Another Realignment in the People's Republic

FLASHBACK: When Progressives Lost Control of City Hall

It was Burlington's first mayoral race since the repeal of instant run-off voting. But there was no need for a second round. Miro Weinberger won handily in March 2012 with more than 5,800 votes. The turnout was above 10,000, up from 2009, when incumbent Progressive Bob Kiss won a second term in a close, controversial race with Kurt Wright that led to the end of IRV.

Miro Weinberger and Tim Ashe at the Epic Caucus; 
Below, Mayor Bob Kiss and Kurt Wright 

     Under-estimated from the start, Weinberger delivered on a campaign plan to make inroads in the more conservative North End, but also polled above expectations in poor neighborhoods. In Ward 3, where Gordon Paquette – the last Democratic mayor — won his earliest victories, also the neighborhood from which Terry Bouricius introduced “third party” politics to the City Council in 1981, Weinberger was the top vote-getter with 65 percent.
     When Mayor Bernie Sanders ran for re-election the first time in 1983, he won 52 percent of the vote and spent about $30,000. Weinberger’s victory was bigger, but it also cost him four times as much.
     In 1987, Sanders defeated Democrat Paul Lafayette in five out of six wards. Then the new, local Progressive Party was close to having a majority. In 2012, however, after electing three mayors over 31 years and being the largest faction on the City Council, it chose not to field a candidate for mayor, dissociated itself from the incumbent it had put in office, and recruited only two candidates. The party chose not to endorse Weinberger, Wright or independent Wanda Hines. But Progressive Councilor Vince Brennan did back Wright, who also won the support of Independent Sharon Bushor and Sandra Baird, a former Democratic legislator and Progressive critic.
     During the run-up to the Democratic Party caucus, state Sen. Tim Ashe, once a Progressive city councilor, looked like a more polished player with the necessary cross-party appeal. Others thought that Bram Kranichfeld, the 31-year-old council newcomer from Ward 2, had some crucial backing from party stalwarts. Both of them, along with state Rep. Jason Lorber, were defeated in the course of an epic Democratic caucus that had to be reconvened in December after Weinberger and Ashe tied in the third round.
     At Weinberger’s campaign announcement the previous September, held next door to City Hall in a former firehouse managed by Burlington City Arts, the first-time candidate charged that Mayor Kiss had put the city in “an exceptionally poor negotiating position.” Reluctance to discuss the details of Burlington Telecom finances had “left a mood of anger and anxiety about our future,” he charged. The 41-year-old housing developer also criticized the administration’s failure to secure funding before starting on a $14 million airport parking lot expansion.

     He looked like the underdog to Republican Kurt Wright throughout most of the general election. Although Weinberger raised more than twice the money and had the Democratic establishment in his corner, Wright appeared to have an inherent edge. He had waged two previous mayoral battles, had a working knowledge of city policies and operations gained over 20 years as a councilor and state lawmaker, and was creating a nonpartisan coalition that looked a little like the one that had worked well for Bernie Sanders. None of it was enough.
     Afterward, Progressive Party Vice Chair Elijah Bergman argued that the Democrat’s victory wouldn’t have happened without Progressive support. If so, the assistance for Weinberger was capped by the endorsement of Bernie Sanders, issued one week before the vote.
     On the same Town Meeting Day, across the state more than 60 communities, including most of Vermont's largest, passed resolutions recommending a constitutional amendment to make sure that corporations do not continue to have First Amendment rights as people. In Burlington, the call passed with almost 80 percent. A separate advisory resolution inspired by the Occupy protests also did well. In a tradition that dates back to the 1980s, voters urged the state and federal governments to adopt revenue and investment policies that reduce the growing disparity of wealth and ask the largest corporations to pay a fair share of taxes.
     Max Tracy won easily as a Progressive in Ward 2, an area situated between the university and the waterfront in the Old North End. This was also where Hines had her best turnout, 15 percent. But the groundswell she predicted didn't materialize. In North and South End wards she attracted between 2 percent and 4 percent. The overall results also represented a setback for the GOP, which lost both a council seat and the immediate presence of Wright, the party’s most visible leader. Hines turned out to be a weaker candidate than expected, while Wright reached an apparent ceiling on his appeal.
     Three decades of executive power had ended for the progressive movement. But Weinberger promised not to “clean house” and offered to provide continuity. In a sign of the political realignment to come, his initial budget advisory team featured former Progressive official Carina Driscoll, Sanders' step-daughter and future mayoral candidate; longtime business leader Pat Robins; former independent candidate Dan Smith, son of Republican Peter Smith, whom Sanders defeated to enter Congress; and Doug Hoffer, once a CEDO staffer in the Progressive era and soon-to-become Progressive/Democrat State Auditor.

