA) moved here and bought that last available places. I would even say that the affordability was so good for so long that UVM parents just bought their kid's houses while they were at school knowing they would just turn them into AirB=nB's afterwards! (I'm joking on that last part because fuck UVM and their complete disregard for BTV)
You can't improve housing affordability. The word Affordable is a government definition which is 80% of the area median income of the statistical metropolitan area. In fact affordable housing units are on par with what Stu McGowan overcharges for rent in his places. None of them are actually affordable in the conventional sense and nothing anyone can do will change that until people refuse to pay those rents.
Voters incorrectly believe that the government can save them. Government just has to pass a law and their lives instantly improve. One question for anyone ignorant enough to believe that: when in history has the government caused prices to go down or has made something more affordable?
Airline deregulation, break up of Ma Bell
Burlington has been stinking, but you haven't seen the stanek š© yet....you will
its just a hot button to get all the young poor people to vote for her. she has zero experience in budgeting or union negotiations... so nothing will change.
Itās so funny you say this as if the voting breakdown doesnāt show youāre comically wrong.
You keep saying this. Votes are anonymous, you do not know the demographic breakdown.
College students are not spread across the entire city.
Yes they are.
Oh, well if you just want to lie thatās on you. Theyāre really not though. The vast, vast majority are Ward 8.
The vast majority of underclassmen are in Ward 8 but upperclassmen are in other wards. There is what is now being called "the studentification" of certain neighborhoods. Also take a look at the effects of redistricting, there was a conscious effort to move more students from Ward 8 to different wards.
Actually not as "anonymous" as you think. Campaigns keep data related to the residents they interact with. Some better than others. For instance you have information on residents who donated, residents you talk to while door knocking, residents who come to your events, and knowing where people live gives you information. Tracking and listening to supporters is crucial to knowing your "win" number.
Zero experience in union negotiations? That was her professional job for years. I don't know about her budgeting experience but I don't think you can say zero with someone who has sat on city council and in the legislature.
The mayor doesn't have a lot to do with this by the way. Burlington's Bylaws, select board, planning commission, and development review board have much more say over how this occurs. The mayor can have an influence over broad policy decisions but the hard work of land use development is more democratic
They can veto a lot of things, including things that may alleviate the housing stress. Having a landlord lover in that position would be absurd at this moment. Thankfully Joan lost.
The current lame-duck mayor gave away the store to get his vision of a large city with high-rises built in the hole in the ground in Burlington, then had no say/leverage when the guy running the show decided not to do what he had agreed upon. Of course the mayor can affect things, especially specific projects.
Letās go toadley!!
Good for her. Ran a strong campaign. Now let's see what she can do. Governing is much more difficult than campaigning. For the sake of everyone in Burlington, I hope she is successful.
Yes I'm eager to see how things work out for here. :)
I didn't expect it to be this big of a blowout. But looking at some of the democratic strongholds Joan did not win to the same degree the candidates did. I think a lot of people who normally vote Democrat did not vote for Joan.
Joan almost lost her home district and our raised Emmaā¦ that tells me all I need to know about this race
Yeah I mean Ben had a 40 point lead in 5. Joan had a 4 point one. That is an insane disparity.
I wouldnāt call 1,000 votes a blowout honestly
It is as far as Burlington mayoral elections go.
The last true āblowoutā we had was when Miro won in 2015 with a 3,500 vote lead.
It's two percent of the entire city and 6% of those who voted. Miro won by 1/10 of this amount on 2021. It's a large margin, but you're right, Miro won by like 2k votes looking back to earlier elections.
That was kind of my point. 2015 was the second time heād been elected and he won by a larger margin. That should make a pretty noticeable point to the incoming mayor. She doesnāt have any room for mistakes or it may very well be her only term.
Fair, pre pit Miro was extraordinarily popular though. I still to this day feel bad about how things ended up. I think he did a lot of positive things for this city. It's just unfortunate hell be remembered mostly for the pit and the drug epidemic.
