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Mayor: Voters approve three bonds; city tracks emergency housing funds, names interim police chief and selects overdose provider
Summary
At Monday's Burlington City Council meeting the mayor highlighted passage of three city bonds and charter amendments, warned that proposed state budget changes could cut emergency housing assistance for hundreds, announced an interim police chief and named the selected service provider for a planned overdose prevention center.
Burlington's mayor told the City Council Monday that voters approved three general obligation bonds and three city charter amendments by wide margins and urged local officials to press the state to extend emergency housing funding now under review in the mid‑year budget adjustment act.
The mayor said the three bonds passed with “over 80%” approval and one charter change — a prohibition on firearms in establishments that serve alcohol — received 89.9% voter support. She described the results as a mandate that will help the city press lawmakers in Montpelier on related policy work.
The mayor warned the council that the state budget adjustment act (BAA) includes $1.8 million intended to extend the state’s general assistance emergency housing program from April 1 to July 30. “There is a great worry that I hold if the $1,800,000 is not passed,” she said, adding the city tracks an estimate that about 88 Chittenden County households could be exited from motel emergency programs after April 1 and that roughly 400 children statewide could be affected. The mayor urged councilors to contact the governor to press for the funding.
On public-safety staffing, the mayor announced Sean Burke will join the Burlington Police Department as interim police chief on March 24. The council previously authorized creation of that interim position; the mayor said additional details on the chief’s initial focus are in a Board of Finance memo.
The mayor also announced that, following an LOI and review by a selection committee, the city has chosen Vermonters for Criminal Justice Reform (VCJR) as the service provider for the planned overdose prevention center. She said the next steps include site selection, community engagement and education before any potential opening.
Regarding shelters and immediate winter response, the mayor said the city opened a cold weather emergency shelter for the ninth time this season and thanked CVOEO, city staff and volunteers for operating the lifesaving service. She noted pop‑up shelters are logistically difficult and said city staff debrief after each activation.
Other items the mayor highlighted: work to install temporary speed‑feedback signs after a recent serious accident on Route 127; a silver designation from Bloomberg Philanthropies’ What Works Cities program for Burlington’s data practices; a forthcoming climate advisory group of 22 members that will inventory city climate work; and continued federal grant uncertainty prompting internal contingency planning.
The mayor closed by thanking staff, community partners and volunteers and by noting additional public meetings, including a community safety forum scheduled for March 13 and a March 19 update on community safety work.
