Thread by @Datoism

In 1983,Bernie established Community and Economic Development Office(CEDO) to carry out his vision for affordable housing, locally owned small businesses, greater community engagement in planning, an accessible waterfront, and job development.

~May 24 1983,Burlington Free Press

CEDO became Bernie's major tool in implementing his progressive agenda in Burlington. First CEDO director and Bernie's successor as mayor, Peter Clavelle published a report in 1988 listing CEDO's works and achievements. Below are some of the achievements Bernie had through CEDO.

A lot was done through Neighborhood Planning Assemblies (NPA's) Bernie established in 1982. NPA's were designed to act as a two-way conduit through which the administration could keep residents informed regarding City programs & allowing citizens to make recommendations to City.

Some of NPA's special projects and activities give us an insight on why Bernie's Burlington become a highly politically active city. People were involved a lot. Public hearings to volunteer cleaning crews to block parties.

We know Waterfront Development was one of Bernie's achievements. CEDO under Bernie significantly increased park land on water front. Bike path with access to city's major parks, more shoreline, voter approved new land acquisition by city..

Part of waterfront development was improving current facilities, one of them was the community boathouse and pier development.

To improve water quality,
Sewers and Waster management system upgraded, Wetlands protection plan.

Then the housing accomplishments which was based on three goals.
Protection of the vulnerable, Preservation of Affordable housing, Production of Affordable housing which were based on three assumptions:
1. Public Intervention.
2. Decommodification.
3. Redistribution.

So how was the protection of vulnerable done?
1. Anti-discrimination Ordinance enacted, October 1984.
2. Minimum housing inspection program strengthened,accompanied by additional tenant protections in event of condemnation, 1983-1987.

3. Accessibility Grants Program, aiding handicapped tenants and homeowners, in 1985.
4. Security Deposit Ordinance enacted, April 1986.

5. Reverse Equity Tax Program established in 1987 to enable elderly homeowners to use the equity in their homes as a line-of-credit for payment of their property taxes and insurance.

6. Condominium Conversion Ordinance, requiring four years prior notice for elderly and disabled tenants and two years prior notice for all other tenants when rental units are slated for conversion to condominiums or cooperatives, March 1987.

7. Homeless Assistance Project; Temporary Shelter; Tenant Resource Center; Streetworker Project;
8. Conveyance of a city-owned fire station to the Burlington Community Land Trust for adaptive reuse as a shelter for homeless families, 1987.

9. A major commitment to the expansion and improvement of the City's shelters for the homeless was made in 1987- 1988.
10. An apartment inspection fee ordinance was enacted by the Board of Aldermen in the fall of 1987, imposing a "users fee" on the City's landlords.

What did Burlington do for Preservation of Affordable Housing during Bernie's tenure?
Home Improvement Program,1983. Low interest loans for repairing, rehabilitating, renovating, and painting 518 units of housing in the city of Burlington.

👉Minimum housing inspection program strengthened(1983-1987), upgrading the soundness and safety of rental housing.
👉The Burlington Community Land Trust was organized in 1984.
👉The Lake Champlain Housing Development Corporation was
organized in 1985.

The Northgate Task Force, established in 1986, brought together a dozen public and private organizations to develop a common strategy for the preservation of 336 units of affordable housing at Northgate.

Condominium Conversion Ordinance, enacted in March 1987, granted tenants and "designated housing agencies" the first right to purchase rental property slated for conversion to condominium or cooperative ownership.

And a lot of new affordable housing were produced.

Burlington's downtown center in 1983 was fortunate to enjoy a relatively healthy degree of activity. However, other sections of the City - namely, the Pine Street, King Street and Old North End neighborhoods - were experiencing a rapid rate of decline.
In 1988, CHANGED.

Job creation:
6,000 new jobs were created in the City, and the tax base has expanded considerably. The unemployment rate has dropped from 4.3% in 1983 to 1.7% 1988, which is the lowest rate in the country.

National recognition:
1987, U.S. Conference of Mayors honored Burlington's LODP as a model for the prevention of poverty.
1988, same group acclaimed Burlington America's "Most Livable City."

1988, the National League of Cities recognized the Women's Economic Opportunity Program (WEOP) for innovation and leadership in job training.

As part of LOCAL OWNERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM, many Small Business "Incubators" were established.

Legislative Initiatives for local ownership:
👉An amedment the state corporation statutes to provide legal certainty to worker cooperatives.
👉Bill providing loans through the Vermont Industrial Development Authority (VIDA) for the development of incubators.

Burlington Youth Employment Program (BYEP),a non-profit job training program established to assist disadvantaged youth. Organization's budget has grown from $40,000 to $300,000 in 1983-1988.

Women's Economic Opportunity Program( WEOP) was created in 1985 by CEDO and the Burlington Women's Council to eliminate employment-related barriers and increase quality employment opportunities for low income women.

STEP-UP For Women: This program provided - comprehensive training and job development for women entering the skilled trades.

Women and Construction Trades Ordinance: This ordinance, passed in 1986, requires firms with City-funded contracts over $50,000 to hire 10% women in all trade categories.
(Similar to what Bernie is proposing for federal contracts to get corporations in line)

Affirmative Action: In 1987, the City adopted a policy requiring all departments to meet a 20% goal for minority and women in trade jobs.

Minority assistance to minority-owned small businesses.

And finally the awards Burlington got in 1983-1988.
There is a lot more traditional achievements, full report can be found here ecommons.cornell.edu/xmlui/bitstrea…