MONTPELIER — Gov. Phil Scott said his administration plans to present a slate of recommendations to Burlington leaders in the coming weeks to address what he called a “crisis” related to homelessness and public drug use in the state’s largest city.
Scott’s comments, during a press conference Wednesday, come several weeks after Burlington Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak charged that the governor was not doing enough to help her city, or other municipalities around Vermont, respond to persistent social and economic challenges that have garnered significant statewide attention.
At the same time, Scott and leaders from his administration argued that the city isn’t doing enough on its own to enforce existing laws, including cracking down on illegal drug use and drug dealing as well as property crimes. A man’s death last month after he was assaulted near downtown’s City Hall Park has also inflamed local safety concerns.
“I look at this as like a crisis that they’re facing, much like a flood,” Scott told reporters, speaking in response to a question about the city’s economic vitality. “And the first thing that we need to do is respond to the flooding and help people — and then, the recovery part after. So, it’ll be a two-step process.”
The Republican governor said he met with a group of Burlington business owners Tuesday and plans to meet soon with residents and academic leaders, all of which would inform his recommendations. He would not share any specific policy changes he might propose. Scott said his administration would present its plan to Mulvaney-Stanak, who’s a Progressive, as well as the Democratic-controlled Burlington City Council.
Late last month, the council overwhelmingly passed a resolution aimed at barring people from camping overnight in City Hall Park — something that is not allowed under local ordinances but has nevertheless become commonplace — and bolstering the presence of law enforcement officers in the area, among other measures.
In the park, which is located just off the Church Street shopping hub, “acts of violence, drug trafficking, open drug use, the fencing of stolen goods, disorderly conduct, unlawful mischief, and similarly unacceptable incidents are far too commonplace,” the council resolution states.
Scott’s press secretary, Amanda Wheeler, said in an email Wednesday afternoon that the governor’s plan would focus on “public safety, holding service-resistant repeat offenders accountable, and connecting those in need of treatment to services.”
City leaders have not explicitly asked Scott to make policy recommendations, the governor said. But he contended that his goal was not to impose changes on the city that it would not want.
“We’re not going to force ourselves onto the city much like we’re seeing across the country with the current administration in Washington. That’s not our role,” Scott said. “If the city would like our help, we would lay out a plan to let them know what we can provide, and what we can’t.”
Mulvaney-Stanak wrote in an emailed statement Wednesday afternoon that she was “pleased to hear” the governor and his administration were considering ways to help Burlington.
The city is developing a list of specific requests for the state government that it believes would complement efforts already underway locally to address health and safety challenges, the mayor wrote. Her office is doing its own outreach to community members as part of that process, too.
“I look forward to meeting with the Governor to discuss our respective ideas and identify areas for deeper collaboration and coordination on both immediate and longer term solutions,” the mayor wrote.
