On Thursday, Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger announced that he would not seek a fifth term. The Democrat holds the record for the longest continuous time in office, serving since 2012. He tells WAMC North Country Bureau Chief Pat Bradley it was a difficult decision:
Truly, it was one of the hardest decisions I've made. It was one of hardest decisions as a professional and really one of the hardest decisions of my life. I love this job in many ways. I've loved the work. I've been grateful that the people of Burlington gave me this opportunity. We, like I said though, 12 years has been a long time. It hasn't been just any 12 years. It’s been grueling, challenging times. I am feeling like we have made good on all the initial commitments I made and then many more over the last dozen years, where it's a time where the pandemic is behind us, the economy has largely recovered. We're on a trajectory to make continued progress and investment in many areas. And it's, I think, I just think it's a good time for me to step away. It was never going to be easy. I think this is the right time and that's how I came down where I did.
The last few city council meetings, we've had some, I want to say, abrasiveness with the BIPOC community and they've criticized you and a few of the counselors and such. Was that a tipping point at all in your decision not to run?
Pat, no. Really what drove the decision is what I was just saying. It's, in some ways, I never really imagined I'd be here for 12 years. I didn't feel three years ago that in the middle of the pandemic it was the right time to step away. This feels very different. Again, we've made, we've largely recovered from that period. We're on track for investment and growth in many areas. I think it's a good time for me to conclude this role. And as I also said, I increasingly find myself dealing with challenges that are larger than what any one city, even Burlington, can address on its own. This problem of homelessness is a statewide problem. We have the second worst homelessness rate in the country. This drug crisis is deepening terribly. Fentanyl is a whole new ballgame and we need a whole new range of public health and public safety initiatives to turn that around. I'm very proud of what we've done on the climate emergency here in the city. We need to be taking that on at a larger scale as well. So increasingly that's where my work is. I want to have an even greater impact. And I'm going to explore whether there's some ways to do that in the months ahead.
If I recall you were the first Democrat since I believe it was 1981 to be elected mayor. Are you worried that the Democrats are going to lose the mayoral office now?
You've got your facts right. I was the first Democrat in over 40 years. Now we have, and just in the last less than a year, we have the first city council that is also a governing Democratic majority. So I am I believe the people of Burlington know that in recent years the Democratic Party has stood for financial responsibility, has stood for both public safety and racial justice and has stood for housing abundance. We’re building much more, many more homes. I think if the Democrats who come after me continue to focus and make good on those issues, I'd be pretty optimistic about the Democrat’s chance.
With Mayor Weinberger’s decision not to run there will be an open race and some Progressives and Democrats are already considering campaigns. The mayoral election will be held on Town Meeting Day March 5th, 2024 and will use Ranked Choice Voting to select the city’s next chief executive.
