Category Archives: local/regional

Shouting “ethics” in a crowded revolving door

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Last July the longtime director of Vermont EB-5 Regional Center Brent Raymond resigned abruptly to lead Mt. Snow/Peak Resorts Inc. $52-million EB-5 funded expansion program. The Mt. Snow program is one that as State EB-5 director, Raymond  would have had oversight of.

A great gnashing of teeth over the possible conflict of interest followed causing Governor Shumlin to go so far as to  cry “ethics” aloud as Raymond exited from his administration out the revolving door.

A spokesman for the governor said then: “The governor has concerns about the potential for a conflict of interest in this decision. […] We fully expect all appointees and former appointees to comply with the Executive Code of Ethics,” spokesman Scott Coriell said in an email.

Later with questions over possible conflicts of interest in the legislature and executive mounting Shumlin publically endorsed plans already underway for an independent commission to handle ethics complaints.

In the meantime back at the Mt. Snow’s $52-million EB-5 project, if you hunt around on mountsnoweb5.com, a press release pdf that lists Brent Raymond as an employee can be found. However Mt. Snow’s webpage (shown below)more prominently pimps out their new hire Raymond  as a Vermont State Employee – image tagged : Support of government officialsscshotsnow

Some steps have been taken in the last year to address growing questions of ethics and conflict of interest in Vermont government .Secretary of State Jim Condos continues his tireless campaign for a transparency and an ethics commission for the executive and legislative branches. The Vermont House adapted a formal code of ethics and the Vermont Senate Rules Committee will likely continue their recent series of skirmishes, err, hearings to discuss formal ethics and financial disclosure guidelines.

Oh by the way, the other VT EB-5 Regional Center employee seen in that image on mountsnoweb5.com is Specialist Becky Fu. She left the state Regional Center in 2015 — not long after Brent Raymond. Specialist Fu left her state Regional EB-5 Center job to help shepherd along the Von Trapp Family Lodge $22-million EB-5 program.

So go ahead, shout as loud as you want. For now, I doubt anyone wants to hear “ethics” while passing through Vermont’s revolving doors. Nah, it’s business as usual.

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the VT Senate Rules Committee

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Wednesday’s Vermont Senate Rules Committee meeting on ethics and disclosure ended in a minute and huff. Well maybe it ran longer than a minute — but it did end in a huff. The meeting, called  to discuss new ethics disclosure rules for those serving in the Vermont Senate, ended with an abrupt adjournment on Wednesday.

The finger-pointing, heated conclusion to the Senate Rules Committee meeting came after an exchange between two of the chamber’s leaders, Sen. Philip Baruth, D-Chittenden, and the Senate President Pro Tem, John Campbell, D-Windsor, who was backed up by veteran and influential Sen. Richard Mazza, D[?] -Grand Isle/Colchester.

The dust-up between the party leaders peaked when Baruth, the Senate Majority Leader, felt the other two Democrats were not taking him seriously, while Campbell, who holds the most powerful post, and Mazza, a senator for more than 30 years, were offended and thought Baruth was accusing them of “hiding something.”

Senate President Pro Tem, John Campbell, D-Windsor walked out after a “dust-up “with Senator Phillip Baruth.

Said Campbell: “Wait. I didn’t say it’s laughable,” Campbell shot back, then talking over Baruth said. “No, no, don’t. You have reporters here. Do not, Do not…”

VTethicsbowl

Campbell’s unease at openly discussing ethics and financial disclosure with reporters present recalls the classic admonition from Dr. Strangelove “Gentlemen, we can’t fight here: this is the war room.”  We can’t discuss disclosure — you have reporters here.

The fact that the discussion, limited as it was, is taking place at all perhaps shows Senate leader Campbell’s views may have evolved since 2014. When asked then to react to actions the Vermont House successfully took to formalize ethics guidelines Senator Campbell saw no need to make similar efforts in the Vermont Senate. “I think most people are ethical,” Campbell said “Hopefully, you elect people you trust.”

Sure, Senator Campbell, hopefully most people are ethical but, gentlemen, this is the Senate rules committee isn’t it?

