Disappointing but not surprising to see city officials once again ignore the 60% of residents who are renters and are hurt by AirBNB by taking desperately needed housing out of the market. Here is what the Burlington Tenants Union had to say at the Summit about Airbnbs. Wed be happy to talk to the reporter about it too!
Short-Term Rentals/AirBNB
The gig economy only serves the wealthy and takes needed rental housing out of the market. Our housing solutions should focus on renters, not tourists.
Especially after the Bisonnettes evicted 300 low-income households from the Old North End, we need to build more permanent low-income housing, not convert current housing into hotels for wealthy tourists. Airbnbs should be limited in number, but best not allowed at all.
Weird how when Im working with clients and they swear at me or dont listen to me, I never swear back at them, never put a hand on them while theyre escalated. If I did that Id be fired, nevermind if I punched them in self defense. Yet somehow all of this is appropriated behavior? What are our police being taught?
When I talked to Matt several years ago for a podcast, one of the things he mentioned to me was how Seven Days wouldnt hire him full time, even after over a decade of working for them, because they didnt want to pay for his health insurance.
I hope that changed before he was diagnosed with cancer.
@BradD I was referring to the councilors, but sure. The commission chair has done an exceptionally poor job communicating with residents who bring complaints, also owns a $2 million dollar house. The vice-chair is a powerful lawyer and BBA vice-chair, who has done a much better job communicating, yet neither are able to show anything close to the transparency needed to bring trust back to this commission, as they both signed off on all the brutality and shenanigans going on under this chief.
Standing next to him during a press conference where they agreed with letting one officer off scott-free and the other with a 2-week suspension threw any credibility the two of them may have had out the window.
I hope the new folks on the commission publicly push for more oversight power, so this isn't just a tokenizing act.
As long as Michelle Asch is chair and the commission has zero authority to do much of anything, this is all window dressing.
The commission could be 100% non-white and it wont matter if oversight rests in the hands of a very high majority white and wealthy council + mayor.
Adam Roofs business partner at Kinzey Co is Colin Hilliard who works for the BBA. They worked together on the crooked Downtown Improvement District too, a clear conflict of interest.
What do we expect when there are no consequences for councilors who clearly use their position for personal gain and then continue to use their position to help their pro-business employer at the expense of the vast majority of residents?
Councilor Roof needs to step down since he is clearly unable to avoid constant conflicts. Public office is a privilege not a right.
Re: “Developer: CityPlace Burlington Project Will Be Redesigned”
FYI the mall is now (has been for several years?) owned by a company that supports Brasil's fascist government under Bolsanaro and 100% wants the country to privatize hard. So glad this is the company that owns our downtown/government now.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/20…
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-…