Jane Knodell is in the race.
The longtime incumbent Burlington city councilor announced Friday that she will seek another term on the council, this time as an independent. Her decision comes after she lost the Progressive nomination for the Central District seat to Perri Freeman, a 27-year-old community organizer. She’ll also face Jared Carter, a Democrat.
Since the January 6 Progressive caucus, some moderate Progs have urged the former council president to run, circulating a news release listing supporters and putting up “Run Jane Run!!” signs around the Old North End.
Knodell announced her candidacy on the sidewalk in front of the Old North End Community Center, joined by a handful of old guard Progressives. It’s important to let the whole Central District weigh in, Knodell said. “I’m running because I feel like I owe it to my neighbors and constituents … to give them the choice to keep Jane Knodell working for them on the city council,” she said.
If reelected, Knodell said, she would look for alternatives to the property tax to fund new city initiatives, increase community policing, add city ambulances, and see to completion ongoing issues such as permit reform and the sale of Burlington Telecom.
Knodell, a 64-year-old economics professor, has served 20 of the past 26 years on the council, and she received the Progressive endorsement in each of her 10 previous campaigns. The party had shifted, she said. “I had hoped that the tent of the Progressive Party was big enough for elected officials like me, for whom good governance, effective constituent services, and delivering results for the people of the Central District is more important than symbolic votes that lead nowhere,” she said.
She said she could build a winning coalition. Voters value and need “experienced, seasoned people who have the history on the issues and are able to work through complex issues with their constituents,” she said.
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Joan Knodell voted to keep the white supremacist Marketplace mural up until 2022. She put the interests of Church Street capitalists above the common decency of anti-racist inclusion. Casting a racist vote should disqualify you from even entering. No racists on city council….#noknodell
We had a 3 way race for mayor and the worst candidate won.
Now Jane just can’t seem to walk away or graciously bow out and maybe mentor a new council member. It looks like spite and ego have conspired to push Jane into the race. Which means Real Estate Huckster Miro and the Chamber of Commerce get the person they want, the pliable, malleable Ms. Knodell.
Please reconsider, Jane. Don’t be like the pro athlete that stays too long and embarrasses themselves after their skills have eroded and whose time has passed and ruins their legacy.
It is past time for some fresh faces/ideas on City Council, ones that won’t be water carriers for the Mayor and actually represent their districts. Maybe it is time for term limits to be on the ballot.
Jane Knodell has taken the advice of the old guard in spite of the obvious youth movement in her own party She is saying, in effect, “My way or the highway.” Much as I have tried to patch up my differences with her over the years, I guess I’m taking the highway this time. Something has to change in city governance, even if she doesn’t want it be Jane Knodell.
Rock on young people. The Progressive Party needs to progress.
I may not be supporting Jane Knodell (a strong Perri Freeman supporter), but it is completely sexist and violent, having no place in political dialogue, to allow a commentary describing a politician’s stance on development as akin to performing oral sex! It lowers this discourse into the gutter.
I love the progressive party lately. They’re proving why they’re not a serious party when they ditch their longest serving and most capable member for a neophyte who’s lived in Burlington for less than two calendar years. Simply irresponsible and exhibit A as to why they won’t be in mayoral contention outside the Old North End the next time around.
In 2013, Jane Knodell betrayed the voters of Burlington. She ran on and was elected on a platform that opposed the F35 basing, and repeatedly promised her Progressive supporters to reject the F35 basing by voting to limit the noise of aircraft at the Burlington Airport. However, when the time for the vote came, she instead abandoned her constituents and her integrity by voting to support the basing. Apparently she was offered the Council’s future chairperson position by the Mayor and the Democratic council members, in exchange for her honor and her soul. I hope she feels shame at her actions.
Hopefully we won’t all live to regret Jane’s betrayal and the dangerous and inappropriate basing of the F35s will still be stopped, and Jane and the others who voted for this fiasco won’t have to have blood on their hands when this inadequately tested bomber jet crashes in our residential neighborhoods. Perhaps shame is too inadequate a word for what they should feel…
Good lord. No matter what the issue is, there is a guy who obsesses on only one topic ** a meaningless mural that almost no one actually sees except an old guy who has nothing to do except wander around Burlington all day looking for things that offend his sensibilities ** and tries to convince people that it*s the most important issue in the history of the world.
I think its fitting that she run as an Independent…. she isnt really a Progressive anymore is she?… I mean… full throttle on the BTC… Zig zagging on the F35s… Turned her back on Keep BT Local… she can say shes getting things done… but who really benefits?… maybe at one time she fought for economic justice and looked out for the little guy?… but it seems to me that perhaps many years up on the hill and her cozy economic status has made her a bit out of touch with the economic struggles many in her district face… lets face it… perhaps she fits the profile of the gentrifiers in the neighborhood… much like the Council Dems under Weinbergers sway and control… maybe its time the Progs get some youth in their ranks and invigorate what has become a moribund movement… perhaps Knodell has just aged out of any youthful desire to fight for justice… shes got her retirement all set… now she just wants to see higher end shops and services that a boutique city will provide her? All this may get her elected… again… in my opinion the City Council needs new ideas and new leadership… thank you for your service Ms Knodell, but its time for you to step aside and let the next gen take a swipe at it…
OK, perhaps Councilor Knodell has lost her cred with the Progressive coalition. While I have not always agreed with her positions, Jane Knodell has proven herself to be an independent-minded thinker who has consistently put the interests of the greater BTV community above partisan party ideals. Thats the stuff leaders are made of (or should be). So lets allow the voters to decide whether it is time for Jane “to step aside and let the next gen take a swipe at it…”
@Northoldender, Maybe you should follow your own advice. It seems your time has passed and the only voice you have is to demean on seven days site. Maybe you should step up and run for office as you think you have the answers and know how things should be done, your way or the highway.
*We had a 3 way race for mayor and the worst candidate won.*
Yeah, I remember that, too. That*s when the Progs* Instant Regret Voting scheme gave us Bob Kiss.