Inside a packed Burlington City Hall Auditorium on Monday evening, the two independents took jabs at Democratic Mayor Miro Weinberger, criticizing the incumbent for his management of the Burlington Telecom sale process, the long-languishing Moran Plant and the diminished power of Neighborhood Planning Assemblies.
Weinberger defended his record. “This administration believes that nothing is more important than the public trust,” he said.
More than 300 people turned out for the forum, which was sponsored by Seven Days, Channel 17/Town Meeting Television and the League of Women Voters of Champlain Valley. Supporters of all three contenders stood along the walls and filtered up into the balcony, holding yard signs and cheering when their chosen candidate hit home a point.
The trio opened up about bike lanes, local marijuana policy, the future of Memorial Auditorium and Pine Street potholes.
They disagreed on the future basing of the F-35 fighter jets at Burlington International Airport, an advisory question for the city council that will appear on the ballot in March. Culcleasure said he was opposed to the jets; Weinberger said he was in favor of the current plan — and criticized Driscoll for her lack of a firm position. “Either Carina isn’t being straight with us, or she’s trying to have it both ways, and I think Burlingtonians expect more out of their mayors,” Weinberger said.
Driscoll countered, blaming Weinberger for forging ahead with his own agenda. “If the people of Burlington speak up and ask for us to do something differently, then I’m going to listen,” she shot back. “I think what I’m hearing from you is you have made up your mind despite how the ballot turns out on election day.”
Culcleasure was the only candidate to not wholeheartedly support safe injection sites in the city, saying he would defer to the will of the voters. “Who’s neighborhood would it wind up in — Ward 5?” he asked rhetorically, referring to the South End district where Driscoll lives. “I’m guessing it will probably wind up in my neighborhood in the Old North End. Voters should weigh in on that.”
A month of campaigning remains until the March 6 election. Weinberger appears to be off to a strong start: Campaign finance reports filed Sunday showed that the two-term incumbent has accumulated a war chest of $80,000. Driscoll raised $32,000, and Culcleasure drummed up nearly $5,000.
The disparate fundraising figures didn’t prevent either challenger from taking shots at the incumbent Monday evening. Driscoll in particular criticized Weinberger’s “highest bidder” mindset, citing the Burlington Telecom process, the sale of a city parking lot on Pearl Street, the lack of community involvement around plans for Memorial Auditorium and the uncertain future of the Moran Plant.
When development group New Moran came forward hoping to redevelop the waterfront building, “we had local investment at the table, we had creative individuals, we had businesses, we had artists, we had the farmers market,” Driscoll said. She blamed Weinberger for the failed talks. “What we got was a unilateral decision to end that conversation.”
She promised to reopen negotiations with the group and vowed to “decentralize power” by funding Neighborhood Planning Assemblies and increasing access to city boards and commissions. Culcleasure, too, supported a renewed focus on inclusive city governance at every level.
It wasn’t all discord. The three candidates said they supported the school budget that will come before voters on Town Meeting Day — even though it entails a property tax increase of nearly 8 percent. Each said they wanted to take down — or at least consider replacing — the “Everyone Loves a Parade!” mural off of Church Street, which has been condemned by some as racist. All agreed on the need to fill potholed Burlington roads — and quickly.
The candidates repeatedly defended their ability to effectively represent the working class. Weinberger pointed to his work creating affordable housing, and said he helped members of Farrington’s Mobile Home Park convert the property into the resident-owned North Avenue Co-op.
Driscoll vowed to eliminate waiting lists for childcare and to devote more resources to after-school programs. She told an anecdote about receiving food stamps as a child, when she would visit the public library after school because her single mother was working long hours.
Culcleasure, too, told his story, of moving to Burlington in 1991 with $20 in his pocket. The working class should be seen as current and potential leaders, he said, rather than people to be pitied. “We need to go into the low-income community and work with low-income communities and follow their lead, actually,” he said.
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“The candidates repeatedly defended their ability to effectively represent the working class. Weinberger pointed to his work creating affordable housing, and said he helped members of Farrington’s Mobile Home Park convert the property into the resident-owned North Avenue Co-op.”
Perfect example of a Gish Gallop. The question was, “Do you know anyone on food stamps?” After evading a direct answer (he knows “of” people on food stamps), Miro barreled into a long monologue that ended with the Farrington Mobile Home Park. Miro is completely out of touch with the needs of struggling Burlingtonians.
Every single word Driscoll says feels completely planned and focused grouped. For the most part there aren’t real opinions or policy ideas, it is just hitting on talking points that will energize the different groups that she needs to win. It is like watching Hilary debate during the 2016 election.
Of course there needs to be public discussion, but what is YOUR opinion?
