Recently, Lamoille and Washington County Democratic Committees passed resolutions (without dissent) urging the unnamed elected officials (by which was meant the Democratic Shumlin administration rather than, you know, Justices of the Peace…) to back off its public war with the Vermont State Employees Union over its double-time grievance for 80-some employees displaced by Irene, and instead simply allow the grievance process to run its course without the media sideshow. Supporters of these resolutions included an agenda item for a similar resolution to be voted on by the full State Committee at its scheduled meeting today.
New VDP Chair Jake Perkinson, however, had other ideas, and did not allow the resolution to come to a vote (on questionable procedural grounds). He also refused to allow for a 2/3rds vote to overturn his ruling.
Here’s an account via email from someone in attendance (with identifying pieces redacted, emphasis added):
There were 6-10 union members sporting VSEA t-shirts who came to see what would happen.
The agenda was rearranged (on a motion from a Washington County delegate) so [VDP Chair] Jake [Perkinson] couldn’t drag out the meeting to “run out of time” before the resolution could be considered. So Peter Burgess (Lamoille County chair) brought up the Lamoille resolution and Jake ruled it out of order. He said that not all the delegates had received a copy as required by the bylaws 5 days before the meeting. Burgess insisted he had sent out the resolution to all the addresses on the list supplied by the VDP, so if there were errors, it wasn’t his problem.
Article 23 of the VDP bylaws gives the chair total discretion on ruling resolutions out of order. [At the time tht article was adopted, members were] assured, repeatedly, that any action/decision/ruling of the chair could be overturned (according to Roberts Rules) by a 2/3 vote of members present.
Jake insisted that because the issue at hand was not a question of parliamentary law, Roberts Rules did not trump the bylaws, and his ruling would stand.
Bill Sander (Lamoille County delegate and former county chair) asked for a show of hands of delegates present who received a copy of the resolution (most, maybe 7/8ths), and then of those who had not received a copy (a handful, less than 10).
Various people kept trying to address the (bogus) issue of notification (would the non-notified waive objection if given a chance to review the resolution now? Was one proposal).
[Someone else] said, “Look, folks, the real issue here is not about notification. It’s that Jake has received his marching orders. The powers that be have decided they don’t want this resolution considered. So just let the numbers thing go.”
There was more back and forth including several statements about what a sad day it was for the Democratic Party that a resolution supporting labor could not even be brought up for a vote ([VSEA Interim Director and VDP Executive Committee Member] Conor [Casey] made one, many agreed).
When Jake ruled against more discussion, the Lamoille delegation stood up and walked out, as did the union members who are also members of the state committee.
… A little while later, Jake had called a break while the committee waited for Senator Bernie to arrive. E.D. Jesse Bragg came out to remind folks that there needed to be a quorum to endorse Bernie. Bernie arrived soon after, and a couple of union guys gave him the bullet point of the resolution smackdown. The delegates and the union folks all returned to the hall hear Bernie’s speech about the Fed investigation … Sanders was unanimously endorsed.
Then the meeting was adjourned.
… I cruised by [the post-meeting fundraiser] and there were at least 12-15 people (not counting committee members sympathetic to the VSEA) in the parking lot of the Old Labor Hall waving signs. One said something about “Tyrant Shumlin”; another was against “big wind.”
ARTICLE XXIII – RESOLUTIONS
State Committee members may propose resolutions for State Committee consideration. Members proposing a resolution must send it by electronic mail to all members and alternates of the State Committee at least 5 days before the meeting at which it is to be considered, and must send it by letter bearing a non-metered postmark at least 5 days before the meeting to those Committee members and alternates who have informed the Chair that they lack access to email. The Chair will, at his or her discretion, determine whether to place proposed resolutions on the agenda for the full State Committee’s consideration, and will determine the order of consideration of resolutions on the agenda.
I do not agree that the Chair has the discretion to place a resolution on the agenda if it has not been properly warned to all members of the state committee.
I know that some have said that we should just voted on it, up or down. If the vote had been in the negative, that would have had the Democratic State Committee on record opposing a resolution requested by the VSEA on the substance of the resolution. As it was, the state committee took no position on the merits of the pro-labor resolution; instead, it was not taken up on purely procedural grounds.
Organized labor is a vital constituency for the Democratic Party. We didn’t need to have this fight. It’s important to bridge the gap between labor and the Administration, and soon.
there will be more shit available to throw at the fan.
I understand the overtime question will work its way into and out of the process those things do with the state labor board, but then you have Peter having come out for “consideration” of the ban on Teachers being able to strike when the boss forces terms down their throats, voiced by not the brightest bulb in the box Kurt Wright last session, and in addition I understand Sec Spaulding let the cat out of the bag in a radio interview that the administration is going or has gone back at the VSEA members asking / demanding that the temporary “you saved our asses” 3% wage give back be “temporary” for another contract. No word on them having asked the state cops to pony up again, after Shumlin gave them back their concessions (and more) back already. Not to say there are two classes of state employees or anything in the eyes of the administration.
Shumlin may yet turn out to be the jolt to the workers need to bring the Progressive party back to life. Wouldn’t that be a pissa???
The most anti middle class, anti worker governor Vermont has ever put into office? Maybe it should have been Shumlin’s nose growing in those television ads and not Dubie’s?
What a complete and total sell out by the Democratic Party leaders.
Bring on an independent candidate!
Does anyone know if Senator Sanders weighed in on the way this all went down? I would suspect this can’t be sitting well with him. Talk about mixed messages.
A friend sent me this video this morning. Thought I would share it.
I cannot speak for my entire delegation when they largely chose to walk out of the organization meeting of the State Democratic Committee at the Civic Center in Barre on Saturday afternoon. I can only speak for myself. I was, and continue to be, saddened and dismayed at the party of which I am a member as well as the process of public and open debate both of which were damaged by what happened. The tyrannical and arbitrary stance taken by the newly elected Chair to be his absolute authority was contrary to the spirit of the Democratic Party and showed an unconscionable abuse of power as well as undue influence by parties inside and outside of the party structure.
When the Chair rule parliamentary procedural questions out of order and either inadvertently or deliberately ruled that such obvious questions as the precedence of Roberts Rules of Order being subject to the Bylaws of the State Committee, I saw that the meeting was a hijacking of the democratic process and repression of open and honest debate. Consequently, I chose not to take part in that sham!
It is also worth noting for several days prior to the meeting the party hierarchy was in desperate negotiations about the tone and language of this resolution including many calls back and forth between the Vermont Democratic Headquarters. Funny thing – as the initiator and Chair of the county of its origin I received not one of those calls. I was consulted by third parties who had, unlike the leaders of the party the good grace to think my input and authorship of my county’s resolution was worth seeking out