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Burlington City Councilor Dave Hartnett Discusses Withdrawal From Reelection Campaign

Councilor Dave Hartnett (in black vest and pink shirt) during a Burlington City Council meeting
Pat Bradley/WAMC
Councilor Dave Hartnett (in black vest and pink shirt) during a Burlington City Council meeting

Burlington’s East, Central, North and South City Council district councilors are up for election on Town Meeting Day in March. North District incumbent Independent David Hartnett submitted his petition for reelection and was endorsed by the city’s Democratic Party. But late last week he informed Mayor Miro Weinberger and the Democrats that he was withdrawing due to an undisclosed family obligation.  Hartnett, an outspoken eight-year councilor, says this is one of the most difficult political decisions he’s ever made.
" ‘Cause I love it. It’s something I enjoy doing. I think I do it well. I have a track record that proves that I’ve had a just a unbelievable relationship with the people of the New North End here in Burlington. They’ve embraced me. We’ve created this great working partnership that’s gotten so many things done. It was a difficult decision to say the least. We’ll see what happens. I’ll step back and maybe in 6 to 8 months and evaluate it.  You know what I didn’t want to do was go ahead and run for reelection and most likely win. I don’t want to sound overconfident but I’ve been part of the New North End for over 20 years now. I think it was you know a foregone conclusion that I was probably going to win. And so when you win that means you’re committed for another two years. And I’ve always said if I couldn’t give the people of the New North End 110% then I wouldn’t run. And I’m not sure I could do it at this point in time right now. There are some things that recently, and when I say recently I mean within the last 7 to 10 days, that have come up that weren’t on the radar back in December. I’m going to have to address those issues and spend some time that are going to take me away from politics. And I don’t think that’s fair to the people that have elected me over the years."

Democrats interested in replacing Hartnett must email the city party by Monday, January 21st.   Independent Kienan Christianson announced his candidacy for the North District seat last week. He has been endorsed by the city’s Progressive party.

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