Time and Change

The last several weeks of the campaign season are always the most grueling. Lots of meetings to go to, that I actually really enjoy, but it is tough to be away from the kids and Jen that much. So the schedule for the past few days has been: 2/10 - a meeting sponsored by Vermont Interfaith Action at St. Paul's in support of affordable housing; 2/11 - Channel 17 Debate; 2/12 - UVM Student Senate; 2/13 Ward 1 NPA; and 2/14 Ward 2/3 NPA. Fortunately, I was still able to eat dinner with the family each night which is very important in our house.

Campaigning again in such a short period of time has given me the opportunity to re-affirm some of the issues that I ran on just one year ago. Here is a preview of the piece that I wrote for the Free Press Candidate Statement:

When elected, I ran on a platform consisting of three issues: Family, Environment and Process. I have taken an active role in addressing each of these issues.

In respect to Family, I fought hard and helped organize the community when it became apparent that the School District was going to take educational choice out of the hands of parents. The District was ultimately persuaded to pursue a system of choice and is now exploring magnet schools, rather then forced redistricting.

In respect to Environment, we value the integrity of our neighborhoods. That is why when it appeared that the zoning rewrite process was moving at a pace that would have had a substantial impact on the neighborhoods, I convinced the Council to slow down to allow Burlington residents greater say in the rewrite.

In respect to Process, when it came to the attention of the Council that difficult questions needed to be asked about retroactive pension monies, I sponsored a successful resolution that required the matter be investigated by the City Attorney’s Office. The people of Burlington must feel that their hard earned property taxes are being spent wisely.

Effectuating substantive economic change on the City level is difficult, I do believe that we can take a role and lead on social change, which is why I asked that a consistent system of civil tickets be pursued for both low-level marijuana offenses and for smoking tobacco in a crowned public space.

Best,
Ed