Tuesday, January 5, 2021
A bill would offer flexibility ahead of Vermont's traditional March voting day, which packs residents in some towns into gymnasiums, auditoriums, and meeting houses to cast ballots on budgets and other local matters.
"Many eligible voters on Town Meeting Day will not be able or willing to vote in person or attend a traditional floor meeting," Vermont Administration Secretary Susanne Young and Secretary of State Jim Condos wrote in a joint memo last month asking for money to offset costs for municipalities. "We must ensure voters can safely and securely participate in all elections, not just the November election."
Tags: Town Meeting Day , elections , voting , mail-in ballots , Jim Condos , Web Only , Image
Sunday, December 6, 2020
Weinberger, who is running for a fourth term, was uncontested in seeking his party’s nomination at Sunday's caucus. According to party results, 425 Burlingtonians cast votes in the virtual affair, which allowed for email and in-person voting between 2 p.m. and 5:15 p.m.
The sitting mayor will defend his seat against Max Tracy, the city council president who earned the Progressive endorsement on Thursday. Also running are at least two declared independent candidates: Councilor Ali Dieng (I-Ward 7) and South End resident Patrick White.
Tags: Mayor Miro Weinberger , Max Tracy , Kerin Durfee , Mark Barlow , Ali Dieng , Patrick White , KIenan Christianson , Joan Shannon , elections , Town Meeting , Web Only , Image
Thursday, December 3, 2020
Tracy earned approximately 787 votes, or about 55 percent, compared to 631 votes — about 45 percent — for fellow Councilor Brian Pine (Ward 3), according to party caucus results released Thursday. A record-breaking 1,420 people cast ballots online and in person as this year's event went virtual amid the coronavirus pandemic.
"I'm absolutely ecstatic. This is such a big win and such a big win for our party," Tracy said after the results were released. "I am so impressed with the turnout and the excitement that we have going into the general election."
Tags: Burlington Progressives , caucus , Brian Pine , Max Tracy , elections , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, December 1, 2020
Progressive Burlington City Councilors Brian Pine (Ward 3) and Max Tracy (Ward 2) each made their case to become the next mayor of Burlington during a caucus Tuesday night that otherwise featured few contested races.
Nearly 1,400 people registered for the party’s first-ever virtual caucus, which was streamed on Zoom and the party’s Facebook page. Both Pine and Tracy promised that if elected, they’d bring change to Burlington after nearly nine years of leadership under Mayor Miro Weinberger. The three-term Democrat is running for reelection and is expected to win his party’s nomination at its caucus on Sunday.
Tags: Burlington , Vermont Progressive Party , election , Progressive caucus , Brian Pine , Max Tracy , Web Only , Image
Monday, November 16, 2020
Pine kicked off the announcement with a pre-recorded clip at the Northgate Apartments in the New North End, the birthplace of his local political activism. In the video, Pine recounted his work in the 1980s to help residents purchase the low-income housing complex, saving it from a plan to revamp the units into market-rate condos.
Pine said his experience advocating for people “left at the margins” will inform how he’d govern as mayor.
“We need more than a custodial government for our city. We need bold action, grounded around a commitment to values,” he said, adding, “I want Burlington to once again be a city government that stands for positive change.”
Tags: Burlington , mayoral race , Brian Pine , Max Tracy , Miro Weinberger , Kienan Christianson , Kerin Durfee , Mark Barlow , North District , Burlington City Council , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, November 10, 2020
Kerin Durfee will seek the Democratic nomination, while Mark Barlow is running as an independent. Kienan Christianson, who lost the North District race to Paulino in 2018, said he's "strongly considering" another run. He said he'll formally announce his decision in the coming weeks.
Spots in all four city council district seats, which represent two wards apiece, are up for election in March. Paulino, a Democrat and one-term councilor, announced on Twitter in September that he would not seek reelection.
