By Guy Page
Another big scoop by Vermont News First reporter Mike Donoghue has prompted a pointed criticism of the Burlington Safe Injection Site and the Chittenden County senators who backed it – and one senator, in particular.
On his Facebook Page last night and now in the Burlington Daily News, Donoghue – who began reporting for the Burlington Free Press at its downtown offices on College Street in the mid-1970’s – published a draft letter from downtown businesses to Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak. It is highly critical of city services and programs.
The letter, now being circulated for signers, demands clean, safe, and usable parking garages (including termination of free lunches there), a public nudity ordinance, removing discarded needles from public areas, less graffiti, and other changes to reduce the deterioration of the Queen City’s downtown area.
“We urge the City to explore restorative approaches,” the letter to the first-term Progressive mayor states. “Assigning offenders to community service—such as picking up needles, cleaning human waste, or removing graffiti—could provide a path toward accountability while addressing the visible impact of these harms.”
Commenting on this letter on Donoghue’s Facebook post, Sen. Russ Ingalls (R-Essex) points out one particular wrong-headed, expensive policy: spending $1 million per year on setting up and running a so-called ‘safe injection site.’ The 2024 Legislature passed the law and overrode Gov. Phil Scott’s veto.
“You reap what you sow,” Ingalls said. “Now they are putting in a drug house that allows anyone of any age to legally use drugs that are legal no where in the world. Not only that, but while you are in this area police are forbidden from arresting anyone who possesses. So dealers can sell at will to the people who are going to legally shoot up,” Ingalls said.
“This has worked no where in the world but the Burlington Senators and their majority friends overrode a veto by the Governor to open this hell hole,” Ingalls adds. “And to add insult to injury? Sen. Ginny Lyons [D-Chittenden] has appropriated nearly 2 million dollars of tax payer money for it,” Ingalls adds.
Developed by the Mayor’s Office and Vermonters for Criminal Justice Reform (VCJR), the plan adheres to Vermont’s Act 178 (2024) and the Vermont Department of Health’s OPC Operating Guidelines. The initiative seeks to address the state’s overdose crisis by providing supervised drug consumption, reducing public drug use, and linking individuals to health and social services.
As noted in an April 30 Burlington Daily News article, City Councilors are concerned they may not be able to find a suitable location to build the safe injection site, nor build it with available funds.