[1][2] Calvin Blodgett was long active in politics and government, including service as an assistant judge of Orange County, terms in the state legislature, and election to Burlington's board of aldermen.
[1] Blodgett's term as mayor was mainly concerned with reducing government expenditures in order to lower the city's property tax rate.
[7] In addition, he implemented improvements to the police department, including regular salaries for patrol officers working nighttime shifts.
[7] Prior to Blodgett's term, police officers were paid based on the actions they executed, such as the number of arrests.
[7] Officers patrolling the train depot, waterfront docks, and Battery Street industrial area received one dollar per shift.
[7] In 1878, a period of ill health caused Blodgett's doctors to recommend that he move away from the Lake Champlain area to a town with a drier climate.