Kurt Wright is justifiably pleased with his political achievements over the years. The only Burlington Republican in the Vermont House of Representatives – “and the only one for close to quarter of a century,” he notes with some pride– Wright has also served five terms on the City Council since 1995, with two crucial years as Council president.
As he often puts it, he has “been through the fires.” It’s a key reason he feels ready now, after previous runs for mayor in 1999 and 2009, to be chief executive of the Queen City. And despite the city’s left-leaning image, he could finally prevail on March 6, 2012.
“We need a mayor who knows the mechanics of city government,” he argued in an interview with VTDigger.org. “We need someone who has proven he has the chops. We don’t need someone who is running for first time and starting a political career. I have led the council, at times almost as the de facto mayor.”
Wright was drawing distinctions between himself and Miro Weinberger, a housing developer and airport commissioner who is running for public office for the first time after winning a hotly contested Democratic caucus, and the popular GOPer was characteristically was blunt.
“Miro does not have executive experience related to running city government,” he charged. “He talks about himself as a negotiator or complex financial deals. That’s not what the mayor does. He sounds like he’s auditioning for a different job.”
Pressing the comparison, Wright said that his campaign will be based on “being part of the middle class, people of modest means. I won’t be getting big time endorsements from governors and senators.” This remark was another veiled dig. Weinberger recently nabbed endorsements from former governors Madeleine Kunin and Howard Dean, as well as state senators Philip Baruth and Tim Ashe, whom Weinberger defeated in the Democratic caucus.
Wright has made a point of collecting support across social, economic and party lines. His official campaign launch at City Hall last week put an accent on diversity, with statements by independents and at least five Democrats. The banner behind them read, “Citizenship not Partisanship.”
Wright calls his approach moderate and mainstream. “My basic philosophy is Republican,” he readily acknowledges. But he adds, “I’m not a member of the Tea Party. I’m an independent-minded Republican. I’m a centrist. I’m not on the fringes of the left or the right.”
To be sure, Wright has friends across the political spectrum. Weinberger recently called him “a likeable guy and a formidable opponent.”
That said, his main proposal so far is a bold challenge to Burlington’s conventional wisdom — to consider selling the city’s century-old municipal utility, the Burlington Electric Department, as the solution to the city’s pension fund liability, Burlington Telecom’s debts, and a growing list of unmet needs.
Weinberger finds the idea of selling BED or other city assets to deal with current financial problems “wholly inappropriate.” Wright says he would not be making such a proposal “if not for the magnitude of the problems.” Yet he also suggests that a private company might deliver energy just as efficiently and cheaply as BED.
“This is not a knock at management,” Wright insists. “It’s not because I’m a critic. I supported smart meters. Nobody can claim I’m out to get BED.” But based on information provided by advisors, he believes that “in terms of keeping rates low or lower a private company might do better.”
The reason he is looking at BED rather than other city enterprises, he explained, is that it “was one that had enough value to it, enough to shore up the pension system and more.”
He thinks other alternatives should also be considered.
“We need to evaluate all our assets for sure, to investigate,” Wrights says, but he adds that the city should only consider selling the utility if the price and other factors are right. “Then the voters would decide.”
A GOP way in Burlington and Montpelier
Wright grew up in Vergennes, where his father owned a Pontiac dealership, and moved to Burlington in the late 1970s, attending Champlain College before he settled into the job that would define his early years.
During the 1980s, he became widely known and locally knowledgeable as manager of a commercial landmark, Kerry’s Kwik Stop, a convenience store located just blocks from the city’s center. Wright recalls being interested in politics from the start, and decided in the early 1990s that “The city needed a change. People were frustrated by Peter Clavelle.”
For Wright, the turning point was the 1993 campaign of Republican Peter Brownell, who beat Clavelle to become mayor for a single term. “Peter wasn’t a typical politician,” Wright claims. “People would say, the election is coming and people need to understand where you are. But he really didn’t care. He preferred to get something passed rather than getting the credit.”
In 1994, Wright challenged Burlington Democrat Carmel Babcock for her House seat. No one gave him much of a chance of defeating a 20-year incumbent, but the race went to a recount and Wright lost by just five votes.
Four months later he was back, taking on another popular Democrat, then-City Councilor Bill Aswad, who had been elected to the Vermont House. “People thought Bill would resign, since he was in the Legislature,” Wright recalls. Running on the idea that he would be a full-time ally for Brownell he won handily.
After two terms on the Council, Wright made his first run for mayor in 1999. The defeat by Clavelle was decisive.
The lesson? “My rigid and hard core approach was not the way to go. It didn’t get things accomplished.” Wright says he subsequently came to believe that “things happen in the center in politics. I was not ready in 1999.”
