Patrick Leahy: “In every community there is someone who has changed the direction of events, who has shaped the future of its residents.…”

“In every community there is someone who has changed the direction of events, who has shaped the future of its residents. Burlington, VT has John Davis. This month John is saying goodbye to the City of Burlington's Community and Economic Development Office CEDO where he has spent the last 10 years making Burlington a better place to live and work. As Housing Director for most of that period John has worked to make affordable housing a reality for countless low and moderate income people living in Vermont's most expensive housing market. Since 1994 John has also been the driving force behind the effort to revitalize Burlington's Old North End through its designation as Vermont's only Enterprise Community. When President Clinton first announced the Empowerment Zone and Enterprise Community Initiative, John was quick to see the opportunity to turn around the decline of Burlington's Old North End. There was no shortage of roadblocks on that long road to winning the designation of Enterprise Community. I think that only John's unique mix of grass- roots organizing skills, MIT professor's intelligence, and every day Vermonter common sense could have brought together all of the disparate groups involved to develop a plan for building a ``New'' North End where the ``Old”