Tag Archives: Miro Weinberger

Self-Described Non-Politician Does Something Nakedly Political

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Here we go again. Gov. Phil Scott has pulled a maneuver that will have little practical impact, but should suit his political purposes very well.

At his weekly press conference Wednesday, Scott signed an executive order aimed at boosting Vermont’s housing supply. And there was his cabinet’s top housing official, Alex Farrell, boasting that the order “will make a real difference immediately.”

Yeah, well, bullshit.

Scott’s authority to make policy changes without legislative input is quite limited. The items in his executive order might make some incremental difference — eventually — but it’s laughable to claim that this move will resolve our housing crisis or make any measurable progress in the next few months.

The order was less about housing, in fact, than about political positioning. In that respect, it’s already a success.

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Gentlefolk, Start Your Engines

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It’s been two and a half months since Election Day, which means I’m way behind the Political Observer curve in terms of looking ahead to the next election.

Or perhaps the 2028 election, depending on when Gov. Phil Scott decides to retire undefeated. Because until that happens, there won’t be a serious contest for the Democratic nomination — and when it happens, we’re going to see a political stampede the likes of which we haven’t seen since Jim Douglas’ retirement in 2010 touched off a five-way contest in the Dem primary.

If you think it’s Way Too EarlyTM for such talk, well, let me tell you, the engines have been revving for some time now. Recent examples: Former Burlington mayor Miro Weinberger’s emergence as the public face of Let’s Build Homes, a nominally bipartisan slash nonpartisan organization promoting the cause described in its name; and the obligatory tongue bath given to Lt. Gov. John Rodgers in the cover story of last week’s Seven Days, which touted the notion that this crusty, ornery Son of the SoilTM was suddenly transformed into gubernatorial timber by his extremely narrow plurality victory over David Zuckerman. Which I don’t buy, but hey, I’ve been wrong before.

In reality, the race to succeed Scott began at least two years ago and maybe four, when Mike Pieciak left his post in the, ahem, Scott administration to run for treasurer and immediately succeeded his predecessor Beth Pearce as the person most likely to get a standing ovation at party meetings. Pieciak’s been fundraising far beyond his minuscule needs ever since, and the only plausible explanation is that he’s preparing to run for governor as soon as Scott steps aside.

A more pointed signal of Pieciak’s intent could be seen in his November 19 campaign finance report: a $3,000 payment made on November 6 to Silver Strategies, LLC.

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Whistling Past the Encampment

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We’re a few days into our latest mass unsheltering, and the devastation wrought by Our Political Betters’ mishandling of the situation is fully as bad as expected, if not worse. People on the front lines, trying to help vulnerable Vermonters no longer eligible for state-paid motel rooms, are working their asses off and trying to hold back the tears as they do it. Problem is, they are so committed and dedicated, that they can’t help but push themselves to the brink.

The city of Burlington is reduced to seeking donations of tents and camping gear because THE STATE CAN’T EVEN BRING ITSELF TO DO THAT SIMPLE INADEQUATE THING. Municipalities around the state are begging the state to lift a goddamn finger, and gotten nothing from Gov. Phil Scott in response. Helping agencies are seeking donations* to enable them to conduct the vital work they’re doing because, again, THE STATE IS SHOWING THE BACK OF ITS HAND TO THE UNSHELTERED.

*Organizations worthy of support include End Homelessness Vermont and, in my neck of the woods, Good Samaritan Haven.

The governor, I must remind you, is the guy who has insisted since Day One of his administration that he has three strategic priorities: Grow the economy, make Vermont more affordable, and protect the must vulnerable.

I guess we can cross off that last one, because clearly he isn’t committed to it anymore. Hundreds of our most vulnerable have been kicked to the curb under his watch, and hundreds more will follow in the coming weeks.

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Dean Leaves Dems at the Altar (UPDATED With Another Skedaddle)

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The curtain came down on Howard Dean’s Hamlet act this morning. After a few weeks of something approaching suspense, Dean announced he would not run for governor.

And now here we are, 10 days away from the filing deadline for major party candidates and the only Democrat in the race is Esther Charlestin, who is (1) almost entirely unknown, (2) has never run for public office*, and (3) has shown no signs at all of mounting a serious campaign. Not even an underfunded, scrappy effort like those of the last three Democratic candidates for governor.

*Correction: Charlestin has run for, and won a seat on, the Middlebury selectboard.

Former Burlington mayor Miro Weinberger is still pondering*, but really. If Dean’s internal polling showed him ten points behind incumbent Gov. Phil Scott, what could possibly convince Weinberger to step in? Or anyone else, for that matter?

*Whoops, that didn’t age well. Channel 22/44 anchor Lauren Maloney took to Twitter early this afternoon with news that Weinberger does “not intend to be a candidate for public office this fall.”

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Howard Dean Needs to Make a Decision

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So I went looking for an image of Howard Dean for this post, and I came across the absolutely perfect specimen: A seven-year-old segment of “Morning Joe” entitled “Howard Dean: Baby Boomers Need To Get Out Of Way Of Young Leaders.” And wearing a Grandpa sweater as he said it:

The baby boomers have got to get out of the way. It’s my generation. I’m happy to advise. I don’t think that we need to be in the forefront anymore.

