Burlington’s City Council is comprised of twelve councilors who represent the city’s eight wards and four districts. Each numeric ward (1-8) has a councilor; each pair of wards makes up a district (North, East, Central, South), also represented by a councilor. This means each Burlingtonian is represented by two councilors. This system has been in place for the last decade.

Our newly sworn-in council has six Democrats, five Progressives, and one conservative independent who caucuses with the Democrats. In March, with the ward councilors up for re-election, 5 new councilors were sworn in and party control had flipped in 2 seats. 

In Ward 8, Progressive Marek Broderick, an organizer and student at the University of Vermont, defeated incumbent Democrat and Joan Shannon’s campaign manager, Hannah King. After failing to best Ali House (P-Ward 8) in 2022, King won the open race for House’s seat after her resignation. King was often described as a progressive Democrat, supporting ambitious ideas like a $20 minimum wage, yet rarely sided with the Progressives when it came time to vote. She supported the quick-turnaround F-35 lease extension, as well as police chief Jon Murad’s appointment, and took a strong stance against putting the anti-apartheid advisory question on the ballot. While left-leaning observers looked to King as a potential swing vote on divisive issues, she rarely delivered.

Broderick is the youngest person to serve on the City Council in recent history and is currently a student at UVM. Enthusiasm among college students, particularly the youth wing of the Democratic Socialists of America, was a key part of Broderick’s path to victory in Ward 8, drawn to contain most UVM student voters. While Broderick’s victory was viewed by many as an upset, Ward 8 is one of the four wards that EMS won, and by quite a lot—47%. For her to have a governing majority by 2025, Broderick’s race was a must-win.

This remains especially true given the flip of sorts that occurred in Ward 7: outgoing independent Ali Dieng will be succeeded by Democrat Evan Litwin. Dieng was initially endorsed by both Democrats and Progressives in 2017 when he ran against a Republican, and kept up relationships with both parties during his time on council. Litwin ran to the right of Dieng, and failed to secure his endorsement. Dieng chose to support Litwin’s opponent, Progressive Lee Morrigan – as well as EMS in the mayoral race. 

Litwin is close with Mark Barlow (I-North), the conservative independent councilor from the New North End who campaigned hard for Joan Shannon. Litwin also welcomed support from former Ward 7 council candidate Aleczander Stith (D/R) and former councilor Dave Harnett (D/R, then independent). The conservative-leaning NNE favored Litwin, delivering a big victory on Election Day—keeping Progressives from power in any outer ward (4, 5, 6, 7). 

But Litwin’s exact loyalties remain somewhat unclear. In 2021, he supported Kienan Christianson, endorsed by both Progressives and Democrats in a run against Barlow. Litwin also attended the EMS campaign launch before deciding to run as a Democrat. He’ll be a vote to watch, despite his close associations with the conservative faction of the Democratic Party.

Three more new councilors were sworn in on April 1st: 

Becca Brown McKnight (D – Ward 6) will take Karen Paul’s seat, the liberal Democrat who Joan Shannon defeated in the Democratic caucus. Brown McKnight seems to have few kind words for the Progressive Party, saying on the Morning Drive that she had “felt a loss of trust in [the Progressives] ability to handle the challenges set before us,” and was disappointed by recent Progressive leadership. However, she declined to endorse either mayoral candidate, and her emphasis on the importance of having mothers of young children in city government may suggest room for alignment with EMS.

Joe Kane (P – Ward 3) cut his teeth in Burlington organizing around the anti-apartheid ballot measure, going from an activist working outside of the system to a councilor who will now be lobbied by many of his allies in the movement. His campaign emphasized Palestinian liberation, climate, and tax reform. His background as an economist led to a position on the Board of Finance last Monday. Notably, Kane voted against now-City Council President Ben Traverse, a protest vote in the face of overwhelming support for the compromising Democrat. 

Carter Neubieser (P – Ward 1) is the current co-chair of the Burlington Progressives who, like Broderick, first ran for office in Ward 8 while still a student at UVM. Neubeiser lost by 13% despite the ward’s Progressive lean in mayoral elections. After moving to Ward 1, Neubieser built relationships with the long-standing Progressive community there, a mixture of long-time activists and students who powered his victory over lawyer and Democrat Geoff Hand. Neubieser, a long-time party member, figures to be a close ally of EMS on the council.

These new councilors join sitting members: former Democratic mayoral candidate Joan Shannon (D-South), Mark Barlow (I-North), Tim Doherty (D-East), Melo Grant (P-Central); and re-elected councilors Gene Bergman (P-Ward 2), Sarah Carpenter (D-Ward 4), and City Council President Ben Traverse (D-Ward 5). 

The Eye will be watching this council’s first real meeting on the 15th and beyond to see how these new councilors are voting, leading, and delivering on promises made in the heat of election season. Stay tuned.

Article written by the Burlington Eye Collective