Elizabeth Murray

Free Press Staff Writer

Bernie Sanders spends much of his time on the presidential campaign trail railing against millionaires and billionaires and the economic inequality he says have plagued the nation.

But Vermont's independent senator has different sentiments when speaking about one of the richest men in Burlington, Tony Pomerleau. Sanders entered a tribute to Pomerleau into the U.S. Congressional Record in 2012, and has lauded many times the man who made his first million by age 45.

"He and his family have contributed many many millions of dollars to people in need throughout the state of Vermont," Sanders said of Pomerleau at the Dec. 6 annual Pomerleau Family Holiday Party. "I think today we are honored to have with us a man who is not only a hero here in the city of Burlington, but a hero throughout the state who understands that you can't take it with you."

Pommerleau, sitting with Jane O'Meara Sanders at a table near the podium, said, "I'm not going," which drew laughter from the senator's wife and spurred Bernie Sanders to add, “He’s going to try, but he can’t do it.”

The 98-year-old philanthropist told the Burlington Free Press in a recent interview that Bernie Sanders has never missed the annual holiday party. The two men looked happy to see one another at the gathering this year, trading brief remarks as members of the media swarmed their table.

Pomerleau joked in a post-party phone interview that Sanders has told him, “With your money and my brains, we could get places.”

Pomerleau suggested he has designs on a position in a Bernie Sanders administration, should Sanders win the presidency.

“I said, ‘You got any places in Washington? I’m still in Burlington working my head off,’” Pomerleau joked in an interview.

Pomerleau declined to tell the Free Press how much he is worth currently, instead saying, "I'm comfortable." He said he still owns 15 shopping centers and has donated millions of dollars to charities and institutions. Pomerleau also said he has not contributed money to Sanders' presidential campaign.

"He doesn't need me on that one," Pomerleau said.

Bernie Sanders' friend and former Assistant City Attorney John Franco recently described the two men as Burlington’s “odd couple.”

A rocky start

The self-declared democratic-socialist politician and the Republican developer are unlikely friends.

In fact, Sanders acknowledged at the holiday party he had few friends in local government when he was elected mayor of Burlington in 1981. Burlington’s political arena was much more conservative in the 1980s, Pomerleau said.

Sanders campaigned against Pomerleau’s ideas in the mayoral election to help win support, Joe McNeil recalled. McNeil served as the city’s attorney from 1970 to 2007 and still serves as a private attorney with McNeil, Leddy and Sheahan law firm in Burlington.

Ideas that Sanders and Pomerleau disagreed upon included plans for Burlington's waterfront and an increase in taxes to the public for police purposes, McNeil said in a recent interview. Pomerleau was chairman of the police commission at the time.

Sanders defeated five-term Mayor Gordon Paquette and two other rivals that year. The election was close, and a recount established that Sanders eked out a 10-vote win. McNeil said Sanders gained many supporters by opposing and campaigning against the tax.

“Unintentionally, Tony Pomerleau was responsible for Bernie’s election,” McNeil said.

Pomerleau voted against Sanders in that first election but recalled offering a congratulations — of sorts.

“I said, ‘You’re the mayor, but it’s still my town,” Pomerleau told the Burlington Free Press recently.

However, Pomerleau added that he told Sanders, “If you get some good ideas for the city, I’ll back you up. ... If I think you’re wrong, I’ll go get you.”

Sanders went on to serve four terms as Burlington’s mayor.

For the love of Burlington

Pomerleau and Sanders began to find common ground after the first mayoral election.

“A few weeks after I was elected, Tony came into the office and what he said is, ‘Mayor, I love the city of Burlington,’” Sanders said at the recent holiday party. “’You and I may have our disagreements, but you love the city, I love the city, and let’s see how we can work together.’ And that’s what we did.”

Pomerleau said he and Bernie Sanders began to grow close when he tasked Pomerleau with researching a trash burning plant for the city. After Pomerleau traveled to Canada and New Jersey, he presented data to Sanders as to why it would be a bad financial move, Jane Sanders wrote in an email. After seeing Pomerleau's research, Bernie Sanders pulled the plug on the project.

"Tony told him that if he did it, he was going to do his homework and give his best recommendation and asked if Bernie would not second-guess him," Jane Sanders wrote. "Bernie told him that if he gave him the details and the reasoning was sound, he would absolutely accept the recommendation."

Lawyer McNeil said the two men also came together over the idea of community policing.

“It was a relatively new model at the time,” McNeil said. “Bernie was interested in having the police become embedded in the neighborhoods and known by the citizens and regarded primarily as helpful. And Tony, as chair of the police commission, shared that view.”

The two also worked together to expand the Parks and Recreation program to offer more inclusive programs and get the community more involved. Up until then, only traditional sports such as football and baseball had been offered, McNeil said.

Pomerleau also gained respect for Sanders after seeing the mayor was fiscally conservative, McNeil recalled.

“That was in line with Tony’s style of management as well,” McNeil said. “Tony started to play a larger role in advising Bernie in regard to programmatic development and cost savings and that sort of thing.”

Finally, the two eventually agreed on a plan for Burlington’s waterfront, which had been a lumber and fuel yard filled with smoke stacks and oil tanks since the 1800s. The plan created the current community-friendly waterfront, which includes a boardwalk and community boathouse.

“Bernie sort of took the notion of his early conflict with Tony Pomerleau and advanced it into a much larger vision that remains to this day,” McNeil said of the waterfront project.

In a recent email, Jane Sanders called Pomerleau an "inspiration" for all he has done for Burlington and the rest of the state over the years. She said she and her husband have valued Pomerleau's friendship and generosity throughout the roughly 35 years they've known each other.

"The relationship began through the common purpose of serving our community," Jane Sanders wrote. "It grew over time and experience into one of respect and admiration, then turned into a real friendship."

Some similarities

Pomerleau pointed out recently that the two men are more similar than meets the eye.

Both worked hard to get where they are today, Pomerleau as a self-made millionaire and Bernie Sanders as the longest-serving independent in Congress. Both came from families of lesser means and “came up the hard way,” Pomerleau said. And both took risks along the way.

Both men also found their home in Burlington.

Pomerleau said most people thought he was crazy when he bought his first shopping center, and he’s continued taking risks and spotting opportunities throughout his career as a businessman and philanthropist. Similarly, Pomerleau said Bernie Sanders had run in many elections for local, state and federal seats as a long-shot candidate before establishing his place in the U.S. Congress.

“He never gives up,” Pomerleau said. “This is the reason we’ve both been successful.”

Pomerleau has yet to decide who he will vote for in the 2016 presidential election, but he has supported Bernie Sanders’ campaign from the beginning, he said.

“It’s going to be a tough, tough road, but I encourage him very much,” Pomerleau said. “I said to him, ‘I don’t think you can win, but you’ve got everything to gain and nothing to lose.’”

Contact Elizabeth Murray at 651-4835 or emurray@freepressmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/LizMurraySMC.