BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – Graffiti continues to be a blight in Burlington despite efforts to clean it up. Now, the City Council is looking at an ordinance that could step up enforcement and address vandalism involving hate speech.
“It is a strategy and a tool for which our city attorney’s office researched and brought forward to help respond to chronic transphobic statements that they’ve put up on public spaces, on signs or whatnot, to really intimidate folks,” said Burlington Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak.
An ordinance before the council on Tuesday would allow people who feel there’s public hate speech made against them to sue the person responsible. City Council President Ben Traverse, D-Ward 5, says while he denounces hate speech, he has First Amendment concerns with how the current proposal is written. “I’ll be supporting a version of this ordinance that steps up our enforcement efforts more generally, but I can’t support something that’s going to tee up a bunch of lawsuits for the city around these kinds of First Amendment questions,” he said.
The ordinance would also put in place a more thorough graffiti public reporting system. Traverse is also hoping to learn what efforts the mayor’s team has put in place to address graffiti in the city.
Councilors on Tuesday will also get their first view of what a proposed massive water infrastructure bond would look like.
Councilors will also discuss possible charter changes on Town Meeting Day to address redistricting, bond votes that require voter approval, and the timeline surrounding lease termination for landlords and tenants.