By Jennifer Eisenbart
Editor
Back when Jeannie Hefty was first mayor – and riding with the Burlington Area Rescue Squad – she would never call in on the rescue squad radio using her name.
The joke, explained Troy Everson Tuesday night as Hefty won the City of Burlington mayoral race over incumbent Bob Miller, was that Jeannie Hefty had the call sign of “M1” in those days.
It was time, he said, to bring it back.
“And now, our new and returning mayor, M1,” said Everson as the crowd at Hefty’s celebration party at Veterans Terrace erupted in cheers.
Hefty won by a, well, hefty margin, garnering 2,125 votes to Miller’s 1,403. While the city saw gains in business and moved forward with new projects in spite of the recession that hit in 2008, recent issues with city personnel seemed to play a huge factor in the race.
“It is what it is,” Miller said in a telephone interview after the results came in. “I was hoping for more. The voters wanted change and they got it.”
In the past two years, the city has seen its city administrator, police chief, director of public works and fire chief all either resign or reach an agreement to leave.
Of particular contention were Fire Chief Perry Howard and Police Chief Peter Nimmer. Howard was at the heart of a battle between the fire department and rescue squad that ended in his resignation in December.
Nimmer, meanwhile, took heat for not residing in Burlington and using a city vehicle for his travel, though the residency requirement could not be enforced any longer, Miller said before the race.
Amidst screams of “Go, Grandma!” at the victory party, Hefty said it was time to look forward and continue bringing the city forward. Hefty said she would reach out to the younger generation, hoping to attract them to Burlington … and keep them here.
“They’re our future,” Hefty said. “I’ve been talking to professionals who work here, but don’t live here. I want to change that.”
Miller, meanwhile, said the city had made great strides over the last eight years. Those included economic growth, and transparency regarding the city via the city website and dashboard tool.
“We’ve kept the city growing and moving forward,” Miller said.
As for the mayoral position, he seemed philosophical.
“I’m happy it’s over with,” Miller said. “I’ll get my life back.”
In the other contested city race, Kelly Iselin unseated Marv Daniel at the City of Burlington municipal judge position.
Daniel had been a long-time incumbent at the position, but Iselin said she hoped to bring a more youthful approach.
“It feels great,” Iselin said. “I know Marv has done this for a really long time, and I’m looking forward to bringing youth and new ideas to the municipal court, and look forward to serving the citizens of the City of Burlington.”
Other races
City Aldermen Ed Johnson, Ruth Dawidziak, Tom Vos and Tom Preusker all earned re-election in unopposed races, though Johnson had to run as a write-in candidate after initially filing his non-candidacy.
No one else stepped forward to fill the position, so Johnson ran as a write-in candidate. He garnered 42 votes.
Also running unopposed and earning re-election Tuesday were Town of Burlington Supervisors Jeff Lang and Joan Boehm, and Burlington Area School District School Board Members Barry Schmaling and Jim Bousman.
In the Bohner’s Lake Sanitary District Commissioner-Treasurer battle, it was a close race, with Jess Wiskes earning 239 votes to Tom Sondej’s 201.
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Hopefully mayor hefty can drive out the fear in the organization that miller instituted, while keeping the highly qualified employees that are still there. All department heads are gone in the course of one year…who was the problem? Rumor on the street is miller and the city administrator let a highly qualified and dedicated employee in a key position go last week from public works. So miller gets to burn his way out of the city like General Sherman did in the south on his historic March to the sea. Is this millers widespread destruction of our city on his way out?
So Miller gets his life back after ruining everyone else’s in the city! That’s what really matters, “I got mine”.
Jeez guy, put your aluminum foil hat back on and go back to your moms basement. Bob had a great vision for our city. My last talk with a Hefty supporter was ” I don’t know what she wants, but she’ll be better”. 0ur new Pool, dead. New business, dead. Shad was already rebuilding downtown, but I’m sure she’ll take credit for that. People wanted something new, so we re-elected a mayor from the 90’s. Let’s re-elect a Clinton too! What’s the worst that can happen
Byron. I think people wanted change and hefty can’t do any worse than miller. She is personable, approachable and has a rich history with the city. Something miller doesn’t have. One thing she is not, is one of the boys… Quite possibly with her skill set we can move the city forward while keeping the talent pool that is left while attracting top tiered people that miller and his administration drove out.
I agree with you that shad is doing some great things on his own…we need more businessmen/entrepreneurs like him. Kudos to shad.
I commend Burlingtonites for putting women in charge of local government, first by hiring a female city administrator and then electing Hefty as mayor.
Let’s just see what they can do at the local level, as they certainly can’t do any worse than what’s been done, no?
Ding dong, sexism is dead!
take credit for other folks expanding or opening business in Burlington? lol….. you mean like Bob Miller did on his campaign facebook page? A majority of the businesses that Miller claimed he brought to Burlington were brought in during either Heft’s first run as mayor or Claud’s. Just setting the record straight.