His political rebound took less than two years. In 2000, not long after Vermont legalized civil unions, Wright became the only Burlington Republican in the House, one of two members representing District 3-1 in the New North End. He has attributed that first victory to his opposition to Act 60, then a new formula for public school funding.
Since 2000, Wright has served in the state legislature for six consecutive terms, accumulating a hard-to-define record. In 2004, for example, he backed a civil commitment law, a plan borrowed from Democratic Attorney General Bill Sorrell and backed by Republican Gov. Jim Douglas. Under the proposal a sexual predator who failed to finish offender treatment in prison could be sent subsequently to the State Hospital.
ACLU Director Allen Gilbert questioned the timing. “We are in the middle of a campaign season,” he noted at the time. “This might make great politics but I am really scratching my head about the public policy end of this.” As he frequently does, Wright denied anything but a public service motive.
Wright came to Douglas’ aid again in 2008 during debate over the governor’s proposal to generate more state revenue from gambling by leasing the State Lottery to a private firm. Since Wright had managed a convenience store he was well-positioned to discuss lottery issues.
During a discussion on Vermont Public Radio, he made an argument similar to his rationale for investigating the sale of BED. “We are facing some tough economic times,” Wright noted, a strong reason not to settle for “quick dismissal” of a proposal that might bring in another $50 million.
He wasn’t a fan of the Lottery Commission, he said on the air, but Vermonters voted for a lottery decades ago. Still, he asked, “What does it mean to sell assets? It isn’t a forest, it’s a revenue stream.”
On the other hand, Wright has broken ranks with fellow Republicans at times. The issues range from sentencing reform to marijuana. When he backed medical marijuana, Wright noted with a chuckle, then-Gov. Howard Dean opposed the idea. “We thought about putting a sunset on it,” he said. “The press went to Howard and he said, ‘The sunset on this happens when it hits my desk.’
“I part company with Republicans on environmental issues,” Wright continued, “But I take on issues that people on the Progressive side don’t like.”
One example of the latter was a Burlington ballot item he advocated in November 2005, shortly after reclaiming a seat on the City Council. Wright wanted local voters to urge legislation requiring statewide or regional negotiation of teachers’ contracts.
“It passed solidly,” Wright points out. “The message was that we need some change. We need either a statewide contract or regional contracts. We’ve seen what happens with teachers’ strikes. They rip communities apart.”
As a result he has been “attacked for Wisconsin-style politics,” Wright claims, but rejects the description. “My proposals have never been to take rights away from teachers.” As he sees it, he just wants “a better system in which we don’t have strikes.”
On the other hand, Wright voted for same-sex marriage, one of only seven Republicans to do so. “Hard core conservatives didn’t like my vote at all,” he points out.
When asked his opinion in early 2009 during his second race for mayor, however, he equivocated. A month before the legislative vote on same-sex marriage he hadn’t yet made up his mind. “I knew there would be fallout,” Wrights recalls. “People feel that if I had answered that differently, as I voted later, I might have won.”
From instant run off to de facto mayor
In 2009, Mayor Bob Kiss faced re-election after three relatively uneventful years. Looking back, Wright regrets not having entered the race three years earlier. “Hinda (Miller) kind of melted down,” he remembers. “When her campaign imploded, they went to Bob Kiss.”
Clavelle and other progressives who felt that another Progressive mayor was unlikely in 2006 had decided to endorse Miller, the Democrat running to succeed him. But others in Burlington’s Progressive Party rejected that informal move toward “fusion” and turned to Kiss, a state representative and human services executive. Kiss beat Miller by about 9 percent and became the first Burlington mayor elected using instant runoff voting (IRV).
As mayor, Kiss continued most of the policies and projects of the previous administration, including the roll out of Burlington Telecom. Business Week called the city one of the best places “to raise your kids,” and the Centers for Disease Control crowned it the nation’s “healthiest city.”
Kiss also helped re-launch a stalled redevelopment plan for the Moran plant, forging a public-private partnership that would combine a community sailing center, a children’s museum, and a for-profit recreation facility. The city would retain ownership of the building. Initially promising, the project stalled.
Although Burlington Telecom’s financial troubles were brewing by early 2009, they didn’t become an issue in the campaign. After two years as Council President, Wright talked about leadership, while Democrat Andy Montroll claimed that the city was “coasting along” and Independent Dan Smith stressed the need for local reinvention in a “post-partisan era.” Criticism of Kiss revolved mainly around his handling of accounting and personnel matters.
In the end, 8,980 people voted – about 1,000 less than had participated three years before – and Kiss was re-elected. In the initial count, however, Wright received 2,951 votes, or 32.8 percent, beating Kiss by almost 400 votes.
