A new nonprofit is aiming to improve quality of life in the Queen City.
Called Building Burlington’s Future, the group is a coalition of activists, politicos and everyday residents who want to tackle the city’s thorniest issues, including public safety, through grassroots organizing.
The nonprofit officially launched on Tuesday at the ECHO Leahy Center for Lake Champlain, where more than three dozen supporters held signs that read “More Housing” and “Action Absorbs Anxiety.”
“There’s a growing belief that our city can’t change, but we’re here today to say that we believe in Burlington,” said board chair Michele Asch, a former member of the city’s Police Commission. “Safety and prosperity are not luxuries. They are building blocks to a thriving city.”
Burlington has indeed struggled in recent years. An uptick in theft, unsheltered homelessness and open-air drug use, including in places such as City Hall Park, has made some people feel unsafe or avoid going downtown altogether. More than 150 businesses recently signed an open letter urging officials to address the city’s economic crisis.
Nearly everyone agrees that the city has problems, but its leaders often can’t find consensus on how to fix them. On matters of public safety in particular, the bipartisan city council is routinely divided.
Supporters of Building Burlington’s Future say the nonprofit will be nonpartisan, though some of the people behind it are known political figures, mostly in Democratic circles. Sam Donnelly, the org’s executive director, has worked on numerous political campaigns and once served as chair of the Burlington Democratic Committee. Developer Ernie Pomerleau, a major Democratic party donor, is on the nonprofit’s board of directors, as is former mayor Peter Clavelle, a Progressive who has publicly supported Dems in recent city elections.
Even so, Donnelly says the group’s broader network includes people of all political stripes. Indeed, a wide sampling of Burlingtonians toted signs at the launch, including the current Burlington Democratic Committee chair, Andy Vota, and City Councilor Melo Grant (P-Central District). Also in attendance was Kelly Devine, the executive director of the Burlington Business Association, a membership-based advocacy group for Queen City businesses.
“In Burlington, if we have any hope of being something that can unify people or build a coalition, then we’ll need to be inclusive,” Donnelly said, noting that he’s already met with city councilors and Progressive Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak’s office.
“We’ll need them to do a lot of this work,” he said.
Besides public safety, the nonprofit will focus on supporting small businesses, growing the local economy and improving access to affordable housing. The group will meet with social service providers, business leaders and residents to form its policy positions, some of which could be proposed as city council resolutions. They’ll also monitor city council meetings and help constituents get in touch with local elected officials.
Asch, the board chair, didn’t share much about how the nonprofit is funded but said people have already donated to the cause and that volunteers are pitching in to help.
A year from now, Asch said she hopes people will feel safer going downtown and businesses are excited to be in Burlington.
“That’s success,” she said.
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