Outsider in the White House by Bernie Sanders, Huck Gutman

general property tax for homeowners in Burlington. At the same time, I fought hard for more progressive forms of taxation.
    While I had strong backing from city residents in this fight, I did not have the support of the state legislature. In Vermont, municipalities must get approval for charter revisions from the state legislature. Time and again the legislature refused to approve the progressive charter changes that the people of Burlington had voted for—sometimes overwhelmingly. It was very disheartening, and one of the reasons I ran for governor in 1986. But more on that later.
    Nonetheless, we did become the first municipality in Vermont to develop alternatives to the property tax. After a major struggle against many of the restaurant owners, we implemented a one percent room-and-meal tax. We also passed a classification system of taxation which raised to 120 percent the tax rate on commercial and industrial property. After a court battle, the utilities were forced to pay for the damage done when they tore up our streets for utility work. Following a heated battle with a cable TV company, and an effort on our part to create a municipally owned system, we managed to get substantial revenue from them and reduced rates for seniors.
    The large tax-exempt institutions in the city, the University of Vermont and the Medical Center Hospital, successfully resisted most changes to the status quo. However, we did substantially increase payments from them for police and fire service. As a result of opposition from the governor and legislature, we were unable to generate the revenue we wanted from the municipally owned airport in South Burlington. But by taking over the administration of the large parking lot there, and deploying our own police officers for security, we did improve our cash flow.
    Needless to say, our administration and movement were about more than progressive tax policy and efficient government. We were also about involving people in the process, about community, empowerment, fun, and excitement. For instance, the Mayor’s Council on Women, which soon became the Burlington Women’s Council, brought together women’s organizations representing diverse professions and political orientations, from radical gay feminists to conservative businesswomen. Initiatives by the Women’s Council included legislation, far ahead of its time, on domestic violence and specialized training for the police department, a study of “comparable worth” that resulted in a financial upgrading for many female municipal employees, and funding for a very successful program which trained low-income women in male-dominated, non-traditional types of employment, such as the building trades.
    Jane O’Meara Driscoll, who later became my wife, headed up our Youth Office—first on a volunteer basis, later on the payroll. Jane launched a very successful municipally funded child care center, as well as a Teen Center. Everyone yells at teenagers and tells them to stay out of trouble and not do drugs. We offered them a social space, and opportunities for music and dance. Jane developed an afterschool program for younger kids, a youth newspaper, a theater program, a youth employment program, a summer garden project, and a public access TV show. She also implemented Operation Snow Shovel, a wonderful service program through which young people cleared snow for the elderly and disabled.
    We started a number of cultural activities that took art into the streets. A jazz festival—with free concerts and music on our buses. A blues festival. A reggae festival. A country music festival. A chew-chew festival. Free summer concerts in the park. A First Night event on December 31, attended by thousands of people. Almost all of these events continue to this day.
    One of my favorite evenings was a poetry reading in which Allen Ginsberg joined Burlington schoolchildren to read their poems in Burlington City Hall. Noam Chomsky,