The three letters exchanged between Lt. Governor Dubie and Sen. Dunne
are attached.
##
Dear Lt Governor,
Below, find two letters we exchanged. In the first, you requested I
take
down my ad because you believed it was untrue. This was a poor attempt
to defend the negative ad you were about to release. It turns out your
ad is the one which is factually incorrect. And ironically, your own
schedule only proves that you show up to the office less than a third
of the time.
Assembling your schedule required multiple lawyers (one of them a
high-priced DC lawyer) and three weeks. It should not have taken either
since you schedule should have been transparent from the beginning like
Gov. Douglas’
In addition, your own schedule only proves that you show up to the
office less than a third of the time. In point of fact, the entire
schedule’s credibility should be called into question.
It lists you attending 12 meetings, including testifying before a
senate
committee, during the week you were in Hawaii while the legislature was
in session. This fact alone impugns the credibility of the entire
schedule and therefore your own credibility.
Vermonters deserve a government of transparency that includes your
activities while Lt Governor.
My ad lets Vermonters know they had a choice. They have a choice
between
someone who, for $61,000 per year of taxpayer money, showed up to the
office less than one third of the time and someone who would work
full-time, and make the office an office of action. It is factually
correct.
Your negative current ad is yet another example of why your credibility
should be questioned. By airing a factually incorrect and distorting ad
you continue to show that you, your schedule and your campaign should
not be trusted
As you know very well, I have worked very hard on healthcare, safe
neighborhoods, and protecting our environment. Vermonters should know
that while you were on vacation in Hawaii you missed important debates
on voyeurism, renewable energy, and cancer trials.
I request you remove your current negative ad, as it is factually
incorrect and distorts my record. Among other things it ends on a
picture of an empty Senate Seat- #14. I am #13.
Sincerely,
Matt Dunne
Date: Wed, 1 Nov
Dear Lt. Governor Dubie,
Thank you for your letter.
In this election, I have emphasized that Vermonters have a choice. You
have chosen to work as a part-time Lieutenant Governor. You have stated
that you will continue to work as a part-time Lieutenant Governor. My
vision is to be a full-time Lieutenant Governor. I will use the office
in and out of session to bring Vermonters together and continue my
vision of Service Politics.
You do not come to the statehouse with any regularity when the Senate
is
not in session. Your own staff left me a voicemail August 22nd of 2005,
saying that you “were not in the office regularly until January.” This
recording is available on my website. I even received an email from a
tour guide who has worked in the statehouse for 17 years and says she
never sees you when the legislature is out of session. People who are
regularly in the statehouse know that for much of the time, your office
is empty and closed off with a red velvet rope.
I stand by my ad, which highlights that for most of the year you do not
show up to work at the statehouse.
The focus of my campaign has been that Vermonters have a choice between
a full-time and a part-time Lieutenant Governor. I believe that for
$61,000 per year Vermonter deserve someone full-time who will make Lt
Governors office an office of action. There may be days when I travel
around the state, but I will be based out of the Capitol Building,
where Vermonters can reach me in person and where I can be an active
participant in state government in our state’s capital.
Sincerely,
Senator Matt Dunne
October 31, 2006
Senator Matt Dunne
P.O. Box 1135
White River Jct., VT 05001
Dear Senator Dunne,
I respectfully ask you to please pull your attack television ads off
the
air. You have made slanderous attacks against my service as Vermont’s
Lieutenant Governor.
You have made these erroneous attacks with nothing to back them up.
Furthermore, in yesterday’s AP Article by Lisa Rathke, you were quoted
as saying, "I don't believe you should be in the office everyday but
you should be sharing your calendar and be transparent about it." If
this is the case then why are you misleading the public about my
service as Lieutenant Governor?
In this same article, former Lt. Governor Doug Racine states that the
demands of the office frequently required him to be out of the office
when the legislature was not in session.
Senators from both parties have supported my record. "Brian did not
abuse the office of lieutenant governor. If anything, he worked as hard
as any Lieutenant Governor I've worked with. I want to get the record
straight," said Sen. Dick Mazza, D-Grand Isle.
I call on you to set the record straight with Vermonters and pull the
ad. I also ask you to apologize for misleading Vermonters about my
service as their Lieutenant Governor.
Sincerely,
Lt. Governor Brian Dubie
