The push to privatize public affairs and accelerate displacement and gentrification continues at full speed across many fronts in our city. The latest effort is the push to privatize governance of an expanded Church St. Marketplace through a proposed charter change that would go in front of voters on the Town Meeting election on March 5. However, there is a chance that the City Council will not move forward as proposed if the voice of the people is heard at the required Public Hearings on Tuesday January 22 at 7 pm and Monday January 28 at 7 pm in City Hall.
Councilors, with the support of Mayor Weinberger, have proposed to expand the Church St. Marketplace District into a Downtown Improvement District that reaches all the way down to the Waterfront on the west, Pearl St. to the north, So. Winooski Ave. on the east, and Maple St. on the south (there are parts of So. Winooski, King and Maple that are not part of the district). The proposal would disband the public Church St. Marketplace Commission, replacing it with a private entity with the power over the fees/taxes that would be charged to non-residential properties in the district.
The proposal is bad for several reasons:
1. Private control over the management of this public district is anti-democratic and allows for non-transparent governance.
2. Privatization threatens good paying city jobs, undermines the city's best economic and environmental policies like the livable wage ordinance, and allows for a private entity to profit at the public's expense.
3. The proposal will lead to gentrification and displacement yet it bars use of the district's funds to mitigate these negative effects
4. The proposal will increase general city taxes.
5. The proposal has been rushed to the ballot with a significant amount of vague or incomplete language.
On January 7th, I submitted a detailed 7 page letter of opposition to the City Council and drafted a document which further explains the problems. Contact me if you want these documents at genebergman26@gmail.com .
The only way for the City Council to stop or change the proposal is based on the testimony it receives at the Public Hearings of January 22 and January 28 at 7pm in City Hall. The future of our downtown is in our hands. Please attend the public hearings and speak out against the privatization of our public democratic institutions and gentrification and displacement in our downtown.
Dec 21, 2024, 4 to 4:20 PM
Within Our Darkest Night: Meditation and ImprovisationDec 22, 2024, 5 to 5:50 PM
Snow Queen at Off Center for Dramatic ArtsDec 22, 2024, 6 to 8 PM