Mona Abou a reporter with the Community News Service, part of the University of Vermont’s Reporting & Documentary Storytelling program.
WINOOSKI — At her last city council meeting on Sept. 15, Kristine Lott closed out six years as Winooski’s first female mayor. Lott stepped down before the end of her term to start a family, and she reflected on the time she spent as mayor and the lessons she would carry forward.
“It is so much more people-management than policy,” she said. “So much relationship building and communication to try to get these things to come together and move. It’s public service, but it is really people’s service before anything else.”
“I mean, it’s exciting to be the first breaking a barrier,” Lott said of her election in 2019.
A week after being sworn in, Lott was thrown into the deep end: her first city council meeting as mayor included a vote on a $23 million bond for the city’s Main Street Project. The moment marked the start of a steep learning curve.
“I didn’t say anything the whole time,” Lott recalled. She said the experience was very intimidating, but she was determined to ask questions and learn quickly.
In an interview after Lott’s final city council meeting, Interim Mayor Thomas Renner said he always admired “Mayor Lott’s attention to detail and the way that she is able to see the big picture and also the future picture of what we’re discussing at the moment.”
“I really want to make sure I uphold Mayor Lott’s legacy and continue the work that she’s been doing,” Renner said.
Renner is breaking barriers as well. He is the first black man and first openly gay man to be mayor. “I’m excited to be able to bring some diversity to the job as well,” he said.
Just over a year into her term, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, giving Lott a challenge that would define her mayorship. “‘What am I doing?’” she remembered thinking. “I am in a leadership role. I don’t know what to do in this scenario.”
During those first months, Lott leaned on staff and council members to help her steady the city through an unpredictable and challenging time. Lott said the Black Lives Matter movement in particular “made racial disparities come to a head.”
“The way that COVID information was being shared initially was not getting to a lot of our BIPOC and New American community members,” she said.
Winooski is among the most diverse cities in the state and one of Vermont’s only majority-minority school districts. Lott said she always felt a responsibility to reach across the community and make sure that as many voices as possible were heard and a part of the conversation.
“As a white person representing this most diverse city, I knew that I had to do work to make sure I was engaging with other racial backgrounds,” she said. “It takes intentional work.”
That intention was clear during Lott’s time in office, said City Manager Elaine Wang. “Kristine was a really great partner,” Wang said. “She had a very even-handed approach, always listening to all perspectives before deciding on a direction.”
Some of Lott’s proudest moments came not from policy but from the bonds she built. Among them are her relationships with the members of Winooski’s Islamic community, which began with a simple introduction that grew into something much more meaningful.
Early in her first term, Lott kept walking past the Islamic Community Center of Vermont, just a few blocks from her house, and decided to stop in and introduce herself. “Eventually someone answered, and I was like, ‘Hi, I’m the mayor,” Lott said, laughing.
What started as a tentative knock on the door grew into a lasting relationship. Lott helped open lines of communication between mosque members, city staff and school liaisons that hadn’t existed before. She calls it her “biggest small win.”
“The relationship building I did with the Islamic community through the mosque made me feel so good,” she said. “What was seemingly a small effort on my part really made them feel more included.” Lott said it will feel strange to lose the constant connection to what is happening around town.
“I’m just not going to be as plugged in as I was before,” she said. Lott is now ready for a new chapter filled with more time for herself and her family. She’s excited to enjoy the fall weather and welcome her first child later this year.
“It’s going to be very freeing,” she said.
Lott doesn’t hesitate to encourage young people to get involved in local politics. She said every perspective adds value to the community.
“Just do it,” she said. “You don’t need any special training or experience. The politics we’re doing at the local level impact everyone who lives here, and the more different perspectives we can get involved, the better the outcomes will be.”
