Burlington’s Youngest-Ever City Councilor Pushes for Cutting-Edge Climate Policy and Represents Students in Local Government

Many young voters are beginning to wonder just how well older politicians can relate to them and meet their needs. As our government ages, Gen Z and Millennials alike often feel they lack representation from older figures in power, particularly regarding climate change. While some work to reduce structural barriers hindering young people’s ability to run and serve, others are choosing to step up in spite of those barriers.

Marek Broderick is a senior at the University of Vermont (UVM) majoring in Biological Sciences. At just twenty-one years old, he decided to stop waiting for politics to change – he stepped up and ran for City Council last year.

Collaborators and Campaign

Broderick had not taken an interest in politics before college. He even considered himself to be a “climate doomer,” meaning he doubted that humans could ever make the changes needed to reverse global warming. However, moving to Burlington, Vermont to attend UVM ignited a new passion. 

“I got into labor organizing with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) because I enjoy improving the lives of workers and helping however I can. That is when I finally realized not just what I truly believed when it came to politics, but also that there is a path here to improve the lives of working class people.” 

That’s when Broderick decided to start engaging in Burlington politics. In 2023, a fellow member of the local DSA chapter ran for city council in his district, and Broderick volunteered heavily on their campaign. While they came up short of victory, Broderick learned campaign methods and built connections throughout the ward. He also found that the ward is uniquely suited for a City Councilor that is in tune with students’ and renters’ needs, as it is composed almost entirely of those two groups.

When the next campaign cycle came around, seeing no one else volunteering, Broderick decided to run himself. Throughout his campaign, he and his team, “knocked on every door four times,” across the student-dominated ward. 

Broderick worked with student groups across Burlington, including the Champlain Valley Democratic Socialists of America, as well as UVM’s Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA). During his election campaign, he not only served as the co-chair of UVM YDSA, but also became the Champlain Valley’s first nationally endorsed DSA candidate.

On February 11, 2024, Broderick received Run On Climate’s (ROC) endorsement, and the ROC team began working heavily to support his campaign. ROC interns dedicated hundreds of volunteer hours to his campaign, tabling and canvassing on campus and around Burlington. On election day, one intern who called residents encouraging them to vote said they “...could literally hear the man put on his coat, grab his keys, and get out the door to go vote.”  

On March 5, Broderick made history, defeating incumbent City Councilor Hannah King and becoming the youngest person ever elected to Burlington City Council. He took the oath of office and was sworn in on April 1. 

“We put a hell of a lot of work in, knocked on a lot of doors, and we won,” said Broderick. 

Without wasting a second, Broderick is already at work

In 2023, Vermont experienced record-breaking river flooding that drowned homes, businesses and roads. This past summer, more climate-fueled extreme weather hit Vermont including intense floods on July 10-11 – the same day the state was ravaged a year prior. Broderick wants to ensure this climate-fueled destruction leads to stronger action. “On the first anniversary of historically awful and destructive flooding of Vermont, it happens again. You just can’t ignore that,” said Broderick.

Global, national, and state change all begin at the local level. Burlington and its city-owned electric utility have the potential to be a role model for other cities. However, Burlington’s policies are falling short. In 2018, the city committed to eliminating emissions from all buildings by 2030. 6 years later, there is still not an overarching policy to achieve that goal, and building emissions — the largest contributor to climate change outside of transportation — have only decreased 18%.

Since taking office in April, Broderick has been working alongside Run on Climate to develop a Building Emissions Reduction Ordinance (BERO) to cut carbon emissions from large buildings. Buildings use energy for heating, cooling, hot water — everything that makes us feel comfortable in our homes and workspaces. As of 2024, 95% of buildings in Burlington use natural gas – a major contributor to the climate crisis – for space and water heating. The aim of Broderick’s proposed ordinance is to make buildings more efficient and convert many of them from natural gas to geothermal or electric heating.

Councilor Broderick’s proposed ordinance aims to require all large buildings to meet emission reduction requirements set by the city. The policy is currently being developed in a four-member city council committee, which Councilor Broderick serves on. 

“Having a team of committed climate warriors and councilors allows us to come out of this with the strongest possible piece of legislation,” Broderick said of the importance of residents – including students – showing up at committee meetings to speak in favor of a strong policy.

Representation leads to greater participation in government

In 2022, Burlington’s median age was about twenty-seven years old, while the median age of Burlington City Council is currently around forty-one years old. Broderick, at twenty-one years old, is used to always being the youngest person in the room.

College students – who make up one quarter of Burlington’s population – are often overlooked by local politicians because of their temporality in Burlington’s political landscape; students often move out of the city after graduating. Broderick feels this is an even greater reason to represent students, push them to vote, and even inspire them to make direct change by running for a government position themselves. 

After helping support Broderick’s campaign last spring, Run on Climate intern Lindsey Maschler explains that she now feels more compelled to,  “...get more involved in City Council meetings, go to public forums, and speak up about certain issues.” By inspiring young people, Broderick is creating a positive feedback loop, encouraging them to participate in local government. 

While working to close the gap, Broderick wants the city to look at itself in the mirror and ask why so many UVM graduates choose to leave after finishing their degree. 

“Our city is housing and accommodating all these young people who are being trained to become extremely skilled and productive people, and then we’re just letting them all go because we’re not making sure their needs are met,” he says. 

The decisions we make and the people we elect will determine the world they live in. As Councilor, Broderick hopes to integrate students in the climate conversation while helping to reduce Burlington’s high cost of living to encourage graduates to stay in their college town. 

“Being a voice for students, the working class, and my entire constituency is so important to me. The reason why I ran is to represent these groups and provide a perspective that has been lacking on the City Council,” said Broderick.

Broderick hopes to help build a Burlington where students don’t leave after graduation – Burlington with affordable housing options, job opportunities, and strong action on climate change by its local government. Even if that means enduring the current reality, in which neither of those two things are true. Being one quarter of Burlington's population, it is time for students to be seen for who they are: leaders who have the power to change policy to protect their futures.

“I’m not leaving, no matter how hard it gets. When I was elected, that was a commitment I made to people to see it through to the end.”