In mid-December then Winooski, Vermont Mayor Seth Leonard announced he was quitting to avoid a conflict of interest as he took a new job. The special election to fill the remaining two years of his three year-term was held on Town Meeting Day March 5. Kristine Lott won and became the first woman ever elected mayor in Winooski. Lott says she was not thinking about running for mayor until Leonard announced his departure.
“I was serving on City Council when our previous mayor announced his early resignation and I thought you know now is a really good opportunity where’s the city’s at, we have taken on a lot of capital projects, and I feel like now is a really good time to think about the process of how we’re doing with decision making and try to incorporate more public input. Since we have projects to implement we don’t need to focus as much on what’s the next thing we’re going to start. I think it’s just a great opportunity to have the mayor and the council, the city leadership, focus on that outreach and public engagement.”
Mayor Kristine Lott and three new members of the Winooski City Council were sworn in Monday, March 11.
