BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – Burlington Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak on Wednesday spoke with a group of local business leaders to address concerns over public safety and get input on maintaining a vibrant downtown.
“Those of us who have been involved with business for years and years are shocked about the decline in behavior and the increase in theft over the last five years, it’s shocking what’s happening to this community,” said Jeff Nick, a downtown property owner.
The virtual meeting included about 80 business owners. Many pointed to the pandemic as the start of quality of life problems including drug dealing, homelessness, mental health, and theft.
Tito Bern with the Bern Gallery expressed a common complaint — poor police response. “We’ve had several incidents where we make phone calls and nobody shows up,” Bern said.
“When you get that feedback of — ‘We are not going to do anything,’ that’s just very deterring,” said Kevin Richer with CVS.
Other businesses called for grants to help deal with mounting costs for security that they need to shell out to ensure their employees are safe. “As owners, we feel we just have to be at work every day and every night in order to protect our staff,” said Deb Miller with Ken’s Pizza and Pub.
The mayor, who has said public safety is a priority, offered reassurances and acknowledged the concerns. “We are in a real budget struggle here in the city and that is why we really have to sound the alarm to the state around the disproportionate, unfunded burden that has been placed on our city — and by extension all of you — to be cobbling your own security together to respond to this pressure cooker we’ve been put into with folks,” Mulvaney-Stanak said.
Overall, business leaders shared a common message — they need the foot traffic and customers that come with a safe downtown.
“If we don’t have people coming downtown, we are going to be left with a shell of a community,” said Elise Pecor with the Vermont Pub & Brewery.
Businesses also complained about recent downtown construction around Main Street, where one attendee said they’ve seen an 80 percent drop in sales.