Two of the five City Council seats are up for re-election, and both will be contested races. There are two open seats on the school board as well, which were originally uncontested, but after the board voted to drop the “Rebels” nickname, two write-in candidates have emerged.
Voters will also be asked to approve the city budget and the school budget, both of which include modest increases.
City Council races
With South Burlington’s relationship to Burlington International Airport continuing to polarize city politics, the Town Meeting Day contests could reshape the balance of power.
The airport is in South Burlington, but it’s owned and operated by Burlington.
Currently the balance of power on the five-member council rests with those who are generally skeptical of current airport noise mitigation efforts.
The majority recently passed a resolution calling for a halt to home buyouts near the airport and a greater role for South Burlington in future noise programs.
There are 40 homes slated for purchase and demolition, as well as a grant from the Federal Aviation Administration for the airport to come up with alternative noise mitigation options. The FAA says this last round of buyouts must be completed before other mitigation efforts, such as home insulation programs, can begin.
Opponents of the buyouts say they’ve contributed to a loss of affordable housing and property tax revenue.
Many predict the airport noise will increase with the arrival of F-35 fighter jets to the Vermont Air National Guard base at the airport in 2019.
Town Meeting Day will see Councilor Pat Nowak square off against Jimmy Leas, and Councilor Tom Chittenden challenged by Katie Langrock.
Nowak, who voted against the resolution, serves on the Airport Commission — a position appointed by Burlington’s mayor.
Nowak is a financial planner and 30-year South Burlington resident. She has served on the Board of Civil Authority for 21 years and is on the City Pension Advisory Committee.
Nowak said that in four years on the council she’s helped resolve lawsuits against the city and was instrumental in creating the City Center development plan. In the future she’d like to see road improvements and more affordable housing.
When it comes to airport noise, Nowak said she’s looking forward to the airport buyout process being over, so a new noise mitigation program can begin.
In regard to the arrival of the F-35s, Nowak said: “Granted they are not quiet, but they are predictable and only last for a few minutes. I live in that area and it’s just a part of this life.”
Leas takes the opposite stance on F-35s: “The best way to preserve our neighborhoods is to stop the noise at its source,” he said. “Commercial jet traffic isn’t driving anyone out of their homes.”
Leas works as a patents lawyer and is a member of the Vermont Bar Association and the Stop the F-35 Coalition. If he’s able to unseat Nowak, it would further shift power on the council toward the airport’s critics.
Leas said he is not a one-issue candidate and cited open land preservation, municipal walking and biking trails, and livable wages as his top priorities. This is his first time running for City Council.
Chittenden is finishing his first two-year term. He has a background in business and is a lecturer at the University of Vermont Grossman School of Business.
During Chittenden’s time on the council he’s advocated for enhanced public transportation to underserved parts of South Burlington and has been active in fine-tuning city ordinances, he said.
When it comes to the airport, Chittenden said he’s committed to “deeper exploration of alternative forms of airport governance models to reduce the planning and communication friction between our two municipal entities,” referring to the City Council and the airport.
Langrock, who is seeking a spot on the council for the first time, is the chief operating officer at Commando, a women’s luxury undergarment company in South Burlington.
She previously worked for the Vermont Teddy Bear Co. in multiple upper-tier positions. She’s the president of the board of directors for Spectrum Youth and Family Services and is on the board for SunCommon solar company.
Langrock said she’s running after receiving encouragement from the community. She wants to help develop the City Center into a blend of business, residential and public spaces, she said. She, too, said repairing relationships between the council and airport is important.
“The relationship between the airport and the city needs to be mended, which I can contribute to,” she said. “As the F-35s arrive and we learn their impacts, we need to be involved in understanding those impacts and representing our residents well.”
School board and school budget
Board Chair Patrick Leduc and member Julie Beatty are stepping down, creating two open seats that were originally uncontested. However, the recent decision to drop the high school’s “Rebels” moniker has drawn two write-in challengers.
Steve Wisloski is on the ballot seeking the open two-year seat. He is chief financial officer for the Vermont State Colleges System and has two children in the South Burlington school system.
In a candidates forum hosted by Channel 17, Wisloski said he has relevant experience in reviewing budgets and collective bargaining with unions.
“I have a rooting interest in seeing kids graduate from high school and matriculate to college,” he said.
Opposing Wisloski is write-in candidate Dan Emmons. Emmons opposes the Rebels name change, but he wrote in a post to the South Burlington Community Watch Facebook page that he’s not a one-issue candidate.
Emmons said he supports a resident review and action plan to stabilize the school budget and wants to explore ways to combat declining enrollment.
“It’s time the community makes the people hired to represent the best interest of our children’s educational experience accountable for their decisions,” Emmons wrote in the Facebook post.
On the ballot for a three-year school board term is Alex McHenry. McHenry served on the board when he lived in Barre and worked for 10 years at the Vermont Department of Education. He is Vermont’s fiscal analyst for the Medicaid program, the low-income government health plan.
“I’m interested in education and making sure the government works for the people,” he said in the Channel 17 forum.
Opposing McHenry is write-in candidate Marcy Brigham. Brigham is a leading opponent of changing the Rebels name. She could not be reached for comment.
The $50.5 million school budget that is before voters on Town Meeting Day represents a 7.65 percent increase from last year and would result in an approximately 2 percent property tax increase for residents.
The budget would pay for additional teachers at the Orchard and Central schools, in order to keep class sizes down, additional support for career development programs, and a pilot program for students who need trauma and behavior support.
City budget
Residents will decide whether to approve the $38 million city budget for the fiscal year starting in July. Council President Helen Riehle said during an interview on Channel 17 that the budget is close to a 3 percent increase from last year and covers items like contractual salary increases and increased health insurance costs.
“It’s a very tight budget and provides only the current level of service,” Riehle said. “It really doesn’t add a whole lot.”