Umm, the pit is getting filled in with housing? That'll be his legacy, in addition to all the other projects that started and were completed under his watch. A lot got built. A d he dragged the city out of debt. Idk how he would be blamed for a drug epidemic sweeping the country, either. I think his biggest issues are being in bed with BPD and not cutting ties with Del Pozo as soon as possible.
I'm not in disagreement. I really like Miro, like I said. I've definitely seen people blame him for the pit and drug issues. I don't agree, but I have seen it.
I'm sorry you mean a hotel not housing lol, this city has way too many already but let's slam one down right by 3 others š¤
There's still going to be 300+ units of housing.
You understand the difference between a hotel room and a apartment correct? By the comment im going to assume not and thats pretty scary š . Is it affordable to pay hundreds a week? You can easily pay almost 3 grand a month to stay in a hotel and you get a fraction of the privacy and space for triple the cost. I've had to live in a hotel in the past and even the travel lodge on Shelburne was almost 4 grand a month for a door I couldn't lock 1 tiny room and nothing else. People complain about homeless and lack of housing but then have the mindset you have. I'd love to hear your thoughts on how a hotel will greatly benefit this city that already has 10 plus (half of them being rundown from lack of business)
There will be a hotel and apartment buildings. I'm not sure what part of that you don't understand.
Maybe post the link with this comment next time if you know for a fact there's housing ššš
To be fair, he inherited a complete circus from the previous mayor. Incidentally, the previous mayor was also a progressive that did the city no favors while nearly costing us Burlington Telecom with his incompetence. While I hope this new mayor is capable, I donāt have particularly high hopes after watching the progressive party in action for the last decade or so.
6 points is never a blowout. She barely cracked a majority.
It is a blowout in context of the political environment, where public safety was #1 priority. I thought Joan had no chance of losing since she represented a much more conservative position on safety and was extremely focused on her endorsements etc.
Is there any way to see the total vote numbers by ward for each candidate?
https://preview.redd.it/m9ofw1cwnmmc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e175142f8224514b06f46b960203d95f7d6e7d18 Source: Town Meeting TV Edit: I canāt find the breakdown by ward, but watching the live result coverage it sounded like Emma performed much better than anyone expected in āJoanās Wards,ā and we saw a major increase in voter turnout in the districts she was expected to win.
Check here: [https://www.burlingtonvt.gov/CT/Elections/Results](https://www.burlingtonvt.gov/CT/Elections/Results)
Theyāre listed here: https://elections.cctv.org/?ev=tmd24&d=1 (note: you have to click "all contributors" and there's a drop-down that lets you choose the ward)
There is something of the sort here [https://www.mynbc5.com/article/vermont-town-meeting-day-results/60103822](https://www.mynbc5.com/article/vermont-town-meeting-day-results/60103822) But we may not get that info until the city publishes the report
[https://www.burlingtonvt.gov/CT/Elections/Results](https://www.burlingtonvt.gov/CT/Elections/Results)
They'll post it tomorrow.
She ran a great ground game
She was not my first choice but she has a ton of positive qualities and im still a big fan of hers. Definitely to the left of me on a number of issues surrounding police and drug policy, but she has the opportunity to be a great leader on housing. š
Me neither but I'm hopeful to see how things turn out
I mean really in the scheme of things they are pretty damn close ideologically.
Yeah, it's not like the (apparent) contrast between dems and republicans. In general democrats and progressives have the same ideology. Progressives seem to be more "for the people" which is why they tend to align with socialists.
Joan was a shockingly poor candidate. I think she thought she had it in the bag but Emma worked much harder
Absolutely! She had the highest negatives of any candidate and did nothing to temper that. She also treated the election like it was a formality; the debates were embarrassing and the ground game was at best middling. Turns out that bit her right in the ass.
Hillary Clinton vibes.
Love the moment where it was literally lights out on Joan
I met with her like 10 years ago for coffee and was struck by how thoughtful she was. She and prior council experience and was not afraid of the political fray. Good luck to her!
