[T]hom Lauzon’s 12-year run as Barre’s mayor is coming to an end. Voters on Tuesday will pick his replacement and decide whether to pay a Lauzon-backed 1 percent option tax on rooms, meals and alcohol, which they have twice rejected.
The candidates facing off in the mayoral contest — Sue Higby and Lucas Herring — are both city councilors campaigning on platforms of economic development. Higby is a first-term councilor and the longtime director of Studio Place Arts. Herring has served on the council for seven years and works as the IT director for the Vermont Department of Corrections.
Lauzon, a developer who has dominated the city’s politics for more than a decade, has endorsed Herring.
Both candidates said during a televised debate on Feb. 15 that they would focus on attracting more families to Barre and making the city more attractive to investors.
Higby, who had previously called out Lauzon for a lack of transparency and potential conflicts of interest related to an executive session about a large downtown redevelopment project, said Barre needs “fresh energy” from city leadership to spur revitalization.
“We need to have incentives to have first-time homeowners and others actually move to Barre,” she said. “Having new life and new energy in our neighborhoods will bring new life to our downtown.”
Herring said the city is on the right track, and just needs to keep moving down the path laid out by Lauzon.
“I think that we’ve actually been heading in the right direction for many many years,” Herring said. “I’d actually like to see that shift just navigated instead of turned around.”
Herring has touted his background on the council, noting that in 2013 the body passed trash and housing ordinances to improve quality of life in the city. In 2014, the council put tax stabilizations and a tax increment finance district into place, which allowed for downtown development and renovations, he said during the debate.
But Herring said there’s more to be done. He said he’d like to the city use the down payment assistance program to encourage families to settle in Barre and expand employment opportunities through internships and adult education programs.
Higby said her background in running a nonprofit organization would make her well suited to market Barre to potential residents, noting that the city’s past marketing ventures have fizzled.
“I’m at the point where I really want to see success,” she said during the debate. “I really want to invest my time and energy and make sure Barre advances forward.”
While Lauzon won’t be on the ballot this time around, voters will again be asked to decide whether to support a 1 percent local tax on rooms, meals and alcohol, which he has championed.
This will be third consecutive year voters will be asked to consider the tax, after opposing it two years in a row. The tax would raise an estimated $217,000 for city road paving and sidewalk replacement.
