BURLINGTON — Though not unanimously, the Burlington City Council on Monday night approved the renaming of the city’s airport to Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport.
After making a motion to rechristen the airport in honor of the recently retired U.S. senator, Councilor Sarah Carpenter, D-Ward 4, said, “I do not think we can underestimate how much Patrick Leahy has brought to this city.”
Given Leahy’s 48 years of service, Carpenter said, the measure was a “modest thing” to offer.
But two Progressive councilors, Zoraya Hightower, P-Ward 1, and Melo Grant, P-Central District, opposed the move.
Hightower called it a “celebration of the status quo.”
“We name too many things after politicians, period,” she said. While she acknowledged that Leahy “has done a lot” for the state, she said his tenure in office was also a long time to “accumulate power” and to keep it from women, queer people, Indigenous people, people of color and the working class.
Hightower also went on to point out that white men represent 30% of the population but make up 62% of officeholders. “Boomers hold more political power than any other generation in this country. That’s not identity politics, that’s just systemic lack of access,” she said.
Councilor Gene Bergman, P-Ward 2, while voting in favor of the naming, said he agreed with Hightower’s points and added another one.
“It’s ironic that we’re naming the airport considering his role in bringing the F-35s, which I believe were brought here for him,” Bergman said. (Leahy has at times downplayed his role in the U.S. Air Force’s decision to base the fighter jets at the Vermont Air National Guard base at the Burlington airport, but internal documents show his staff played a significant role in the process.)
Last month, Mayor Miro Weinberger announced during his State of the City address that the airport would be named for the retired senator. In addition to Weinberger’s tributes, the April announcement featured video dedications by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and President Joe Biden.
Though the airport is located within South Burlington, it is owned and operated by the Queen City.