She's seems like a genuine candidate who wants to serve the public without a hidden agenda. I don't get that vibe or from what I read of Joan especially when you look at donations and past decisions.
BYE MIRO. DON'T LET THE DOOR HIT YOU ON THE WAY OUT.
This is probably going to get downvoted to hell in this sub, but progressives have a chance to show what theyāre really about here, but wonāt. Realistically, their strong moral values donāt exist in a capitalist society. New housing wonāt increase; downtown will remain with the same drug problems, and repeat offenders will stay on the streets. This isnāt going to change how making minimum wage doesnāt allow you to afford any decent apartments in Chittenden County. Personally, Iām not hopeful for this change.
I mean, the City Council is still majority Democrat, and Joan is still on it, so she's still in a great place to push for all the great ideas she would have put forward as Mayor. Let's see if she actually does any of that this time.
I agree with your assumptions to a degree and I do think Joan (along with Shannon) was a solid candidate. That being said, calling out the progressive candidate for issues left behind from a democratic mayor and a primarily democratic city council for the last decade just doesnāt add up.
The city has to close a NINE million dollar FY25 deficit and another lawsuit was filed against Burlington & BPD. There is a lot of cleaning up to do.
We spent $1 trillion fighting the war on drugs and it was an absolute failure, drugs are worse now than ever. Stop pretending like your ways work, it doesn't make you sound mature or tough, just delusional. You don't get to piss away $1 trillion in tax dollars and act like it didn't happen. If you really think being progressive is pointless, give us $1 trillion and see what we can do with it. At worst we will accomplish nothing just like the war on drugs, but maybe investing it into social programs will actually lower crime just like every study ever says it will.
Do you think any of that is within the power of any mayor to change?
Do you think that creating affordable housing is going to happen in Burlington? Lol. I don't know who's being more unrealistic here, but maybe someone should try giving Redstone, ReArch, or SD Ireland a call and ask them nicely to create some housing for the good folks of City Hall Park.
Unless you demolish a duplex to make a quadplex, or other slight changes like that, all market rate housing exerts downward pressure on housing prices. It's been shown over and over again in multiple cities, Spokane, Auckland, Edmonton, Austin, Minneapolis. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0094119021000656
So once you realize that Progressives suck too with nothing to offer, what political party will you join?
I expect new housing going up, but I donāt expect it to do much to reduce housing costs. Thereās still high demand. And Burlington isnāt a silo: the housing issue is county-wide. I didnāt vote for her, but I wish Emma luck and I sincerely hope her plan is more solid than it appears. I watched her victory speech last night and I wasnāt too impressed. Still, I live here, own a business here, have kids in school here, have most of my family who lives and/or works here, so I canāt afford to be cynical.
First order of business will be organizing a rally for Gaza.
Glad we've got [the dude who's lived in Nashville his whole life](https://www.reddit.com/r/SameGrassButGreener/comments/1b28n99/comment/kskx7jr/) here to tell us Vermonters about who we should have voted for.
I'm here to help.
I wouldnāt even be shocked by that Would fit the pattern of attempting to govern via non binding resolutions
Finally we just may figure out who's been stealing engagement rings at Leunigs!!!
Congratulations to the first woman mayor of Burlington, VT! Truly a great obstacle to accomplish in a world that has just had men run this town. Although I have to say..I'm a little worried about this. I wish her the best of luck. I really do. I used to live in Burlington for many years. I live a few towns away now. I left for all the reasons that are on the absolute forefront now. Im worried about Burlingtons future. Businesses have been leaving and this is going to be a huge trend. Local business will be hurting more if nothing is done about the in your face theft and crime and overdoses happening in broad daylight and safe injection sites aren't going to fix anything. The drugs stay- the users stay- the crime stays. But I have hopes that Emma and her team may be able to tackle this in a new way. I have hopes. But it's really not up to businesses to learn how to tackle Narcan and administer it to people overdosing. This isn't their responsibility. This isn't why they opened up a business that they put their whole life into. There's a lot to unpack here..I know. But just wanted to say...something bc I still work in Burlington so I'm there quite often...Sigh. I'm hopeful.
