Peter C. Brownell

Peter C. Brownell (born 1948) is an American politician who served as the 39th Mayor of Burlington, Vermont. Brownell is currently the last Republican to have served as mayor of Burlington.[3]

Peter C. Brownell
Member of the
Vermont House of Representatives
from Burlington
In office
1997–2001
39th Mayor of Burlington
In office
April 5, 1993 – April 3, 1995
Preceded byPeter Clavelle
Succeeded byPeter Clavelle
Member of the Burlington, Vermont Board of Aldermen
In office
December 11, 1989 – April 5, 1993
Preceded byDavid J. Thelander
Succeeded byTom Ryan[1]
Member of the Burlington, Vermont School Commission
In office
1983–1988
Preceded byDiane Gallagher
Personal details
Born1948
New York City, New York, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Other political
affiliations		Democratic
Spouse(s)Christina Bratton
Children3
MotherJane Brownell
FatherLincoln C. Brownell[2]
RelativesChauncey W. Brownell (great-grandfather)
EducationUniversity of Pennsylvania
University of Vermont
Signature
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/serviceUnited States Air Force
Years of service1972-1978

Early life

In 1948, Brownell was born in New York City to Lincoln and Jane Brownell and during his childhood he traveled between Long Island, New York and Saigon, Vietnam.[4][5] In 1969, he married Christina Bratton in Maryland. In 1970, he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor's degree in sociology and in 1978, graduated from the University of Vermont with a master's in finance. In 1978, he moved his family to Burlington after serving six years in the air force.[6]

Career

Early politics

In 1983, school commissioner Diane Gallagher was nominated by the Republican Party for Ward 6's alderman seat after one term leaving the seat open and Brownell was given the Republican nomination for the commission seat without opposition and later defeated independent Hans J. Puck with 1,188 votes to 863 votes.[7][8]

In 1988, he served as a delegate to the Vermont Democratic Party's state convention.[9] In September 1989, Alderman David J. Thelander resigned from office in order for a special election to be held and after being given the Republican nomination by unanimity by the city committee Brownell easily defeated Greg Guma with 635 votes to 282 votes.[10][11][12] He easily won election to a term in his own right on March 6, 1990, when he easily defeated Green party candidate Bea Bookchin with 764 votes to 258 votes. During his tenure he served on the finance committee and in November he and Paul Sunderland voted against a resolution that suspended city advertisement in The Burlington Free Press.[13] In 1992, he faced no opposition for reelection.[14]

Mayoral

On January 9, 1993, he stated that the Republican city committee would either choose him or city chairman Bob Minkewicz and on January 14, announced that he would be running for the mayoral office.[15][16] On January 20, the Republican party gave him the nomination, but he was seen as the underdog due to Clavelle having raised almost twice as much money than Brownell although he was able to get the Burlington police union's endorsement, which had given its endorsement to Progressives since 1983.[17][18][19] On March 3, he unexpectedly defeated Clavelle with 5,410 votes to 4,686 votes and only carried two of the city's six wards. Clavelle stated that he lost due to the controversy over his proposal to have the city pay for healthcare benefits for domestic partners of city workers which was passed.[20] Former Republican Mayor Robert K. Bing congratulated him on his victory while Representative Bernie Sanders, who served as mayor from 1981 to 1989, stated that he was not disappointed by Clavelle defeat.[21]

Following his inauguration as mayor he made multiple lobbying trips to Montpelier to support a bill that would give money to Burlington and Newport to buy waterfront land.[22] He also decreased the city's budget by $1 million, but that would later be undone by the cost of development on recently purchased land along Lake Champlain.[23]

On January 8, 1995, he announced his intention to run for reelection. He faced criticism for the multi-million dollar debt the city incurred from buying waterfront lands, was outraised by Clavelle, who was attempting a comeback, again, and lost the police union endorsement to Clavelle.[24][25][26][27] He was narrowly defeated by Clavelle by 4,933 votes to 4,728 votes with Democratic Paul Lafayette taking 1,735 votes.[28]

Later career

In 1998, he ran for one of Chittenden County's six senate seats and placed fourth out of twelve candidates. He ran for reelection in 1998 and placed fourth again out of fourteen candidates.[29][30] During the 2000 Republican Party presidential primaries he endorsed Senator John McCain.[31]

