Why are you running?
To see Burlington through the multiple, simultaneous crises ahead and ensure we recover stronger, greener, more just, and more affordable than before.
tell us about yourself
I was born, raised, and attended public schools in Vermont. After a decade out of the state, I returned to raise a family and start a business almost twenty years ago. Serving Burlington has been a great honor, and I will continue to work relentlessly if given the opportunity.
What have you done to increase housing stock at every price level?
The only way to make housing a human right is to build a lot more housing. Over the last nine years, my administration built more than 1300 new homes for households of all income levels, nearly doubled investment in the Housing Trust Fund, and created the city’s first year-round low barrier shelter. This has doubled Burlington’s vacancy rates and stabilized rents, but our work is far from complete. We must continue these policies and focus on building new homes — an approach we know is working — not retreat to the failed, heavy-handed policies of the past that created the current severe housing shortages. If we get our housing policies right, we will also become more racially inclusive, reduce climate emissions, strengthen our public schools and local businesses, and create new revenues for much needed public services.
What can Burlington do to support the creation of more
well-paying jobs in Burlington?
The city has its biggest impact creating good paying jobs by making Burlington a place where individuals and companies want to be. Over the last nine years we have worked hard to ensure that City government does is core functions well, so that our infrastructure is intact and supports commerce and a high quality of life, our community remains one of the safest cities in the country, and our municipal finances are well managed to keep the cost government low (municipal tax rates have risen less than inflation over the last nine years even as we have made major new investments and locked in millions in savings through credit rating upgrades). Business leaders have long told me that the cost of housing is one of their biggest obstacles hiring and retaining good staff, which is one of the reasons we have brought so much focus to creating new homes (see housing answer). Major development projects create major economic opportunities, which is why I have put a major focus on supporting projects like Cambrian Rise, Hula, and CityPlace Burlington. Making Burlington more welcoming and racially inclusive also creates growth and economic investment.