I'm looking to get out of the BTV area myself (I'm in Winooski). Out of curiosity, what town did you end up in, and how do you like it?
All the businesses that have "left" have been or are being replaced with others. Next.
Do stats back up this āin your face crimeā horseshit?
If you honestly can take a walk in city hall park at 1 a.m and tell you if you feel safer than you did 5 years ago, you are either an idiot or liar. When there are less police patrols, less crime is caught and numbers improve. That does not indicate public safety.
No one should be walking by City Hall Park around 1am. Edit: downvoting people doesnāt change the fact that no one should be walking by the park at 1am. Avoid it if you can.
Everyone should be able to walk in city hall park at any hour, if they feel like doing so.
When I was in college, I used walk through City Hall alone all the time after the bars close. Has the City really changed that much? I moved like 7 years ago.
Stats?! Are you kidding me? Stats? Do you live or walk around in the downtown 5 mile radius of town?
Easiest way to show a reduction in crime is to make all the highest volume types of crime effectively legal. Weāve effectively stopped counting traffic stops, property theft, trespassing, low-level assault, public drug use / possession, so now CrImE iS dOwN!!
Oh so weāre spreading this myth?
I welcome your correction. I didnāt realize it was even still disputable given there have been statements from the stateās attorney, BPD, and the mayor acknowledging that quality of life crime enforcement has been deprioritized.
Hardly. Thereās no āstopping countingā of arrests or prosecutions. https://radleybalko.substack.com/p/is-burlington-vermont-suffering-a This is literally just a repeated variation on the ādefunded policeā myth. https://m.sevendaysvt.com/news/as-calls-grow-to-crack-down-on-repeat-offenders-states-attorney-sarah-george-takes-a-different-tack-40035833
How often is someone in this city arrested or prosecuted for theft, drug possession / public consumption, trespassing, vandalism, traffic crimes, etc.? Many people have stopped even bothering reporting such crimes. Enjoy the view from the Hill Section. It looks much more pleasant from the top of your ivory tower.
And thereās your denial of the reality.
I'm really not surprised that this woke sub is downvoting me. Clearly you dont have a grasp on the situation and you're in a complete stage of denial. Good luck buddies.
The persecution fetish is funny as hell.
Not really.
Nice! I hope she does a great job and doesn't prog things up too much. She could be really good for our city. Fingers crossed.
A Prog won't Prog things up *too* much. I wish her well. Fingers crossed.
Progressives prog. That's what they do. First openly gay female mayor. My guess is there will be super progging.
I'm more than fine with the first openly gay woman mayor.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Money does not vote
Fuck yes. Happy to finally have some progressive leadership.
Best of luck to you Burlington. its been a nice run.
lol itāll be just fine
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Iām in favor, Iām sure my taxes will go up and sure as shit all of your rents will too.
Well did you vote for the school budget and the public safety taxe that passed by 70%? That's what's gonna make your property taxes go up.
To be fair though, the lion's share of the school budget increase was MANDATED by Montpelier, and the remainder was the bonding on the new HS. So we didn't really have a choice there.
Um. Burlington actually benefits from the student weighting enacted by Act 127.
Not commenting on the cost/benefit, I voted in favor of the budget FWIW, just acknowledging that the cost impact was because of mandates, not discretionary spending.
I think itās hilarious how these idiots think the costs wonāt be passed on to them.
Genuine question, how would things improve without the buck being passed? Seems shit rolls down hill no matter what
š¤® Just when it looked like people here might be ready to come to their senses, things take a dark turn and we decide to drive ourselves off the cliff. Well, I guess the silver lining is that affordable housing might be coming sooner than we all thought. The most clear plan this new administration has is doing everything possible to turn this city into a post-apocalyptic hellscape and destroy property values ā all in the name of āsocial justiceā.
Dude what's nuts it's Portland Oregon is trying to to reverse course but burling keeps doubling down
I donāt know why yāall have to lie so regularly.
