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Burlington Mayoral Candidates Speak
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Faerie Construction Moves Ahead
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Burlington Mayoral Candidates Speak
BURLINGTON
— The three candidates for Mayor of Vermont’s largest city
were interviewed briefly, primarily on their attitudes toward the city’s
hosting of LGBT Pride and retaining a diverse workforce among the city’s
employees.
Ms Mayor?
OITM contributor Peggy
Luhrs spoke with Democratic mayoral candidate Hinda Miller, a state Senator
from Chittenden County, who if elected would make history as Burlington's
first woman mayor. Miller co-founded Jogbra (later bought by Champion
Sportswear).
PL: What's the theme of your campaign or the main issues?
HM: Well some of the issues are financial challenges in city government,
in the schools with a shrinking number of students. I think its time to
renew the plan for the Waterfront. The revitalization plan is ten years
old and we need a better process that gets stakeholders to the table early.
I'm waiting to see what people have to say about the Moran plant. Education
is very important to me.
PL: Would you issue a proclamation in support of LGBT Pride?
HM: Absolutely! Is that an annual event?
PL: Yes. Would you continue city policy of support for domestic partners?
HM: Yes of course.
PL: How do you feel about plans to close Barnes and Wheeler schools?
HM: I support neighborhood schools, they provide a lot of things in addition
to education, like cultural gatherings, and we don't really have the public
transportation for schools. Walking to school is good. We have to support
the family. There are 450 single mothers in this town and it’s a
hard life. We need every kid to have an education, every kid needs to
go to college in this world.... People need leadership skills and emotional
intelligence. The federal guidelines don't address these things.
PL: Did you support increasing the minimum wage as a
Vermont Senator?
HM: Yes I did. I voted yes in the conference committee and helped get
it out and I voted for it. I felt the COLA [cost of living adjustment]
should be linked to a national matrix so businesses would know what their
costs were and calculate them. I certainly did support it.
PL: In the past the Community Economic and Development Office has done
a lot to assist low income homeowners and has focused on affordable housing.
Would you?
HM: I absolutely applaud the Burlington Community Land Trust and nonprofits
have made significant progress in this area. I would continue work with
the Land Trust.
PL: Are you looking to more people living downtown, higher buildings?
HM: Well everything in moderation. I do support more density downtown.
We need to keep Burlington strong. It needs to be livable, inclusive and
economically strong.
The best social policy
is a good job. Burlington is poised to be a great hub for entrepreneurship
and small business. People want to live here. We have the resources, the
combination of education and support at UVM for new telecommunications.
I'd like to see the Burlington Business Association mentor new businesses
on North St. and with different groups. That can be a really vital part
of the City. Bosnians have told me that no one has leveraged their connections
overseas. This could be done. This stuff really excites me.
PL: A good job as the best policy is a great idea but tough for women
with children.
HM: The City can't solve all of this but I would like to sit down with
single moms and those working with them to brainstorm what more can be
done. Burlington's current policy subsidizes 3-5 year olds in childcare
through the education fund. that's good but it doesn't solve everything.
It is tough to be a parent working with children even with a partner.
PL: Do you think that being a woman mayor will make a difference?
HM: Women get the need for support. It is women who are starting a lot
of small businesses. Women see the value in things, see where we can make
things better. I think maybe we're more willing to negotiate. You know
in politics you can’t just bull ahead you have to deal with everyone’s
position.
Purposeful Progressive?
Editor Euan Bear spoke with Progressive Party mayoral candidate and three-term
state Representative Bob Kiss about his vision for the city. The 58-year-old
Kenosha, Wisconsin native moved to Burlington in 1972. He is currently
self-employed as a consultant with Germane Solutions, Inc. He began our
interview by relating what the Progressives stand for and how he became
the party's candidate.
