Thursday, February 26, 2015
If you are planning to show up at the polls next Tuesday, fill in a few bubbles, and then jet, you might want to budget a little more time. This year's Town Meeting Day ballot is 1,300 words long. In addition to picking your mayor, city councilors, school board members and inspectors of elections, you’ll be asked to answer eight questions. And chances are you haven’t heard about half of them. For your convenience, Seven Days has annotated a sample ballot with some pointers.
Let your mouse hover over the ballot to see stars. Click on them and you'll get explanations of the questions — and links to our Town Meeting Day stories.
Tags: Burlington , city council , redistricting , Image , Web Only
Monday, February 23, 2015
The Democratic incumbent has raised $103,562, collecting $10,505 in February alone. Steve Goodkind, the Progressive candidate, has raised $6,262. Greg Guma, who is running as an independent, said he's raised roughly $12,000. (His campaign finance report shows a slightly different amount — Guma said his treasurer was having computer problems when submitting it.)
The Vermont Secretary of State's online database had no report for Libertarian Loyal Ploof as of Monday evening, suggesting he hadn't hit the required $500 threshold.
The mayor has received donations from 260 people, and most of his money comes from donors who gave $100 or more. He's spent $84,702 so far, including $7,184 on media buys. (Weinberger's campaign finance reports show lower fundraising and spending totals because they exclude money he raised prior to August 2013.)
His opponents have spent all — or more — of the money they've raised. Goodkind has spent $5,451, while Guma said he has spent $13,742.
Tags: Burlington , Mayor Miro Weinberger , campaign finance , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
For more information, read our recent coverage of the race for Burlington mayor here:
- Targeting Miro: Attack Ad Draws Criticism (Feb. 13, 2015)
- The Queen City Mayor's Race Is a Referendum on Development (Feb. 11, 2015)
- Weinberger Raises $93,000 for Reelection Bid (Feb. 2, 2015)
- Mayoral Debate: Weinberger Hammers Goodkind's Record (Jan. 29, 2015)
- Candidates File for Burlington Mayor, Council and School Board (Jan. 27, 2015)
Alex Holzbach, who emailed the request from a datatargeting.com address, declined to comment on it when reached by phone. He also would not provide any information about his employer. On his LinkedIn profile, Holzbach is identified as Data Targeting's director of political research and operations.
Reached by phone on Wednesday, Ayres' opponent, Republican Michael Ly, said, "I don’t even know what you’re talking about ... What is [the group] called?" Ly added that he'd just returned yesterday from the hospital, where he'd been since last Friday for the birth of his third child.
Data Targeting Research’s website provides no information other than a phone number and a Gainesville, Fla. address. It played a role during the 2012 redistricting process in Florida, and a judge later declared that two districts had been gerrymandered in favor of Republicans. Last November, the Naples Daily News ran a profile of the firm's founder under the headline "Pat Bainter: The most influential man in Florida GOP politics you don't know."
Tags: Burlington city council , Tom Ayres , Michael Ly , Image , Web Only
Friday, February 13, 2015
Greg Guma, an independent candidate who considers himself a peace activist, has been running on WPTZ an ad, produced by his son, that criticizes Weinberger as being overzealous about developing Burlington.
In an email to reporters Friday afternoon, Shannon described Guma's claims as "absurd and inaccurate," but she said she was particularly offended by a still image (pictured above) of Weinberger with a target on his face. A gunshot goes off as the video cuts to a view of the city, and a menacing voiceover states, "Development Mayor Weinberger is putting a target on the entire city for speculators, corporate vultures and chains only interested in profits."
Shannon wrote in her email, "I urge Greg Guma to stop airing the ad immediately, so we can go back to the kind of honest, fair, civil debate that Burlingtonians expect from their politicians. Debating the issues and visions for Burlington is an appropriate debate to engage in. Putting a target on anyone’s head followed by the sound of a shot is something we all should be speaking up against, no matter our views on the mayor or development."
