Burlington Mayoral Race - of Jogbras and Jockstraps

By Philene Taormina

Photo: Margaret Michniewicz

Senator Hinda Miller (D-Chittenden) faces one opponent in the Democratic primary for the chance to become Burlington's first ever woman mayor.

Vermont’s largest city can hardly be considered a politically stodgy place. It gave birth to the state’s only recognized third party, the Progressives; was one of the first municipalities in the country to develop innovative social programs; and elected Bernie Sanders as mayor, who is now the only Socialist in Congress.

But what Burlington hasn’t done in its entire 141-year history as an independent city is elect a woman to the top spot of city government. Of the Queen City’s 34 mayors, all have been white men.

That could change next year. Hinda Miller – the Montreal-born co-founder of Jogbra, business consultant, and Chittenden County state senator – is mounting a credible and highly energized campaign for City Hall.

“The question isn’t ‘Why should we have a woman mayor of Burlington?’ but ‘Why not a woman mayor?’” Barbara Perry, a Burlington city councilor, said recently. “It’s an open seat and a new beginning, and we have an interesting, capable, and dynamic woman candidate in Hinda Miller. So, why not a woman?”

Peter Clavelle’s decision earlier this year to forego a record eighth term as mayor opened the field. Initially, it looked like at least two women – lobbyist and Democratic activist Karen Lafayette, and Miller – would enter the fray for the three-year post.

Lafayette decided against running, thus leaving Miller, a moderate Democrat, as the only woman in the race. A lifelong Burlingtonian, Lafayette has not been one to play the gender card in her career as an elected official and lobbyist. After serious consideration she decided not to run, because for her, the time – as a single mother and sole breadwinner – wasn’t right to risk a political campaign.

“I may not be seen as the typical female. I grew up with three brothers and have two sons,” the avid New York Yankees fan says. “I am assertive. However, I’ve been a mother, a wife, a sister, a daughter, and a caretaker. Women have a different perspective. Women approach issues differently,” Lafayette believes. “This is not to discredit men’s altruistic desires, but women read people better and they have more compassion and empathy. For women, it’s not as much about ambition as it is about service.

“While these may not be perceived as strengths in the political world,” she continued, “women can solve problems and deliver in a different way.”

Lafayette’s withdrawal from the race leaves Miller facing Andy Montroll, a Democratic city councilor, in the party’s caucus next month.

Clavelle – a Progressive for most of his political career who became a Democrat when he unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2004 – wouldn’t call Burlingtonians’ failure to elect a woman intentional.

“The outcome has not been an expression of bias,” he believes, “but one could argue that it is time. Most people select the individual who is most competent, best qualified, and best suited for the job. If it’s a woman, that sends an added benefit and a message. Young women can aspire to it.”

Will History Repeat Itself?

If the failure of Burlington – or most of Vermont’s cities, for that matter – to elect a woman mayor is unintentional, it certainly has been helped along by historical and institutional bias against women.

Women, who routinely make up just more than half of Vermont’s population, were not even allowed to vote at Town Meeting until 1917. Vermont is one of five states that has never sent a woman to Congress and it wasn’t until 1966 that a woman held any kind of municipal elected office. Several women, however, have been elected to statewide offices, including former Governor Madeleine Kunin and Lieutenant Governor Barbara Snelling, and current Secretary of State Deb Markowitz.

Montpelier has had a handful of women mayors, including current State Senator Ann Cummings, from 1990 to 1996, and Mayor Mary Hooper, who has served since 2004. Mayors of Montpelier perform a far different job than do their counterparts in Burlington, a point acknowledged by Cummings. In Montpelier, the post is part-time and mostly unpaid, with the majority of the day-to-day decisions left to a professional city administrator. In Burlington, the mayor is the top city manager which, according to some observers, makes it more difficult for women to break through the gender barrier, given voters’ perceptions of candidate capability.

The first election of a woman as mayor in the United States was in 1887 in Argonia, Kansas. Susanna Salter was nominated as a joke. In a surprising twist, Salter received two-thirds of the Argonia votes. She was elected just weeks after Kansas women had gained the right to vote in city elections.

