The suspense evaporated quickly. Democratic City Councilor Joan Shannon, a realtor who represents an affluent section of Burlington, eked out a first-ballot victory in the party caucus Sunday afternoon.

Her win is a disappointment for those who think Burlington is some kind of small-p progressive hotbed, but it’s not a surprise. Not when the media are banging the drum for the city’s alleged crime wave and when many residents feel a new sense of insecurity that’s not borne out in the crime statistics but does reflect Burlington’s shabbier feel of late — more a result of petty vandalism, littering, and out-of-control social ills than of actual crime.

But that’s a hard thing to look at and promises no easy solutions. Instead, let’s throw our hands on the Shannon deck, whose leader promises “to restore” the Queen City of hallowed memory.

Ah, the good old days. As Otto Bettmann would say, “they were terrible,” but our memories turn toward the past when present reality is too much to bear.

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