Four seats for Burlington City Council, fate of plastic bags decided on Town Meeting Day

BURLINGTON — The local Progressive Party made waves on Town Meeting Day as Progressive candidates won two city council seats out of four up for election.

The Central District race saw 19-year incumbent Jane Knodell, an independent, lose her seat to the Progressive challenger. She ran against Democrat Jared Carter and Progressive Perri Freeman, but it was Freeman who won the evening with 54 percent of the vote. Knodell came in second with 37 percent.

Perri for City Council website

Perri Freeman

Freeman, 27, has lived in the city for three years and has worked in community organizations including Rights & Democracy and the Vermont Workers’ Center. She also served on the Neighborhood Planning Assembly for Wards 2 and 3.

“The campaigns were so respectful, everyone put their best foot forward,” Freeman said in a Channel 17 interview following her victory. “We hit an incredible amount of doors and talked to as many people as possible.”

She added that climate action, affordability, a liveable wage, transparency and accessibility are all priorities now that she won the backing from voters.

For the East District, Progressive Jack Hanson defeated incumbent Democrat Richard Deane with 61 percent of the vote. Deane, the only other challenger, won 39 percent. Hanson has stated that affordability and climate change are two of his priorities for the council.

In the South District, incumbent Democrat Joan Shannon retained her seat with 66 percent of the vote. She defeated independent Paco DeFrancis and Progressive Mohamed Jafar. The latter ran into some campaign trouble when controversial Twitter posts emerged from 2015.

The open North District seat saw a battle between Democrat Franklin Paulino, independent Ericka Bundy Redic and independent Kienan Christianson. Paulino won with 53 percent of the vote, and Christianson was runner-up at 44 percent.

Republican City Council President Kurt Wright had endorsed Paulino and campaigned door-to-door with him, while Dave Hartnett, the incumbent, dropped out of the race to focus on family needs.

In all, early Twitter reactions noted that Burlington will continue to be under Progressive control for the foreseeable future.

Ali Dieng, D/P-Ward 7, whose seat was not up for grabs Tuesday, talked about the jump in progressive representation.

“It’s a win for the Progressives who are bringing in new young voices who would like to see the city thrive,” he said.

Hot Burlington issues in recent years have included, among other things, a controversial bike lane proposal in 2017, as well as the sale of Burlington Telecom to Indiana-based Schurz Communications.

Plastic Bags

Also on Tuesday, 84 percent of voters cast ballots to advise city council to ban single-use plastic bags from stores. Brattleboro had implemented a similar ban in their stores since July 1.

Shannon said she helped put the plastic bag item on the ballot.

“We had tried a few years ago and I got a lot of pushback from the grocers who said our customers need these bags,” she said in a Channel 17 interview.

The idea behind the ban is that plastic bags are not biodegradable and are piling up in landfills. Critics argue the ban is an inconvenience as the bags serve many purposes after a trip from the store.

Stores in Brattleboro have started selling reusable bags in an effort to get people on board. Penalties for continuing with plastic bags in Brattleboro include $50 for the second violation and $100 for each subsequent violation afterward.

Paper bags are under scrutiny as well. Some stores such as Market 32 have charged a 5-to-10 cent fee for paper bags, which according to environmentalists also carry a manufacturing cost and do not breakdown easily.

The advisory for Burlington does not just include plastic bags; it also recommends banning straws, stirrers, and Styrofoam containers.

Michael Bielawski is a reporter for True North Reports. Send him news tips at bielawski82@yahoo.com and follow him on Twitter @TrueNorthMikeB.

Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/Beyond My Ken and Perri for City Council website

5 thoughts on “Four seats for Burlington City Council, fate of plastic bags decided on Town Meeting Day

  1. I lived in San Diego County when they banned the use of plastic bags in 2016 or 2017. The ban was quickly blamed for a deadly and immediate Hepatitis A outbreak amongst the homeless. The solution was to vaccinate and hand out single use plastic bags, like the ones which were banned. Hope there is a plan for the homeless encampments in the Burlington area.

  2. “Freeman, 27, has lived in the city for three years and has worked in community organizations including Rights & Democracy and the Vermont Workers’ Center. She also served on the Neighborhood Planning Assembly for Wards 2 and 3”
    I can think of another word to describe that other than progressive.

    • There are multitudes of words that can describe the S ,P, L, & D worlds. A dictionary could be created to include their definition, meaning and agenda with Bernie’s image being the cover picture imposed over the State of Vermont in the background. Proceeds go to the Bernie (BS) foundation.

      Freeman, so much experience and root knowledge of Vermont, really(?) She comes from Yellow Springs Ohio, and has been in Lompoc CA. OR, CT mentioned a farmhand, see more:
      http://www.antiochcollege.org/sites/default/files/PerriFreemanMasterResume.pdf

      More: https://vtdigger.org/2019/01/04/perri-freeman-announces-city-council-run/

      Yup the future VT Governor. “As a council member, Freeman would particularly focus on the intersection of environmental action and socioeconomic issues. “We should consider how to leverage public funds through progressive taxation in order to build environmental policies that meet socioeconomic needs”

      Sound familiar?

      .

  3. Thomas Sowell warns U.S. may not resist siren song of socialism:
    https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/mar/5/thomas-sowell-warns-us-may-not-resist-siren-song-o/

    I, too, fear Mr. Sowell’s judgment to be valid. In the movement’s ‘appeal to ignorance’, initiated and furthered by our public school monopoly, the only way to ‘learn’ about socialism’s deleterious effect on human development and well-being is to go there.

    In the final analysis, common sense will prevail. Unfortunately, many people, especially those marching to the beat of this blind faith, will be irreparably harmed by the experience.

  4. What can you expect in Burlington? All P’s”, “D’s” & “S’s”? Chittenden County. It could also be LSD.

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