April 1,2006 –April 1,2012
Bob Kiss (born April 1,1947) is an American politician and former mayor of Burlington,Vermont. Kiss was a member of the Vermont House of Representatives from January 2001 until he stepped down to assume office as mayor of Burlington,following his election to that office in March 2006. He is a member of the Vermont Progressive Party. Kiss won re-election in 2009,and was endorsed by Vermont's Independent U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders. [1] In November 2011,Kiss announced that he would not seek re-election in the 2012 Burlington mayoral election. [2]
Kiss has blue-collar roots,having grown up as the son of a union worker in Kenosha,Wisconsin. He was a high school basketball player and captain of the tennis team. After having graduated with a B.A. in political science from Knox College in 1969,he joined the Peace Corps,where he trained in Malaysia for 14 weeks. Although called up by a draft board for military service,he was granted conscientious objector status and performed alternative service at a hospital in Boston.
Since 1971,when he moved to Burlington,he has been working in the human services field. In 1981,Kiss was hired as director of the Community Action program for Chittenden County,a low-income advocacy group. Six years later,he became head of Community Action's umbrella organization,the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity. Kiss remained head of the CVOEO until 1999. He also served on the boards of the Burlington Housing authority and the committee on temporary shelter during this time.
Kiss was elected to a seat in the Vermont House of Representatives in 2000 as the standard-bearer of the Progressive Party. He quickly earned the respect of his colleagues and was subsequently anointed leader of the Progressive Party Caucus. He sponsored legislation on whistle blower protection for health care workers,rental housing health and safety,and outdoor lighting.
Kiss represented the Chittenden 3-4 House district. He stepped down from the legislature on April 1,2006,after being elected mayor of Burlington. Governor James Douglas appointed Christopher Pearson,also a Progressive,to serve the remainder of Kiss's term.[ citation needed ]