City Council Candidate Profiles | Aurora Hurd
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.
Aurora Hurd (they/them)
Q: How old are you and how long have you lived in Winooski?
A: I am 26 years old. I’ve lived in Winooski for over five years, and I never want to leave. It’s such a wonderful and unique community.
Q: What is your educational background?
A: I got an Associate's from the Community College of Vermont before transferring to UVM, where I got a Bachelor's degree in political science. And then a few years later, I received my Master's degree, a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, from Goddard College.
Q: What’s your profession and work background?
A: It's primarily in administration and operations. My first job out of college, after I got my BA in political science, was the Bernie 2016 campaign; I served in a couple of different roles there. I started as an intern, then worked as a staff assistant, then deputy HR director, and by the end of the campaign I was the HR director. When the campaign ended, I worked at Howard Center for a while in their HR department, before helping start up the Bernie 2020 campaign. I am currently working at UVM in the role of administrative assistant to the Department of Education chair.
Q: Why are you running for Winooski City Council?
A: I've spent going on five years working as a part of the Winooski Memorial Library Committee. So that has given me an insight to one part of the Winooski government and the amazing work that is happening in Winooski, such as the all-resident voting. This is the first election with all-resident voting, so I'm really honored to be a candidate running in this very historic moment. But I also see that there is room for improvement. One area that I'm very passionate about is affordable housing, and also thinking about renters’ rights. I think those are two very key issues that are currently facing Winooski and are particularly important because about two-thirds of Winooski residents are renters. I'm a renter myself, so it’s important to me to make sure renters can report if there are health code violations or safety code violations and not worry that they are going to get some kind of reprisal from their landlord, and making it so that there are checks and balances within the system. Another reason that I'm running is, with the all resident voting, definitely a big thing would be protecting that now that we have that charter change in place. And also looking at the next step: We have that charter change in place, now how do we make municipal and local government more accessible to everyone to participate in? So looking at the different ways of doing that, especially around translation and meeting communities where they are and really making sure all of Winooski’s residents are heard.
Q: What do you see as the most important issue facing the city of Winooski?
A: The federal COVID relief funding through the American Rescue Plan Association has still not fully been decided on how it’s going to be distributed. So it’s important to make sure that people have a voice on how that's distributed and make sure that the way that it is given back to the community helps the community best. So really thinking about how we can support the different organizations, residents, businesses, all these different parts of the community, and how the city can best support them. With these additional funds, we could look into having maybe a housing rights advocate. The city currently has an Equity Director, so ensuring that that position is not only a permanent position, but making sure that it is a position that gets the support it needs to do the very important work that is happening.
Q: Winooski has an acute housing crisis. What ideas do you have for creating more affordable housing?
A: So Burlington has put forward a potential charter change, which is a Just Cause Eviction charter change and it's currently in the Legislature. I would like to keep an eye on that and think about if this would be something that Winooski could explore as well. I’m not sure how rent control would work in a city of our size, but I think a great way to start might be putting a cap on security deposits. Sometimes it's just ridiculous, the amount of money you have to put down to rent an apartment. Another thing, they're about two-and-a-half staff members on code enforcement, for all public buildings, not just renters. So I would like to look into a way that there could be some additional support built into the city. There is a Housing Commission that’s been looking into a lot of this stuff and really examining how best it could fit in our city. So also, listening to that Commission, hearing the work that's being done there, and making sure that it's being elevated to where the Council can really consider it.
Q: Winooski is scheduled to receive $2 million in American Rescue Plan funding. How would you like to see that money spent?
A: I would really like to see it spent in a way that reaches our community in the way that it needs to be reached. There have been several COVID outbreaks in Winooski, so there's an acknowledgment that this is very much happening in our community, and there’s much need for these funds. There are organizations that have really been supporting with translation, helping to get out tests, stuff like that. So thinking about how best to give back to people and organizations that have been filling in some of the gaps, and about ways that we can continue doing that work and increase outreach by making vaccination and testing really accessible. I think a consistent issue throughout the city at all levels is figuring out how to communicate to all residents of Winooski. There is potentially the funding to make sure things are translated, make sure there's community outreach, maybe even paying people to do that kind of community outreach. I'm really thinking about how can we best support the residents of Winooski and ensure that money goes back into the community. I also want to provide support to small businesses and to highlight businesses that employ people in Winooski and make sure that that money is not just going to the business, but also going to the employees who are the Winooski residents.
CORRECTION: It has come to our attention that Aurora Hurd’s educational background was previously written as "Master of Fine Arts and Creative Writing", and this was changed to “Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing”. For Aurora Hurd’s professional and work background, "My first job out of high school was the Bernie 2016 campaign;" was changed to “My first job out of college, after I got my BA in political science, was the Bernie 2016 campaign.” Lastly, previously written in error was “Winooski Regional Library Committee” and this was changed to “Winooski Memorial Library Committee”.
Corrections made February 22, 2022.