By Kolby LaMarche

Burlington’s Democratic City Council caucus last week introduced “Burlington Forward,” a 21-page resolution pairing expanded social services with tougher enforcement measures for the city’s public spaces, prompting a swift and pointed response from Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak, who called the plan short on new ideas and collaboration.

She thanked the Democratic councilors for their focus on homelessness, substance use and mental health, which she described as a statewide challenge, but said the draft resolution as written does not strongly promote collaboration or put forward novel approaches.

In an email sent this evening to residents, the mayor doubled-down in a new message, headlining her statement with “we can’t arrest and imprison our way out of this”, it read. The mayor continued, labeling the Democrat’s approach “the hallmark of more conservative politics – and whose effectiveness has been debunked around the country.” 

The issue of crime has been something that Mayor Mulvaney-Stanak and the Democrat-controlled council have never quite seen eye-to-eye on. In her message tonight, that fact became more apparent than in the past, or even in her short statement last week. 

Mayor Mulvaney-Stanak has, for the past few weeks, taken initiative to invite a change in Burlington’s perception, recently hosting a presser saying “Burlington is back!” 

Tonight, the mayor once again sought to defend that changing definition of Burlington, particularly around crime, shifting blame for excesses of remaining crime as a failure at the state-level. 

“The Democratic Councilors’ resolution claims that Burlington’s approach to community safety has failed,” she said. I strongly disagree – and I have the receipts to show for it. What has failed is the State of Vermont…”

For the Democrats, Council President Ben Traverse last week said the community faces a pivotal choice and that he believes Burlington is ready to move forward by pairing compassion with accountability, raising expectations and focusing on measurable results through partnership.

And Democrat Councilor Allie Schachter said the resolution reaffirms the city’s longstanding commitment to neighbors facing homelessness, addiction and mental illness, while stressing that true compassion means ending harm and suffering rather than tolerating it.

The two statements point to the same word — compassion — but land in different places. The resolution’s own text argues that “compassion without accountability is not compassion,” casting removal and enforcement measures as part of a caring response. 

Mulvaney-Stanak’s statement instead treated some of those same measures as a threat to the city’s inclusive values and to public health evidence, without specifying which provisions concerned her most.

In her earlier statement, the mayor pointed to proactive programs already underway in her administration, including the Situation Table, the Chittenden County Accountability Court, City Circle, and weekly cross-departmental meetings on Safe Outdoor Sites.

She also cited the recent restart of the city’s “Hot Spots” strategy, which she said had previously helped stabilize locations such as the library and a downtown parking garage in 2024 through targeted deployment of Burlington police officers and Community Service Officers.

Mulvaney-Stanak said more work is needed and that her administration is assessing possible adjustments, but stressed that no single city can resolve challenges of this scale on its own.

She renewed an invitation to councilors to work with her administration to strengthen programs serving all residents, including the most vulnerable, and thanked city employees, the police department, the fire department and community partners for their work on what she called a “notoriously wicked problem.”

She noted that the resolution thanks the governor but does not mention the ongoing work of the city’s own employees.

That omission cuts against the council’s own account of the programs it says are faltering. The resolution raises questions about the status of the city’s Situation Table and City Circle programs, both intended to intervene with people who are repeatedly cycling through the criminal justice and behavioral health systems.

The council states it is concerned the City Circle initiative “appears to have been substantially curtailed or discontinued,” possibly due to funding cuts, and asks the Public Safety Committee to seek a detailed accounting from the administration, the City Attorney’s Office and the Community Justice Center within 30 days.

The mayor’s response lists City Circle among her administration’s active programs; the council’s resolution lists it among the programs it fears has quietly lapsed. Neither side’s public statement resolves which account is accurate, leaving the question for the Public Safety Committee’s 30-day inquiry.

The push for faster removals follows the cancellation of the Burlington Concert Band’s July 19 performance in Battery Park, called off due to disorderly individuals who have been living in the park for some time, according to the city.

The resolution’s most immediate practical effect would require city officials to move faster against unauthorized encampments in parks and other areas where camping is banned.

Under the policy, the administration would have to identify a removal date “as soon as reasonably practicable” after discovering an illegal encampment, and would generally have to issue notice within about 24 hours of finding one.

The council’s summary also calls for the timeline to give people enough time to make other arrangements while protecting public health, safety, environmental resources and public access to shared spaces.

The resolution also seeks tighter control over where certain public health services can operate.

It states that overdose prevention centers — sites where people can use pre-obtained drugs under medical supervision, funded by the Legislature but so far unwelcome in any Burlington neighborhood — are not currently listed as a permitted use under the city’s Comprehensive Development Ordinance.

Any proposal to allow one, it says, should go through a full zoning amendment process with public notice and a hearing, and should not be located within Burlington’s Downtown Improvement District.

The resolution takes a similar position on syringe service programs, stating they should continue to be supported in Burlington but should not operate within the Downtown Improvement District, and calling on the Vermont Department of Health to work with the city to find an alternative location for the current downtown program.

Both restrictions would apply to services the mayor’s office has cited as evidence-based public health tools, sharpening the same divide the mayor flagged in her statement: enforcement-minded provisions the council frames as accountability, and location restrictions the administration has not yet publicly endorsed or opposed on the record.

Beyond encampment removal, Burlington Forward lays out a five-article framework covering public space stewardship, expanded public safety staffing, a regional approach to homelessness and addiction services, and new zoning restrictions on public health facilities.

Among its many provisions, the resolution asks the administration to increase the visible presence of police, Community Service Officers and Urban Park Rangers in areas experiencing chronic disorder.

Moreover, it calls for organizing volunteer “Public Space Response Teams” of city employees who could issue municipal ordinance citations, post no-trespassing notices, and connect people in crisis to services.

It also asks for a public inventory of city-owned surveillance cameras and additional signage warning that public spaces are monitored, and requests a City Hall Park stewardship program to speed up graffiti removal.

The resolution further asks the mayor to designate, within 90 days, one or more sites for expanded emergency shelter space or sanctioned camping outside downtown, the waterfront, the shared-use path network and heavily used parks, contingent on later City Council approval.

It asks the administration to assess how many people Burlington can “sustainably and humanely” serve at one time, and to develop a plan for connecting people to services in other communities once that capacity is reached, arguing that Burlington cannot remain the primary provider of shelter and treatment for people from across Vermont.

The exchange is the latest instance of tension between Burlington’s mayor and City Council, which under the city’s charter hold separate executive and legislative roles.

Mulvaney-Stanak, elected in 2024 as a Progressive after previously serving on the council in that role, leads the administration, while the council — which has maintained a Democratic majority — writes and passes city policy.

The two branches have cooperated on numerous initiatives over the years, even during the period when Progressives held a council majority under former Mayor Miro Weinberger, but disagreements over emphasis, strategy and communication have surfaced repeatedly, particularly on questions balancing compassion for vulnerable residents against public safety and accountability.

Mulvaney-Stanak’s 2024 campaign centered in part on addressing downtown conditions, safety concerns, and the city’s response to addiction and homelessness — issues that, by both the mayor’s and the council’s own accounts, remain unresolved.

Listen tomorrow as Burlington Daily News discusses the issue with Guy Page | Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. on Chronicle Conversations, broadcast on WVMT AM 620 and wvmtradio.com.