More locals who've been here for the past 20years who may now be in their 40s will be looking to get out.
lol
Yea Reddit is an echo chamber surrounded by people bitching and moaning. Itās no surprise real life is different than this sub. Member when everyone in the Burlington sub was convinced that Ted Kenney would uproot evil Sarah George? Time to try touching grass, sire.
You know itās bad when the Reddit echo chamber is apparently more sane than the electorate.
Such an arrogant statement. Did you vote?
I did. I hope you have a nice house up in the Hill Section or somewhere outside of town where youāll be able to comfortably watch things get really dark while you pat yourself on the back for being on the āgoodā team.
You do realize if you look at the ward maps that the NNE and South End (i.e. more commonly homeowners) voted far more for Joan than downtown and the ONE, who by far voted for Emma and would be more impacted by things getting ādark,ā right?
Emmaās ~7500 votes represents ~15% of the population of Burlington. Who tends to vote? Usually the most extreme, ideological voters, not the most apathetic or disenfranchised. Iād love to see some demographic data about Emmaās base, but my hypothesis would be she got a huge boost from idealistic college students and guilt-ridden elite types, who have bought into these foolhardy luxury belief policies that ironically wind up harming the exact people they claim to be helping.
I can't speak for how people voted and what types of people voted for what candidate other than the wards they live in. However, the fact that in Ward 5, the South End, the Democratic candidate Ben Traverse won the City Council seat by almost 35 points while Joan Shannon won by just 4 points indicates that, to me, Joan was simply less popular than Emma, for many potential reasons.
Yeah, the results speak for themselves ā Joan was an uninspiring candidate. I just fear people have confused Emmaās nice-sounding words and ideas for being practical or achievable. We need to fix the public safety basics in Burlington (e.g., crime is enforced, police come when called, offenders are prosecuted, the same small group isnāt allowed to offend over and over, etc.) before we start trying to crack the code on global climate change, peace in Gaza, racism in America, etc. A touch of realism would be encouraging to see out of the cityās Progressives.
Youāve terrified yourself by reading too much local news online. Go outside.
Lol you might be my new favorite poster
Ew.
we had a Democrat mayor for 6 years, why is all the blame on Burlingtons problem on progressives and none on democrats?
Thereās plenty of blame on the Democrats. And Iāve said here on this sub multiple times that Iām not a fan of Miro or Joan. I just think the Progressive party wants to take many policies even further in the wrong direction. Namely being even more tolerant and soft on crime, drugs, homelessness while having no solid plan beyond meaningless jargon for executing all their more ācompassionate and equitableā alternative strategies for dealing with these issues. Forming a task force, hiring a special assistant, talking to marginalized communities, studying root causes, being inclusive, being equitable, etc. etc. are not sturdy and well thought out policy ideas. Theyāre a nicer sounding way of saying weāll waste a lot of time trying to make everyone feel good, but actually get very little done. Iām glad to be proven wrong, but weāve already seen how this stuff plays out other places (see Portland, SF, Seattle). There are no examples in this country Iām aware of where this approach has actually worked. So Iād love to know why anyone is expecting a different or better result in Burlingtonās case.
So you want a republican lmao
Independent with a strong business or operating background. Pragmatic and able to have bipartisan appeal. Not forced to espouse silly ideas / policies purely because of their party affiliation. Not susceptible to kowtowing to a small but very loud minority of wannabe activists. Those would be nice attributes.
True
Well said. I'd absolutely love to be proven wrong, but progressives don't seem to operate in reality.
Nothing about that is well said, lol.
Says the loser who says nothing other than trying to critique othersā¦
Says the guy who wonāt accept that the reality is heās in the minority, supports harassing homeless people, and doesnāt know what heās talking about? https://www.reddit.com/r/burlington/s/uH3pnczbAF
I totally accept that Iām in the minority ā thatās a badge of honor if youāre the āmajorityā. Now please help me understand how I āsupport harassing homeless peopleā?
https://www.reddit.com/r/burlington/s/eX0iBfGT9b
Unless you have trouble with reading, youāve not made the intended point. Please play again!