Another Realignment in the People's Republic: Part Two

One outcome of the March 2012 elections in Burlington was already clear by January: the next mayor would not be a member of the city’s Progressive Party. In November 2011, Mayor Bob Kiss, the third progressive to serve as chief executive since 1981, had decided -- under pressure -- not to seek a third term.
    In December, Sen. Tim Ashe, a former Progressive City Councilor who hoped to run as a fusion candidate with the Democratic nomination, narrowly lost to Miro Weinberger in a hotly contested caucus race. Five years later Ashe is President Pro Tempore of the Democratic-controlled Vermont Senate.

Ashe, Lorber, Kranichfeld and Weinberger debate.

      After deferring a final decision for more than a month, on the last Sunday of January 2012 local Progressives finally voted, unanimously, not to field a mayoral candidate for the first time in decades. About 30 people attended the party’s caucus at the Fletcher Free Library, somewhat fewer than had showed up in December.
     Progressive Rep. Chris Pearson suggested that it was time to “streamline.” Last November, after a decade in the Vermont House, Pearson became a State Senator, elected as a Progressive-Democrat.
     In a 2012 post-Caucus statement, Party Vice-Chair Elijah Bergman explained that local Progressives believed “the best way we can continue to stand up for low and moderate income residents is to focus on winning city council seats.” To that end, however, the Party had nominated only two council candidates.
     In Ward 2, Max Tracy went on to defeat Democrat Eric Covey for the seat being vacated by Democrat Dave Berezniak. In Ward 3, Rachel Siegel was recruited for a successful race against Democrat Sean Hurley, filling the spot previously held by Emma Mulvaney-Stanak. She had announced plans to "take a break" from elected office. Mulvaney-Stanak has since become chair of the Vermont Progressive Party, and Siegel has left the Council to become director of the Peace & Justice Center.
     Bergman said in 2012 that members of his party “look forward to meeting with the announced mayoral candidates and sharing our priorities and vision for the city.” But he also suggested that an endorsement for Independent Wanda Hines was possible, although she hadn't requested it. At the Caucus, Hines appeared to be the clear favorite. In the end, however, the biggest Progressive endorsement came from Bernie Sanders, who backed Weinberger.
     Many progressives argued that Kiss was a poor communicator and criticized his handling of financial troubles at Burlington Telecom. Hines, who at the time worked on equity issues in the city’s Community and Economic Development Office, was one the few public figures who defended the administration and mayor.
     Shortly after the Progressive Caucus, Weinberger issued a statement proposing a coalition “to tackle vital affordable housing, education, environmental, poverty and workers issues facing the city.” He credited the Progressive Party for making “enormous progress over the last 30 years as a result of strong leadership” and said he hoped to “earn the support of Burlington Progressives.”
    Since then his attitude has changed. Last week, while endorsing  Progressive Councilor Jane Knodell in her re-election bid, Weinberger simultaneously attacked her Party for nominating candidates “from a reactionary fringe that is opposed to much of what we are trying to achieve.” He was talking specifically about two candidates, Genese Grill and Charles Simpson, both running insurgent campaigns in opposition to the mayor's development agenda. Grill is actually challenging Knodell as an Independent.
     In 2012, Weinberger also argued that progress had stalled in Burlington during the previous six years. But he was careful then to assign the lion's share of the blame to Mayor Kiss alone. During the Democratic caucus fight, Ashe and the other Democrats in the race took a similar stand.
     Five years later, Progressives still have four City Council seats. But Selene Coburn is on her way to the State legislature and Knodell, like other Progressives in the legislature and state office, have forged a working alliance with Democrats, an informal fusion that informs decisions and priorities.
     Weinberger defines the current dynamic as "a struggle going on for the soul of the party of Sanders, Clavelle and Knodell.” But the real questions remain the same as they were ten years ago, another moment when local Progressive leaders decided to support and share power with Democrats: Whose Party is it, and where is it heading? 

