Burlington voters delivered a big win to City Council Democrats yesterday, opting to send the blue candidates in both contested races to Town Hall. 

In the East District, home to many on and off-campus students, Democrat Allie Schachter won out against Progressive candidate Kathy Olwell. Democrat Ranjit “Buddy” Singh, endorsed by long-time Democrat City Councilor Joan Shannon, beat Progressive candidate Jen Monroe Zakaras in the South District.   

With Democrats securing victories in both contested districts, they defend their party’s 7-5 majority on the City Council.   

All ballot issues considered yesterday, ranging from wastewater management to gun safety, were passed with sizable majorities. 

Citizens across Burlington, students included, considered candidates’ positions on important problems affecting the city, as well these certain pressing ballot questions.

East District

Candidates for East District, Kathy Olwell and Allie Schachter, both emphasized the importance of student political engagement, along with their stances on key ballot issues. 

Olwell said that students should participate in local elections in order to foster critical thinking skills and community awareness. Schachter echoed this importance, noting students’ stake in the Burlington community and the pressing issues they face, like safety and housing affordability.

Schachter encouraged students to get involved politically through asking questions and meeting with candidates. 

“I love seeing students get engaged in this way,” she said. “I think being a university town is part of the richness of Burlington, so I just think it’s really important that students use their voices here.”

Although vocal about specific ballot measures and community concerns, Schachter also commented on political partisanship at the city level. 

“One of the issues that I feel most strongly about that isn’t on the ballot […] is just really feeling a bit heartsick by the divisions in our community,” she said. “We have to be finding ways to come together around these really important issues. It’s our only path forward.” 

Schachter said she supported all seven ballot questions, particularly the school budget approval, the gun safety measure and infrastructure improvements — especially as these improvements make room for more housing.

Olwell said that housing and the unhoused were two of the most important issues being voted on yesterday. She is also in favor of pursuing the creation of a safe injection site in Burlington, she said. 

Specifically for students, she voiced concern over rent prices and rental quality, advocating for an increase in rental inspections to prevent harmful situations for tenants. 

“The exorbitant prices need to stop,” she said. “We need to get people in to inspect more of the apartments so that [renters] are not in the situation that I’ve seen them [in].” 

Students and other UVM community voters in the East District differed in candidate support but were similarly concerned with housing and safety. 

Senior Alex Boni voted for Kathy Olwell due to her stance on tenant rights. 

“That’s a big issue for me because rent is quite expensive here,” he said. “I know the other candidate was supported by a lot of landlords.”

He also voted in favor of Question 5 to ban firearms from establishments with liquor licenses, citing last fall’s fatal shooting at downtown bar Red Square.

“I had friends that were there, and that was pretty scary for them,” he said.

Antonio Golán, a lecturer in UVM’s community development and applied economics department, stood outside Fletcher Free Library in Ward 8 with other supporters of Olwell. 

Golán said he supported Olwell specifically because of her policies related to housing, as well as her stance on the apartheid-free communities ballot measure that failed to find Council approval last December.

“[She] not only supports the measure, but having it on the ballot, which is a big one,” he said.

Hazel Dority ‘24 said she voted for Allie Schachter because of Schachter’s plan for issues like high rental costs. Dougherty, recalling personal experiences with unabiding landlords, also supported the ballot measure to regulate rental notifications. 

Outside the Mater Christi School, the Ward 1 polling location, Schachter and Olwell supporters held signs for their candidate of choice. 

Erhard Mahnke, former leader of the Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition and retired Bernie Sanders staffer, was out showing his support for the Progressive candidate. 

Having known Olwell for a number of years, Mahnke said he is impressed by her public service record, including her tenure as the East District School Commissioner. Though they aren’t politically identical, she had his vote, he said. 

“I don’t agree with her on everything, but I’m aligned with her on major issues around the city — affordable housing, community safety and climate change,” Mahnke said. 

Opposite Mahnke was Gretchen Platt, who picketed in support of the Democratic candidate. 

Platt, a stay-at-home mom who holds a master’s degree in early childhood special education, said the school budgets were the principal issue on the ballot for her. 

Though she felt the infrastructure measures were necessary for the city, Platt admitted they weren’t as important to her as the school budget. 

“I don’t feel as strongly about them because they just feel like things we need to do,” she said. “Infrastructure doesn’t get me as fired up as education.”

South District

Ebenezer Gay, a retiree voting with his wife in Ward 5, said he was concerned about some parts of the Progressives’ agenda and instead cast his vote in favor of Buddy Singh. 

“Looking at candidates, I was concerned about having Progressives dominate in both the mayoral [seat] and the rest of [the Council],” he said. “On the other hand, there were a lot of things where we feel fairly strongly that the Progressive agenda sounds good.”

Elysia Doty, a Lyman Avenue resident who works in the data sector, was outside the Ward 5 voting location, holding a sign for Buddy Singh. 

“I wasn’t really engaged in this vote,” she said. “I just think that we need to have balance in the City Council.”

Singh’s experience as a PTO president and his contributions to the Church Street Marketplace Commission were appealing to Doty, who thought he could contribute ideas for both smart economic growth and humanitarian aid, particularly for the unhoused population in the city.

“We need Burlington to be safe, in particular in public spaces, for all our people,” she said. 

Jaime Contois, a South District resident, said she works in the affordable housing industry and voted with renter’s rights in mind.

“I like both of the candidates,” she said. “I voted for Jen because she has a background in public health and health policy, and that was important to me.”

Jen Monroe Zakaras, the Progressive candidate for the South District, greeted voters outside of Edmunds Elementary as polls were about an hour out from closing. Although much of the UVM student population resides in the East District, Zakaras voiced her support for student involvement in local elections.

“I think that anyone who lives in a place has a say and has a stake in what happens in that place,” she said. “They’re a part of the community for as long as they are here.”