Who are these guys?

Stopped by Contois Auditorium at Burlington’s City Hall Wednesday evening to catch the “Burlington City Democrats Biennial Caucus.” Caught a little taste of past, present and future in the process.

And finding a parking space wasn’t easy. The restaurants and watering holes were jumping. Aren’t those outdoor cafes something?

The town sure has gotten citified since the days I first started dropping into Contois circa 1979-80. It was a Democratic town back then with former bread-truck driver Gordie Paquette in the mayor’s seat - the pre-Bernie Sanders Era.

Then came the miracle - March 3, 1981. Ol’ Bernardo pulled the upset of the century, holding on to defeat Gordie by 10 votes on the recount with 40.1 percent of the popular vote! Burlington hasn’t been the same since, and for those of us “middle-aged baby-boomers” who were around back then, the transformation, the rebirth... has been remarkable to say the least.

In the photo, lower right corner, you see seated State Rep. Bill Aswad from the New North End. Bill, an engineer, was chairman of the city’s Planning Commission in 1981. He later served on the city council. A true diplomat is he.

To Bill's right in the white shirt with his hands in his pockets is Maurice Mahoney, a teacher and "alderman," as they were called in the old 1980s-days of Mayor Bernie and the Sanderista Revolution. Their clashes still ring in my ears!

That’s Rep. Rachel Weston from the Old North End in the white blouse - the future, eh? Even has her own website.

Behind Weston stands State Sen. Ed Flanagan, a bit of a legend himself, eh?  “Fast Eddie” we used to call him. An inspiration to many as the very first openly-gay statewide elected official in the United States in 1993 - auditor of accounts. And back in 2000, Ed was the first openly-gay major party candidate for the United States Senate.

On the far left, though not necessarily politically, is rookie Chittenden County States Attorney Thomas “T. J.” Donovan. Politics is in his blood. His mom is State Rep. Joey Leddy Donovan, and his grandpa, Bernard Leddy, almost got himself elected governor in 1958. He lost on a recount to Republican Bob Stafford 62,222-61,503.

In terms of “action” Wednesday evening, the 40 Ds in attendance elected a successor to Chair Mary Sullivan, a former state rep, who’d been in the post for five years.

The nod went unanimously to the vice-chair, Jacob “Jake” Perkinson [left]. He’s an attorney and partner of a rather interesting South Burlington firm that works in the area of securities, antitrust and consumer class action.

The new vice-chair, Elisa Nelson [to Jake's right], works at the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum. She told us she had been recruited for the post at the door. It came a little late, she said, but Elisa, a city resident for 15 years, seemed enthused  to be “jumping into the fire.”

Comments

[bigbadbrad]

I remember TJ when he was just a we lad. Loks like a meating of the Burlington "Irish Mafia".

[JPC]

"Then came the miracle - March 3, 1981. Ol’ Bernardo pulled the upset of the century, holding on to defeat Gordie by 10 votes on the recount with 40.1 percent of the popular vote! Burlington hasn’t been the same since, and for those of us “middle-aged baby-boomers” who were around back then, the transformation, the rebirth... has been remarkable to say the least."

Peter, I would hardly call it a miracle, although it certainly has been remarkable to watch the progressives run this city into the ground

[bigbadbrad]

Chuckle. By hucklberry! yes, I Must concur. Burlington was in much sounder shape before pre-1981.
Still, I miss being able to go drinkin' down on the waterfront before all this fancy-pants new development and tax base. Those high-falutin' tax payers! That's my drinkin' spot!

Laugh Riot!

[vermonter]

Rachel Weston is not a Democrat. She's a "let's-all-hold-hands-and-sing-Kumbaya" Prog.

[paul poirier]

Peter, I look forward to serving with the Burlington democrats in 2008 and add another vote to block the guv,s vetoes.