Letter from City Council President

I learned on Tuesday through a Seven Days article that the Mayor is asking the City Council to reconsider a bipartisan resolution to support a more vibrant, welcoming, and safe downtown. The Mayor’s Office has not otherwise clarified which parts of the resolution they want reconsidered.

The debate over daily food distribution in the Marketplace Garage has become unnecessarily divisive. Some have framed it as a binary choice between supporting or opposing mutual aid. I join the Mayor in urging those fueling this rhetoric to tone it down, stop misleading tactics, and end efforts to boycott local businesses.

No one on the Council or in the business community ever called for mutual aid services to end. The downtown resolution asked the Mayor to simply return to the Council in July with a plan to relocate food distribution from the garage, preferably to a nearby spot with access to water and bathrooms. This was a compromise from the original version of the resolution that asked for relocation by a date in June. Councilors presented both of these options in the context of the Mayor’s Office indicating they had already been working on relocation for a number of months. After hours of meaningful debate, the downtown resolution formalized this ongoing process and set a more reasonable timeframe for action. Many of us also supported providing limited funds to help this transition.

If the Mayor now seeks to reconsider planning for this relocation, there will be respectful disagreement.

Mutual aid is a public good, but food service in a municipal parking garage raises real public health concerns and is undeniably related to surrounding activities that harm our city. We have heard this clearly from hundreds of small businesses, downtown residents, and visitors who have waited long enough for action. Furthermore, the Mayor’s Office has identified the Marketplace Garage as a community safety “hot spot,” and the ongoing financial impacts of this are real – as crucial parking revenues from this garage are down and expenses are up due to the need for private security.

I remain committed to working collaboratively with my Council colleagues and the Mayor on any specific requests to improve the downtown resolution, as consensus building is always the goal. It bears noting that the downtown resolution’s sponsor, Councilor Becca Brown McKnight, shared the resolution in advance with the Mayor’s Office, Councilors, and community partners. The final draft reflected much of the feedback we received and responded to clear public calls for action on addressing construction-related issues, encouraging a more visible police presence, and building upon our existing promotions for downtown Burlington.

Still, while the City Council and Mayor usually find consensus on a vast majority of issues, there will be times when we disagree. Relocating food service from a public garage may be one of them — and that is OK. Disagreement is not dysfunction. It is a normal outcome of a deliberative and democratic process. Our success does not require unanimity on every issue. We must find ways to lead through respectful differences, even if this involves difficult decisions. I believe the bipartisan downtown resolution exemplifies that path. I always appreciate any recommendations from the Mayor or other Councilors for forward-thinking improvements, but our downtown cannot afford to walk this back.

Toward progress,

Ben Traverse

City Council President