If a mayoral candidate holds a press conference, and no press shows up, does he make a sound?
He does if he’s Democrat Miro Weinberger, who found himself literally audience-less Wednesday at the unveiling of his big economic development plan. Weinberger gathered a half-dozen supporters around him at Burlington’s Union Station to explain how, as mayor, he would “get Burlington moving again” and “reduce taxpayer burdens.”
But not a single reporter bothered to show up. To be fair, I wasn’t going to show up either. I was busy finishing the question list for tomorrow night’s Seven Days/Channel 17 candidates’ forum at Contois Auditorium. I had walked to Burlington Bay Cafe for a ginger ale and was headed back to the office when Weinberger campaign spokesman Mike Kanarick flagged me down and roped me in.
Inside Union Station, Weinberger mingled as he waited for stragglers to arrive. No one did, so the show went on with an audience of one: me.
Now granted, Weinberger holds a lot of press conferences and sometimes they cover stuff he’s talked about before. But economic development seems pretty important. Maybe today was just a busy news day. Or just maybe, as the mayor’s race slogs toward a March 6 finale, campaign coverage fatigue is finally setting in.
So what’s Weinberger’s big idea for jump starting Burlington’s economy? Like all things Weinberger, it comes with a lot of bullet points.
- Turn the section of industrial waterfront between ECHO Center and the ferry docks into a mixed-use development featuring an extended boardwalk, shops, restaurants and an expanded marina with more boat slips. Doing that will bring more visitors — and their money — to town and increase tax revenues.
- “Unleash the potential of the west side of Pine Street” by “breaking the regulatory paralysis” that has impacted property owners abutting the Barge Canal Superfund site.
- Build the Champlain Parkway, the long-stalled expressway that would connect I-189 to downtown.
- Restore Amtrak train service to Burlington.
- Increase downtown housing options.
- Expand Burlington’s “business improvement district” beyond the Church Street Marketplace.
- Implement the $10 million tax increment financing district, or TIF (which a majority of city councilors voted to take off the March ballot) to make infrastructure investments and leverage private investment in downtown building.
- Expand the “designated downtown” to include the rail yards off Battery Street, Pine Street and North Street, which he said could trigger additional smart growth incentives.
- (Wait, there’s more…)
- Support construction of a new $10 million downtown transit center, thereby removing the “eyesore” that is the current transit center.
- Work with existing businesses to help them expand and attract new complementary businesses, particularly tech companies.
Whew. That’s a pretty ambitious list. What makes him think he can get all that done — and succeed where others have failed?
In a nutshell, Weinberger says it comes down to relationships. Waterfront property owners such as the Pecors, who run Lake Champlain Transportation Company — and who own the warehouses that Weinberger wants to gentrify, er, redevelop — haven’t had a good partner in city hall, Weinberger says. He believes a Weinberger administration could change that to usher in new building.
Ditto with the Superfund morass on Pine Street. Weinberger says the toxic mess left behind from a coal gasification operation has deterred abutting property owners from building on their land lest they find a new plume of toxic waste beneath — and become liable for cleaning it up. Weinberger is confident he could bring regulators and stakeholders to the table to work out a deal to get economic development going while shielding property owners from the liability.
Such a big list suggests that Weinberger is trying to offer something for everyone to like. Of course in doing so, he risks his audience tuning out after the third or fourth bullet point.
Or, as today demonstrated, never hearing about it in the first place.
This article appears in Feb 15-21, 2012.
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Seems to be another rookie mistake in the Weinberger campaign. I actually did hear about the press conference on a local radio station this morning, evidently no one else heard it or cared.
Miro is to green to lead us out of this mess, leaving us with only one top notch candidate, Kurt Wright.
This guy can’t get out of his own way. PR 101 is to line up the press so the event gets coverage. Otherwise you get a trainwreck at a trainstation.
He has a lot of good ideas and some real ambition. Up against entrenched interests, antagonisms, bureaucracy and a decades of stagnation. Good luck.
He also has never served on the City Council and as far as I know has no experience with any elective office in the city, and the first job he shoots for is Mayor? Wouldn’t you want someone who’s served on the City Council for a term or two or three?
The lack of actual experience, elected office or not, is what shows when we hear how he expects to fix things.
His campaign lit and website talk about him acting in a “leadership role in the planning and implementation of school capital projects” and saying he will work with City departments to make sure school capital projects are done on time… well first of all what BSD development projects have been stalled or slow? Can’t think of one… and what do the other city departments have to do with it? Nothing. Miro seems to not be aware that the Mayor has practically zero power or authority in the school district.
Same thing seems to be true for other items on the “list”. Yes, let’s just build the Champlain Parkway… just like that.. .as if no one had been working on it for 20+ YEARS. Restore Amtrak train service to Burlington? Sure, it’s only been out since 1953, I am sure one guy will be able to make all the difference and fix all the problems with railroad owners and the Feds. Barge Canal? No problem, I am sure, even if we let the polluters of the hook years ago.
The power of Weinberger charisma will charm all! Legislators and regulators will surely trip over each other in their haste to approve all of these ideas, once they see what a nice boy that Miro is.
What a ridiculous fantasy world! Great ideas! No connection to reality!
Said it before: When it comes to politics and public policy, this guy is so wet behind the ears you could water-ski down his back! A press conference with no press! That says it all about the Weinberger campaign.
Kurt stands for all the wrong things and regurgitates whatever talking points du jour the national Republican culture has selected, but has the experience one would want in real policy-making. So he could get things done, but the wrong things.
Right now, I don’t feel compelled to vote for either of these inflated egos.
True, but I keep reading that he is a “developer”, and since Fotomat kiosks have gone the way of the Edsel I would assume he knows about developing things like business districts and tax bases.
There are and have been some excellent people on the council- I think Wright is one of them, but there have been a lot of hare brained ideas birthed by that august body as well. Things totally out of touch with reality.
Hey Andy can you point to some shopping center or other project that Mr. Weinberger has developed? A place we peons could check out to see what it says about his skill set?
Kinda pie in the sky list here. These aren’t real solutions and most will never see fruition. Miro is going to break the regulatory issues that plague a FEDERAL SUPERFUND site, one that has kept the Champlain Parkway from being routed in the correct manner? BAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHA.
Implement a TIF that the council voted down? Um Miro, you have been watching Kiss to long. BTV wants a mayor that actually listens to the council.
With such a laundry list of nonsense I’d be surprised if anyone went to another Miro press conference. Maybe a better move for Miro and the dems to step down and throw their support behind Wanda.
If there’s anyone reading this who’d like to participate in a healthy, functioning democracy, come to the Occupy Burlington General Assemblies, every Sunday, 2pm-4pm. Until the end of April they’re at the First Unitarian Universalist Society at the top of Church St. Instead of getting one “vote” that will have minimal impact on which of these fools governs you, at a General Assembly you can actually participate and have your ideas incorporated into practical visions and actions.
Can we bring our guns Brett?
“Instead of getting one “vote” that will have minimal impact on which of these fools governs you, at a General Assembly you can actually participate and have your ideas incorporated into practical visions and actions.’
Let’s see . . . You are discouraging people from voting? Even at the most local, democratic level there is? Discouraging Burlingtonians from voting in their mayoral election? And instead they can attend your gabfest, with your silly “human microphone” game?
And you’re saying that Wanda Hines is a “fool”? That Miro Weinberger is a “fool”? And that Kurt Wright is a “fool”?
As usual, the Occupiers are making friends and influencing people.
Regardless of who you are for/against, the media should be covering news stories and this is news. I’m really getting tired of the media not doing their job. Many in the media would rather make their own news instead of covering real news.