BURLINGTON — Mayor Miro Weinberger says it was a mistake to send a news release touting the Vermont Mayors Coalition’s endorsement of TJ Donovan for attorney general from a city email account.
Weinberger and several other mayors who belong to the coalition held a news conference in Barre last week announcing their endorsement of Donovan, a Democrat who is the Chittenden County state’s attorney.
Emails notifying the press about the event were sent by Katie Vane, the mayor’s communications and projects coordinator, from her city email account.
“We always try to very carefully separate political activity from the duties of the mayor’s office,” Weinberger said in a statement Monday. “The transmission of a campaign-related press release from a government email address was an honest mistake. It hasn’t happened before and will not happen again.”
Weinberger told Seven Days, which published a story Saturday questioning Vane’s involvement, that the release was written by Donovan’s campaign.
Weinberger said it was appropriate for the coalition to make an endorsement in a political contest, despite receiving funding through small donations from member cities, according to the Seven Days report.
