[B]URLINGTON — She’s running.
After two weeks of speculation, longtime Progressive city councilor Jane Knodell announced she would be running for re-election at the March Town Meeting election as an independent.
Knodell was defeated at the Progressive Party caucus earlier this month by challenger Perri Freeman. Democrat Jared Carter is also running in the Central District, which covers the city’s Old North End.
Knodell has served on the council on and off since 1993 and is the longest-serving Progressive councilor in Queen City history. During her announcement in front of the Old North End Community Center, she said she had heard from constituents who wanted her to continue to represent them in the City Council.
“The party has chosen a new direction, so I’m running to continue to represent Central District residents who prefer a pragmatic councilor who isn’t all talk, but instead puts in hard work alongside neighbors, regardless of political stripes, to get things done,” she said.
Many younger Progressives in the city took Freeman’s win at the caucus as a sign of a generational identity shift in the party. All four of the candidates endorsed at the Progressive Party caucus were 30 years old or younger.
A group of city residents put together a campaign to convince Knodell to run as an independent, with some “Run Jane Run” signs popping up in the Old North End.
Knodell said that she would continue working to get things done, instead of making “symbolic votes that lead nowhere.” She said that her vote for Schurz Communications in the Burlington Telecom sale was an example of being realistic, as she said she did not think the local co-op had a path to success.
At the Progressive caucus, Freeman drew differences between herself and Knodell on a number of issues, including Burlington Telecom, the downtown CityPlace votes and Knodell’s endorsement of Republican Kurt Wright in his unsuccessful re-election bid to the state Legislature.
Freeman said she would have voted for the local co-op instead of Schurz Communications in the BT sale, has concerns about the CityPlace development and worked for Wright’s opponent, Democrat Bob Hooper, in that campaign.
Progressive councilor Brian Pine and Progressive/Democratic councilor Ali Dieng were at the announcement and said they would be supporting Knodell’s campaign.
Pine said that Knodell’s announcement event left him with mixed feelings as he had always been a supporter of the Progressive Party, but he said that he felt Knodell was the best choice to represent the district on the council.
Carter also made an appearance at the announcement and said he was looking forward to engaging Knodell on the issues. He said that his campaign would focus on retaining and repairing Burlington’s status as a leader on investing in the city’s public assets.
Freeman said Knodell’s decision to run is democracy in action, and the people of the Central District will get to decide who represents them.
“From all the door knocking I’ve done and work I’ve done in the community, I feel like I understand the needs of the community,” she said. “I will work really hard to represent folk’s values and needs, and I have a real sense of clarity and vision about what the people of the Central District are looking for in a representative.”
Josh Wronski, the Progressive Party’s executive director, said that the party welcomed Knodell into the race.
“I think the message Perri is putting out is one of grassroots organizing and reaching out to the community and really reaching out to constituents, I think that is a strong message,” he said.
