There are only two contested races for Burlington City Council seats on Town Meeting Day, but the stakes are high.
In the city’s South and East districts, Progressives and Democrats are in hard-fought races that will determine which party holds a majority on the 12-member council, the legislative body governing Vermont’s largest city.
Democrats currently have a 7-5 majority. But if Progressives manage to pick up both contested seats on March 4, it would mark the first time in city history that Progressives controlled both the council and the mayor’s office. That would be a major boost to first-term Progressive Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak.
The Queen City alternates elections between its eight ward seats and four district seats, with the latter up for election next Tuesday.
For the first time in two decades, Democratic Councilor Joan Shannon will not be running for reelection in the South District. And Tim Doherty, a Democratic councilor who represented the East District announced his resignation last November after being appointed a superior court judge.
Progressive Councilor Melo Grant has no competition in the Central District, and Mark Barlow, an independent councilor, is running unopposed as a Democrat this year in the North District.
“We’ve always had to work with Democrats or Republicans or independents to move anything forward,” said Josh Wronski, the chair of Vermont’s Progressive Party. “I don’t think that would change, even if we had (a majority), but obviously, we would have a greater ability to move our agenda forward.”
Andy Vota, chair of the Burlington Democratic Party, said it is important to “have a sense of balance” in the city’s politics. With a Progressive in the mayor’s office, “having a Democratic majority would help us maintain balance with the administration.”
The election comes as Burlington faces mounting pressure to address a substance use crisis, build more housing, and rebuild its beleaguered police department, which has been short-staffed for years, and is in the midst of a leadership transition. (Mulvaney-Stanak announced this month that former South Burlington Police Chief Shawn Burke would be filling in as interim chief following Jon Murad’s impending departure.)
City officials will also have to find ways to close a multimillion-dollar budget gap in the coming months.
Wronski made the case that a Progressive majority on the council would “move rapidly to address the housing crisis and to address issues of substance use disorder” in a way that “still respects and values the input of everyone on the council.”
He’s optimistic, but said he’s aiming for a 6-6 council split, which would mean “true collaboration on the council.”
“I think because of the current council makeup, we don’t always see the other side interested in working in a fully collaborative way,” he said.
High stakes
In the South District, two first-time candidates are competing for a seat in what has long been a Democratic stronghold. With Shannon stepping down after more than 20 years in office, Progressives have a rare opportunity to make inroads.
Progressive Jennifer Monroe Zakaras, who works remotely for the University of California San Francisco, is running against Democrat Ranjit “Buddy” Singh, a mortgage broker.
Singh, in an interview, said that, if elected, he’s hoping to collaborate with the mayor. “But I think it’s important to balance that with the council,” he said. “Affordability, housing, community safety, the environment, economic vitality — I think the Democrats are strong on all those issues.”
Zakaras called the election “a pivotal moment for Burlington.”
“We must come together on the city council and make policy choices that move us toward a thriving, creative, resilient, safe and equitable city,” she said.
Vota, the Democratic party chair, acknowledged that running a first-time candidate after Shannon’s tenure leaves the seat “contested.”
But history is on the Democrats’ side in the South District — both in the district seat as well as in the Wards 5 and 6 seats, Vota said.
“We’re working extremely hard, and will be working hard right up to the end,” Vota said. “But I don’t feel on the defensive there.”
The East District, however, is widely viewed as a swing district. Democrats have held the district seat for two terms, but the Wards 1 and 8 seats are held by Progressive councilors Carter Neubieser and Marek Broderick.
“I think it’s widely viewed that the East District is the most competitive and highest-stakes race for both parties,” Vota said.
There, Progressive Kathy Olwell, a former social worker with 10 years of experience on the city’s school board, is facing Democrat Allie Schachter, the head of development at The Flynn, the downtown music and event venue.
Olwell, who campaigned for Mulvaney-Stanak, said she’s running to give the mayor a base of support on the council. In an interview, she said that the mayor “can’t do the things that we all worked so hard to see her get elected for” with a Democratic majority.
“It’s always this kind of deadlock” on the council, she said.
Schachter, her opponent, also decried “partisanship” on the council.
“There is so much division and so much partisanship, and I just feel so strongly, we are on the same team,” she said. “We have to be finding ways to work together.”
Schachter said she’s running to address “multiple crises compounding on each other at the same time.”
She cited the high cost of housing and a significant pressure on the residential tax base, while downtown businesses are struggling.
“What this moment demands of us is to put partisanship aside, to get things done for Burlington and if we can’t figure out how to move through the sort of partisanship that I see… on the current city council, I fear that this sort of negative cycle that we’re in, we’re not going to interrupt it, it’s just going to continue.”
The city’s Democratic candidates have largely outraised their Progressive opponents. Schachter has brought in $24,771 in campaign contributions, while Olwell has raised $7,998, according to campaign finance records. And in the South District, Singh has raised $22,555, while Zakaras has brought in $13,677.
Read the story on VTDigger here: City council races could change balance of power in Burlington.