How generous of Burlington mayor (and former developer) Miro Weinberger to share his insight that the solution, as proposed in S.100, to Vermont’s housing crisis is to be found in environmental deregulation and reliance on the “invisible hand” of market forces.
No mention by the mayor of the statewide loss of more than 3,000 full-time housing units between 2017 and 2022 to the “short-term rental” pool (aka Airbnb housing vampires). Nor did the mayor explain what he has done after 11 years as mayor to force UVM Inc. to restore housing in Burlington to full-time residents instead of spreading its transient student population into the city’s neighborhoods.
Nothing from the mayor about the 20% vacancy rate of existing housing units (i.e., seasonal second and third homes) in Vermont, the result of 60-year-old, outdated state policies supporting a “tourism-based economy.”
And the lack of a workforce of carpenters, electricians and plumbers to build affordable housing and renovate existing homes? Not on the mayor’s radar scope.
Some people will make a lot of money if S.100 is passed but there will not be any substantial increase in housing for Vermont residents. Such will be the result of policies enacted by a Vermont Senate driven by the delusional neoliberal principles of deregulation and market forces.
Ed Stanak
Barre City
