BURLINGTON — Burlington Democrats endorsed University of Vermont student body president Jillian Scannell for City Council in Ward 1 at their caucus Sunday night, setting the stage for a three-way race for the seat currently held by Councilor Sharon Bushor, I-Ward 1.
Scannell received 27 votes at the caucus to 14 for Bushor and 10 for Zoraya Hightower, who received the Progressive endorsement and is running as an independent. Bushor is also running as an independent.
Scannell said she was grateful to have the party’s support and was looking forward to the election.
“I have a lot of respect for both Zoraya and Sharon, I think it’s going to be a really great race and I’m happy to have the party behind me,” Scannell said.
The Democrats endorsed candidates for seven of the eight wards that will be on the ballot in March, with the exception of the Ward 3 seat currently held by Progressive Brian Pine, P-Ward 3.
Incumbents Chip Mason, D-Ward 5; Karen Paul, D-Ward 6; Ali Dieng D/P-Ward 7; and Adam Roof, I-Ward 8, all were renominated. In Ward 2, the party endorsed political newcomer Ryan Nick.
Nick, 27, grew up in Shelburne before returning to the city after graduating college. He works in commercial real estate brokerage and development and has lived in the Old North End for the past five years. Nick said he believed the council is too partisan.
“At the end of the day, City Council is about the meat and potatoes issues, and I think City Council has just lost focus on that,” Nick said. “People just throw up roadblocks to projects and aren’t very focused on the issues.”
Nick said that housing affordability and increasing access to the City Council for citizens were top priorities. He also said believed the city should reconsider the plan to redesign North Winooski Avenue.
In Ward 4, the Democrats endorsed Sarah Carpenter, who was the executive director of the Vermont Housing Finance Agency before retiring in 2018. Carpenter was also endorsed by the Progressives for the seat that is currently held by Kurt Wright, R-Ward 4.
Carpenter said she would caucus with the Democrats on the City Council, though she was not sure if she would be on the ballot as a Democrat or a Democrat/Progressive.
“I think my lifelong political involvement has been with the Democrats, so that’s kind of where I feel most comfortable,” she said. “I really think there’s a lot of commonality between the Democrats and the Progressives, so that’s important for me to work on, ‘What do we have in common?’”
Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger spoke near the start of the caucus, highlighting the city’s credit rating improvements, efforts to address the city’s housing issues, and finalization of the BT sale, among other issues.
Weinberger said that he was encouraged that Progressive candidates in the upcoming elections had been mentioning housing and climate change as top issues. He said it was good that both major parties were aligned on those issues.
“However, when rhetoric, ideology and a desire to take credit get in the way of moving forward needed reforms, that’s not so positive,” he said. “It’s our job, people in this room, the Democrat Party’s job, to make sure voters understand that Democrats have been putting forward well-crafted policies that address the root causes of these challenges, implementing them and delivering tangible results.”
Around 15 protesters from the Burlington Tenants Union and Proposition Zero attended the caucus, holding signs reading “Excessive Homes Not Excessive Force” and “Does your landlord see you as an ATM,” among others.
Charles Winkleman of the Burlington Tenants Union said the groups decided to protest the event to keep attention on the mayor’s handling police controversies, police use of excessive force and the lack of consequences for officers.
“We were here to remind people that that exists, we’re not forgetting just because it’s a new decade,” he said.
The caucus leaves four contested elections in March, with Progressive Nathan Lantieri facing Mason in Ward 5 and Nick facing incumbent Progressive Max Tracy in Ward 2.
In Ward 8, the Progressives nominated Jane Stromberg to take on Roof, who is currently an independent but said he would be running as a Democrat this cycle.
Contested Ward 1 caucus
Scannell said she believed city government needed to be more transparent and responsive. The city should increase the number of community engagement specialists from one to three in the city’s Community and Economic Development Office, she said.
“City officials have the responsibility to engage with the people who have elected them, something our local government is currently failing to do,” Scannell said.
As the student government president at UVM, Scannell has a working relationship with the UVM administration which could help the city forge compromises with the university on housing.
Bushor, who has served on the council for 32 years, highlighted her lengthy record.
“What I want to offer to you if you reelect me is what I have given to you for the past 30-something years,” Bushor said. “I have the energy, I have time and I have commitment.”
Bushor said she has worked on a range of policies over the years, including the city’s inclusionary zoning policy and living wage ordinance.
Hightower said that she was running on a housing and transportation platform. She said she was supportive of the mayor’s housing policies but that the city needed to do more on the issue, especially for tenants.
“If we want an equitable and environmentally friendly sustainable future, and then you pair that with what you can actually get done at the municipal level, homes for me are No. 1,” she said.
Hightower said she believed she was “halfway” between the Democrats and Progressives, but was discouraged by leaders in both parties from running as a P/D.
“In retrospect, I think I should have listened to myself when I thought that’s how I should run,” she said. “I think there’s a divide where there should be unity, and if we were working together, we can make Burlington much more progressive.”
