[B]URLINGTON — The City Council passed a pair of resolutions Monday night aimed at reducing so-called quality of life offenses, such as public drunkenness, that officials say are fueling recent violent incidents downtown.
Last week a man with close to 900 contacts with police in the last six years and more than 50 civil tickets allegedly punched a downtown restaurant owner. Earlier this month a homeless man who police said was drunk allegedly slashed a man’s throat in a brawl.
The first resolution, offered by City Councilor Adam Roof, I-Ward 8, drew unanimous support. It directs the Public Safety Committee to convene a group to look for new ways to reduce public safety issues and support the city’s homeless people.
The second, offered by City Councilor Kurt Wright, R-Ward 4, directs the Ordinance Committee to draft language creating a criminal penalty for people who accumulate civil citations for “public drunkenness, fighting, and public urination” as well as similar offenses. Two councilors voted against it.
Opponents of the second resolution said it criminalizes the behavior of poor and homeless people at a time when Vermont is trying to reduce its prison population and when there is a lack of money for services to address substance abuse and mental illness, which they said are driving objectionable behavior.
Ali Dieng, P/D-Ward 7, cast the other no vote. “It costs a lot of money to lock people up. It is better to find the root of the problem and address that,” Dieng said.
Wright said the purpose of his resolution is not to criminalize homelessness, but to create meaningful consequences for a small group within that community whose behavior is making downtown unsafe and for whom tickets and fines are not a deterrent.
Councilor Dave Hartnett, R/D-North District, described that group as “a small group of bullies we’ve allowed to fester over a number of years” who make other homeless residents less safe and aren’t interested in the services Burlington offers.
Police Chief Brandon del Pozo, who has advocated for the type of criminal penalties contemplated by Wright’s resolution, said the current system of civil violations is incapable of holding to account that subset of the population Hartnett described.
“We’re just trying to get some respect for the law here in a narrow range of cases. We don’t have that now,” del Pozo said.
Mark MacKillop, owner of Muddy Waters Cafe, raised concerns at a June council meeting on behalf of downtown business owners, saying the behavior of panhandlers in portions of downtown was getting out of hand. At Monday’s meeting he said debate over how to address the problem has focused on “care-based solutions or punitive solutions.”
“This isn’t a one-solution problem. There are going to have to be a bunch of tools that help solve this problem,” MacKillop said.
