BURLINGTON — Questions 1 through 4 on the Burlington ballot passed Tuesday, in a clean sweep for the mayor and his supporters who waged a heated campaign urging their passage.
“I appreciate the trust that the people of Burlington have placed in us,” said Mayor Miro Weinberger in an interview after the results were tabulated. “I think what tonight’s results mean is that the people of Burlington, by a decisive margin, voted to remain a city of opportunity.”
Questions 1 and 2 were bonding measures to pay for city infrastructure. Question 1 asked voters to approve $27.5 million in general obligation bonds for new city streets and sidewalks, waterfront bike path improvements and new fire engines.
Unlike other measures on the ballot, Question 1 was a general obligation bond requiring a two-thirds majority for passage. The measure passed 76 to 24 percent. Question 2 asked voters to approve $8.4 million for water and sewer lines and passed handily, 88 to 12 percent, according to results reported by Channel 17.
“I’m thankful that my team is going to have the opportunity to, over the next five years, make the investments that we need to properly take care of Burlington’s core infrastructure,” Weinberger said.
Questions 3 and 4 were far more controversial and engendered staunch opposition from local activists. Both were widely described as integral to the proposed redevelopment of the Town Center Mall.
Question 3 creates a new zoning district in 9 acres of downtown that covers the Burlington Town Center Mall, several parking garages, Macy’s and L.L. Bean. Question 4 asked voters to approve $22 million in tax increment financing to build new city streets.
Question 3 was approved 54 to 46 percent, and Question 4 garnered passage, 59 to 41 percent, according to results posted by Channel 17.
The mall’s owner, Don Sinex, has proposed a $220 million mixed-use redevelopment of the property, which relies on the additional height allowed by Question 3.
Sinex issued a statement Tuesday night that saying he was “humbled and appreciative that Burlington voters have allowed this project to proceed by affirming the city council’s downtown zoning changes and supporting the city’s use of tax increment financing for the associated public improvements.”
Weinberger acknowledged the opposition to questions 3 and 4, saying “There’s clearly a large number of people in the city who don’t share the vision of a future downtown Burlington that we’ve put forward.”
The mayor said he wants those opponents to know that their input has led to improvements in the downtown redevelopment and the city’s land use policy for downtown.
The opposition, coming largely from Burlington’s activist left, echoed the widespread mistrust of establishment politics and institutions that pervaded the 2016 election cycle on both the right and the left.
Weinberger’s campaign to pass the measures united most elected officials alongside business and nonprofit leaders. Their victory Tuesday night shows that many residents bought into the economic benefits touted by the mayor his supporters during the campaign.
The Coalition for a Livable City, a grassroots campaign of local activists, mounted sustained opposition to both measures, and while the mayor and his supporters fulminated against what they said was misinformation coming from their opponents, the group’s message often boiled down to a rebuke of the mayor as an untrustworthy avatar for the wealthy and powerful.
The measures survived that opposition, and showed that the centrist coalition Weinberger put together appealed to the majority of city voters. The mayor and his allies were aided in that victory by heavy spending through two political action committees, which outspent the Coalition for a Livable City by at least a 3 to 1 ratio.
Questions 5 and 6, which garnered less attention both passed as well. Question 5 gives the City Council greater authority over parking rates and revenues, and Question 6 was an advisory question asking voters to urge the city to move a section of the waterfront bike path so it doesn’t cross railroad tracks.