Phil Scott’s drive by crisis

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Crisis managers are in almost universal agreement that the first days of a crisis are the most important. The quality of response can have a sizable impact, and may even set the tone, as events move forward.

Phil Scott has been Lt Gov. for five years and spent 10 as state senator. He currently has 70% name recognition among Vermont voters and has good chance to become the next governor.

His political personality is described as notably low key and non-aggressive. And given the constitutionally small role a Vermont Lt. Gov. plays in governing, specific examples of Scott showing actual leadership or governing skills are by nature kind of slim anyway. Here’s a rundown of the Scott style from last year [he] knows the knock: that he doesn’t take strong positions, sometimes changes his mind and doesn’t have a signature issue that defines him politically.

As he starts his race for the big office, it is worth noting how Lt. Gov. Phil Scott behaved last May when confronted by the crisis brought on by the arrest at the statehouse of fellow Republican Senator Norm McAllister on charges of felony sexual misconduct.

The unprecedented crisis began with McAllister’s dramatic arrest at the statehouse on a Thursday, and he was formally charged on Friday. The next Monday for a moment it seemed Lt. Gov. Scott was getting a grip on parts of the situation in the senate.

Early Monday he announced: “I received word earlier today that Sen. McAllister will be submitting his resignation to me within 24 hours,” Scott said,adding that he had yet to speak directly with the senator. Senator Peg Flory had spoken to McAllister and passed this news on early Monday to Lt.Gov. Scott.

The situation changed, rapidly skidding away from Scott as reporters took the time to actually call McAllister at home. McAllister told them he hadn’t made up his mind what he would do …and [he had] no time line for making up his mind on whether to resign.The reporting isn’t too clear about why (or if) Sen. Flory was mistaken or misinformed when she passed on the information.

So except for some comments on the wisdom of resigning, by Wednesday Scott had basically surrendered himself to McAllister’s timeline.

Scott said he hoped that his media statements would have given the state senator the impetus he needed to make an announcement. The onus, Scott said, is on McAllister to call him.

“He has my number, and I have not heard from him since this came to light,” Scott said in an interview Wednesday.

Scott said he’s not sure that calling McAllister directly will change the outcome. Beyond waiting for the state senator to make a decision, he said, there is very little he can do. “I don’t think any amount of talk will change his mind,” Scott said. [added emphasis]

The Lt. Gov.  did, in one way take an uncharacteristically firm position. “He has my number,” said Scott, refusing to even to call the disgraced Senator to urge or pressure him — for the good of the state and senate — to resign.

So very quickly back in May Phil Scott made the decision: “There is very little we can do,” and in effect he [Scott] resigned himself … to Norm McAllister hanging-on for months forcing his fellow Republicans and senators to vote to suspend him.

The issue dragged on until this week when the senate voted 20 to 10 to suspend Norm McAllister. It was reportedly an ugly decision in the state senate but it seems mostly behind them now.

About the vote, Lt. Gov. Scott says:

“It is unfortunate the Senate was forced to take such action in this unprecedented situation, as it is my belief Senator McAllister should have resigned before now.”

It’s kind of surprising to look back at how quickly Scott slammed on his brakes and stopped urging McAllister to resign way back in May. But it’s not surprising how fast Scott sped away — his fans say he knows the knock .car jump

Saint Albans and Fairfield Act 46 Committee Hits the Brakes

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I want to express my dismay at the outcome of the Franklin Central Supervisory Union Act 46 Study Committee’s vote on Monday night. After attending a public forum about the proposed merger and following the coverage of their work, many of us were left with the impression that there was consensus and that some merger proposal would be brought to the voters of Saint Albans (Town and City) and Fairfield for Town Meeting Day in March.

The opportunity seemed too good to pass up. More students in the district would mean tax rate stabilization in all of the towns. A combined governance under one board would offer opportunities to share resources and save money. On top of that the state incentives for an early merger would amount to about $200/yr in property tax savings for a typical Saint Albans homeowner each year for 5 years. Increased educational opportunities for a lot of students AND lower taxes? Sign me up!

