A second member of the Coalition for a Livable City, which opposed the Burlington Town Center redevelopment plan, has stepped forward to challenge Burlington City Council President Jane Knodell. On Tuesday, Genese Grill announced that she will run as an independent for the Central District council seat, which represents the Old North End.*
Fellow CLC member Tony Redington came up short in his effort to unseat Knodell during the Progressive caucus in mid-December. Now Grill, a 51-year-old artist and German scholar, will take a crack at running to represent Wards 2 and 3, the only two in the city that voted “no” on the mall redevelopment-related ballot measures in November.
Knodell, a Progressive, broke with some members of her party when she voiced her support for the downtown mall redevelopment. That’s put a target on her back for members of the CLC.
Grill, in a statement announcing her candidacy, did not mention the Coalition. But she’s been an outspoken member of the group for much of the last year and plans to run on similar issues.
“Recent initiatives of the administration have pushed private profit agendas upon residents,” Grill said. “This is a campaign for real neighborhood power and real political, ecological, and economic change, not just politics-as-usual, backroom deal-making, token public input, or compromises with powerful private interests.”
Grill, who shares studio space in the South End, contributed artwork and broadsides to CLC’s “vote no” campaign before the November election.
In her campaign announcement, Grill vowed that she would “advocate for use of city money for community needs such as schools, community centers, sidewalks, parks, and public spaces, rather than dubious public-private partnerships (like the marina) that profit only a few.”
Grill’s fellow CLC member Charles Simpson will run as a Progressive in the South District against incumbent Democratic Councilor Joan Shannon, an outspoken supporter of the mall redevelopment.
The deadline to register with the city as a candidate for the March 7 election is January 30. Democrats are scheduled to hold their nominating caucus on Thursday.
*Correction, January 11, 2017: This post has been updated to clarify the relationship between the Coalition for a Livable City and Grill’s campaign.
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As a concerned citizen, I have to speak up here with a dissenting opinion. Not everyone loves Genese Grill, for a host of reasons that I will leave it up to others to investigate. She has a demonstrated history in this community that is far from pleasant. Please elect a respectable, experienced, level-headed, and empathetic representative with integrity!
Excuse me…the “reactionary fringe”? Hello, It’s WE THE PEOPLE, participating in the democratic process.
Thank you for inviting our participation in the public input part of city-wide planning projects. We have showed up in droves, attended meetings and filled out questionnaires. But quite frankly, WE THE PEOPLE are weary of participating in these sessions, only to have our interests passed over in favor of developers with big pockets. Your pace for development is too frenzied. Where the rubber meets the road, in the finalization stage of plans, we want our input to be incorporated.
Many of us were outraged when 60+ WE THE PEOPLE’s show up for the public input part of a city council meeting to weigh in before the council vote to approve the Burlington College property development plan. When 75% of those WE THE PEOPLE’s comments were not in favor of the plans as presented, it seems prudent that you would slow down the pace to consider and incorporate changes to address those concerns. We want councilors and a mayor who will not only listen, but advocate for what we tell them is important to us. You asked. We spoke. You listened. But you DID NOT ADVOCATE for WE THE PEOPLE. My vote goes for s(he) who advocates for me.
WE THE PEOPLE are not opposed to the downtown suburban mall nor upgrades to City Hall Park. We want our interests included in shaping the finalized version of development plans.
WE THE PEOPLE are reading the fine print and details. We are informed and actively engaged, and we will put forth a slate of candidates who not only listen, but advocate for us.
Genese is a wonderful person and true believer in human dignity and all things beautiful. She is a genius at scholarly work and her artistic mind will be put to good use in politics! We need more like her everywhere. Vote her in to keep Burlington the best city in America.