Tags: Burlington City Council , Kerin Durfee , Mark Barlow , election , Election 2021 , Town Meeting Day , Web Only , Image
The three-term Democrat announced his decision Tuesday morning in an email to supporters, writing that "serving as mayor has been the honor of my life."
Voters will cast ballots on Town Meeting Day in March.
"Together, we have accomplished so much over the last nine years," his statement says. "I will always be deeply grateful for your support and belief in my ability to work with our community to move Burlington forward."
Weinberger's announcement came hours after the Progressive Party put forward city councilors Max Tracy (Ward 2) and Brian Pine (Ward 3) as candidates. "Burlington is ready for new leadership and a new direction from City Hall," Progressive Party director Josh Wronski said in a press release Monday evening.
Tags: Mayor Miro Weinberger , mayoral election , Election 2021 , Burlington , Web Only , Image
Monday, October 26, 2020
The political parties were required to report campaign spending for the Town Meeting Day races on February 2 and 22 and March 17, but neither organization did, according to a settlement the Vermont Attorney General's Office announced late last week.
The Vermont Progressive Party filed a complaint with the AG's office in April after unsuccessfully trying to resolve the issue directly with the city committee, according to Progressive Party executive director Josh Wronski.
Progs took notice when the state Democrats announced they had hired a full-time staffer to boost the party's chances in the local elections — an effort that was ultimately unsuccessful — and started circulating a variety of campaign mailers that couldn't be traced back to campaign reports.
"This wasn't a political stunt," Wronski said, adding, "We've maintained the whole time that this is really about transparency. People have the right to know who's funding the flyers and the canvassers and the phone-bankers that are coming into their neighborhood."
Tags: campaign finance , Burlington City Council , politics , Town Meeting Day , elections , Vermont Democratic Party , Burlington Democratic Committee , Web Only , Image
Friday, November 29, 2019
A group of Progressive Burlington city councilors wants to resurrect ranked-choice voting, a controversial election method that Queen City voters repealed nearly a decade ago.
Councilors Jack Hanson, Brian Pine and Max Tracy will introduce a resolution on Monday that seeks to place a question on the March 2020 ballot to reinstate the election system. If approved, the topic will go to the council’s Charter Change Committee for consideration.
Councilors Perri Freeman (P-Central District) and Sharon Bushor (I-Ward 1) have also signed on as cosponsors of the measure.
Ranked-choice voting, also known as instant runoff, allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference. If none wins a majority, the last-place finisher is eliminated. Votes for that candidate are then assigned to voters’ second choice until one candidate gets a 50 percent majority.
Under the current system, a candidate can earn just 40 percent of the vote to win an election for mayor, city council or school board. The system puts independent and non-major party candidates at a disadvantage, the resolution says, and forces voters to choose the candidate who is most likely to win instead of who they favor most.
"In Burlington, there’s alway been a long tradition of being ... a multiparty city," said Pine, a Ward 3 prog. "This is a well-tested way to ensure that you can have a more pluralistic political system."
Tags: Burlington City Council , ranked-choice voting , instant runoff voting , Web Only , Image
Sunday, August 18, 2019
On Sunday, the party disclosed that the sum wasn't so modest after all.
In a new statement, the Democrats alleged that former director of party operations Brandon Batham embezzled roughly $18,500 this year. The party also disclosed for the first time that it had filed a criminal complaint against Batham with the Montpelier Police Department.
Batham, who resigned under pressure on July 17, has not publicly addressed the allegations. The former Barre city councilor did not respond to requests for comment on Sunday.
In an email to party supporters, Anderson and other top officials called it a "difficult and painful time" for Vermont Democrats. "We will be doing everything possible to move beyond this very discouraging set of circumstances and to regain or retain your trust," Anderson, party vice chair Tess Taylor and treasurer Billi Gosh wrote in the email Sunday. "We will do so in a spirit of humility and honesty."
Tags: Vermont Democratic Party , Brandon Batham , Terje Anderson , Josh Massey , Web Only , Image