Where’s the Buzz?

Since She’s Right is preempted tonight by the live candidate forums on channel 17, I figured it would be appropriate to write about the upcoming election.

Let’s start with the big one: the mayoral race. This should be a big year for Burlington politics with Mayor Peter Clavelle stepping aside. Unfortunately, I do not think this election is really creating a lot of buzz. In fact, there was more buzz about the Democratic caucus than there has been about the election.

Maybe that is because the Democrats are so arrogant they think no one else can touch their candidate. Ward 5 City Councilor Bill Keogh, who is running unopposed on the ballot, wrote in the North Avenue News before the caucus that the Democratic candidate, whoever it is, would be the next mayor, since a Republican has not won the Mayor’s Office since Peter Brownell did in 1993.

What he failed to recognize is that no Democrat ever beat Peter Clavelle – not even in the Democrats’ own city caucus, where Clavelle beat out City Council President Andy Montroll and ran for mayor as a Progressive and Democrat. Someone should remind Councilor Keogh that he was holding a “Write-in Andy Montroll for Mayor” sign that year.

The fact that the election is only two weeks from Tuesday and there does not seem to be any real enthusiasm about it is somewhat troubling. The next mayor in Burlington is going to have a lot of tough choices to make. The city does not have enough revenue coming in to sustain the current level of spending. The decisions that the new mayor makes to remedy the city’s financial strains are going to affect every single one of us. We need to care about who that person is.

In the coming days, I will get into detail about the issues and the candidates. In the mean time, I encourage you to find out as much as you can about these candidates.

The Burlington Free Press is running a series on Wednesdays and Sundays on the Editorial page, which allows the candidates to answer a question in his or her own words. Archive can be found here.

There are three remaining debates for the Mayoral candidates: Feb. 20, Feb.22, and March 2. Stay tuned for more information.

Last, but not least, get out on Tuesday, March 7 and VOTE! If you are unable to get there, please call City Hall soon for an absentee ballot and one will be mailed to you.