Revisiting 2016 Democratic Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders' Pre-2000 Political Career--Part 5

In his 1991 book, The Socialist Mayor: Bernard Sanders in Burlington, Vermont, Steven Soifer indicated how Burlington, Vermont was apparently governed by 2016 Democratic party presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, when Sanders was mayor in the 1980's of that small city of around 39,000 people:

"We must ask how the Sanders administration's economic development policies differ from a traditional capitalist approach....In certain cases like the waterfront [area of Burlington, Vermont]....there was little to distinguish his [Sanders's] position from that of capitalist interests in the city of Burlington....

"....Concerning the more fundamental issue of the necessity of growth, the question of mass transportation as an alternative to increased vehicular traffic, and the impact....on Burlington's low-and moderate-income neighborhoods, Sanders rates poorly.

"Sanders and his administration have affected the nature of development in the city of Burlington [Vermont]....We must ask whether there was a basic difference between the Sanders administration and a capitalist Democratic or Republican administration regarding development issues....As evidenced by the critiques from various progressives, the administration certainly did not do as much as it could to limit undesirable development in the city, nor did it pursue, except perhaps at the end, a non-reformist reform or socialist strategy toward development projects....

"One of the guiding principles of democratic socialism is participatory democracy....While Mayor Sanders himself professed a democratic-socialist philosophy, his administration's internal decision-making processes tended to be limited and exclusionary,....to certain progressives and women...

"....One would expect tenants' concerns to be a big agenda item for Sanders. However,....this really has not been the case....

"When one thinks of non-reformist issues that a local socialist administration could promote concerning tenants' rights, the issue of rent control immediately comes to mind. However....Sanders, who says he supports the idea, has not strongly promoted the issue...."