(Continuing the policy of promoting diaries from officeholders and officeseekers – promoted by GMD)
One way of demonstrating accountability is conducting public business in public for everyone to see. Entergy has put the safety of Vermonter's at risk as well as the jobs of more than 600 in our community. I have always taken the position that safety comes first and that is why I have strongly opposed the re-licensing of Vermont Yankee.
We saw on Green Mountain Daily last week that Entergy really doesn't like inviting the public to its briefings. Now, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Entergy plan an out-of-state, closed-door meeting. This only reaffirms Vermonter's worries about Entergy's intentions. As Secretary of State, I have fought to keep Vermont government open and accountable.
I agree with our Congressional delegation and thank them for their letter today. (It's nice to have the best Congressional delegation in the country, isn't it?)
This move continues to erode the little faith Vermonters have in an aging nuclear plant and the company that operates it until 2012.
While the safety of the plant continues to be a top priority as long as it operates, we still haven't heard a plan for the job loss that really concerns me.
I still await emergency plans from the administration and the legislature to address the impact throughout the state. I have laid out steps I think should be taken but these steps cannot wait until I become governor in January 2011.
It certainly is good to have Deb check in on this one. But any enforcement in Vermont of the Open Meeting requirements has been sporadic at best. It makes one wonder why?
I don’t believe we will ever have truly open government as long as either side approaches politics in Vermont with the zero sum approach readily evident nationally and being seen in Vermont. Any elected official must maintain tight control over any event or process they are involved in as the opposing party will rabidly distort and exploit any perceived weakness. A little more reasoned and moderate approach to politics would be welcome, unfortunately it appears we are going in entirely the opposite direction. I was encouraged by what I read on your website regarding inclusive government however there is a disconnect between what you claim as your intentions if elected and your current actions. On your website you state: “As Governor, Deb will make it a priority to find consensus among citizens, community groups, businesses and elected officials, and end partisan squabbles that bog down government.” And “I work for all our citizens, not just the ones in my party.” However you are knowingly providing this piece to a website whose editors clearly see their roles to be as champions in exactly the type of partisan squabbling you claim to decry: “It is believed that no institution can be healthy without a capacity for rollicking self-criticism, and part of the purpose of this site is to provide such health to the Democratic Party for its own good. We’re all sure it will thank us for this some day. On the other hand, the criticism of Republicans is not done for the health of their institution, but rather to try and do our small part to protect the state and the world from utter destruction at their hands.” Or, as the publisher concisely put it “We here have a partisan agenda. We make no bones about it.”
At the core of their acknowledged partisan agenda is a dehumanizing view of conservative Vermonters that fans extremist rhetoric, some of the same citizens, members of community groups and businesses you claim to want to work with. That view is succinctly summed up by one of the Editors of the site with his observation “Right wing leaders (and in particular, the GOP) operate on one simple maxim – that the people that listen to them are too stupid to figure things out.”
How do you reconcile this conflict? It would seem despite your complaints about partisan squabbling you are actively enabling and encouraging it.
It’s important that the laws of our state be followed.
Entergy’s “Trust us. Pretty please?” ad campaign is being overshadowed by their shady attempts to cloak any and all information in a shroud of secrecy. This transparent attempt to avoid the open meetings law, combined with their call for suppression of the legally-required investigative report, isn’t helping, and just makes people assume that the report is soooo damning that they can’t make it public and remain in operation.
If they want trust, they should behave in a trustworthy manner.
Living in Vermont, we expect openness in government. Entergy and the NRC are not providing us with the level of openness Vermonters expect. These are some of the more important laws we have because they allow us direct access to the decisions that affect us.