My personal experience living with a disability in a residential area in Burlington underlies this plea. I have healthcare workers attending to my needs at my own home. One of my healthcare workers informed me of receiving a parking ticket of $75 while assisting an elderly client. The city waived it once but warned of no further leniency. This sparked in me an awareness of a problem that surely impacts many others in our community. The city issues a placard for visitors but residents have to pay for them, so many elderly people don’t have them or forget where they put them. 

Burlington city's residential-only parking policy is putting undue strain on essential workers. Denying free parking to home healthcare and other individuals offering vital services in our homes is a burden that should not be borne by these tireless contributors to our community. Following their invaluable services, a $75 fine waiting on their vehicles is rather harsh.

While it's important to monitor residential traffic and maintain a balance, the needs and contributions of these essential service providers cannot be overlooked. Parking tickets should not be an addition to their already demanding roles.

This issue is not limited to my personal circumstance. There are at least 12.1 million individuals across the United States requiring home healthcare services (2020 Statistics from the National Association for Home Care & Hospice). It becomes evident that this affects a significant number of healthcare workers and other essential professionals. Therefore, it's crucial that our city takes proactive steps to alleviate this concern.

We urge the Burlington authorities to create a provision for a city-wide parking pass for all essential service workers visiting residential areas for professional aid. This will enable them to focus on delivering their indispensable services to residents without the looming worry of parking fines. Please sign this petition to support free city-wide parking for all home healthcare and essential workers in Burlington.