Burlington Progressives won’t challenge any sitting Democratic city councilors in Town Meeting Day elections this March. All eight ward seats are up for grabs, but the party is only running candidates in the four wards it already controls.
At a nominating caucus on Wednesday, Progressives endorsed incumbent councilors Carter Neubieser, Gene Bergman and Marek Broderick to run in Wards 1, 2 and 8, respectively. The sitting councilors ran unopposed in the caucus, which was conducted by electronic and paper ballots.
In the only contested race, Laura Sánchez-Parkinson defeated Vikas Mangipudi, 27 to 18, to run in Ward 3, where Progressive incumbent Councilor Joe Kane isn’t running for reelection.
“Providing residents with stability matters, and our councilors remain committed to building on the important work already under way,” party cochair Jane Stromberg said in a statement on Saturday announcing the caucus results. “As we look toward Town Meeting Day, we are energized by the opportunity for a productive and positive path forward.”
Even if all four Progressive candidates win in March, the party won’t gain any power on the council this election season. With just one other seat on the 12-person panel, the Progs will hold a minority on the Dem-controlled council for at least another year.
The Democrats, meantime, are running four incumbents and have “a few” candidates interested in challenging Progressives, party chair Ryan Addario said. The party’s caucus will be held sometime early next year. The sitting Democratric councilors headed for the ballot include Sarah Carpenter (Ward 4), Becca Brown McKnight (Ward 6), Evan Litwin (Ward 7) and Council President Ben Traverse (Ward 5).
About 100 people attended last week’s Prog caucus, which was held both online and in person at the Old North End Community Center. They shared a potluck dinner and conversation before getting down to business.
Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak, the city’s highest-ranking Prog, kicked off the event by highlighting her efforts to manage a challenging city budget and rebuild a depleted police department. She also thanked the candidates who stepped up to run for office, including Sánchez-Parkinson, whom the mayor nominated for the Ward 3 post.
Each candidate had five minutes to make their pitch. Sánchez-Parkinson, who immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico 25 years ago, said she knows firsthand the struggles faced by working class families, particularly those of color. She reflected on growing up as a new American and becoming an activist in college. In Burlington, she joined the board of directors for City Center Little League in the Old North End, where she lives with her partner and two children.
Sánchez-Parkinson, 35, works for the Division of Intercultural Excellence at the University of Vermont and also, remotely, for University of Michigan’s Program for Advancing Cultural Transformation. Mangipudi, also 35, is a loan officer for a nonprofit that lends to employee-owned businesses.
Neither candidate took firm policy stances in their remarks. Mangipudi zeroed in on the “bitter personal animosity” between Dems and Progs and vowed to stay above the fray. Sánchez-Parkinson said she would support policies focused on youth empowerment.
“As community leaders, it is our responsibility to ensure that our young people can see bold and courageous leaders,” she said.
The incumbents’ speeches touched on bread-and-butter issues. Councilor Broderick pledged to continue efforts to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and proposed rezoning some residential areas to build more housing. Both he and Councilor Neubieser said they want to invest more money in the city’s Housing Trust Fund, which is used to support affordable housing projects.
Broderick and Neubieser also endorsed the idea of creating a consolidated waste collection system in which city workers would pick up garbage, recycling and compost. The city’s existing recycling program struggles to retain staff, and earlier this year, Mulvaney-Stanak proposed outsourcing the job to private haulers. Councilors panned the idea, and they continue to discuss the program’s future.
Bergman, the party’s elder statesman, used his time to remind his comrades of their political mandate: to educate and cultivate leaders.
“The system is not going to change on its own,” he said.
Candidates can run as independents if they don’t secure a party nomination. Petitions to appear on the ballot are due by 5 p.m. on January 26.
