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.
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.
Showing 1-10 of 12
Comments are closed.
Since 2014, Seven Days has allowed readers to comment on all stories posted on our website. While we’ve appreciated the suggestions and insights, the time has come to shut them down — at least temporarily.
While we champion free speech, facts are a matter of life and death during the coronavirus pandemic, and right now Seven Days is prioritizing the production of responsible journalism over moderating online debates between readers.
To criticize, correct or praise our reporting, please send us a letter to the editor. Or send us a tip. We’ll check it out and report the results.
Online comments may return when we have better tech tools for managing them. Thanks for reading.