I wish he had just come clean and said I was ticked off at this Winkleman kid who has been busting my chops for years. I had a few glasses of wine at home one night and made a bad decision to engage with him in an improper manner. Now it looks like hes hiding behind what may or may not be a vague and convenient repercussion from a head injury. If it is indeed true that hes incapable of impulse control then thats not really great. But the lying is troubling for sure.
I’m okay with bike lanes for where it makes some sense. But I think the minority bike lobby has overreached, buoyed by having one of their own leading the DPW.
Be honest: The mayor puts a bike helmet on his head whenever he wants to hand developers a way for them to gain more units per square foot. Higher density residential development suits his donors and his worldview. The fact that this article opens with the views of Liam Griffin, who I would characterize as THE biggest bicycle advocate in the city, is telling.
I wish the bicycle lobby would be honest and just admit that there are only a limited number of riders that will bike all year and even during the summer as their primary source of transportation. And that the amount of infrastructure we create for them should be commensurate with their usage. Like much development, they will argue if you build it, they will come... but in this climate? You might see a slight increase. But not enough to warrant the large expenditures and the loss of business and inconvenience for residents.
They are a minority lobby that is well heeled and active enough to wield undue influence. And that is what makes me most uneasy.
So people should just turn a blind eye to the lack of judgement and slack diligence by the political leaders that fell for Sinex's line of bs and placed us in this mess?!?!
When I hear Councilwoman Paul say the plan took my breath away at the sight of the initial plan, that is exactly why this process went the way it did. The mayor and his Dems bought it all hook line and sinker and bent over backwards to make it happen. Only a few local leaders held Sinexs feet to the fire. The Mayor got him a blanket and a cup of cocoa. They spent a lot of money and (lets face it) were pretty aggressive and derogatory to much of the public in their use of PR and fear tactics to sell it to the public. And what happened? Nothing. They can try and use more PR to spin this but there is a giant hole in he middle of town that tells another story of their abject failure of leadership.
They should be held accountable. They should not be rewarded for their lack of poor judgment. They should be voted out of office.
Better plan... what a waste of four years Sinex and Mr Mayor... love the soft shoe away from your wholesale support of the original plan Mayor and Councilor Paul... it was your lack of due diligence that has brought us to this point... you should be voted out...
Self involved, self important, self congratulatory self serving remorseless wealth subsidized artist likes the smell of his own farts... Seven Days?.. biiiig swing and a miss giving this guy a platform to promote his art.... quite disappointing...
One click on the Kru coffee webpage link in the article sends you to the most pretentious marketing blather... Uncommon Grounds will be missed for its no nonsense approach... Burlington is changing... and not for the better...
Re: “CityPlace Burlington Developers Provide Glimpse Into New Plans”
For those that seem to think that Weinberger was some sort of innocent bystander in all of this... are you effing kidding me?!? The guy spent a lot of money to get the original Sinex plan railroaded down the throats of taxpayers. He sold it. He lauded it. He got his PACs and his donors and his internet PR churning out all sorts of rosy scenarios to get voters to help pay for it. He scared everyone into thinking that this was the one and only option or else Burlington was going to wither away and die. How is that working out?
Watching him try to squirm away from his role in all of this is, quite frankly, insulting.
So yeah. I think he should be removed from office by the voters of Burlington for his poor judgement and his lack of due diligence in protecting taxpayers.