The process that resulted the end of the committee’s work seems very strange to me. When I was in the legislature there was a golden rule about committee work: It’s okay to vote no, but don’t surprise the Chair with a no vote. That principle didn’t seem to be followed on Monday, leaving committee members and more importantly the voters scratching their heads.

The end result is that the voters and tax-payers of Fairfield and Saint Albans won’t get a chance to voice their opinion about a merger this Town Meeting Day. They won’t get a chance to take full advantage of the Act 46 tax breaks or the opportunities that the students would have to share programming, curriculum, facilities and more. That should disappoint all of us.

There may be another bite at the apple, though. I hope that the members of the committee who voted no hear from lots of their neighbors and will reconvene to bring a merger plan to the voters in a special election this summer. If you want to join me in contacting the Act 46 Study Committee members, their contact information is available at fcsuvt.org.

Bruce Lisman’s Vermont: Re-imagine valued customers…

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In his latest opinion piece in VtDigger.com, Bruce Lisman the multi-millionaire candidate running in the Republican gubernatorial primary says: “It’s time to dare to be great!”

His top priority if elected would be: “First, I’d ask you to re-imagine our state’s government – one that treats its constituents as valued customers and sees employers as strategic partners.”

Well yes sir, Bruce! Re-imagine – Constituents as valued customers ! Whoa, that’s a  catch phrase for voters to rally round.

The problem with this suggestion is the role of constituents (citizens) and customers are different. On a government service level citizens experience interactions that are similar but not the same as those a customer might experience. Briefly a customer in the market place has the opportunity to choose what, where and when to buy. And a citizen using government services can’t exactly shop around for the best price on something. You can’t shop around for the best deal on your truck registration. The state of Vermont has a total monopoly on that one. And unlike a customer/seller relationship ,citizenship comes with collective obligations for the common good.

The retired Wall Street banker might just be listening to the call of his own imagined greatness propelling him forward.

Perhaps he hears echoes of Abraham Lincoln’s moving 1862 address to Congress “Fellow customers, we cannot escape history… The fiery trial through which we pass, will light us down, in honor or dishonor, to the latest generation.”

Aristotlecustomer 1

However Bruce Lisman might give consideration to the ancient philosopher Aristotle’s words of caution : “It is not always the same thing to be a good customer and a good citizen.”

Sue Minter Has An Antidote for Trump Visit

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Democratic candidate for Governor, Sue Minter has seized upon the imminent visit of Donald Trump, King of Mean, Imp of Intolerance, as an opportunity to encourage Vermonters’ native generosity to folks in need:

“I encourage all of you to devote either your time, money or both next Thursday, the day that Trump has chosen to speak in Vermont, to a cause that you stand for. A cause that helps bring us together, not tear us apart. A cause that represents compassion, kindness and love, not disrespect, bigotry and hate.  There are so many Vermonters engaged in activities that symbolize these Vermont values.  Take Megan and Seth Frenzen who are currently in Greece devoting their time and medical skills to the thousands of Syrian refugees. Or the trio of South Burlington high school students who have spent the last month gathering blankets, winter coats and other supplies to ship to the refugees.  It is these efforts and the values they reflect that make us proud to be American.”

She offers the following suggestions of ways in which you might contribute to these affirmative efforts:

If you are interested in giving to Megan and Seth’s mission please visit:
https://www.gofundme.com/refugeemedmission  

If you are interested in helping the trio of inspiring South Burlington high school students, please send checks to:

SBHS COALITION FOR COMMUNITY SERVICE
Syrian Refugee Project ATTN: Nancy Lavarnway
550 Dorset Street, South Burlington, VT 05403

Or
Drop-off location for blankets/warm clothing:
South Burlington Community Library
540 Dorset St.
South Burlington

‘Way to turn Lemonpuss into lemon-aid, Sue!

Just another tool in the police toolbox?

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The Vermont Senate Judiciary Committee will be dealing with a variety of issues in the upcoming session and one of them is an omnibus privacy bill that attempts to update laws and regulations that haven’t kept pace with technology. Under consideration will be limits on cell phone and license plate reader data collection. The regulation of drones or unmanned aerial vehicles (a term the UAV industry lobby wants used to avoid the negative images “drones” often carry) is also targeted. Previously attempts were made on all of this during in past sessions with mixed success and some proposed drone regulations banning weapons were redlined out of a recent bill as passed.

