Via Community News Service, a University of Vermont journalism internship for The Winooski News
WINOOSKI — Thomas Renner has been serving as the mayor of Winooski since September, following the resignation of Kristine Lott. He is running unopposed on Town Meeting Day for the remainder of Lott’s term.
Renner shared his plans for next term, what Winooski residents should look out for on Town Meeting Day and how the community can come together during unprecedented times.
Q. I understand that you grew up visiting Vermont and went to UVM. What was your major, and what was it about Vermont that made you stay?
A. My major was public communications, and my minor was political science. I stayed because I completely fell in love with Vermont.
I also got an amazing job with former U.S. senator Patrick Leahy, which I was so thankful to get and completely loved. Like a lot of people who graduate from UVM, I thought about moving to a big city after I graduated. But every time I would start to go down the avenue to pursue that, it didn’t feel right for me. Vermont really felt like home.
Q. What has been your experience being the first openly gay and Black mayor of Winooski?
A. Winooski is an amazing city, and it’s been overwhelmingly, truly lovely. People in this city are so supportive, and they’re also proud to be represented by a gay man, by a Black man.
There are definitely external factors that come into play. Just the other day, I got what appeared to be a holiday card, and then as soon as I opened it, it was full of pretty nasty expletives.
That stuff comes to the direction of people in office who are people of color or queer people. Unfortunately, I think that is to be expected, but I’m so thankful that I don’t perceive that type of hatred from my own community.
Q. What are you most proud of accomplishing during your time as mayor thus far?
A. I’ve led a lot of housing initiatives, one of those being our cap on short-term rentals, as well as a new fee structure for short-term rentals. This way, we can make sure the folks in the city are able to access more housing and short-term rentals don’t start to overtake the city too much.
I came on as mayor just before we started working on our budget, and we had a really successful budget season. We’re excited for residents to vote on March 3.
Q. What do you think are the most important things that Winooski residents should know about the budget?
A. This budget has a new, full-time position in the fire department that will help them maintain responsiveness to Winooski residents. Also, to make sure that we’re doing the very important work of checking in on code complaints and doing regular day-to-day check-ins with residents.
There are also some bond items we’re putting forward that we’re really excited about, one of them being a renovation of the police department and some cosmetic work in City Hall.
Those are the kinds of items where our city staff, as well as Winooski residents, deserve to have the best buildings possible. I’m really hoping residents will approve that bond on Town Meeting Day.
Q. What are you looking forward to accomplishing during your next term?
A. I’m hoping to continue our work on housing. We’d love to see more affordable housing projects coming into our city and more projects that prioritize two-plus bedroom units.
We have one more construction season on Main Street. We are starting to gear up for the future construction of the Burlington-Winooski Bridge.
I’m going to be working with city staff to make sure we’re finding ways we can support our community and business community as we wrap up Main Street and begin thinking about the bridge.
Q. There’s been a lot of local and national coverage about the escalating ICE presence in our country. How are you navigating that issue in Winooski, a city with such a large immigrant and refugee population?
A. We have a large minority population, and we’re very proud of that. I’m not gonna lie, there are people in the community who have been quite afraid of the words the president has used to describe people who come to our country seeking a better life.
In City Hall, alongside the city manager and police chief, we are having conversations all the time about what preparedness looks like for our city and making sure we remain connected. It’s really important to make sure that we know our neighbors, that we’re acquainted with them and that we can look out for them. Even on day-to-day things.
Q. Whenever you find free time in your schedule, what are some of your favorite things to do, or places to go in Winooski?
A. I live right by one of the parks in our city, so I love to walk through the woods. It’s a great way to clear my mind and relieve a lot of stress.
And I love going downtown, grabbing some lunch, grabbing a drink with friends or a coffee. We are blessed in this city to have an amazing business community.
One of my favorite things when it’s summertime is to go to a picnic with friends over by the river. Truly perfect Winooski experience.
Q. How has it been balancing being mayor and taking care of your dog and chickens?
A. The chickens and the dog take up an awful lot of time. If I’m up late at night working on stuff for the city, it’s always fantastic when Charlie, my dog, pops over and lies on my lap while I’m typing away.
The chickens are great. I recommend if you’re able to get chickens, they liven up life quite a bit.
Thankfully, we haven’t bought eggs in many years since we first got them. A huge benefit. My parents are always really excited when we come over for dinner. We’ll always bring them a 12-pack of eggs.
Q. If you could share one message to Winooskians, what would you say?
A. Winooski is, and has been, an amazing place to live. Let’s keep doing what we’ve been doing to make sure that it remains that way. Let’s look out for each other.