Contests for Burlington City Council seats mostly took shape Thursday night, following the announcement of results from the Progressive caucus.
Five seats are up for election on Town Meeting Day in March — four district seats, which consist of two wards each, and the Ward 8 seat, which has been vacant since Progressive Ali House’s resignation last October.
Progressives will field candidates in all races except for the North District, where independent Mark Barlow, an incumbent, will run with the Democrats’ endorsement.
In Ward 8, third-year University of Vermont student Rhone Allison won the party’s nomination with 11 votes against Romeo Von Hermann, who received two votes. Allison will face Hannah King, a Democrat.
In the East District, Jake Schumann prevailed, receiving 35 votes to Adam Franz’s 14 votes. Schumann previously ran unsuccessfully to fill the East District in a Dec. 6 special election to replace Progressive Jack Hanson, who resigned. Schumann will run against Democrat Maea Brandt, who won that special election.
Progressives nominated Melo Grant to run in the Central District. Grant, who didn’t face opposition, received 48 votes. She is seeking to replace Councilor Perri Freeman, P-Central, who is not seeking reelection. Grant is set to face Avery Muzikar, a Democrat.
In the South District, Faried Munarsyah and Will Anderson tied, with five votes each. Though he is seeking the Progressives’ endorsement, Munarsyah made clear he planned to run as an independent.
Carter Neubieser, chair of the Burlington Progressives, said party leaders are determining how to proceed. The steering committee is planning to meet on Sunday and will likely hold another caucus for the two candidates at a later date, he said.
“Our goal is to have the fairest process possible and we’ll look at our bylaws, we’ll look at what’s happened in the past in this scenario, and we’ll try to glean from best practices a fair way to move forward,” he said.
Once selected, the South District candidate will run against incumbent Democrat Joan Shannon.
Tuesday’s caucus took place at the Old North End Community Center, but online voting was kept open until Thursday. More than 120 individuals participated, according to Neubieser, who described overall turnout as “good.”
Candidates outlined their platforms during speeches at the event.
Anderson, who described himself as a “huge nerd,” focused on an affordability crisis, rent stabilization, inclusionary zoning and incentives, and property tax reform.
Munarsyah said he would make housing a top priority and discussed police oversight and passing Proposition Zero, which would allow petitions signed by at least 5% of legal voters to go on the ballot without city council or mayoral sign-off.
In his pitch, Schumann acknowledged that his decision to run against Progressive Dina John in the December special election may not endear him to some party members. Schumann, who ran as an independent after failing to secure the endorsement of both the Progressives and Democrats, earned just 5% of the vote.
“Folks might have felt like what I said or what I did might not have been so great — running as an independent against a Progressive,” he said. “I hope that folks can trust that I did learn from that last experience and I have grown as a result.”
Schumann said he would focus on improving public safety infrastructure and recognizing harm that institutions have created.
Von Herman, a first-generation immigrant from Somalia who works for Green Mountain Transit, said he would focus on promoting diversity within governance, homelessness, substance use and building trust among Vermonters, especially those in minority communities.
Allison focused on housing and fixing the city’s infrastructure, calling for a ban on Airbnb in Burlington, the decriminalization of drugs and civilian oversight of police.
Grant spoke about policing, the importance of mutual aid, affordable housing, availability of arts and entertainment, and addressing addiction.
Patrick Crowley contributed reporting.