Part One

Tim Ashe and the Fusion Option

Progressive Eclipse – Chapter Four

TWO DAYS AFTER officially becoming a candidate for mayor, Tim Ashe participated in his first debate. At the Champlain Elementary School he defined himself as the one person in the race “who can bring people together and end the partisan fighting.” His strategy was “fusion,” which would require his nomination by both the Democratic and Progressive Parties.

Tim Ashe

Seated nearby were three other contenders for the job. City Councilor Bram Kranichfeld talked about the need to restore fiscal responsibility, trust, and accountability. Airport Commissioner Miro Weinberger described his business and leadership experience, and state legislator Jason Lorber told a moving personal story about values, trust and strength.

In an interview, Ashe, a 34-year-old state lawmaker already involved in Vermont politics for more than a decade, described how he saw things: “I’ve been forthcoming about my desire to bring Progressives and Democrats together to stop this crazy infighting that is so counter-productive.”

It wouldn’t be an easy pitch to sell. His first job after graduating from UVM was with Bernie Sanders, who'd been fighting Democrats and Republicans for years. Next, Ashe served three terms on the City Council as a Progressive. But more recently he had been elected to the House, then the Senate with the backing of both parties. Now his goal was to win a city caucus competition over Democrats with strong party connections. He would also “accept” the Progressive nomination, he explained, but only if he first won the Democratic nod.

If that didn't happen, Progressives would have a problem – scramble to find someone else, settle for Bob Kiss – the Progressive incumbent who’d alienated his base – or no candidate at all. Comfortable with Ashe, if not all the options, Party leaders decided to wait and see.

Ashe makes a point; to his right, Lorber, Kranichfeld and Weinberger  

Of course, they also knew Ashe was in a unique spot. Under Progressive Party rules, only someone who had already run solely as a Progressive could accept the nomination of another party. No other Democratic candidate qualified. On the other hand, it was precisely Ashe’s allegiance to the Progressive Party that made some Democrats skeptical, if not hostile. While Ashe argued that his ties to both parties made him the best option for preventing a Republican victory, Weinberger’s answer was that he would nevertheless be seen by many voters as an ally of Mayor Kiss. He certainly had been in the past.

During their first debate, one audience question went straight at the point: Would the losing candidates actively support whoever wins the caucus? The other three candidates had no trouble sounding unequivocal. But Ashe suggested that his backing, while likely, was not unconditional. It would depend, he said, on “a compact that all candidates live up to. We’ll see if the high road is taken.”

Defining the dysfunction

With links to two major parties, Ashe didn’t think political labels were the real issue. “Parties would be Ok if the process was more civil,” he said. “But the response to every significant challenge is people carving out factional interests on the council – not always along party lines.”

This he called “the political dysfunction, the constant theater at City Hall,” one of two “deep sets of problems” that had prompted him to run. “Anyone who has followed the Council knows it has been dysfunctional and marred by constant sniping,” he said. But the other trouble was financial, he acknowledged, mentioning Burlington Telecom, an estimated $50 million pension fund liability, and looming budget cuts.

Ashe conveniently placed much of the blame on Kiss, charging the mayor had demonstrated “a complete lack of leadership.” His primary deficit -- failure to communicate, Ashe charged. “So much of the good will he ought to have was squandered.” He didn’t mention Peter Clavelle, the previous Progressive mayor, who had negotiated the pension benefits and pushed through the development of BT.

The problem with the argument was that his view of Kiss changed only after his re-election in 2009. Endorsing Kiss at a January 2009 press conference, Ashe had expressed “deep support” and praised the mayor’s whole team for pulling “rabbits out of hats.” Kiss had “cleaned up financial messes,” Ashe claimed. “If that’s drifting then let’s keep drifting.”