Specific to drones, Committee Vice Chairman Senator Joe Benning (R-Caledonia) previews some of what the Judiciary Committee now wants. For the average person, the bill prevents the owner or operator of a drone from attaching a weapon to it. Otherwise, civilian drone use would be governed by the rules created by the Federal Aviation Administration, which will require drone owners to register their crafts with the administration beginning in February.

The bill would prohibit law enforcement from using a drone without a warrant. If a warrant is granted to police to use a drone, police may only collect information on the subject of the warrant and may not collect data on any other home, person or area.

Yearly notification requirements and limits on the length of time collected data can be kept are also included. But at least in this recent news article, no mention is made about how or if the Judiciary Committee will deal with law enforcement arming drones with weapons of the lethal or “non-lethal” kind.

Well, Vermont lawmakers had better define “weapon” very, very thoughtfully. Look at what happened in North Dakota when they tried to tackle legislation on law enforcement drones.taserdrones

With the passage of a new law earlier this year [2015], North Dakota has become the first state to legalize law enforcement use of armed drones.

Though the law limits the type of weapons permitted to those of the “less than lethal” variety — weapons such as tear gas, rubber bullets, beanbags, pepper spray and Tasers — the original bill actually aimed to ensure that no weapons at all were allowed on law enforcement drones.

With eyes wide shut, that state passed a landmark law that did require warrants for police drone surveillance. But perhaps, in an attempt at balancing privacy and tools for law enforcement, the ND law included rules that allow rubber bullets, beanbags, and Tasers and tear gas canisters (non-lethal weapons) on drones. Many of these non-lethal weapons can maim and kill people.

Meanwhile back in Vermont, limiting average (non-law enforcement) people from arming drones gets a big thumbs-up from the VT Fish and Wildlife Department. Notably, an earlier VT Senate effort S.18 (sponsored by Senators Tim Ashe D/P-Chittenden and Joe Benning) sought an outright ban on weapons on all drones, as well as the law enforcement use of facial recognition technology, except to locate a person subject to a warrant. If the Judiciary committee has designs to attempt a blanket weapons ban on law enforcement drone weapons (non-lethal or not so non-lethal)they have chosen to be very quiet about it.

About the 2016 legislative session, Committee vice Chairman Sen. Benning says : “ […] the lawmakers look to strike a balance between personal privacy and giving police the tools they need to do their job” Let’s hope North Dakota’s landmark drone weapon law hasn’t tipped the balance for Vermont to follow. Put many more tools in that law enforcement tool box and they’ll need a tank to move it around.

Brock dumps Trump

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A tip of the hat is well-deserved by Republican candidate for Lieutenant Governor, Randy Brock, who has penned an op-ed distancing himself from Donald Trump.

While there is no doubt Mr. Brock wrote it with every confidence that it is what Vermonters want to hear, I commend him nonetheless for attempting to reclaim the party’s more noble heritage from the extremism of it’s current iteration.

The piece appeared in tonight’s St. Albans Messenger and will undoubtedly be carried by other Vermont papers over the coming days. It begins by citing some key Republican figures in American history who took principled stands against members of their own party, and concludes with the following statement:

“National leadership demands competence, character and temperament. There is no place for racism, sexism, religious intolerance, xenophobia and economic incoherence. Our country desperately needs a new leader grounded in reality, not in reality TV.”

Mr. Brock and I may strongly disagree on a great many points of policy, but on this we are in complete agreement.

Well said, Sir.

Give me a break.

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My mother used to tell me, “When you’re mad as hell, hold your breath and count to ten before you say anything.”

I did better than that; I waited overnight before expressing my thoughts about the comments by disgraced senator Norm McAllister on the preliminary vote to suspend him from office.

My first reaction was, “Weak tea.  Too little, too late.”

I was profoundly disappointed that only three of the five committee members voted to suspend; a status that still allows Mr. McAllister to collect his salary and represent himself as a senator.

