MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) – Residents of Montpelier will vote for a mayor on this Town Meeting Day. The three candidates say weaponizing the city against future flooding is at the top of their to-do lists.
Incumbent Jack McCullough is eager to finish what he’s started.
“It really wouldn’t feel right to step aside while we’ve got still so many major projects in the works,” he said.
McCullough was elected just last year to finish out the term of the previous mayor, Anne Watson.
Flood recovery and prevention top McCullough’s agenda. He says he’s happy with how he navigated last summer’s disaster, talking to the community and working with state officials to rethink floodplains and water management.
“We’ve really started out on a good foot to identify what we can do and to start raising the funds to be able to do them,” McCullough said.
Housing is another priority. McCullough is confident in the ongoing Country Club Road development adding 292 multi-family and townhouse units.
“It’s not going to be overnight,” he said. “But we’re hoping within the next year, year and a half to be breaking ground on the first leg of that project.”
Opponent Dan Jones, who also ran last year, wants to see housing built too but says he’d take a more proactive approach to flood resilience.
“Our leadership and administration and town has kind of fixed in a past. They’re not even thinking about the future we’re actually facing,” Jones said.
The sustainability advocate says he’d consider widening the riverbanks to reduce flooding and moving buildings away from the shore.
“That’s a complex issue. It’s going to take some time to figure out but that’s the crucial issue is we’re going to be facing this again because climate change is real,” Jones said.
Third candidate Carlton Anderson was drawn to the race after seeing the flood’s impact on the Filibuster Cafe where he works.
“The flood caused me to just basically stop everything and reach out to the community and say, ‘Look, I’m dumb muscle but I’m here,’” Anderson said.
A businessman, artist and former truck driver, Anderson says he wants to engage Montpelier residents in honest conversations about issues the city faces and the reality of the work ahead.
“Just slowing that down and showing your true transparency of it all. That will allow next steps,” he said.
Anderson says he’d reassess how money is currently spent on issues like flood resilience and housing. He says he’d take the time to find solutions that don’t gouge taxpayers’ wallets.
“Anyone saying that they can do anything quickly has either been a part of the problem or simply not identifying what the real solution is,” Anderson said.
Montpelier residents will also vote on City Council members, the school budget, library funds and eviction rules. Residents can vote at City Hall on Tuesday until 7 p.m.