Of course, that was before the public learned that Kiss and his Chief Administrative Officer Jonathan Leopold had kept a $16.9 BT debt to the city treasury secret. As a candidate Ashe was going public with a revised, very different assessment. “He didn’t share information with the public,” Ashe said,“this hasn’t happened since Day One.” It was hard not to ask why he hadn’t mentioned it earlier.

 

Mayor Kiss and Kurt Wrght

Tough criticism was also directed at Wright. Responding to the Republican’s proposal that the city could reduce its debt by selling the Burlington Electric Department, Ashe called the idea “totally half-baked” and “insane at this point in a campaign.”

Ashe had worked with Wright on the City Council. In fact, they'd once competed for the job of Council President. Wright won that competition in 2007 with the support of most council Democrats, who didn’t bother to nominate their own candidate. Ashe was not pleased.  “Democrats have been quite concerned with this vote,” he claimed at the time. “I'm not sure it's all been fair.”

After leaving local office for the State House, however, he had kind words for Wright’s leadership on the Council and Board of Finance. The local mood had changed dramatically in a year, especially after the BT revelations surfaced. The Council put Leopold on paid leave and began to investigate. Meanwhile, Wright and others, Republicans and Democrats, backed resolutions to consider mayoral recall and impeachment as charter changes.

Now highly critical of Mayor Kiss, Ashe said he wanted to “preserve the progressive legacy” with “a mayor who reflects the values ingrained for three decades.” The key going forward would be “an inclusive approach.”

He also promised to apply the principle to Occupy Wall Street. Burlington was “in the vanguard of meeting the demands of this movement,” he said. “The first step would be to meet with representatives to better understand their local goals.” But at least publicly, neither he nor any of the other candidates did.

“An Unusual Path”

Growing up in Massachusetts, Tim Ashe moved to Burlington to attend UVM, joined Bernie Sanders’ staff shortly after graduating, and attended Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government before his election to the City Council. In a 2004 special election he replaced Carina Driscoll, daughter of Sanders’ wife Jane, and became the Council’s youngest member.

It was clear by then that he had a promising political future. During this period Ashe also met his partner, Paula Routly, publisher and co-editor of Seven Days. After he became a candidate for mayor, Routly announced that she would not “assign or edit stories or columns about Burlington politics for the duration of the campaign.”

Professionally, Ashe had worked with residents in mobile home parks at the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity, then became a Project Manager at Cathedral Square, a non-profit developer of affordable housing for seniors and people with disabilities. As a city councilor he had made affordable housing a major focus. And he wasn’t reluctant to take controversial stands at times, even if it meant an unusual alliance. In 2008, for example, he worked with Ed Adrian, frequently an administration critic, on an unsuccessful ballot item request that would have asked voters to decriminalize small quantities of marijuana possession. The proposal was defeated in a 7-6 vote.

But those were more upbeat times locally, before the financial collapse of 2008, the increased polarization following Barack Obama’s election, and the growing outrage about corporate greed and government overreach. Looking forward, Ashe saw “real financial threats” on the horizon. “Jobs and programs will be on the line,” he predicted. “To not recognize that is to be asleep at the wheel.”

His campaign pitch was that looming threats, combined with Burlington’s unique political dynamics, called for someone able to unite a “new majority.” However, his strategy of fusion wasn’t a familiar concept for most local voters. Candidates did win multiple party endorsements, and even ran as Republican/Democratic candidates at times. But this was usually due to a lack of competition or the nature of the office. A few Progressives in the legislature had run with Democratic support. But fusion as a tactic for a campaign was an urban, and often partisan, political strategy.

In New York City, for example, fusion was once the only way a Republican could become mayor; the tactic was used to bring together clean government supporters across party lines in the name of reform. The most famous fusion politician in the Big Apple was Fiorello LaGuardia. Although a Republican, nearly half his votes for New York mayor in 1933 came from Progressives and Fusionists. 

Weinberger & Ashe at the Caucus

“There are two prerequisites for the next mayor,” Ashe proposed, “the experience to do the job, but secondly, the person making the decisions must embody the values of the vast majority – on energy efficiency, peace, health care, economic equity – all the things that make people proud of Burlington. None of the others can measure up in both areas.”

