Out of work? Looking for a job in Burlington City Hall? If a recent promise made by Republican mayoral candidate Kurt Wright holds any water, your best bet might be to run against him.
During a forum on multiculturalism and equity on Saturday, Wright said that if he is elected mayor, fellow candidate Wanda Hines, “will have a key role in the administration.”
Wright was responding to a question about how he would increase cultural awareness within city hall and bring more diversity to local government.
He prefaced his response by saying Hines, an independent, has “as good a chance of winning this race” as Democratic candidate Miro Weinberger or himself.
“But should I win, Wanda will have a key role in the administration. I think Wanda does a great job now and I would want Wanda to be an integral part of the administration. Having said that, again, I know Wanda is planning on being the one in charge—”
“Yes I am,” Wanda interjected.
“And, again, she has as good a chance as anyone,” Wright continued. “But a person like Wanda, and there are lots of other people — some people right here in the audience — who would do a great job, so we would be reaching out to those people.”
Asked Wednesday on WVMT’s “Charlie and Ernie and Lisa in the Morning” show whether she would take a job in a Wright administration, Hines said yes.
“I would accept a position in a Kurt Wright administration,” she said. “I would accept a position — any position — where I can continue to contribute to my community. Yes, I would. People, you know, paint Kurt as this bad guy. I don’t think Kurt is a bad guy. I mean, I understand where Kurt is coming from and I think we need to do a better job of agreeing to disagree and, again, accepting people.”
Reached later in the day, Hines had changed her tune.
“As much as I like Kurt, it is inappropriate for him to offer me a job — especially when I’m running against him,” she said in a phone interview. “That kind of thing up front seems like a bribe way out in the open. For right now, I’d like to say to Kurt, ‘I’m running for mayor, you’re running for mayor, and I think all of us will look at the options after the election.’”
But would she take a job if offered?
“I don’t know,” she said. “Maybe I would if it was available.”
Wright, too, seemed to step back from the proposed partnership Wednesday.
“Wanda would be someone I’d strongly consider. She’s someone who already works in city hall,” he said.
Hines is currently on leave from her position as Social Equity Investment Project Director in Burlington’s Community and Economic Development Office (CEDO).
Wright said he was referring to the possibility that Hines would remain in her position at CEDO or could serve in a different position in the office if he were successful in overhauling the office, as he has proposed.
“The reason I think about that in those terms is that if she was elected, she would be there because she already works there,” he said.
This article appears in The Love & Marriage Issue 2012.
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This is funny. Two people with government jobs trying to get another government job, then saying they’d hire each other. It’s hard to take either of them seriously. Also, do people know Kurt never graduated from college? They should. As for Miro, where are you on all this? This race is a snoozer.
“Also, do people know Kurt never graduated from college?”
Our current mayor has a Bachelor’s degree, and let’s take a poll to see how many Burlingtonians think he’s done a good job.
However, I do think the “offer Hines a job” issue is worthy of greater scrutiny, and I applaud Heintz and Seven Days for digging into it a bit. From the minute I heard that Hines had joined the race, all I could think was, “Congratulations, Mayor Wright!” As a well-known left-winger, Hines brought a genuinely different perspective to the race –a good thing–, but because she jumped in at the last minute, and because her campaign’s disorganization is so obvious (e.g., bare-bones web site up just recently, no social media outreach of which I’m aware), her only real role in this campaign is as spoiler for Weinberger.
I used to elbow my wife and say, in my best woodchuck voice, “How much that Kurt payin’ ya, Wanda?”, but with this recent, on-the-record promise of a “role” of some kind in a Wright administration, life appears to be imitating a bad joke.
Do people know that some of the largest employers in the state and highest paid COO’s never graduated from college? What about Miro naming a transition team of Progressives several of whom have been “consulting” on the payroll for the city. You can read anything into a statement you want dependent upon one’s perspective. By the way, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Former CEO/President of Crown Books Stores, AthleFoot Stores, and Pearl Vision never graduated from college. Listen and Look at actions, knowledge comes in many forms
You had to be there. They are a collegial group. It’s hard to remember they are rivals sometimes. Who doesn’t wish they were a management team instead of a winner and two losers. Anybody remember when in his enthusiasm for Dan Smith’s vision for CEDO, Kurt offered him the director’s job? Well, Kurt was giving us an example of the kind of management team he would bring to city hall. He admires Wanda, that is obvious in their exchanges. I’m impressed by collaboration and collegiality. We can’t get distracted by petty issues, blown out of proportion by eager newsmakers. We can insist on substance, keep our eye on the prize, and trust the wisdom in the spirit that directs to right — or left or other. (It’s easy to id quotes today, but I bet you didn’t know the second one without google assist!)
Bob Kiss has died from his own words.”Be honest and put people first”.
He was not honest in The last campaign not disclosing the BT facts, was not putting people first by his henchman Leopold making accusations of Andy Montroll being in a conflict of interest with his Telecommunication involvements.
Bob Kiss as is obvious has been hiding information from Burlington residents for many years. Kurt has asked many times at finance board meetings what the risk involved is in situations.
According to Bob Kiss their never seems to be a risk involved with anything, proven again by his allowing the TIF district item to go on the ballot in March while the State Auditor works to get the facts of the mess we are in and continues to get stonewalled by Kiss.
So Kiss and his ignorance to the concerns of citizens lets the TIF go through, probably and should get voted down because the information is being supplied by the forever tainted Kiss administration.
Kurt has seen the dark side of an administration hiding the facts, has more knowledge than the other candidates of the workings of our city, and I support Kurt in his bid for Mayor.
As for Bob Kiss I can only hope the state finds probable cause to investigate his involvement of hiding the facts of BT from residents and hope the state finds probable cause to hold the legal beagles of the law firm of McNeill, Leddy and Sheehan, namely William Ellis Esq., and Joseph McNeil Esq.totally responsible for the hiding of the BT facts, before the last Mayoral election.
You don’t know Wanda if you think she is running for any reason but to put her vision out there and win. Her campaign isn’t disorganized, it’s organized in a different way — BACK TO BASICS, get it? Wanda doesn’t need a job from Kurt or Miro, she has a job and the foundation of her equity work is recognized nationally as Best Practices. Well-known left-winger? Spoiler? Stop it. Wanda dances to her own beat, she’s no lefty, and she’s nobody’s spoiler. This proud good woman simply decided to run for Mayor, she’s got a plan and it’s not dang-awful head-achy complicated. Go to her website and check it out!.
Hey Lea. As someone who himself qualifies as a lefty, and as someone who’s known Wanda for roughly 30 years, I can assure you that she’s very much to the left of me politically. She’s been an activist –and, I believe, an effective one– for a long time.
I have no doubt that Wanda thinks she’s doing the right thing, and I’m sure you and I agree that her point of view is VERY important, very underrepresented in local government, and very much needed. That proud good woman did indeed simply decide to run for Mayor…but way too late to make a difference. If you want to say that Wanda’s being a good role model and is showing people an example of a strong woman speaking truth to power, etc., OK, I love it and support that completely. But as an effective Mayoral campaigner? I’m sorry, I’m just not seeing it.
Net result: draining of left-of-center votes that otherwise would more likely have gone to Miro. Kurt wins. And, with the promise of a role in his administration…so does Wanda…