Woodbury Mayor Burt on her first year in office

Dec 13, 2019 In the Community

After nearly 15 years as a resident, Burt had an impressive resume when it came to city involvement: past positions on the Planning Commission, the Parks and Natural Resources Commission and the 2040 Comprehensive Plan task force. Her next step, she thought, could be a run for one of the city's four at-large council positions.

After former Mayor Mary Giuliani Stephens began her run as a Republican gubernatorial candidate in 2017, and seeing no clear candidates stepping up to replace Stephens in 2018, Burt had decided to talk with city leaders about the possibility of running for mayor. However, because she had not been a City Council member, she said she was discouraged from going that route.

Burt's path changed, though, after an encounter with Stephens at City Hall before a Citizens Academy meeting. Burt had arrived to the meeting a few minutes early. She and Stephens, who would be presenting later that evening, began chatting.

"And I'm just asking her, 'How's your campaign going?' And she just started sharing some things with me — she needed help making some phone calls or something," Burt said. "I'm like, I can help make phone calls. But it's through that and my work on the 2040 (Comprehensive) Plan ... (that) I think she started to see me as a viable option, more than anything, because I don't think anyone else really stepped forward."