“I think it is important to give others the opportunity to lead us, and I am grateful to have had the opportunity to play this role,” she wrote in an email last Wednesday informing the council of her decision.
Knodell said she had been “thinking for a while” about stepping down to make way for new leadership and to participate in meetings rather than facilitate the discussion, which is the president’s role. “I’m ready to get back into the debate,” she said.
✖So far, just one person has put his name forward: New North End Councilor Kurt Wright (R-Ward 4). A Democrat will likely run for the job as well, confirmed Councilor Chip Mason (D-Ward 5) in a text message to Seven Days. “We have not decided on which of us that will be,” he texted.
Councilors will elect a new president at their April 2 meeting.
Wright, who served as council president from 2007 to 2009, said that his status as the sole Republican would allow him to run the council unencumbered by party pressure. “I think I am in a unique position, with no other allies from my party on the Council, to deliver balance, impartiality, fairness and equal treatment to every Councilor,” he wrote in an email to councilors following Knodell’s.
“I think it’s vital that the council president come from a party other than the mayor’s party,” Knodell said. A longtime ally of Wright, she said she’ll support the Republican.
For his part, Wright said he will call each member of the council to seek their support. He praised Knodell for her hard work and an apolitical approach to managing council business. “Jane ran an incredibly efficient meeting,” he said.
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7d never asked Wright why he wants to be council chief.
And he never specified any compelling reason why the average taxpayer should give a hoot who runs the meetings.
This is all about incidental process – Wright’s specialty.
This is happening because the anti-democrat councilors are gnashing their teeth and howling into their bran flakes because we re-elected Miro.
Knodell and Wright sabotaged Burlington Telecom sale in order to hurt Miro. It’s a tragedy that these anti-democrats were re-elected because they care more about sabotaging the mayor than they do about the people of Burlington. They sold BT to Wall Street Schurz in order to hurt Miro. They would have sold BT to satan in order to hurt Miro.
Carina Driscoll will be mayor of Burlington over my dead body. If progressives want us to elect a progressive mayor, they need to come up with people who are smarter and more capable than Bob Kiss or Driscoll. Burlington has had enough of merry progressive idiots.
Knodell may have run an “incredibly efficient meeting”, according to Kurt Wright, but she gave Miro and Sinex pretty much everything they wanted. She has been mailing it in for years when it comes to truly representing the Old North End. She is one of the Church Street Oligarch’s best friends on City Council, just like our current mayor and former mayor Peter Clavelle. This may get the Arts and Culture crowd’s knickers in a twist but its past time to quit pretending that Burlington is some sort of wildly liberal city. It is only a thin veneer now. Just watch the skyline and creeping gentrification for your proof.
Want to know why we’ve never really had a real debate about Rent Control in Burlington? Jane is a big part of the answer. A nod to your years of sitting on the council, but it’s time to move on, Jane.
“Old and in the way, is what I heard them say
they used to heed the words she said but that was yesterday.
Gold has turned to grey
and youth will fade away.
They’ll never care about you ’cause you’re old and in the way.”
I am very happy with the Burlington Telecom sale. I strongly support Kurt being council president as well. Such bitterness, it’s done, over. Move on.