Marc Gwinn
for Mayor

My name is Marc Gwinn…

I am a father and a neighbor; a teacher, a financial advisor, and a musician;

…and I intend to be the next Mayor of Montpelier.

Why now?
Why mayor?
Why me?

Good questions.
Let’s get into it.

Why now?
Let’s start with what we know.

It is a new day for Montpelier.

We will soon have a new mayor. As of January 7, we learned that our current mayor will not seek re-election.

We will soon have a new City Manager. Council has been working to fill the seat for the better part of 2025.

We will soon have other changes in leadership within city staff. Filling the Finance Director seat is a major event on it’s own, and rebuilding trust and morale in city hall will take time.

We are at an inflection point in our history that presents tremendous opportunities that are unique to this moment in time. These opportunities are ours to seize or to squander, and our success will depend on our ability to unify around our common goals. The past is useful only as a source of lessons to be learned for the future. The future is where we and our children will live, and the future is where we must focus our collective energy.

There is so much agreement in our community about where we want to be in 25 or 10 or 5 years. My priorities are the same as those that I have heard repeatedly from listening to people in our community:

• Economic Development - We must do all that we can to support our existing downtown business and to attract new ventures that are consistent with Montpelier’s character, history, and future goals.

• More Housing - We must set ambitious but achievable targets for new housing over the next 10 years. This should include housing of all types at all levels of affordability. 

• Investments in Infrastructure - We must address our current challenges while strategically coordinating with specific development project needs. We need to be creative about how to pay for these projects by leveraging state funding sources (like CHIP) and partnerships with developers.

• Reasonable Taxes - Our taxes are too high and continue to rise. At the same time major projects will never be as affordable as they are now. We have to approach our budget with a balanced view of needs, wants, and wishes while understanding the financial and quality of life costs of delaying essential projects.

• Culture of Preparedness and Resilience - To protect all of our efforts against future disasters, we must keep in mind resilience to flooding, pandemics, economic downturn, and other potential challenges. Individual preparedness adds up to community preparedness. We all have a part to play, and perhaps the city most of all. 

Why Mayor?
We must have competent leadership to see us through this moment.

We need a leader who will listen to understand what is most important to people and then synthesize what he hears into actionable priorities. We need a leader who can filter through divisive noise to find common ground and then focus our actions around achievable goals. We need a leader who will partner with the council, the new city manager, and the whole community and then set a course to deliver on the projects that move our collective vision forward.

Our next mayor must:

• Articulate our community’s shared vision of long-term success both from council to the public and from the public to the council.

• Keep the community engaged and invested with optimism and forward momentum by cheerleading our efforts and progress

• Proactively lead City Council meetings with civility, openness, and deep listening to find common understanding

• Focus our conversations on common ground where progress can be made

• Build partnerships with non-profits, state government, and local volunteers to bridge gaps in the City’s capacity to deliver the services we need but cannot afford

• Work with the new City Manager to rebuild trust and confidence within city hall staff towards the city council and within the community towards city staff. We are all in this together, and our individual success builds to community success.

Why me? I have the skills and personality that we need for this particular moment.

For most of my life, I have been a reluctant leader, never seeking responsibility but willing to fill a gap as band leader, head teacher, event organizer, or even Rotary president. 

In 2023, when our city was hit by historic flooding, that reluctance changed. I realized that I have had a wonderful life because there has always been some adult in the room making sure that the rest of us were taken care of. I also realized that it has become my turn to serve as one of the adults in the room.

Through my service on the Montpelier Commission for Recovery and Resilience (MCRR), I have had the privilege of leading the collaborative processes that created MAPLE (Montpelier Action Plan for Local Emergency) and Montpelier Neighbor Net (MNN). I have worked with MCRR and Montpelier Alive to develop an emergency preparedness plan template with businesses to refine and individualize their unique emergency preparedness plans. And I continue to work with the Montpelier Rotary Club to provide food and leadership development opportunities for Montpelier’s youth.

The most important lesson that I learned during these two years is that the power to affect change lies in partnership. The power of the Commission was not its authority; it had none. It was not in its resources; they were limited. It was in its people. People who listened to the community to know what was important, people who had individual expertise that added up to group wisdom, and people who understood which institutions and individuals held actual authority and power. The role of the commission was to bring those forces together. The role of the commission was to provide leadership.

As mayor, I will bring to City Council that same approach of leadership through understanding the big picture and convening resources and parterships.

As a teacher, I have always found ways to explain things so that my audience can understand. From kindergarten through university to older adults in multiple languages, people have said to me again and again, “I have never had it shown to me in that way before.”

As a financial advisor, my primary role is to listen deeply to families and businesses to learn what is most important to them. I am in my eighth year of finding individualized solutions for my clients’ unique needs, wants, and wishes.

As a musician, I keep my heart and ears open for harmony and discord and in the moment and then lead, follow, or remain silent as best serves the collective experiences of musicians and audiences alike.

Finally, as a father and a neighbor I care very deeply about the future of Montpelier. I intend to live the rest of my days in this town, and I need us to be the very best we can be…for me, for my children, and for all of us.

Town meeting day is Tuesday, March 3, 2026. Mark your calendar to show up and vote. I need your support in order to serve. I look forward to contributing my skills and passion to our shared success. Thank you for your time and consideration.