The mayor of Barre City, Jake Hemmerick, said he will not run for reelection in the city’s delayed Town Meeting Day vote in May.
Hemmerick first alluded to his departure in an Instagram post earlier this month, which was first reported on by the Times-Argus. He confirmed his decision to not seek reelection in an interview with VTDigger on Tuesday.
Hemmerick was originally elected in 2022 from his Ward 1 City Council seat. He said he was a “reluctant” candidate but felt that “city hall needed a fresh perspective, more grounded in resident needs and neighborhood needs.”
He listed some of the accomplishments he was proudest of: filling major roles in the city’s administration, bringing in new businesses like a Fox Market offshoot and easing restrictions on accessory dwelling units.
In the past few weeks, the city has also come closer on a deal that would have Downstreet Housing & Community Development build new housing on a former city parking lot.
But the widespread flooding that swept through Vermont in July made it a “much more challenging year than I expected,” he said. Barre City was one of the hardest-hit communities in the state and is still struggling to recover and rebuild.
“People are still going through this hell and will be for, I expect, a longer while,” he said in a phone interview. “It’s a really long road.”
He decided to step back in part to focus on his full-time career working for the state Department of Housing and Community Development. He said via text that he’s also been struggling with respiratory issues brought on by long Covid.
He said he was endorsing City Councilor Samn Stockwell, saying that she was “truly committed to the housing challenges in the city.” Stockwell announced that she was running for mayor on Facebook last week.
“On almost all the housing issues, there’s just been consistent obstruction from some of the older guard on council, but Samn has always just been a consistent champion trying to find, where can we agree, how can we move this forward?” he said.
He said that Barre city was long overdue for its first woman mayor.
Stockwell did not respond to a request for an interview on Tuesday.
Barre City Clerk Carolyn Dawes said no one has filed their candidacy with her yet. Because Barre chose to move its Town Meeting Day to May, the deadline for candidates to file is not until April 8.
Along with serving as city councilor, Stockwell is a poet and a coordinator of children’s services for the Family Center of Washington County.
