Candidates for Winooski City Council and School Board were posed a series of questions by Winooski News student reporters. Those interviews are published below — click on the link below each bio to read the Q+A. Have a question for the candidates, a tip or suggestion for our election coverage? Reach out at news@thewinooskinews.com.

Winooski News reporters Doug Phinney, Jenny Koppang and Jack Pitblado contributed to this report. Candidates listed in alphabetical order. All photos courtesy.

City Council Candidates

Seven candidates are running for two open seats on the Winooski City Council, which are now held by Deputy Mayor Hal Colston and Councilor Mike Myers with terms expiring March 3, 2022. The top two vote-getters will win the seats.

Aurora Hurd has seen a lot of growth and success in Winooski in the 5+ years Hurd has called Winooski home, but has also seen where much more can be done . They've served on the Winooski Library Committee since 2017, currently as Vice Chair. They hold a BA in political science and an MFA in creative writing. Hurd worked as staff on the Bernie 2016 and Bernie 2020 campaigns. When not working at the University of Vermont or volunteering, you’ll usually find them writing stories or engrossed in a good book. They are a firm believer that representation matters, in art as well as government.

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Chad Bushway has spent most of his life working in the automotive industry and is now running for Winooski City Council. A Winooski resident since 2004, Bushway and his wife, a Winooski native, are regularly home providers for the Department for Children and Families’ foster care program. Having called Winooski home for nearly 20 years, Bushway now feels it’s time for him to give back to the city.

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David Wallace, 53, received his Bachelor's degree in business from Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina. Originally hailing from Arlington, Virginia, he has been a Winooski resident since 2013. He has previously served with the Federal Air Marshals, US Customs and Border Protection, and the Office of Personnel Management, and currently works in the Essex Post Office's mail processing facility.

Wallace is passionate about keeping Winooski safe by cracking down on crime and making sure the police are well-funded. Wallace is running for a contested school board seat as well as a city council seat, the Winooski City Clerk said on Friday.

Click here to read the interview about Wallace’s city council candidacy, and click here to read about Wallace’s school board candidacy.

Darrell Desautels is a lifelong Winooski resident and former city councilor and school board member.

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Irene “Kerubo” Webster has lived in Winooski for almost 15 years. She is taking classes at Champlain College, pursuing a degree in Integrated Studies in Business. Webster has worked in community outreach roles in Nairobi, Kenya, and now works as a Case Manager for the Association of Africans Living in Vermont. Webster speaks both English and Swahili. Her experience of advocating for new immigrants, and her work within the Winooski community, have inspired her to run for City Council.

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Matt Crawford grew up in St. Albans and attended the University of Colorado to study journalism. He has since worked in public relations and in 2020 he started his own business doing public relations, content creation, and copywriting in Winooski. Crawford previously served for six years on the selectboard in Georgia, Vermont—the last two of which he served as chairman.

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Thomas Renner now works for the University of Vermont Medical Center, but has in the past worked for Vermont’s Senator Leahy — experience that he credits as sparking his deeper interest in politics. He is an alumnus of both UVM and Norwich University, graduating from UVM in 2014 with a degree in Communications and Political Science, and Norwich in 2018 with a master’s degree in Leadership. He has lived in Winooski for four years now and has been a member of the city’s Safe Healthy Connected People Commission, where serves as secretary, for one year.

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School Board Candidates

Allison Burlock, 36, is an MBA student at Champlain College and manager of quality and data analytics at the University of Vermont Health Network. A native Vermonter, Allison is running to maintain her position on the school board after being appointed to her seat in July 2021. She’s inspired by the board because she sees it as an avenue to enable teachers to make strong connections with students. Burlock is running unopposed.

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Tori Cleiland, 52, is currently the chair of the school board having served since 2011. She’s a high school special educator with a master’s in education. Tori initially ran to make a difference in a district with a poor reputation. Now she hopes to help students with disabilities and those learning English to receive an equitable education and aims to continue the district’s anti-racist work in the coming term. Cleiland is running unopposed.

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Kamal Dahal, 29, is a business analyst running to serve a 3-year term on the Winooski school board following his first year as a trustee. After moving to Vermont, he knew he wanted to play an active role in his community.

Once in Winooski, he was inspired to work in leadership by a lack of representation of minority voices on the board. He hopes to continue fostering equity and inclusion as a core value in Winooski.

Dahal won the remainder of a three-year term during the 2021 elections, and David Wallace, listed above, is also running for this seat.

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