That was before I read Mr. McAllister’s braying response to the charges, in which he represents himself as the victim and threatens lawsuits:

In a short, emotional speech before the committee, McAllister said the charges had “sullied everything that I have ever done in my adult life”
No, Mr. McAllister, it is you and you alone who have sullied everything you’ve done.

It is ironic that he has chosen the language of abuse to characterize his own situation:

”I see it as, when you got somebody down on their knees, go kick ‘em in the head,” McAllister said. “And that’s the way I look at this proceeding.”

Mr. McAllister says he thinks his constituents will sue the senate on his behalf, for being deprived of representation.

Is he kidding us? Any and all of his constituents with whom I am familiar (of every political stripe) wanted him gone as soon as the content of his confessional conversations with the victims became known.

A more likely scenario is that some of those same constituents, fed up with Mr. McAllister’s refusal to accept responsibility for his appetites and voluntarily step down from the senate, will be motivated to sue Mr. McAllister for depriving them of legitimate representation in the face of conclusive evidence that he, at the very least, has grossly violated community standards.

Mr. McAllister’s remarkable selfishness, both before and after the fact, cannot be disputed.

Perhaps he is hoping to mount an insanity defense in his trial, and all of his pompous bloviating is a deliberate effort to reinforce the argument that his aberrant behaviors stem from delusional issues.

Somehow, I doubt that defense will prove effective.  Everyone accepts that these are not the sexual practices associated with a healthy mind; but to allow that as a mitigating argument would leave the community undefended.

I sincerely hope the trial will be held right here in St. Albans so that his constituents can freely attend, as should be their right.

It will no doubt be most instructive to learn what else the State’s Attorney has learned about Mr. McAllister’s habits.

Go, Man, Go: Mark Johnson is a big fan

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He’s a fan, yes, and it couldn’t be more obvious after reading the following bit from Mark Johnson’s piece about Phil Scott’s gubernatorial campaign extravaganza kick- off held last week. In Phil Scott: Holding the Pole with Few Policy Positions, Johnson wrote this about Scott’s reaction to former Governor Jim Douglas’ candidate intro for VtDigger.com:

A small, knowing smile curled across the broad face of the 57-year-old Scott, the all-time winning driver at Thunder Road racetrack, long before a reporter reached the finish line to the Douglas anecdote.Go,Man,Go

He saw it coming, like a potential pass on the inside groove picked up in the sideview mirror.

Scott, second-in-command for the past five years, a state senator for 10 years before that, knows the knock: that he doesn’t take strong positions, sometimes changes his mind and doesn’t have a signature issue that defines him politically.

Yes, that’s right. You probably spotted it too. Mark Johnson is a total fan of the obscure 1950’s paperback author Edward De Roo. In fact, Johnson’s fandom stands out like sore thumb at a manicurist’s.

Go, Man, Go by Edward De Roo:

The speed demons were a non-association gang of wild, daredevil hot-rodders. They had the 100 m.p.h. chariots, the crazy drag races, and all the thrill-hungry chicks in the neighborhood. That’s why Paul Sanders was ready to do anything to get in with them and drive his own hyped-up bucket of bolts. But what they wanted of him was nothing short of a nightmare!

Notice the similar lingo, the hyped-up phrasing of Go, Man, Go that Johnson uses: He saw it coming, a potential pass on the inside groove picked up in the sideview mirror. And this: Scott […] knows the knock.

Phil Scott may indeed be the nicest guy in the history of Vermont politics and not have (or want) a signature issue that defines him. This may be his great advantage in a largely Progressive/ Democratic state. But after ten years in the state senate on the Committee on Institutions and the Transportation Committee, and five years as Lt. Gov., Scott has left a record that should be reported on. Maybe before the election some Vermont reporter will make like ‘50’s author De Roo says and “go man go” and find it. Over fifteen years many votes were cast and deals were made to “get things done.”

Or the reporting might just be a hyped-up bucket of bolts driven to Election Day.

To paraphrase  Bobby Kennedy:  Every society gets the kind of candidate it deserves. What is equally true is that every community gets the kind of journalism it insists on.