Unsolicited Bridge Pics

We are back with the Rake Vermont! Brie, Matt, and Mike take you through a journey as we look at Vermont politics over the last year, check out the 2022 August primaries, and predict the future.

To access this episode's transcript or to support us, check us out on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/unsolicitedbridgepicsvt

We talk with Vermont’s preeminent socialist sports guy, Matt Moore @VTSHIC, about the history of baseball in Vermont, how capitalists use sports to sanitize their wealth and exploitation, how even Vermont sports are becoming part of international finance, and how the new Lake Monsters owners, hedge funders, take this exploitation to a whole new level.

Brie and Charles bring you a peek into the conversations we have for fun. Whatever that is. In this chat, we cover topics in the past week of the news, including ponderings about whether Miro Weinberger should be compared to the KKK by anonymous posters or state senators, the Burlington luxury real estate market, and the latest prison reform legislation.

Vermont’s housing crunch is nothing new. For decades, Vermont has looked for housing solutions to create “perpetual affordability” for our communities. Yet here we are, with rental vacancy rates at 3.4% in VT at large, 1.9% in Chittenden County, and a squeezed 1.5% in Burlington, according to VHFA. More troubling is that 48% of renters in Vermont are cost burdened – paying more than 30% of their income for housing. This is the 12th highest percentage in the nation. And among homeowners, 27% of those with mortgages are cost burdened, the 7th highest percentage in the nation.

How did we get here?

In our latest episode, we examine the history of Community Land Trusts (CLTs) in Vermont, taking some time to contrast policies in the 1980s, the age of Reaganomics, when under Bernie Sanders, Burlington gave the US its first municipality-funded CLT. We examine their legacy, arguing that while CHT was meant to defend affordable housing and radically challenge the capitalist hegemony, it instead operates as a “nickel and dime real estate agency,” a slightly more beneficent landlord, and ultimately an accomplice to gentrification. Their initial mission has been lost in the “unholy alliances” CHT has had to make as it has become part of the landscape of Vermont housing.

A quick look at why you should vote YES for Just Cause and why landlords and other powerful community members are resorting to racist signage and fear tactics in their campaign against it... and also why it's not really going to do much!

"Although these protections will not help residents who simply can no longer afford the rents, they can reduce the incidence of indiscriminate evictions, giving residents more time to adjust to higher rents and, if needed, look for alternative housing arrangements. When paired with rent stabilization policies, they can promote stability for existing residents for many years."

https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/26328276.pdf?ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_search_gsv2%2Fcontrol&refreqid=fastly-default%3A11acb8efe739f34a75622d7c55a65d11

For more info on Burlington's proposal: https://www.burlingtonvt.gov/CEDO/Just-Cause-Eviction

Vermont, for many, is synonymous with green spaces littered with the occasional tree-hugger, cow, or septuagenarian democratic socialist, so it’s no surprise that its citizens have been pushing for more sustainable transportation options. In this episode, we examine where the current conversation is with transportation infrastructure in Burlington, the glaring absence of some important voices, and reflect a bit on what Vermont’s transportation infrastructure could look like. We draw on some of the research in “Bike Lanes are White Lanes” by Melody Hoffman (https://www.amazon.com/Bike-Lanes-Are-White-Advocacy/dp/0803276788).

Burlington's Walk-Bike Masterplan: https://www.burlingtonvt.gov/planbtvwalkbike

In this episode we discuss the horrific fire at 199 King Street and how Code Enforcement, Bill Ward, and Mayor Weinberger cannot keep tenants safe.

Gofundme: https://t.co/jP91kT9cnl?amp=1

City Council call-in: https://t.co/WXoXl8uYcv?amp=1

In part two we dive into Molly Gray's resume, how she defended Private Military Contractors and extractive imperialist slavers in her role within the useless 'regulatory body' of the International Code of Conduct Association (ICOCA), her national-security and CIA-adjacent donors, and how Burlington is becoming a national-security and extractive-industry hub with ties to international development and other local "progressive' politicians.

More on the ICOCA:

https://icoca.ch/2020/10/05/new-podcast-series-future-security-trends/

Original thread is here https://twitter.com/BtvNormal/status/1313106514069147651

We talk with Twitter user Pitfiend (@BTVNormal) about what 'Molly Gray CIA' means, UVM's history of ruining radicals, the decades long Bernie Sanders vs Kunin battle in local politics, and how this battle plays out today.

Original thread is here https://twitter.com/BtvNormal/status/1313106514069147651