Tuesday, February 27, 2018
The flurry of last-minute campaigning includes debates for Democratic incumbent Miro Weinberger and his independent challengers, Carina Driscoll and Infinite Culcleasure.
Seven Days checked in to see how the Queen City mayoral hopefuls are spending their final seven days as candidates.
Weinberger found himself leaps and bounds ahead of his competitors in fundraising after Sunday's campaign finance filing deadline; he had raised $107,000, compared to $47, 000 for Driscoll and $10,500 for Culcleasure. But the six-year incumbent said he's not taking any chances.
Tags: Miro Weinberger , Carina Driscoll , Infinite Culcleasure , Town Meeting Day , mayoral race , Image , Web Only
Members of Save Our Skies gathered 3,000 signatures on a petition to get a measure about the jets on the ballot and have since spent an estimated $15,000 advocating for a "yes" vote, according to lead organizer Jimmy Leas.
The question asks whether voters will "advise the City Council to: 1) request the cancellation of the planned basing of the F-35 at Burlington International Airport, and 2) request instead low-noise-level equipment with a proven high safety record appropriate for a densely populated area."
Tags: Charles Simpson , Jimmy Leas , Ernie Pomerleau , Miro Weinberger , Carina Driscoll , Infinite Culcleasure , Town Meeting Day , Burlington , Image , Web Only
Sunday, February 25, 2018
The two-term incumbent tallied $107,000 by Saturday's campaign finance filing deadline, more than double the $46,000 Driscoll raised. Infinite Culcleasure has $10,500 in his campaign coffers, including $5,500 amassed since the last filing deadline three weeks ago.
Weinberger, meanwhile, raked in $26,000 during that same time period, mostly in larger donations. With 10 days remaining until the March 6 election, he's on pace to come close to — or even surpass — his 2012 fundraising total of $118,000.
Tags: Miro Weinberger , Carina Driscoll , Infinite Culcleasure , Burlington , mayor , Image , Web Only
Monday, February 19, 2018
Mayor Miro Weinberger on Monday trotted out a dozen supporters to sing his praises, including Burlington city councilors, legislators and union employees. The incumbent Democratic candidate also rehashed the list of endorsements he's tallied during his reelection campaign and announced another key backer: Republican Kurt Wright, a longtime city councilor, state representative and one of Weinberger's opponents in the 2012 mayoral race.
The laudatory press conference Monday appeared to be a direct response to independent candidate Carina Driscoll's announcement last week that the local chapter of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees had voted to back her campaign. The union represents more than 200 city employees, some of whom later pushed back against Driscoll's assertion that the endorsement was unanimous.
"I was extremely concerned when I read Carina's announcement characterizing her union support as 'the unanimous endorsement of the city's workers,' a statement that, as you can see here, is patently untrue," said City Councilor Joan Shannon (D-South District), a Weinberger supporter. "If there's one position in this city that's more important than the mayor, it's the one of city workers, collectively."
Tags: Miro Weinberger , Carina Driscoll , Infinite Culcleasure , Burlington mayor , Joan Shannon , Kurt Wright , Dave Hartnett , union , endorsement , Image , Web Only
Friday, February 16, 2018
Several members of the local chapter of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees told Seven Days that they do not support Driscoll — and never knew about the endorsement vote.
"There was never an email, never a discussion, none of the union members voted," said Ted Miles, a Burlington code enforcement inspector who is a member of the AFSCME union. Miles, who said he'd cast his Town Meeting Day ballot for incumbent Mayor Miro Weinberger, also questioned the critiques that other union members had for the current administration.
"It was definitely not any kind of unanimous endorsement by any stretch of the imagination," Miles said.
Tags: Carina Driscoll , mayor , Miro Weinberger , endorsement , Infinite Culcleasure , AFSCME , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, February 14, 2018
It's the first time "in a very long time" that the local chapter of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees has endorsed a candidate for mayor, union president Karl LaBounty said at a press conference Wednesday.
"This year we felt that it was a time to stand up again," LaBounty said.
The AFSCME Local 1343, Council 93 union includes more than 200 workers from the Burlington Parks, Recreation & Waterfront Department; the Department of Public Works; the library; the airport; the city clerk and treasurer's office; the Community and Economic Development Office; as well as staff from the Burlington school district.
Tags: Carina Driscoll , Miro Weinberger , Infinite Culcleasure , Burlington mayor , AFSCME Local 1343 , Council 93 , endorsements , Image , Web Only
Friday, February 9, 2018
The political newcomer posted a campaign update on his website Thursday under the headline "Message from Infinite: We're Stronger Than Ever." The post appeared days after Culcleasure and the two other mayoral candidates, Carina Driscoll and Miro Weinberger, participated in a televised forum about the issues.
In his post, Culcleasure decried a Seven Days cover story that examined whether Weinberger, a two-term incumbent with plenty of campaign cash, could lose the contest. Driscoll, a Progressive Party-backed independent candidate, has political experience and is the stepdaughter of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a connection she's touted on the campaign trail.
Culcleasure lamented "being marginalized based on such superficial grounds as how we look and our lack of campaign resources," which he referred to as a "practice of white normative politics in Burlington and Vermont."
Tags: Infinite Culcleasure , Miro Weinberger , Carina Driscoll , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, February 6, 2018
Our Revolution sent out an email Tuesday seeking $5 donations. The solicitation by the national organization could open the floodgates for Driscoll, who lags behind incumbent Mayor Miro Weinberger in dollars raised. Campaign finance reports filed this week show that Driscoll drummed up $32,000, a figure that includes $10,000 she loaned her campaign. Weinberger, a Democrat, amassed an $80,000 war chest while independent Infinite Culcleasure raised $5,000.
Driscoll applied for — and received — an Our Revolution endorsement last month. At the time, Driscoll said that she would accept fundraising help if the organization offered.
Tags: Carina Driscoll , Bernie Sanders , Senator , Infinite Culcleasure , Miro Weinberger , mayor , Our Revolution , Burlington , Image , Web Only
Inside a packed Burlington City Hall Auditorium on Monday evening, the two independents took jabs at Democratic Mayor Miro Weinberger, criticizing the incumbent for his management of the Burlington Telecom sale process, the long-languishing Moran Plant and the diminished power of Neighborhood Planning Assemblies.
Weinberger defended his record. "This administration believes that nothing is more important than the public trust," he said.
More than 300 people turned out for the forum, which was sponsored by Seven Days, Channel 17/Town Meeting Television and the League of Women Voters of Champlain Valley. Supporters of all three contenders stood along the walls and filtered up into the balcony, holding yard signs and cheering when their chosen candidate hit home a point.
Tags: Miro Weinberger , Infinite Culcleasure , Carina Driscoll , Burlington , Town Meeting Day , mayor , mayoral race , F-35 , Burlington Telecom , Image , Web Only , Video
Monday, February 5, 2018
By the first campaign finance filing deadline on Sunday night, Weinberger had raised more than $80,000 — far outpacing independent Carina Driscoll, who drummed up $32,900. The other candidate, independent Infinite Culcleasure, had not filed as of Monday morning.
Weinberger raised the sum from 361 donors, according to an email his campaign sent out Sunday. He's spent about $57,000 of that war chest so far, including on the salaries of four people who worked on the campaign, a host of volunteer meals, and about $5,000 on mass media advertising for brochures, postcards and ads in the North Avenue News.
Tags: Miro Weinberger , Carina Driscoll , Infinite Culcleasure , Bernie Sanders , Senator , Image , Web Only