Montpelier’s Progressive-minded City Council repealed a ban on panhandling in 2018 and refused requests to ban loitering in 2019.
In 2021, it adopted a “general non-involvement approach” towards emergency (read: homeless) encampments, except for those located in ‘high-sensitivity areas.’
In 2023, former City Councilor and newly elected House member Conor Casey argued on behalf of homeless city residents for the construction of a public restroom on the State House lawn.
Casey struck out. But Montpelier’s street population is still here, and the problems they are causing are now front-page news in Vermont’s state capitol.
Literally.
“Montpelier Officials Frustrated by Repeat Criminal Offenders,” proclaims the Page One, above-the-fold headline in the Dec. 4 edition of The Bridge, the city’s twice-monthly community newspaper.
To summarize:
Sexual harassment of girls on the bike path. They’ve been chased, propositioned, pushed. One dad said a man propositioned his nine-year-old daughter. The culprits are mostly men who hang out there, especially near the bus station/low-income housing building on Taylor Street.
Arrests overall are up in Montpelier. September 2019 – 10 cases referred for prosecution. September 2024: 31. 16-20% of all cases involved the ‘unhoused,’ Police Chief Eric Nordenson said.
The pandemic and the state’s aggressive response of providing free housing without strings – now somewhat curtailed – are cited as reasons for increased crime and ‘deteriorating behavior downtown.’
So are state laws, judges, and prosecutors overseeing revolving-door courthouses. City Manager Bill Fraser says: “These cases almost always get dismissed out of court….There are no consequences. People get cited, get released, no action, next day they are out there, same thing. Wash, rinse, repeat. Our officers are frustrated.”
Overworked, too. The small department is down two officers.
Something the story doesn’t mention is the City’s historic tolerance of unwelcome behaviors associated with street people: loitering and panhandling. When local landlord David Kelley called for an anti-loitering ordinance in 2019, he was rebuffed.
The Vermont ACLU helpfully points out that Montpelier is among the panhandling-friendly cities in Vermont.
“As of 2018, officials in Bennington, Brattleboro, Montpelier, Rutland Town, and Winooski protected the constitutional rights of their residents by repealing their anti-panhandling ordinances. Barre City placed theirs on indefinite moratorium. That means these cities should not ticket or arrest you for panhandling.”
Not that panhandling and loitering ordinances result in real enforcement, anyway. The city’s open-container ordinance carries a one-day jail sentence or $50 fine. Judges won’t sentence the time, and offenders can’t or just won’t pay the fine.
Solution: more money?
“One thing both city officials and the state’s attorney likely agree on is the need for more state resources to deal with the roots of recurrent behavior problems and criminal activity,” reporter Phil Dodd concludes.