In the second round of IRV, the votes of Smith and Green Party candidate James Simpson were redistributed to the remaining three. Wright was still ahead, with 3,294 votes to 2,981 for Kiss. But when Montroll’s votes were redistributed for a third round Kiss pulled ahead with 4,313, beating Wright’s 4,061.
Some people, notably Wright supporters, weren’t pleased with the process and mounted a campaign to repeal IRV, which they succeeded in doing by 52 to 48 percent in 2010. In March 2012, the mayor’s race will be decided the old way – whoever finishes first with over 40 percent. If no candidate reaches that threshold – a possible factor with three or more candidates – then it’s run off time.
Looking back, Wright says he “didn’t spend time whining or crying. I had predicted that I would get first place, but thought I’d need to be in upper 30s to win.” However, he admits that it was deeply frustrating, and points out that Rutland’s mayor received about the same percentage as he did and won because Rutland has no minimum threshold.
Kiss should never have been mayor, Wright asserts, and his campaign is, in a way, an attempt to correct that mistake. “People will see during this campaign who is ready to lead the city,” he predicts.
“They’ve seen me willing to tackle tough issues. They’ve seen me lead the council, in a way serving as the de facto mayor.” Wright took on that role, he says, because Kiss was too detached.
As an example, he mentions a rewrite of the city’s zoning ordinances, which “dragged on and paralyzed city government. When I became president of the board it was anti-development. We got it more centered and balanced. It wasn’t what either side really wanted, but we got tremendous support.”
He also claims partial credit for the current city paving program. “That was a result of Andy Montroll and myself pushing the administration to come up with a plan to fix the streets,” he says. “When I was president I also pushed through a resolution to make sure we got funding to keep senior centers open.”
Another problem during his tenure as board president was underfunding of the city’s pension system. Mayor Kiss asked Chief Administrative Officer Jonathan Leopold and a Retirement Task Force to chart a path back to sustainable levels. After the report came out, Wright said the city had “some serious recommendations” to consider.
Nevertheless, the problem became worse. In 2004, pension underfunding was around $10 million, Wright notes. By 2008, when he was board president, it was $27 million. “Not everything in the report has been accomplished,” he explains.
“Some benefits may have been too rich. I don’t blame the workers. They gave up bigger pay increases for better retirement benefits,” he says. “But the unfunded liability is too high now.”
Changes have been made since 2008, he explains, but not enough. “Those are mostly done through collective bargaining. I support the collective bargaining process.” But 14 councilors don’t negotiate contracts, he adds, and even the mayor can’t be the chief negotiator.
Management, assets and values
“I’m willing to tackle big problems and not worry about the political risks,” claims Wright, who turns 56 in February. “We need a person who knows how to lead people. You can’t find out from someone’s degree,” another swipe at Weinberger, who has a master’s degree from Harvard in Public Policy and Urban Planning.
“I’ve become more centered over the years,” he says. In his early days as a city councilor, “Jane Knodell (now UVM Provost) was on the far left and I was on the far right. We’ve both moved to the center to some degree.”
He has thought long and hard since the 1990s about how he would run the city. If elected, he promises to set a new tone and bring in new people. Some department heads will change, but not all. Leaders at the police and fire departments have no worries, he notes, later suggesting that union support may be within reach.
“It will not be a Republican administration, it will be a tri-partisan administration,” Wright continues. “There are talented people in city government. But they also can thrive much more with new direction and new leadership at the top.”
Wright says his management style is to “take things on an individual case-by-case basis.” But he has been actively engaged in city affairs for so long that he has definite ideas about several key issues.
He is adamant, for example, that something be done soon about Memorial Auditorium, which he calls “a drain” on city funds, plus the deteriorating motel and parking lot nearby. In fact, he is already staking his re-election on it. His vision is a project, perhaps with some public funding from a proposed Tax Incremental Financing (TIF) district, that combines commercial space with offices and housing.
“It will bring more people downtown,” he predicts, and he says it would also somehow mean less cars and less pollution. “It works on so many levels.” But a developer won’t commit unless the mayor is on his side, Wright believes.
At the campaign launch he promised supporters, “If I can’t do something about this in three years, I won’t seek another term.”
Watch the CCTV footage of Wright’s kickoff.
As a member of the Board of Finance, Wright has also been an advocate for repair of the bike path. “I helped create the bike path taskforce,” he notes. “We’re about to come out with a plan. It’s a huge asset to the city, for jobs and recreation. And with tourism it brings in millions, for the marathon and other events. But it’s almost embarrassing with years of neglect.”
And he decries the administration’s failure to complete the Moran plant project. “Nothing has happened, we’ve lost a tenant, and more concerns have arisen,” he charges. Still, even if progress is possible, he doesn’t trust Kiss to proceed, calling him a lame duck.
“Nothing should happen until a new administration takes place,” Wright suggests. “Then, with my administration or Mr. Weinberger’s, a determination will have to be made.”