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References
  1. "Republican wins City Council seat". The Burlington Free Press. 26 May 1993. p. 3. Archived from the original on 1 December 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. "LINCOLN C. BROWNELL". The Burlington Free Press. 28 December 2010. Archived from the original on 1 December 2019.
  3. "Peter C. Brownell". The Burlington Free Press. 5 March 1990. p. 13. Archived from the original on 30 November 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. "Wherever he traveled, Brownell came back to Vt". The Burlington Free Press. 4 March 1993. p. 1. Archived from the original on 1 December 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. "Peter Brownell: Not your average number-cruncher". The Burlington Free Press. 26 February 1995. p. 40. Archived from the original on 1 December 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. "Peter Brownell Unopposed". The Burlington Free Press. 15 January 1993. p. 14. Archived from the original on 1 December 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. "Ward 6 Picks A Candidate For Alderman". The Burlington Free Press. 12 January 1983. p. 17. Archived from the original on 1 December 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. "Brownell Also Wins School Post". The Burlington Free Press. 2 March 1983. p. 17. Archived from the original on 1 December 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. "Peter C. Brownell 2". The Burlington Free Press. 7 March 1990. p. 4. Archived from the original on 30 November 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. "Outgoing city alderman agrees to clear way for special election". The Burlington Free Press. 26 September 1989. p. 14. Archived from the original on 30 November 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. "Republican wins Ward 6 race". The Burlington Free Press. 6 December 1989. p. 13. Archived from the original on 30 November 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. "Aldermen to hear request for sign change". The Burlington Free Press. 11 December 1989. p. 4. Archived from the original on 30 November 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. "Burlington Council Votes to Pull City Ads From the Free Press". The Burlington Free Press. 15 November 1990. p. 14. Archived from the original on 1 December 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. "Peter Brownell Unopposed". The Burlington Free Press. 4 March 1992. p. 4. Archived from the original on 1 December 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. "GOP to name nominee to challenge Clavelle". The Burlington Free Press. 9 January 1993. p. 11. Archived from the original on 1 December 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. "Brownell takes on Clavelle". The Burlington Free Press. 15 January 1993. p. 13. Archived from the original on 1 December 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. "Brownell accepts nomination". The Burlington Free Press. 21 January 1993. p. 3. Archived from the original on 1 December 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. "Clavelle holds fund-raising edge in mayor's race". The Burlington Free Press. 23 February 1993. p. 4. Archived from the original on 1 December 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. "Burlington's police union backs Brownell". The Burlington Free Press. 23 February 1993. p. 16. Archived from the original on 1 December 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. "Brownell Wins". The Burlington Free Press. 3 March 1993. p. 1. Archived from the original on 1 December 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. "Reactions". Rutland Daily Herald. 3 March 1993. p. 8. Archived from the original on 1 December 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. "Vt. Senate Votes For Waterfront Purchases". Rutland Daily Herald. 18 April 1993. p. 3. Archived from the original on 1 December 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. "Getting back to business". The Burlington Free Press. 14 March 1994. p. 1. Archived from the original on 1 December 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. "Brownell to seek re-election". The Burlington Free Press. 10 January 1995. p. 15. Archived from the original on 1 December 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. "Waterfront: Sell or save". The Burlington Free Press. 26 February 1995. p. 9. Archived from the original on 1 December 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. "Clavelle outspends challengers". The Burlington Free Press. 28 February 1995. p. 1. Archived from the original on 1 December 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. "Brownell is heading for defeat". The Burlington Free Press. 3 March 1995. p. 17. Archived from the original on 1 December 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  28. "Mayor: In comeback, Clavelle narrowly defeats Brownell". The Burlington Free Press. 8 March 1995. p. 3. Archived from the original on 1 December 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  29. "1996 VT State Senate - Chittenden County". 31 August 2010.
  30. "1998 VT State Senate - Chittenden County". 17 February 2008.
  31. "MCCAIN 4-FOR-5 IN NEW ENGLAND". Hartford Courant. 8 March 2000. Archived from the original on 1 December 2019.
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