Former Burlington city councilor Jane Knodell was the first speaker — of 10 — to celebrate Kurt Wright, her erstwhile colleague, at his retirement party on Saturday night at the Elks Lodge in Burlington. She and Wright spent years working together on the council, and they became fast, if somewhat unlikely, friends: Knodell, a University of Vermont prof with a PhD in economics, calls herself a Progressive; Wright, a former manager of Kerry’s Kwik Stop with a diploma from Vergennes Union High School, is a lifelong Republican.
Wright first got elected to the city council in 1995, representing Burlington’s then-conservative New North End. Five years later, he won a seat in the Vermont House, and for a dozen years he was in both legislative bodies at the same time — the last Republican to represent Burlington in either one. During that period, he ran three times to be mayor of the Queen City, without success. He lost his House reelection bid in 2018.
“Kwik Stop Kurt,” as former Seven Days political columnist Peter Freyne nicknamed him, took public service seriously but with good humor.
“Some of my fellow Progressives would ask: ‘How can you like Kurt?'” Knodell told the crowd. “And my question for them was: ‘How can you not like Kurt?'”
Knodell described their unorthodox working relationship in observations that were echoed throughout the evening: Wright was curious and open-minded, as willing to listen to a beat cop as a Black Lives Matter activist. And over the decades his views evolved. Plainspoken and approachable but also wicked smart and strategic, he defied the partisan tribalism that characterizes political life today.
He was a good radio show host, too — the latest job from which he is retiring, at 69. The same qualities he brought to elected office served him well as cohost of WVMT’s three-hour show “The Morning Drive” — his gig since 2019, for which he woke up every weekday morning at 4 a.m. “A kid from Vergennes interviewing George Will and so many others,” he texted me. “I WILL miss the show. But the hours I think were literally going to kill me.” On the air Wright was tough but fair — and, above all, kind.
It’s an MO that earned him friends of all political stripes, and the retirement party on North Avenue spoke volumes. Gathered at round tables on a beautiful summer night were lobbyists, current and former politicians, journalists, and business leaders. Knodell passed the mic to Ken Barlow, Wright’s boss at VOX Media, who ribbed him about being late all the time — a no-no in radio. Next up: My partner, Tim Ashe, recalled their time together on the city council and their friendship of more than 20 years. In 2007, Wright beat Tim, a Democrat-Progressive, in an amicable contest for council president. The next year Tim voted for Wright over a Democrat. In 2018, the Republican won the unanimous support of his Democratic and Progressive colleagues for that same leadership role.
Hard to imagine nowadays, eh? As part of our “Ways and Means” series, this week’s cover story follows two rookie lawmakers — one D, one R — through the recent legislative session in Montpelier, including their respective efforts to reach across the aisle.
Back in Burlington, Wright stood by the bar as he listened to more colorful testimony about himself from a parade of friends and frenemies, including former city councilors Joan Shannon, Dave Hartnett and Sharon Bushor.
Wrapping up the speeches were former governor Jim Douglas, who turned 74 on Saturday, and Lt. Gov. John Rodgers. It’s hard to imagine two more different Republicans, but they were on the same page about Wright.
Also in the room were three senators representing the political spectrum: Pat Brennan (R-Grand Isle) and Thomas Chittenden and Kesha Ram Hinsdale (both D-Chittenden-Southeast).
Scanning the crowd at one point, which included Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark, Treasurer Mike Pieciak and former House speaker Shap Smith, Wright quipped that there were more Democrats in the room than Republicans. In his own remarks, he said in jest that he’d soon be announcing yet another run for Burlington City Council.
That got a good laugh, of course — and it was a joke. But, in the end, the event was much more than a celebration of Wright’s electoral endurance. The admiring crowd, in all its partisan diversity, was living proof that an open mind, a good heart and a collegial approach to politics can lead to a happier place.
This article appears in Jun 25 – Jul 1, 2025.
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