Why I Support Tim Ashe for Mayor (from the 5 sisters Front Porch Forum)

Hi Neighbors,

I am a licensed clinical social worker who has lived and worked in Burlington since the mid 1980’s.  It is a priority for me that our mayor has a genuine concern for the disenfranchised members of our community, including people with disabilities, seniors, and people who are low-income.  Tim Ashe’s volunteer work in city schools, the little league in the old north end, and with Spectrum Youth and Family Services, coupled with his strong record of policy support for civil rights and economic and social justice, assures me that he has the liberal values that are important to me and I believe are essential to a vital city in Vermont.

With 12 years of leadership experience on every level of government, Tim Ashe has the understanding of how to work effectively as an elected leader.  He is exceptionally intelligent and a skilled communicator who has the ability to bring together people from diverse perspectives. 

Tim Ashe has important business and economic development experience as a developer of affordable senior housing.  He will be adept at tackling the serious financial issues our city is facing. 

Tim Ashe is a proven vote getter—he has run and won five elections and has a track record of being able to unite Democrats and Progressives together.  This makes him the candidate that is best positioned to beat the Republican candidate in March.

I am proud to support Tim Ashe—I hope you will join me on Sunday in voting for him.  I guess we have all learned that our vote counts!

Alison Prine

Caroline Street

Dear Editor of the Burlington Free Press:

I would like to add my name to the growing numbers of voters supporting Tim Ashe for mayor.

As a long-time Greene Street resident, I followed Tim’s path from a three-term city councilor to two-term current state senator. Along the way came also a graduate degree from Harvard and a stint as an aide to U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders.

I live in a college neighborhood that transitions every June. Tim has been very helpful with this. He understands the sometimes tender relationship between “town and gown.” As a UVM alum, he realizes that Burlington’s great strengths came from its educational, cultural and historical bedrock.

As project manager for Cathedral Square, he has been an innovator in housing, Burlington’s biggest problem. Cathedral Square is a major success.

As a state senator, he has worked closely with our excellent governor, Peter Shumlin.

For all these reasons, I will be voting for state Sen. Tim Ashe at the Democratic caucus.

ANDREW CHAMPAGNE
Burlington

Dear Editor of the Burlington Free Press:

As a lifelong Democrat, I was surprised by the headline to John Briggs’ story of Nov. 20, describing the reaction of certain Burlington Democrats to the candidacy of Tim Ashe (“Key Burlington Democrats see Tim Ashe’s candidacy as threat to the party”). In fact, the headline is not borne out by the story. The story refers to only two Democrats who have that view, and quotes other key Democrats as saying they have no problem with Ashe’s candidacy.

In fact, Ashe was elected to and sits in the Vermont Senate as both a Democrat and a Progressive. In his candidacy for mayor, Ashe has the endorsement of the UVM College Democrats and, as seen by his very strong showing at the Democratic Party Caucus, numerous other Burlington Democrats as well.

What is also disturbing about the headline and the story is the suggestion by some that a candidate who has worked as both a Democrat and as a Progressive is somehow a “threat” to the Democratic Party, instead of assessing that candidate on his or her own merits.

I am a Democrat who has occasionally voted independent, Progressive and even Republican. Does that mean that I should not seek office as a Burlington Democrat? Is the philosophy of parts of the Burlington Democratic Party so orthodox that Democratic Party members who have in the past supported other political positions are not welcome to compete for a nomination and thereby expand the base and strength of the party?

Tim Ashe is an excellent candidate. Burlington Democrats should be delighted to have him as one of their choices for the nomination.

NEIL MICKENBERG
Burlington

Dear Editor of the Burlington Free Press:

It was wonderful to see so many friends at the Burlington Democratic mayoral caucus in November, and I hope everyone who was there shows up one more time on Sunday. I’m voting for Tim Ashe, and I hope all liberal attendees will unify around his candidacy.

I’m a former Democratic City Council candidate who twice ran against Progressives in Ward 1, and I am proud to have served as a justice of the peace for several terms with my party’s nomination. Yet while everyone knows there’s been some political bad blood between Burlington Democrats and Progressives, our ideological differences have been virtually nonexistent.

Times have changed, and in Kurt Wright we are together facing a strong Republican challenger with extremist views — such as advocating the sale of the Burlington Electric Department. But we will win if we put old animosities aside, and place the good of the city above past party bickering. That’s what Tim Ashe is doing in this important race — and so must all of us.

MARC AWODEY
Burlington