The measure passed 10-2 with Council President Kurt Wright (R-Ward 4) and Councilor Ali Dieng (D/P-Ward 7) voting no.
Councilor Adam Roof (I-Ward 8) introduced the resolution in part to increase civic participation among Burlington’s sizable refugee population. He said the issue is timely because the legislature will consider a similar charter change request for the city of Montpelier once lawmakers reconvene next year.
“It is my hope Burlington can be at the table while they do so,” Roof said.
It’s not Burlington’s first attempt to make the change. Voters considered the issue on Town Meeting Day 2015 but shot it down, 58 to 42 percent. Councilor Joan Shannon (D-South District) said times have changed since then, and though she’s unsure how she’ll vote, she supports the committee taking another look.
Councilor Sharon Bushor (I-Ward 1) echoed Paulino’s sentiment, saying that as Burlington’s population has become more diverse, “more and more people really want to have a meaningful engagement” in city government.
Councilor Jack Hanson (P-East District) said that if people live here and pay taxes, “you deserve to have a say over the policies that influence your life.”
Dieng, a New American, opposed the resolution because he said voting is sacred and should be reserved only for citizens. He echoed thoughts shared by Burlington resident Jeff Comstock, who said during the meeting’s public comment period that the council should instead focus on increasing turnout among legally registered voters. Comstock had derided Roof’s resolution as “nothing more than political pandering.”
Dieng suggested the city instead help noncitizens find a path to legal citizenship.
The charter committee is expected to report back to the council by the end of November. Roof hopes the measure can be included on the Town Meeting ballot in March.
Related Stories
Got something to say?
Send a letter to the editor and we'll publish your feedback in print!
I’m glad I don’t pay Burlington property taxes, because when you give a whole bunch of non-taxpayers a vote in how other people’s money is spent, property taxes are going to skyrocket.
Another brilliant plan by the city of Burlington. This should go about as well as the big hole project did. Maybe the sewage treatment plant will actually get fixed now, though, and stop ruining the lake for the rest of Vermont.
Tammany Hall ver 3.0. The Redux.
Bad enough the college kids vote and move on and leave a bad impact to the taxpayers now you want noncitizens to vote! Burlington is going to hell. A once proud city, sad very sad.
Do we actually have to live in Burlington or can we just give them COTS address. Maybe now we can get some public signage in Spanish.
Ask the families of those who made the supreme sacrifice, defending the right of American citizens, if non-citizens should be allowed to vote
I would let them vote twice.
(one extra for reparations)
Seriously? What then, my liberal friends, would be the purpose of citizenship? Ask some of the proud, new U.S. citizens how they feel about this ridiculous proposal – I’ll bet I can predict a resounding, ‘no way’. What on earth is becoming of Vermont? My ancestors grew up there in the 1800-1900’s and lately it has become a refuge/haven for big-city, delusional immigrants. it’s going downhill very, very fast. Simply too bad. Vermont has always been a source of New England pride and independence though I’m not sure this idea qualifies even remotely.
So what makes this anything other than a new trendy form of Gerrymandering? Trying to get the base you imported approved to throw their support back your way. The free handouts one party is constantly giving them, taken from our pockets whether we like it or not, essentially a bribe for votes.
Way to represent the people of Vermont.
Roof is from Boston.
I’d bet the farm busing is a variable in his equation.
It will never happen. Don’t forget it eventually has to go the legislature.
Thanks, Adam! Thanks to everyone voting for it. I think both Ali and Jack are right – it’s at the point now when citizenship has fallen way behind; Immigration and many other government departments are understaffed and underfunded. An easier path to citizenship gets us more workers, and more voters.
They live here, they pay taxes, they’re trying to get through the process. Let them vote.
Here’s some quotes from the Web:
“Eligibility Criteria for U.S. Citizenship:
You have been physically present in the U.S. for at least half of the five years before filing your application. you have lived in the district or state where you are filing your application for at least three months. you are at least 18 years old. and you have good moral character.”
“It can take around 6 months from the time you submit your application to become a US citizen. However, since there are so many steps to complete to become a US citizen, the US citizenship processing time can be quite long. That is why, it is important to start the process as soon as you are eligible.”
I am moving back to NY where you have to show ID to vote. Imagine that, show ID!!! Admittedly and sadly, current Gov. Cuomo tows the Democrat freebies line, for example, free college educaiton for DACAs. It is taking me far longer to leave crazy Burlington thanks to the excessive overreach of the city’s permit system to meet what I feel are too often misguided to be polite, local ordinances. Meanwhile raw sewage flows into the lake pretty much unchecked. Priorities are screwed up here. Including giving non-citizens the PRIVILEGE that ought to be earned through acquiring LEGAL citizenship to vote. I don’t envy anyeone who has no option(s) such as I do, to leave what has become a liberal wingnut embarassment.
The U.S. constitution does not care who votes in Vermont municipal elections or referenda. Non-citizens living in Burlington pay the same taxes as anyone else. While voting in local elections is NOT a privilege limited to citizens, deciding for ourselves how to organize our local government is a RIGHT guaranteed to us all.
What is your source for who pays what taxes in Burlington? Christ, VT’s property tax rebate “program” gives money to people making up to $140,000 a year last I knew. How stupid. And I disagree, voting is an action that should be legal for U.S. citizens only.
Sorry, Nate…college students temporarily living in Burlington are not real contributors to the city’s tax revenue, and shouldn’t have a vote in actual taxpayer’s issues. If they all decided to vote (they never would, of course), they’d add almost 14,000 voters to the registry. That’s 1/3 of the population of Burlington.
There are certainly a few non-citizens living in Burlington that have a vested interest in the long term prosperity of the city, but the vast, vast majority of the people who would suddenly have a right to vote on how taxpayer dollars are spent are short term residents with no vested interest in the long term future of Burlington. This is an absolutely asinine idea.
The claim that college students aren’t contributors to tax revenue is ridiculous. First of all, we’re a long way from the era in American history when only landowners could vote. Second, renters and people living in college dorms earn income and pay income taxes, buy items and pay sales taxes, eat at restaurants and pay meals taxes, and so on.
It’s also a red herring, because college kids can already vote and its precisely because they are *residents* that they are able to do so. The question here is whether residents who are not also citizens should be permitted to vote in Burlington elections, and I’ve yet to see an articulated reason (other than “it should be a privilege of citizenship”) why they should not be.
The original constitution of the Vermont Republic (1777) allowed foreign born men who resided here to vote and participate fully after one year and taking an oath. When Vermont became a state, it still allowed all residents to vote up to the state wide level until 1828 when a nativist movement starting to restrict voting. It wasn’t till a VT Supreme Court ruling in 1863, that the right for non citizens to vote at the state and local level was confirmed. Still in the cities and towns across the state that had many immigrants coming in, there were many exceptions like Barre, Pawlet, Springfield, Bellows Falls, St. Albans, etc.