One area of apparent agreement with Weinberger is the limited options available for handling BT’s debts. Calling the millions owed to the city treasury and City Capitol “unfortunate,” he thinks the best possible outcome is a strategic partner or buyer – if one can be found. “Maybe Burlington maintains a percentage. If it became successful that might help us pay back the cash pool.”
He even agrees with Kiss occasionally. Last summer, for example, when the council adopted standards for public-private partnerships, Wright sided with the mayor. Kiss had signed an agreement to work on climate change projects with military contractor Lockheed Martin, but public pressure led to council adoption of a set of standards. Kiss vetoed the resolution as too restrictive.
“I agreed with Bob,” Wright says. “I didn’t think what was voted on was the right answer. But I would consider something” that defined local standards. In general he favors partnerships with business, and isn’t certain about any “exact limitations.” This should also be handled case by case, he says. “If it makes great financial sense for the city, look at it.”
He also credits Kiss for handling recent Occupy protests “better than some other issues.” Mainly praising local police for “showing proper restraint,” he nevertheless admits that the mayor successfully walked a fine line, “protecting use of the park and not have it destroyed and, at same time not turn this into a bigger problem.”
Wright rarely brings up Burlington values, a frequent topic during the recent Democratic primary. But when asked about them, he didn’t hesitate to provide a list. “Burlington cares about the environment, the working class, poor people, diversity, domestic violence, and about making sure that we’re sensitive about racism.
“I certainly will be sensitive to all those issues as well,” he promised. “Finances are the biggest issue now but I won’t ignore the other things.”
In Wright’s view, though, selling the city’s publicly-owned utility to retire debts and reduce liabilities is not such an issue. Rather, it is a way to strengthen other city assets by “relinquishing one big asset,” a sensible solution to what he and many others view as a fiscal crisis.
“I’m not going to be looking at selling off all our assets, Wright insists. “But let’s evaluate everything. We have to get our credit rating back up.”
Kicking off the last campaign (maybe)
Wright’s response to the recent Democratic run at fusion with local Progressives came through clearly at the public launch of his campaign on Dec. 13. Held two days after his pro forma nomination at a brief GOP caucus – the same day Democrats nominated Weinberger and Progressives postponed their decision until sometime in January – the emphasis was on diversity, tri-partisan backing and citizenship over party.
He simultaneously used the extra expense and publicity generated by the contested Democratic race as a reason to call for spending limits and more transparency, an issue that helped Democratic Rep. Jason Lorber win the Burlington Free Press endorsement for his mayoral campaign.
“Miro got an incredible amount of free publicity. What he said about a spending cap was that Kurt is more well-known,” Wright noted dismissively in our interview, and “he wants to make up for that by spending $100,000 or more. That is a concern for me.”
Sounding irritated, he then added, “I got well known by serving on the council, and in state legislature, by knocking on doors, going to NPAs. That’s how I got well known.”
In his 20-minute campaign speech at the climax of the campaign launch, Wright hit all the bases, pointing out the diverse political groups represented in the room, asking everyone in the military to stand up, congratulating those who have run so far.
“People are disgusted with both parties nationally,” he claimed. But this race “is not going to be about political parties.” At least he hopes so. “This is going to be a chance to correct a mistake made three years ago.”
He challenged Weinberger to accept a $40,000 spending cap for the rest of the 12-week campaign and release financial reports weekly, an unprecedented level of transparency. “I want city government the same way,” he told more than hundred supporters.
After running down the city’s financial and organizational woes, ruling out tax increases and running through proposals to re-open government, promote redevelopment, stamp out domestic violence, and let voters decide BED’s future – based on an estimated minimum price of $150 million – Wright finished with this promise:
“I’m not going to be cautious. What Burlington needs now it not someone who is timid. We need somebody who will get Burlington back on the right track.”
Basically, Wright had told the crowd that even if he wins, he’s unlikely to be re-elected. But being in the Republican minority can be an advantage, he suggests, freeing him to act without regard for political consequences. Once in office, he claims it will help him take risks and be bold.
In the interview, he focused on the downside. “Running as a Republican creates a disadvantage,” he said. “I could have run as an Independent. But locally party politics shouldn’t play the role it does.”
That goes back to his slogan, “citizenship not partisanship.” For Wright, the implied message is “to say we care about the community, about people solving problems together as a community as opposed to partisan gridlock.” It is also an appeal to ignore party labels.
What he prefers not to discuss is his party’s race for president or, for that matter, the likely Republican candidate for Vermont governor in 2012. Asked at the end whether he will be supporting State Auditor Randy Brock or some other GOP candidate next year, Wright wasn’t ready yet to be bold. “I will stay away from talking about races for president or governor,” he replied. “I’m just going to focus on this campaign.”