It took nearly a century later for a Vermont city to elect a woman. Janet Smith, a Republican alderman in St. Albans, eked out a victory in the 1980 mayoral election. Her tenure, however, was dramatically brief: she was shot and killed six days after being sworn into office.

The St. Albans Messenger at the time said, “Janet Smith did prove a few things to us. Her election shelved the notion that a woman could not gain our trust for the city’s highest elected office. Her candidacy, while based in one of the most affluent neighborhoods, gained the support of voters across the spectrum of economic and social spending.

“Janet Smith deserves to be remembered as a person with the gumption to be our first woman mayor, an achievement made even more prestigious by the fact that she was a Republican mayor in a heavily Democratic populated city.”

According to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, of the country’s top 100 largest cities, only 12 have women mayors. The largest of these cities is Dallas, with 1.2 million people. California has about 60 women mayors; Vermont has only two: Hooper of Montpelier and April Jin of Vergennes.

Higher Aspirations, Higher Office

That Burlington has never had a woman mayor is not for lack of trying: at least a handful of women have run for the city’s top spot, only to have been thwarted in the city’s Democratic caucus process or to lose to a popular incumbent.

Like St. Albans of nearly a quarter century ago, Burlington is heavily Democratic, making next month’s caucus fight between Miller and Montroll a good predictor of who will ultimately become mayor in March. Should Miller emerge out of caucus, she likely will face one of two Republican city councilors in the general election – Kurt Wright, who is also a state representative, or Kevin Curley.

It also isn’t clear if a Progressive will enter the race. Throw in the debut of instant runoff voting in this election cycle, a system in which voters mark their first- and second-choices for mayor when they cast ballots on Town Meeting Day – and the dynamics of the contest are anybody’s guess.

Of course, Miller knows that before she can face the voters, she first has to appeal to party operatives and other Democratic insiders at caucus and convince them that she is a better choice than Montroll. The January 5th caucus is a grassroots, insider party game with the winner likely to be the candidate expected to turn out the most supporters.

A Little Bit Country,  A Little Bit Rock and Roll

Miller is not your typical candidate. She created a multimillion dollar company founded on a sports bra for women made originally out of jockstraps. Her creation, the Jogbra, unleashed a whole new way for women to participate more comfortably in sports. It is also an iconic American product: the original is on display in the Smithsonian Institution.

She is a respected businesswoman as well as a skilled yoga teacher. Like the city she wants to lead, Miller combines a “new age” sensibility grounded in the pragmatism that characterizes successful entrepreneurs. Miller calls herself a “child of the sixties.” She is a little bit country and a little bit rock and roll.

“A good leader has to know when to listen and when to act,” she says. “You have to manage the purse strings, but with heart.”

That will be particularly challenging in the coming years, as Burlington faces its worst fiscal crisis in a generation. Miller acknowledges the importance of righting the city’s fiscal ship. But she rejects the notion that it needs to come at the expense of the city’s most vulnerable residents.

Miller believes that the economic progress and social well being of Burlington are synergistic. In other words, the city’s economic future is intricately linked to the strength of its social system. Miller states that she will not ask the voters to make what she sees as a false choice between the two.

Burlington is only “as strong as our weakest link,” she explains. “Here in Burlington, we have worked hard to build the networks of support for our entire community as part of our long activist tradition of providing opportunities and assistance for those most in need,” she said in a speech declaring her candidacy. “Our ability to continue this tradition – a tradition I am deeply committed to – rides on our ability to find the path to continued and expanded economic prosperity.”

This message, of course, transcends gender. According to Montroll, the electorate also is gender-neutral. “Gender has not been an issue in the races for mayor. It is who the individual candidate is. Voters pay attention to the person, their message and what they are going to do,” he said in a recent interview. “They want to make sure it is the right person for the job, regardless of gender.”

Clavelle, the outgoing mayor, noted that women have already been the leaders of some of the city’s most important institutions, including Fletcher Allen Health Care, the University of Vermont, General Dynamics, and the city’s school system.

“The people of Burlington already enjoy the experience of leaders who have different approaches,” he said.

Philene Taormina (JD, Georgetown University Law Center) is the Director of Advocacy for the AARP in Vermont. She lives in Montpelier.