by Guy Page
A downtown business owner is sounding the alarm about what she describes as a steep decline in Burlington’s business climate, urging city leaders to act swiftly to address public safety and livability concerns.
In a letter presented Monday, August 25 to Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak and the Burlington City Council, Mimi Buttenheim, president of Mad River Distillers, said her business has seen revenue drop by 50% since the start of 2025.
The letter was part of a longer discussion held by the community, the mayor and the City Council Monday night about a plan to tighten security and public safety in City Hall Park, in light of both ongoing violence and public disorder and homelessness, and the recent nearby beating death of a man by three juveniles.
“This is not due to market trends, weather, or competition,” Buttenheim wrote. “It is due to the declining business environment in downtown Burlington.”
Buttenheim, whose company operates a tasting room and retail store at 137 St. Paul Street, said longtime customers are avoiding the area and tourists are increasingly unsettled by visible drug use, loitering, and disorder in City Hall Park.
“What would previously have been a day that easily would have seen 75-100 customers visit our tasting room capped out at 16,” she said of a recent Saturday in August. “Our neighbors reported the same disappointing results.”
The letter describes an atmosphere of declining safety for employees and patrons alike. Buttenheim said she has lost three long-term employees in the past six months, each citing the environment around City Hall Park as a reason for leaving.
She criticized the city for prioritizing “task forces, studies, or theoretical five-year plans” instead of immediate interventions.
“This is a business crisis, and it requires urgent action,” she wrote. “Our downtown core cannot sustain itself if the message it sends to visitors and residents alike is: ‘You’re not welcome here, you’re not safe here, and we don’t care.’”
Buttenheim argued that Burlington must balance compassion for vulnerable populations with policies that ensure the city’s downtown remains welcoming for tourists and residents. She questioned why City Hall Park has become “the epicenter of this crisis” and called for support services to be moved elsewhere in the city.
“The police know them by name, the workers know them by sight,” she wrote of individuals struggling with homelessness and addiction. “Why are they allowed to continue to hold an entire city for ransom?”
The letter concludes with a stark warning: if Burlington fails to act, the city risks losing its reputation as a cultural and economic hub.
“Burlington is at the precipice of losing its reputation as a livable, welcoming, and economically vibrant city,” Buttenheim wrote. “It will not come back easily. Or possibly, at all.”
Cover photo screenshot of Burlington street scene from Wayne Savage Facebook video