BK: The first important thing to know about my candidacy is that Burlington
voters have chosen Progressive candidates for the last 20 years. I was
the chair of the city Progressive Party committee with the idea of finding
a good progressive candidate who would run, and no idea that it would
be me.... Burlington voters deserve to have a Progressive choice, to be
represented by Progressive values.
We put people first. Burlington
needs an efficient and effective government that meets the needs of working
people, and part of that is accessible healthcare as one of the common
benefits of good government, just as clean air and water are.
We need to build economic development
in a way that is sustainable, that includes a living wage and affordable
housing, because it’s the right thing to do. We stand for economic
and social justice. We don't leave people behind.
As for the other candidates,
I'm with [mathematician and philosopher] Alfred North Whitehead, who said,
'There are no true conservatives; there is only going forward or backward.'
I want to move the city forward.
EB: If you win, would you sign a proclamation for Gay Pride?
BK: Of course! I was actually one of the [peacekeeping] marshals for the
first parade. We all wore white. Dolly Fleming asked me if I would be
a marshal.
EB: There are a lot of lesbian and gay employees in the current administration.
Will you be committed to retaining or hiring and/or appointing a diverse
workforce?
BK: Absolutely, of course! I would look for the most qualified people.
Diversity is good for businesses and governments, and I’m not speculating.
When I was director of CVOEO [Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity],
that's what I did. CVOEO was one of the first businesses in Burlington
to offer domestic partner coverage in our health plan. Seven percent of
households in Vermont are unmarried [including his: Kiss and long-time
partner Jackie Majoros are not married].
I also want to say that
I have a lot of experience at doing more with less. A lot of my 18 years
at CVOEO, we had to deal with shrinking budgets. And I recognize that
you reach a point of doing less with less.
EB: Would you work toward keeping both the Barnes and Wheeler elementary
schools open?
BK: Of course. There are 500,000 [lower income] kids that are in what
is essentially an experiment to see whether the theory that they will
do better in classes with more advantaged kids works. And it is an experiment.
School issues and city issues are different, but we would work together
to see what we could do.
EB: If you win, will you resign your House seat?
BK: I hope not to have to, I'd do both until the end of the [legislative]
session. And then I would not run [again] for House in the fall.
EB: Briefly, is there anything else we should know about you?
BK: I am one of the cosponsors of H.478, the gender identity and expression
nondiscrimination bill.
Fun Fiscal Conservative?
Republican mayoral candidate and Burlington City Councilor Kevin J. Curley
returned Editor Euan Bear's phone call requesting an interview on short
notice.
EB: Probably the thing that most of our readers want to know is whether
you as a Republican would continue the city’s support for the Lesbian,
Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Festival by signing a proclamation.
KJC: I support the festival. My neighbors, Randy and John – I can't
think of their last names – were very involved in the festival using
the waterfront area one year when it was really rainy, and the area got
pretty muddy and somebody broke a sprinkler head. They were worried that
the city was going to keep the $1,000 deposit. They came over and said
they'd fix everything and asked that we not keep the deposit. I helped
make sure they could do it. I'm fine with a declaration.
EB: Would you hire and appoint – to the extent that a mayor can
-– a diverse workforce, including lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and
transgenders?
KJC: When it's about diversity, you know, the human resources department
is coming up with policies about not discriminating. But it's more than
just equal opportunity. It's not just who we hire, but how we serve. I
would want a culturally competent administration. We would have a zero
tolerance policy.
EB: For
discrimination, you mean.
KJC: Not just discrimination but education for department heads and managers.
I guess I'm not your typical Republican.
EB: Can you give me a brief sense of your platform?
KJC: I just want to move the city forward. I am concerned that we are
taxing vulnerable parts of the city out of their homes. We need to have
a state-of-the-art recreation plan. We have a lot now, but it could be
a lot better, a lot more. I'm interesting in fostering economic development
to create and maintain jobs.
Burlington should be fun,
friendly, and economically viable. I'm fiscally conservative, not 'morality
conservative.'