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.

Shannon might — might, I say — successfully apply some spitshine to the city, especially if she hires a bunch more police officers, security personnel and first responders. But that won’t change the fundamental dynamic: A city full of people struggling to survive and/or deal with substance use is never going to be a comfortable place. There’s just too much bad shit going on.

Shannon’s public statements include nods toward compassion, but there’s always an iron fist in the velvet glove. Her public safety platform calls for “accountability and care,” in that order. She wants to “hold people accountable” for illegal actions. She even asserts, according to Seven Days, that “arresting people could help them access drug treatment.”

That’s one way to look at it.

VTDigger reports that Shannon’s public safety plan “includes four ‘pillars’: deterrence and prevention, treatment, housing and justice.”

Um, that’s five pillars. Unless you’re smooshing deterrence and prevention together, which is quite the trick. Checking her platform webpage, and yep, “deterrence and prevention” are a single pillar. The idea seems to be that if we make things more uncomfortable for scofflaws, they’ll behave themselves.

Actually, there it is in black and white: “Fear of getting caught is an effective crime deterrent.” No citations are offered for that boldfaced claim. It’s simply not true for those dealing with substance use disorder or mental illness or homelessness or simply struggling to get through another day.

“Public Safety,” by the way, is the one and only issue that gets its own page on Shannon’s campaign website. “Housing” is a mere subset of “Public Safety.” And in the Housing section, Shannon’s inner realtor shows through. She wants “housing that enhances our beloved Burlington neighborhoods.” But the city’s “beloved neighborhoods” are part of the problem! Burlington’s neighborhoods need to allow more density and flexibility in housing construction and less dependence on motor vehicles. They need to change.

Under Shannon, they won’t. Because in her view, we don’t need a new and better Burlington equipped to meet the challenges of the present and future. Instead, we need to click our heels together and say “There’s no place like home,” and wait to be whisked back to Burlington’s Golden Age, whenever that was.

The general election will be interesting. Does Shannon’s appeal go beyond the bare majority of Democratic caucusgoers who gave her the nomination? Can Progressive nominee Emma Mulvaney-Stanak energize the ranks of Progressive voters and attract a significant share of the 49%-plus of Dems who didn’t vote for Shannon? Will any other candidates enter the race and muddy the waters?

Remember that the last two times around, incumbent Democrat Miro Weinberger failed to attract majority support. If it’s a straight-up contest between Shannon and Mulvaney-Stanak, the Democrat will have to overcome the small-P/capital-P progressive lean of the city’s electorate.

Well, really, she’ll have to hope that a majority of all city voters is pining for that lost Golden Age and willing to back the person who’s promising to bring it all back to life. Given the tenor of public conversation and press coverage, you’d think Shannon would be a strong favorite. Maybe so, but last year the same appeared to be true for Ted Kenney, and we all know what happened to him.