mission: possible | vanguard press | mar. 4, 1984

8/11/2019 Mission: Possible | Vanguard Press | Mar. 4, 1984

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TOWN MEETING '84/HARD TRAVELIN' WITH WOODY GUTHRIE~

... the vermont

In198J Bernie Sanders squeaked to ~

power promising change. Threeyears later, the residents of Burling.

ton have gotten what they've askedfor The Sanders Administration has

revamped city government Its record

of financial prudence, rejuvenating theOld North End and recruiting new busi-ness ventures through itsnew Commu-nity and Economic Development Office,is virtually a revolution for a dry gov.ernment fomlerly lazy, uncreative. and

most of all. unresponsive tocommuniry

activists.

Ifyou listen to the fears emanating

from Ory Hall, Town Meetin!! Day on

Tuesday. March 6, could change all that"What people must understand," 5a}"

Sanders. " is if

there is not support forthe Board of Aldermen, none of lourl

initiatives would get through. Ifwe 10'""

veto power. we lose S O percent" ofthe

power of the administration. "Fifty per

cent of what we lare able tol accom

plish will be gone."

111e Progressive Coalition, a tightly

knit group of Sanders supporte,.", is

doing L"Vcl)1hingin its power to makesure that doesn't happen.

Just as the Sanders Administration has

streamlined city government, bringing

t up to the modem age, so the Pro

gressive Coalition is updating the carnpaign process. Certainly in the era bdilre

Sanders stunned the Democ ..dtic ciry

powerbrokers, aldermanic candidates

VERMONT'S STATliWIDE WEEKLY

I N: P

Will progressives have

the same impact on theSchool Board thatthey've had on the

Board of Alderm en?

BY STEPHEN WA RD

1""engaging tales about edu-

cation are heing written beforeBurlington voters go to the polls

Tuesda\'.

The 'first is a multi-media ad-venture story told by SCh


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ALDEIIMEN:

e-...."....tr-IMP1COmpete with each other over taking

credit for many Sanders initiatives.

Alan Dalton, for instance, the blind

D


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sion of the waterfront. The Democrats

call the Alden Waterfront Corp's plan a

"sell-out," charging that the shoreline is

land that belongs to a "public trust" and

that the Sanders administration is Jet-

ting developers have their way with the

citizens' land. The Progressives counter,

of course, that it was the Democrats

who endorsed Tony Pomerleau's previ-

ous plan of erecting multi-story condo-

m i n i um s i n t h e s a m e s p ac e .

It's ironic that the Democrats have

seized on the waterfront as "their" issue

for it was Bernie Sanders' opposition'

to the earlier - and Democratically

backed - plan that brought himto power.

And the Democrats do have some seri-

ous concerns. fur instance: What about

the traffic in and out of the area, ques-

tioned Palm at one of the Cox Cable

debates, wondering how the develop-

ment, as planned, would affect Lake

Champlain Transit's ferry business.

But virtually all the candidates agree

that the development of the waterfront

will be a major windfall for the city of

Burlington.

They also seem to agree - the Demo-

crats more than the Republicans - that

alternatives to the property tax should

be found. However, those who oppose

the Sanders administration argue, such

alternatives should be 'fair" and "legal."

So when the argument turns to the

excavation fee proposal currently under

discussion by the Board of Aldermen,

Republicans and Democrats agree with

the concept, and argue simply that the

fee is too high, and too much money

will come out of ratepayers' pockets.fur the Progressive Coalition, though,

the proposal is its third attempt to re-

lieve the pressure on the property tax-

payers' shoulders, which would also have

a trickle-down effect on the city's renters.And so fur each proposal - the gross-

receipts tax and the utility right-of-way

fee - have met w ith stonewalled re-

sistance from the opposing party's board

members. No action has yet been taken

by the board on the excavation fee plan.

In fact, many Democrats and Republi-

cans seeking seats next Tuesday, did

advocate raising property taxes further

in order to address city problems such

as police protection, the poor sewers,

and, of course, the streets and schools.

Both a school tax and street repair tax

are on the Town Meeting Day ballot.

Republican Skelton, perhaps, expres-

ses that viewpoint most succinctly. In

the future, he says, "it's going to cost us

more to enjoy the services we use today.Iprefer the property tax because it has a

circuit-breaker built into it," he says,

citing the state's Property Tax Relief

Program. Skelton supports raising the

property tax for increased revenues, he

says, because "right now it's one of the

only legal ways we have to do it."

No issue beller symbolizes the Pro-

gressive Coalition's'drive for a majority

on the board than the concept of find-

Illg alternatives to the property tax. It is

the one major area where Progressives

have sti II made no headway, apart from

the new tipping fees at the landfill

(whIch did not require aldermanicapproval).

" If w e h ad ju st one of tho se tax

p'lOpos.1.Is,"says the Ward 3 incumbent,

we'd be in a lot beller shape."

It is the so-called "Sanderisms," says

DeCarolis, who have consistently comeup Withnew ideas: the Land Trust, whichwould help renters buy the houses they

And George Thabault looks Iikc hecould be the perfect candidate to pull

off the upset.

Jim Burns is campaigning On"rrying

to prevent Bernie anders from gelling

an extra seat," says Thabaulr, who

works at Gardens fur All, only a few

blocks from where he Ii\es on South

Winooski Avenue. "It's a lillie bit of a

slap at the voters. IHe's saying the voters]can't see the candidates and what theystand fo r ."

Bums sees the election as similar to

his race against Beauchemin - as a refer-

endum on the Southern Connector

highway."If they send a Southern Connector

opponent to the board," argues Burns,

"this mal' be seen as a message to the

state" that the City does not want the

road."And the city will get stuck With a

million dollar" debt.

Thabault, a Southern Connector op-

ponent, also sees housing and zoning

regulations as a major issue in his ward.

"Burlington has a limited amount of

developable space," says Thabault, "andin the South Endw e need this industrial-commercial zone. We need a base .of

employers and employees. A key issue

in the future of Burlington is which

kind of housing arc we going to have?

"Almost anything you build will getrented," Thabault continues, "so the

sruffJOUbuild must be of utmost quality.

The ciry's new Champlain Apartmentsare an affront to the people." Thabault

blames the Board of Aldermen as owners

of the land for the development. The

city "could have stipulated what kind of

development they wanted."

Thibault claims he has a1wJjs opposed

the project, and even cited it as one

issue where he would have voted againstthe Mayor - who favored the plan - had

he been on the board. Burns, though.

charges that his opponent wrote him

two letters at the time "congratulating"

him on his handling of the project.

Thabault says that he objected to

theOld Champlain School deseloprnenr. and

believes the city would have instructed

the developer to better meet the needsof the community.

''What he's talking about is the new

Champlain School. As I recall, I apprec-

iated his efforts and seeing him prevent

the School Department from selling the

land," says Thabault.Bums also S3)s, "When JOU look at

Ward 5 as far as housing goes, we've

done a pretty credible job," citing the

King Street area, a pre-Sanders project,

and the recent Bobbin Mill, Champlain

School and Golden Place projects.

Thabauit, who considered vying

with Burns in the Democratic caucus,

is treading carefully where allegiance to

the M ayor is concerned in the rela-

tively conservative ward. The mayor.

thinks "there is a third party brewing in

Burlington," says 111abault, disagreeing."Why create another party to pelpet-

uate those myths? It's wasted energy.

"Other people Will work with the

Ma)Qr on an issue to issue basis," S

mission: possible | vanguard press | mar. 4, 1984

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