Maybe the 75-year-old Dean should listen to his 68-year-old self. Or maybe not, I have mixed feelings. But he needs to make a move one way or the other, because the days until filing deadline are flying by and as long as Dean keeps up his Hamlet act, he’s an obstacle to other potential Democratic candidates.

Besides, of course, Poa Mutino. Correction: Mutino is running as an independent, not a Democrat.

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Welp, I Guess We’re Going to Try Doing Nothing

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A not-so-fond farewell to Winters Hall, a.k.a. Governor Phil Scott’s crappy shelter down an industrial side road near Montpelier, pictured above. The Scott administration announced this morning — well, they slipped it out in a routine statistical report, if that counts as an “announcement” — that the governor’s four temporary shelters, including this lovely little number, were closing down as of today.

Every morning, since the shelters opened, the state has reported the nightly census at each location. Today’s count was topped by the following sentence, and I quote: “All shelter are now closed.” Did anybody proofread this thing before it went out?

The closures come despite Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger’s call for the state to keep open the Queen City shelter, which has seen by far the most use. But he’s a Democrat, so screw him, right?

More good news: Vermont Legal Aid lost its attempt to get a court order forcing the administration to reopen the wintertime Adverse Weather Conditions program, so we get no relief there. Written statement from VLA attorney Maryellen Griffin:

This is terrible news for the hundreds of people experiencing homelessness in Vermont including people with disabilities, families with children, people who are elderly, and people who are low-income and unable to find housing. It is unconscionable that they will be facing unsheltered homelessness. It is particularly concerning now when it is still very much winter in Vermont. Housing is a human right and no one should ever be forced to live outside.

Oh, did I mention that we’re facing a truly fearsome weather forecast for this weekend?

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…Or Maybe Everybody Just Hates Joan: A Deeper Dive into the Mayoral Numbers

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My recent post about the Burlington mayoral election drew a fair bit of intelligent response. Even on Twitter, which used to happen all the time but never in the post-Elon hellscape of X. Much of the discussion came from Democrats with fact-based arguments against the idea that Burlington is a Progressive town. Some good information, which makes me think that Burlington is less a Progressive town and more a swing town that can go either way depending on circumstances and candidate quality. And inspires me to write a follow-up taking a closer look at some telling statistics.

Let’s start with defeated Democratic hopeful Joan Shannon, seen above commiserating with campaign manager and soon-to-be-ex-councilor Hannah King. The failure of Shannon’s campaign was partially masked in the overall vote totals. She did draw 500-plus more votes than Miro Weinberger in 2021, but she badly underperformed Democratic council candidates in wards where there was a Democrat on the ballot. Shockingly so, in fact.

One more thing to emphasize up top: It wasn’t the student vote. Democrats can stop complaining about that. The numbers say quite the opposite; Progressive winner Emma Mulvaney-Stanak performed strongly in non-student areas of the city.

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Maybe Burlington Is Just a Progressive Town

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Before Town Meeting Day, I was bracing myself for what could have been the most reactionary election in who knows how long. Conventional wisdom had it that Burlington Progressives would be punished for being “soft on crime,” and Vermont voters would revolt against rising property taxes by voting down school budgets.

As it turned out, none of that really happened. Sure, roughly one-third of school budgets lost. In a normal year, no more than a handful of budgets go down to defeat. But one-third doesn’t exactly constitute carnage. It definitely sends a message to state policymakers that something needs to be done, and if legislators are smart they’ll pass something significant before the session ends. What it says to me, in total, is that Vermont voters really like their schools and are willing to dig pretty deep to support public education, but their patience and resources are not unlimited.

In Burlington, meanwhile, the expected backlash to Progressive crime policy didn’t materialize. Councilor and Democratic mayoral nominee Joan Shannon, pictured above with Councilor Hannah King, who lost her bid for re-election and managed Shannon’s losing campaign), was seemingly on a glide path to the mayoralty after years of media drumbeating over CHAOS IN THE QUEEN CITY. But it turned out that voters weren’t there for an enforcement-heavy response to public safety concerns.

The campaign centered around the issue, but Mayor-elect Emma Mulvaney-Stanak promoted a comprehensive agenda that addressed the causes as well as the consequences of the public safety situation. Shannon emphasized boosting the police force (and ragging on the Progs for their 2020 vote to cut the BPD, and it might be time to retire that talking point).

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Burlington Democrats Yearn for a Golden Age That Probably Never Existed and Definitely Never Will

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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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Let’s Pump the Brakes on This Talk of “Chaos”

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We seem to be approaching yellow journalism territory in press coverage of crime in Burlington. Exhibit A is a headline from the usually reliable Seven Days positing a “Chaotic Night of Crime” in the Queen City.

“Chaotic Night of Crime”? Two men fatally shot in a house in the Old North End. A man robbed of drugs and shot in the foot. A pathetic arson attempt at police headquarters. Three incidents.

It was a bad night. But it was not a “Chaotic Night of Crime.”

In that article, Police Chief (and veteran of the New York Police Department) Jon Murad asserts that he couldn’t “remember a night like this” during his time in the Bronx and Manhattan North.

I’m sorry, that’s not credible. Burlington has problems, but it ain’t the Bronx. Exaggerating the state of things is not helping. It’s just pouring fuel on the fire, if you’ll pardon the analogy.

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