Green Mountain Meandering Missives

Photo: Selfie, taken in front of Montpelier City Hall (circa: 10/6/2022). During the most recent regular Montpelier City Council meeting, held on the evening of Wednesday, August 28, 2024, the potential sale and development of the 12 - 16 Main Street lot came up for discussion ( agenda item 11 ). This had previously been the site of the former Guertin Parklet structure , which the city had removed over two years ago, amidst the height of controversy and NIMBYism (Not In My Back Yard) or, rather, NOPE (Not On Planet Earth) concerning people living unhoused outdoors who were often occupying the small gazebo because they had nowhere else to go. My personal dream, hope and vision for the currently vacant property would be to have a four and possibly up to six story structure designed, developed and built that would house a bottle and can redemption center as well as a community center located on a lower floor, an emergency shelter with single rooms for people living unhoused outdoors above...

  According to a recent Seven Days article, here , the City of Montpelier is currently seeking to have the lot, which formerly hosted the Guertin Parklet structure (before the city had it removed in early May of 2022), developed; ironically, potentially, for housing: The Montpelier City Council is seeking developers’ proposals for a half-acre downtown lot that drew locals' complaints and repeated visits from police in recent years after its gazebo became a gathering place for people experiencing homelessness. [...] “It’s one of the pieces of the housing puzzle that the city can help with,” said Josh Jerome, Montpelier’s community and economic development specialist. The gazebo that previously occupied the city-owned lot had become a shelter of sorts, and bad behavior there promoted complaints to the city and calls for emergency services. People who lived in apartments next door reported finding syringes and   sleeping strangers in their halls and stairways; merchants sai...

P hoto: Person living unhoused outdoors resting on a bench in Montpelier, the capital city of Vermont (photo shared with the direct consent of the person pictured; image credit: Morgan W. Brown).   Illegitimi Non Carborundum (mock-Latin aphorism; aka Dog Latin) (Mock Translated: “Don’t Let the Bastards Grind You Down”) Somewhat related quote (for the purposes of this particular essay): In human rights and peacemaking, it's really about having a solid concrete goal - the reduction of human suffering somewhere in the world - and then doing what is required to get that goal achieved.      – John Prendergast For those who are living unhoused outdoors (aka living homeless outdoors), as well as those who will soon be evicted from the state hotel/motel program or already have been, whether it is recognized and then acknowledged or not, a state of emergency has existed, with most having nowhere else to go for shelter (save for congregate shelters...

Had recently considered selling the vintage two piece Italian-made black striped suit as well as vintage shoes, which I had purchased last year for the one and only marriage ceremony I had officiated in early June of 2023 when I was still a Justice of the Peace (JP), back to the Getup Vintage shop located in downtown Montpelier.  However, I have since decided to gift these items, including the black clip-on bowtie and also the Vermont lapel pin (am keeping the Italian-made straw boater hat for myself however), to someone who has been doing and continues to do advocacy work as well as public speaking and testifying on behalf of those most in need much along the lines of what I had previously done (prior to retiring), but at a higher and more effective level than myself over the years.  What they as well as others are doing along these lines is critically important work and, in my opinion (although they always are well dressed when doing it), they deserve to look like a million...

  Photo caption: Person living unhoused outdoors resting on a bench in Montpelier, the capital city of Vermont (photo shared with the direct consent of the person pictured). Image credit: Morgan W. Brown (circa: 11/2/2022) Anticipated to be handed down sometime shortly by the US Supreme Court is its decision on Johnson versus Grants Pass : On April 22nd 2024, the Supreme Court of the United States heard the case of Johnson v. Grants Pass . This sets the stage for the most significant Supreme Court case about the rights of homeless people in decades. At its core, this case will decide whether cities are allowed to punish people for things like sleeping outside with a pillow or blanket, even when there are no safe shelter options. A decision will be made by June 30th, 2024. Besides the above quoted information and source, this  Harvard Law School  article has more about the case, here . Meanwhile, Common Dreams has a recently published related opinion piece concerning the ...

Am wondering about, now that certain Vermont hotels and motels had exited unhoused guests from their properties to free up rooms for higher paying guests who were visiting the state to view the total solar eclipse, how many hotels and motels might opt to no longer participate in the hotel/motel program in order to rent rooms to tourists and the like for the Spring as well as coming Summer and Autumn seasons instead? Likewise, how many hotels  and motels might take unhoused guests back in until the end of June? Posed rhetorically, however, these are among the top concerns and questions that have been keeping up at night of late. Photo: Vermont State House in Springtime (taken by Morgan W. Brown;  Saturday, May 6, 2023).

Screenshot: New York Post news article headline (click onto image to view enlargement). Someone had recently sent me a link to an online news article, published within an out of state tabloid newspaper, with a blaring headline about how a “[h]omeless shooting suspect …” had been taken into custody after being accused of killing three of their family members in a neighboring state. These murders are, as with all murders, senseless and terrible as well as tragic to be sure. No argument there. None whatsoever. Yet, the headline for this particular news story got me thinking once again on a subject I have quietly thought about from time to time previously, including after having seen headlines and news stories numerous times over the years about someone living unhoused, aka living homeless, who had been accused of one criminal act or another, whether major or minor in nature, including some published in local as well as statewide newspapers and also featured on TV News here in Vermont How...

Last edited and updated, including with the latest available related information, news and reports, on Wednesday, March 27, 2024 at 5:00 AM (EDT):  Note : Per the temporary regional homeless shelters daily update (sent out on Friday, 3/22/2024): "All shelter are now closed". Regarding the plan by Governor Phil Scott's administration to host four huge regional, supposedly short-term, congregate homeless shelters across the state,  a question has arisen within my mind about it (rhetorically posed; and, please excuse my bluntness as well as outrage, however), ... Is anyone -- other than myself -- asking how much $$$ this, for the lack of a better or more appropriate term, * pure baloney * er, absurd plan will cost and where all the funds will come from ❓❗ If not, I sure wish someone would ask and try to get an honest answer from whomever can best provide it, sooner rather than later. Related news coverage concerning the temporary regional stand up homeless shelters:  here ...