If these are the best ideas that Burlingtonians can get from their next mayor, we are really screwed.
by Kolby LaMarche
On Wednesday, the trio competing for the Democratic mayoral nomination in Burlington gathered for a forum. City Councilors Joan Shannon and Karen Paul, alongside newcomer CD Mattison, sat around a semi-circular table and presented their platforms.
But what I found most alluring in all of this is how not a single candidate explained how they would get Burlingtonians housed. And, more importantly, none said how they would solve the affordability aspect of the housing crisis.
Unfortunately, all the candidates dished out the same empty platitudes, with little difference between their plans. Karen Paul, during the forum, sought to confirm a unanimity in the room, “one thing that we can probably all agree on is housing first,” she said.
Never trust someone with those eyes…
Paul then went on, attempting to empathize with the homeless – stuttering as she puttered along her answer.
“Struggling from day-to-day on…on as something as basic as [uh] having shelter is [uh] just an [uh] profound impact on people,” she coughed up, nervously twitching her head side to side.
CD Mattison shared dreams of housing splendor, where, she says, CityPlace will be a model project. Where Burlington will have a chance to “create community” and “a sense of belonging”. Though CD is, of course, referring to the CityPlace project which I have talked previously about here.
As of the 2016 plans for City Place, the site aimed for a mix of restaurants and apartments. Initially, the residential section had 274 units, including 55 permanent affordable ones. In the latest plans, Mattison’s “model” plan, restaurants were scrapped, and the residential component grew to 427 units, with only 80 being affordable.
Not to mention, these affordable units will be built dead last, long after all the luxury apartments are finished and filled.
Under a Mattison administration, the housing and community landscape of Burlington will be nothing more than a demographic dominated by the affluent and well-off, leaving poor and low-income Burlingtonians far behind.
Joan Shannon, a realtor, gave us another great model project for Burlington, one which both Mattison and Paul also whipped out: the old YMCA building.
The YMCA building located on College Street is set to grow into a six-story, 89-unit apartment building. Importantly, no specific figure for affordable housing has actually been provided. But rough estimates indicated that a measly 8% will be affordable with the rest being luxury, market-rate apartments.
A solution popular amongst the trio was engaging in more public-private partnerships (PPPs). For those of you unfamiliar, a PPP entails the government securing private capital for projects, with the private financiers later seeking repayment.
Over a 30-year investigation led by David Hall, the founding director of the Public Services International Research Unit, it was revealed that PPPs fall terribly short on their commitments.
They do not bring additional private sector funding, they fail to enhance efficiency, and they frequently neglect environmental considerations. PPPs, in this way, are an unnecessary parasite unto governments and they erode them by handing over large influence and extensive power to the private-sector actors involved.
Whatever your politics, whomever you may be voting for, remember that nearly 25% of Burlingtonians are poor – more than 2x that of the national average – with thousands of others suffering under a low income. These people, like anyone else in the community, deserve an affordable place to lay their heads down.
And if these are the best ideas that Burlingtonians can get from their next mayor, then may that great power in the sky above help us all.
Burning Sky is dedicated to providing critique and commentary on the issues of the day from an unapologetic perspective, fueling change in the heart of Vermont. Authored by Kolby LaMarche every Saturday.