Tags: Burlington , Miro Weinberger , development , Image , Video , Web Only
Monday, February 2, 2015
Those numbers far exceed the $3,175 raised and $2,334 spent by Progressive rival Steve Goodkind in his campaign to unseat the incumbent Democrat. Neither of the other two candidates in the race, Libertarian Loyal Ploof or independent Greg Guma, filed fundraising reports by Monday's deadline.
Unlike Goodkind, who accepted his first contribution — a $35 loan from himself — in December 2014, Weinberger has been raising and spending campaign cash for years.
The incumbent's latest report covers his fundraising activity between August 2013 and the end of January 2015, during which time he took in $74,307. In a July 2013 filing, Weinberger's campaign reported raising $6,750 from others and $12,000 in loans from the mayor himself.
Since he began campaigning in earnest this year, the mayor has collected $27,350.
Tags: Burlington mayor's race , fundraising , Miro Weinberger , Steve Goodkind , Greg Guma , Loyal Ploof , Image , Web Only
Thursday, January 29, 2015
Mayor Miro Weinberger went on the offensive today against Progressive Steve Goodkind during the first mayoral debate of the season.
Standing in WVMT-AM’s small, poster-plastered studio, the Democratic incumbent and his challenger traded barbs on everything from sidewalks to fighter jets on the boisterous "Charlie + Ernie + Lisa Show."
Though Weinberger is the incumbent, Goodkind, the city’s former public works director, spent more time defending his record. The other two candidates, independent Greg Guma and Libertarian Loyal Ploof, were not on the show.
The mayor was most acerbic on the subject of the Champlain Parkway, a four-decades-in-the-making road project intended to alleviate traffic in the city's South End. With a legal dispute resolved and an Act 250 permit in hand, Weinberger plans to reboot the long-stalled project.
Goodkind, who oversaw the project as public works director, has said he'd ditch most of it and would fix traffic problems through other means.
Tags: Burlington , Miro Weinberger , Steve Goodkind , Champlain Parkway , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, January 27, 2015
The candidate field has crystallized for what will be an unusually busy election season in Burlington.
Monday marked the deadline for candidates to deliver their signatures to City Hall.
As expected, there are four candidates for mayor: first-term Democratic incumbent Miro Weinberger, independent Greg Guma, Progressive Steve Goodkind and Libertarian Loyal Ploof.
In recent years, half the city council's 14 seats and the school board's 14 seats came up for grabs each Town Meeting Day. But this year, thanks to a recent round of redistricting, the entire slate is open. Four current councilors — Progressives Vince Brennan and Rachel Siegel, and Democrats Norm Blais and Bianka LeGrand — decided not to run for reelection, as previously reported.
Under the new system, the council and the school board will consist of 12 seats apiece.
Fifteen people are running for the school board. Ten are incumbents. Stepping down are Patrick Halladay, the current chair, Ben Truman, Alan Matson and Kevin Garrison.
Tags: Burlington , city council , Miro Weinberger , Image , Web Only
Friday, January 23, 2015
The local writer and activist started testing the waters publicly in November, but appeared to back off from the idea. Friday, he told supporters that he had "finally reached the conclusion that my presence in the race was needed, and also that a successful campaign is possible."
Guma, whose decision comes just ahead of the January 26 filing deadline for candidates, said he's collected more than the 150 signatures required and plans to submit them Monday.
The candidate count stands at four: Democratic incumbent Miro Weinberger, Progressive Steve Goodkind, Libertarian Loyal Ploof and Guma.
Tags: Burlington , Greg Guma , Miro Weinberger , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Seth Leonard, a first-term city councilor, announced his campaign in a press release Tuesday afternoon.
Last week, after Mayor Michael O'Brien announced he would not seek reelection, William Norful, a lawyer who served as the Onion City's mayor from 1991 to 1999, said he planned to run. Since losing the post to Clem Bissonnette in 1999, Norful has run Norful Law Office on Main Street. He could not immediately be reached for comment.
Leonard, who also could not immediately be reached for comment, has worked at the Vermont Housing Finance Agency since 2012. Prior to that, he was a branch manager at Opportunities Credit Union. According to his website, Leonard graduated from University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and owns a home with his fiancee on Weaver Street.
Tags: Winooski , William Norful , Seth Leonard , Image , Web Only