Having the support of the local 1%ers, the Church Street Oligarchs, and the Chamber of Commerce, plus some out of state money, Miro makes the case for having Term Limits for the office of Mayor.
He also has the support of the majority of readers of 7 Days. Why? Because the poorer folks in Ward 2 and Ward 3 don’t read 7 Days because their lives have little to do with the next art opening, or IPA or wine tasting or artsy film preview. Which is why any comment that is critical of our Dear Leader gets more “dislikes” than “likes”.
I don’t understand the anger towards Miro, he and his staff have done a great job putting Burlington back on solid financial footing. I don’t agree with everything he does but I would hardly expect any elected official to do everything I liked. I trust him to make hard decisions on behalf of the greater good.
The Burlington Telecom debacle fell firmly on the heads of several appalling City Councilors who voted in a petty and vindictive manner, doing their best to hamstring the mayor’s efforts to resolve the creditor lawsuits and rescue the service from dissolution. Thank goodness BT still operates as an alternative to Comcast.
A vote for Driscoll is a vote to take us backwards to the Kiss era of incompetence and financial mismanagement. Burlington just achieved a respectable credit rating again, I hope voters don’t take our hard-won solid financial status for granted ever again.
“Culcleasure, too, told his story, of moving to Burlington in 1991 with $20 in his pocket.”
according to court records he came here to sell drugs to Vermonters.
the lack of facts in these articles is disturbing
While I have never been a fan or Miro (and probably never will be) I cannot with good conscience vote for either Carina or Infinite.
I wish Infinite would consider running for City Council: Mayor is a job that needs experience and he is sorely lacking. However, if the BT debacle made anything clear it was that the City Council needs new voices.
That Carina did not have enough self awareness to see her ties to Bernie as a conflict or at least something she needed to have a clear message on BEFORE entering the race shows her lack of awareness and lack of political maturity. I also agree with a previous commenter that she has yet to state any opinion that could possibly give voters a sense of who they would be voting for. In essence, she is telling voters that she is distancing herself from Bernie but also telling voter’s to trust that she will be the second coming of Bernie (since she keeps harkening “back to the 80s,” calling on Our Revolution, and invoking photos of her with Bernie). It’s all very disingenuous and should not be trusted.
filling potholes is only a temporary solution, they are right back after a rainfall or a snowstorm, these streets, like pine street for one, need to be fully repaved!! And I agree that Miro is completely out of touch with struggling Burlingtonians
If you peal it all back, what I want in a Mayor is someone with proven experience managing projects and people. Miro has done an excellent job of breaking down the silos within city government, and brought people together to collaboratively solve problems. I want someone especially who gets the financial piece. We cannot deliver the services we need without continuously working on how to pay for them. I want someone who will defend people in need, and while the far left have done a great job of painting Miro as an out-of-touch elitist, its too far from the truth. From the time with Habitat for Humanity forward, he’s understood that housing is a critical piece in addressing these needs, and while “developer” is a dirty word when used with a broad brush, its important to see that Miro’s focus as a developer has been on affordable housing – as well as historic preservation. And its this experience that he leveraged to get the maximum benefit out of the mall deal – that included 20% affordable, which I believe is the highest percent of any housing project in the state’s history. I also want a Mayor who will preserve our great buildings, and I again trust that Miro’s experience in historic preservation speaks to that as well. We are incredibly lucky to have such a knowledgeable, hard working, and effective Mayor who has done so much in 6 short years. The work isn’t done. Let’s give him another 3 years, at least.
How does spot-zoning to allow for a 14-story monstrosity qualify as a commitment to historic preservation?
Miro’s responses seem canned and are often disingenuous. For instance, he has latched onto funds that used to go to the schools and now speaks as if he generated revenue miraculously. Yes, facts matter, but not to Weinberger. Driscoll is on to him and voters should be too.
@Oleander – So are you really suggesting that we should have preserved the mall?
Historic preservation?…lol… are you talking about that one wall of his Packard Lofts that allowed him the zoning variance to build closer to the edge of the bluff increasing the number of units he could sell/rent?!?!?… How much are rents over there by the way?
Everybody who supports Miro is saying the ends justifies the means. Anybody touting a great credit rating from Moody’s should be ashamed of themselves: those people along with S&P and Fitch should all be in jail for their roles in the un-indicted finance cartel that keeps the Dems in business all over the place. One of these legitimately inspiring leaders is going to have to bow out gracefully and throw full weight behind the other if we are to rescue this town from the best intentions of a truly zealous mob of land and asset speculators.
One of these comments seems like it’s straight from the Weinberger campaign’s PR department, or at the very least an unpaid wing of it. Hypothetically speaking, I wonder if that glowing opinion of the mayor could be influenced by that person’s having a very wealthy business partner who has a large development project in need of zoning changes soon…