It was a plausible argument. But Ashe still faced two major hurdles: convincing enough Progressives – many of whom were weary of Kiss yet remained “hard-core Ps,” as a staffer put it – that attending a Democratic caucus wouldn’t undermine their Party. And, at the same time, persuading wary Democrats that this wasn’t just a Progressive takeover ploy, that he truly wanted to be more inclusive and less partisan.

To defend against Internet attacks that he was the mayor’s lackey, Ashe went on offense. “I’ve taken an unusual path," he said, "but I don’t apologize.” In fact, his successful Senate run, with the support of both Democrats and Progressives, had “changed the culture of the Senate” and created the possibility of a “new era of collaboration.”

Yet he also had a message for his base. By joining forces with past opponents, Ashe suggested, they would be in a better position to preserve “a legacy we can be proud of” – meaning the projects and achievements of three Progressive administrations.

NEXT: Rhetoric & Reality in the Sanders Era

Progressive Eclipse: Chapter One -- A Legacy at Risk

October 6, 2011

It was hard to ignore the rumblings of a political upheaval. Another election for mayor was coming up in Vermont’s largest city, a multi-million dollar Burlington Telecom lawsuit accused the administration of fraud and breach of contract,  and the mayor faced widespread criticism – often from within his own Progressive Party base. The atmosphere was as volatile as it had been in three decades.

Bob Kiss and Kurt Wright

Four candidates to replace Mayor Bob Kiss had announced by early October, and at least three more were considering it. The official list included three Democrats – Airport Commissioner Miro Weinberger, State Representative Jason Lorber and City Councilor Bram Kranichfeld -- and one Republican, Kurt Wright, a council member and state lawmaker who had come close to beating Kiss three years earlier.

All of them were hammering Kiss about BT finances and other examples of what they considered the administration’s mismanagement, deceit and failure to communicate.

One of the possible contenders was State Senator Tim Ashe, a former City Council Progressive and now perhaps the party’s best hope for an alliance with Democrats. There was also Assistant Housing Director Brian Pine, another former member of the council, and Ward 3 Progressive Councilor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak.

Mayor Kiss was mum about his plans, even at Party meetings. But the push for someone to challenge him, along with an upsurge in local activism on issues like his attempt to forge a climate change partnership with Lockheed Martin, pointed to a tumultuous winter political season. No matter what the weather, the upcoming debates were sure to be heated, tense and well-attended.

Questions were also being raised about the election process itself, specifically about whether people should continue running with party labels. In September the City Council had narrowly rejected a resolution to look at changing the city charter to eliminate party designations for mayoral and City Council contests, but only after a debate so intense that Board President Bill Keogh had to angrily hammer his gavel and call a halt.

The discussion highlighted the unique nature of Burlington’s political landscape, three political parties uneasily sharing legislative power, and an executive branch run by Progressives for all but two of the last 30 years. It had all begun in March 1981 when Bernie Sanders unseated long-term incumbent Democrat Gordon Paquette by just 10 votes.

Three decades later, despite agreeing with Progressives on many issues, local Democrats saw a strong chance of recapturing the city’s most powerful job for the first time in decades. The reasons for their optimism: Burlington’s finances were in trouble and the mayor was unpopular, widely considered neither accountable nor transparent enough. On September 16, that view received a boost when Moody’s Investors Service warned that the city’s financial woes could lead to a further downgrade in its credit rating.

At Miro Weinberger’s campaign announcement on September 13, held next door to City Hall in a former firehouse managed by Burlington City Arts, the first-time candidate charged that Mayor Kiss had put the city in “an exceptionally poor negotiating position.” An apparent reluctance to discuss the details of Burlington Telecom finances had “left a mood of anger and anxiety about our future,” he charged. The 41-year-old housing developer also criticized the administration’s failure to secure funding before starting on a $14 million airport parking lot expansion.

 

Jason Lorber was first

Jason Lorber, the first candidate to enter the race, had a similar critique. Weighing in on the Telecom lawsuit, the state legislator and gay rights activist, who made a living as a consultant and standup comedian, said BT’s woes were a prime example of the need for change. Although promising not to assign blame, he nevertheless accused the mayor of failing to be sufficiently open about city affairs. Local residents “don’t want decisions being made behind closed doors,” he charged.

