Carter will seek both the Progressive and the Democratic nominations in his run for the Central District seat, he said in his campaign announcement Thursday. He’s contending for one of four council seats up for grabs on Town Meeting Day in March.
Carter is hoping to unseat longtime incumbent Councilor Jane Knodell (P-Central District), who has served for nearly 20 years on the council, including two stints as its president.
Carter has been active on political issues in Burlington. He has been vocal in his opposition to the CityPlace Burlington redevelopment. He has represented several homeless people in court cases challenging the city’s eviction policies and its no-trespass ordinance on Church Street.
Carter teaches at Vermont Law School in South Royalton and runs a legal nonprofit, the Vermont Community Law Center. Through that organization, he represented Seven Days in a public records lawsuit against the city. The paper lost the suit.
As councilor, Carter said, he would seek to protect city interests when dealing with developers and to keep city assets, such as Burlington Telecom and the Church Street Marketplace, publicly owned. Carter is one of the intervenors challenging the Burlington Telecom sale before the Public Utility Commission.
“There are so many critical issues facing the city; this is the time for engagement,” he told Seven Days.
Carter vowed to draw attention to the small, local businesses in the Old North End. “I think we need to highlight that vibrancy,” he said. Grassroots work to promote economic growth would help reinvigorate the city, he said.
“It’s time to get our mojo back,” he said.
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The Burlington City Council is a complete mess. The only way it could get any worse is will the election of Carter. Its a rare privilege to meet someone who says so much and knows so little but Carter is one of those people.
There is a difference between a public showman who happens to have a law degree, and an actual practicing attorney. Carter has no real experience as the latter, as far as I can tell. But he does seem to be fairly good at attracting attention to himself, for good or ill.
Having met Carter, I understand why the comments here are so negative. He doesn’t come across as particularly knowledgable or insightful on first meeting. However, I can tell you that, if you get to know him a bit better, that feeling does not go away but he does tend to make racially insensitive comments.
Why vote? Lets just ask Ali Dieng if he thinks Carter is a racist. Dieng can tweet his answer and it will be final. If yes, the Burlington Politburo will not give comrade Carter permission to run. Instead, he will be assigned to think about his crimes against the people while cleaning the bathrooms at Party headquarters.