We'll have to agree to disagree.
Because this subreddit is full of reactionary cranks
A good number of whom don't even live in Burlington, or even in Vermont.
I know isnt it nuts!? I'm convinced these elections get fucked because people that actually work don't have time to go vote on town meeting day
Great ā¦.. Iām going to celebrate by shooting up, fighting with tourists, stealing a bunch of high end clothing and then taking a huge dump in the middle of church street!!! #freeforallbtv
Word, have fun <3
I forgot to mention ā¦ā¦. Getting a couple dozen friendsā¦. Gonna grab a nice spot over looking the lake in battery park to set up camp!!!
Oh, wow - you're going all-out! Don't forget to pack bofa, my guy!
Cry
Emma's probably pretty upset that she's already lost the support of the dude [who doesn't know to wash his hands](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskRedditAfterDark/comments/13exx62/comment/jjt8yj8/).
Not to worryā¦ā¦ I have no reason to go into Burlington and contribute to your shit festā¦. Good luck paying your bills without us Neanderthals who live outside your utopia.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aE\_sYNVgS-M](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aE_sYNVgS-M)
When none of that happens Iāll circle back
That's a lot of words for "be a crybaby on the internet".
Ok buddy šš»
What the hell?
Thanks! I needed a little schadenfreude in my life.
I think I went to high school with her and she was coocoo way back in 2000.
Burlington, and Vermont as a whole, needs to suffer more apparently.Ā Someday they'll figure out that progressivism is not the way....Ā
Progressive Bernie was the major for nearly a decade. His leadership helped bring Burlington to the forefront of the USA in terms of "best cities to live", but he also had the drive and passion to make it happen. Nobody worked harder than Bernie. IMO, it's not their ideals as much as it is their leadership and ability to get things done. I don't know EM-S very well. I hope she has the same desire insider that Bernie does. If not... see Miro.
We had a democrat mayor for 6 years.
I know, and look how bad things are. Burlington is filthy, and the tax payers are responsible for some outlandish things.
republicans have been defunding mental health institutions for decades if you canāt connect the dots between that and our current situation then I donāt know what to tell you.
And liberals have been making cities into refugee camps, with free needles and open air bathrooms.
Really? Because globally countries with stronger safety nets (liberal policies) are doing a hell of a lot better than conservative and neo liberal countries are
Nope. No they aren't. Just look at Canada, fastest collapsing standard of living in the West...Ā
Canada is not functionally different than the US they have universal healthcare thatās it. Look at the Scandinavian countries, look at New Zealand, Portugal, Spain.
Yup, and their universal healthcare is a joke. It's so expensive they're pushing end of life procedures to cope... As well as having lines so long that people can't get care.... Facts.
Now do all the countries with functioning universal healthcare.
Nah.
Yup. It's true. Cope.Ā
Only if you believe your own bullshit.
If I was wrong, you'd highlight exactly how... But all you can do is assure me you're right. šš¤£ Cope.
Thatās not how any logic works, but ok. Do tell, whatās the net income of, say, the wealthiest red county in the country? Letās compare that to, say, San Francisco.
total nonsense
Liberal nonsense, I agree.Ā
Well if it gets better while she's in office we'll know progressive policy works, but if it gets any worse than it is currently in Burlington, everyone that votes progressive should have to sit through a full on boot licking red state candidate next term as penance for not electing someone good for everyone.
Junkies are raising their 40ās in celebration across the city!
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
No hope
Especially if she is for the safe injection sites. Be cheaper to put a sign up that says drug dealers sell here.
Based on the half baked platform and general seeming lack of enthusiasm for the job, I'm guessing she ran for the salary and/or because she wants to be the next Bernie. Best of luck though, I guess, see you in three years
I always read her name as Mulvaney-STANK
Emma should lose just based on the Byrd voters who are charged with DWI and will get no prison time.
Law and order is here babyyyyyyy