On his campaign website, Bram Kranichfeld, a criminal prosecutor at the Chittenden County State’s Attorney’s Office, defined himself as “the people’s choice” and said he wanted to “restore trust, accountability and fiscal responsibility.” At 31, he was the youngest candidate, and counted among his backers a former Democratic mayoral candidate, Paul Lafayette. Although Kranichfeld had opposed the move to drop party designations, he frequently talked about a “non-partisan approach.”

Kurt Wright had made his official announcement on September 18 during appearances on a morning TV news program and local radio talk. Also promising to restore trust and credibility, he said, “Job No. 1 for me will be to restore fiscal responsibility to the city and restore our credit rating.” As a Republican who had run twice before, he knew that the less people thought about party allegiances the better chance he had with what had become over the years a decidedly liberal electorate.

Politics by the numbers

When Mayor Peter Clavelle decided to retire in late 2005 after 15 years in office, he and his allies didn’t believe that another Progressive could be elected, or that the local party would long survive. As a result, a number of local progressive figures decided to endorse Hinda Miller, a Democratic state legislator and entrepreneur running to succeed him.

The leaders of Burlington’s Progressive Party weren’t willing to accept that prognosis, however, and turned to Kiss, a veteran human services bureaucrat and state legislator. He ended up beating Miller by about 9 percent and became the first Burlington mayor elected using instant runoff voting. Rumors circulated that some GOP supporters were urged privately to give Kiss their second place vote rather than indirectly help the Democrat. In any case, the conclusion that the city’s progressive era was over proved to be premature.

In office Kiss continued along a pragmatic, sometimes progressive path – lean budgets, “modest growth” and innovations like BT, a municipal cable, phone and Internet service operation. Business Week called Burlington one of the best places “to raise your kids,” and the Centers for Disease Control crowned it the nation’s “healthiest city.”

In the 2009 race, despite various political affiliations, five mayoral candidates embraced a similar mixture of liberal rhetoric and practical proposals that first emerged during the Sanders era. Wright talked about leadership and Democrat Andy Montroll argued that Burlington was “coasting along.” Neither questioned how the city was being run.

During one debate, Montroll said that the best course was to focus on “what we have,” while Independent challenger Dan Smith stressed the need to “reinvent ourselves” in a “post-partisan” era. The only substantive criticism of Kiss revolved around his handling of accounting and personnel matters.

In the end, 8,980 people voted – about 1,000 less than had three years earlier – and Kiss was re-elected. In the initial IRV count, however, Wright received 2,951 votes, beating Kiss by almost 400. In the second round of the runoff, the votes of independent Dan Smith and Green Party candidate James Simpson were redistributed to the remaining three. Wright was still ahead, with 3,294 votes to 2,981 for Kiss.

But when Montroll’s votes were redistributed for a third round, Kiss pulled ahead with 4,313, beating Wright’s 4,061. The Republican’s supporters were not pleased and mounted a campaign to repeal IRV, which they succeeded in doing by 52 to 48 percent the following year.

In 2012, the race would be decided the old way, the top vote-getter over 40 percent. The question was whether Kiss would even seek a third term. He was no longer popular or even trusted with many locals, and seemed tired of the games. But even if he opted out, the Progressive Party faced an uphill battle with almost any candidate. That’s why politicians like Ashe, with ties to both Progressives and Democrats, were being recruited, and why Pine talked about reaching out beyond the base.

Burlington’s “third party” had evolved from an informal coalition after Sanders became mayor into part of a statewide electoral organization. At its height, it had almost half the seats on the City Council. But in 2011 there were only two Progressives, both representing Ward 3, heart of the city and once a Democratic stronghold.
 

Kiss was beleaguered from both the right and left by criticisms about openness, finances and BT, a major progressive initiative at risk of being sold or sparking a major financial crisis. Thirty years after Sanders first local victory Democrats dominated the Council, and along with Republicans, envisioned a return to executive power.

As Bernie put it back in 1981, it was time for a change – real change.

 

NEXT: When Lockheed Came to Town