City Council Candidate Profiles | David Wallace
This article was written by Doug Phinney and Jenny Koppang
Seven candidates are vying for two open seats on the Winooski City Council this Town Meeting Day. The top two vote-getters will be elected to two-year terms. This election will be the first in the city to allow non-U.S. citizens the right to vote, a result of an amendment to Winooski’s charter that ensures that all residents can have a voice in municipal elections.
These interviews have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Editor’s note: David Wallace is also running for a contested seat on the school board.
David Wallace (he/him)
Q: How old are you and how long have you lived in Winooski?
A: I’m 53 and I’ve been in Winooski since 2013. I’m originally from Arlington, Virginia.
Q: What is your educational background?
A: I have a Bachelor’s degree in business from Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina.
Q: What’s your profession and work background?
A: I'm currently working at the Post Office in Essex at their mail processing facility and the maintenance department. I started at the US Border Patrol and then went to US Immigration, which was broken up, it's a different agency now. And then I was with the Federal Air Marshals, then Customs Border Protection. And I’ve had several other private sector jobs as well. I was working with Lowe's from 2017 until 2020. And before that I was doing security background investigations as a private contractor for the Office of Personnel Management.
Q: Why are you running for Winooski City Council?
A: It seems like a lot of the governments in this country are getting out of control. I'd like to reduce the property taxes, and I see that there's a lot of crime going on in Burlington. There's a movement in Burlington to defund the police – I want to make sure that doesn't happen in Winooski. I want to make sure that the police are well funded and make sure that criminals are dealt with appropriately. I want to keep Winooski as safe as we can.
Q: What do you see as the most important issue facing the city of Winooski?
A: I'm concerned with the rising crime in Burlington spilling over into Winooski. I want to keep the police forcefully funded. We need more funding for counter-narcotics, which must include multiple paid informants so the police know who the drug dealers are. Once we know who they all are, we can take them all down at the same time. When someone dies as a result of a drug overdose, the people who provided the drug need to be charged criminally. We are seeing property crimes going unaddressed in big cities. We must arrest shoplifters, it sends a message to criminals that we won’t tolerate this behavior. If Winooski develops a reputation of being tough on crime, then criminals will stay in Burlington where the government has handicapped law enforcement.
Q: Winooski has an acute housing crisis. What ideas do you have for creating more affordable housing?
A: I think that if we reduce the property taxes, more builders can come in here and make apartments that will have lower rents than the competition. And it may require some zoning revisions to get more units built.
Q: Winooski is scheduled to receive $2 million in American Rescue Plan funding. How would you like to see that money spent?
A: I don’t know the details of this plan, but I would want the money to go to the residents of Winooski that are most deserving of it, such as those in the lowest income bracket.