
So let’s see if I got this straight.
We’re two weeks away from the unhousing of more than 1,000 Vermonters when tighter eligibility standards take effect on the motel voucher program, and six weeks away from unhousing another 1,500 or so. On Monday night, the Burlington City Council considered a resolution to study the city’s existing camping policy. In the end, they approved a watered-down version.
Of a study.
Of an issue that’s about to become a humanitarian crisis.
And on that textbook definition of legislative timidity, they barely managed to act.
The blame goes to the nominal Democratic majority. They feared the resolution might send a message that more city lands could be open to encampments of the unhoused.
Do I need to make that clearer? They were more concerned about a perception than they were about preparing for an explosion of homelessness.
It’s just the latest chapter in the Democrats’ complete mishandling of the voucher program and their seeming obliviousness to the scale of tragedy that’s about to unfold.
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