It’s official: the first Gubernatorial Debate of the 2008 Election season will be in Waitsfield on Sunday, July 20th at 5:30. The event will be held at the Inn at Lareau Farm, and is co-sponsored by Vermont Localvores, the Vermont Natural Resources Council and American Flatbread. Questions will focus on environmental and food policy, and the event is open to the public.

Governor Jim Douglas, Speaker Gaye Symington and Anthony Pollina have all confirmed. Wish I could go, but I’ll be out of town at a family reunion, however there is talk behind the GMD scenes of somebody being there to liveblog it. Stay tuned!

Corporate franchised psuedo-blog PolitickerVT has had a new infusion of energy and staff, by all appearances. It looked like they, perhaps, had aspirations toward being a legitimate news-ish site, as opposed to simply being the Vermont version of the Drudge Report.

I learned back in the 2000 and 2002 campaigns that Sam Hemingway had a bad habit of getting a piece of a story and then running to the computer to fill in the other 80% with his own preconceptions – which at times were not that tethered to the reality on the ground. But time works wonders, and with his gradual return to journalistic prominence, I found myself giving him the benefit of the doubt.

Well, that makes me 0 for 2.  

Here’s Totten:

On Wednesday, Progressive Pollina claimed the success of the “buy local” marketing campaign “was the work of farmers and citizens, not politicians.” The claim came after an Agency of Agriculture publication touted the gov’s “Buy Local movement.”…

On Thursday, the website PolitickerVT.com… ran its own story, headlined “Farming organization chief on Pollina: ‘NOFA was almost used to make a point.'” The piece, by Zach Silber, was an interview with NOFA-VT’s longtime director Enid Wonnacott, who praised Douglas and his administration for his buy-local efforts and promotional largesse.

Douglas’ campaign quickly blasted an email citing the PolitickerVT.com “story” as proof that Pollina’s claims were half-baked. This meme was later picked up by Burlington Free Press reporter Sam Hemingway in a blog post titled “Anthony’s Ag-ony.”…

Hemingway’s take on the matter was amplified at Green Mountain Daily, which repeated the charge that NOFA was on the attack, noting Pollina was “bloodied” by the blowback.

Here’s the problem: The PolitickerVT story appears to be more fiction than fact. Curious about Wonnacott’s statements, “Fair Game” did what journalists are supposed to do: pick up the phone and call the source instead of repeating shit spewed on a blog.

“I can’t believe how misquoted I was!” Wonnacott said of the PolitckerVT story. “He put things in quotations that I absolutely never said.”

Now Shay gets stuff wrong sometimes too, but by occasionally going up with something too soon, rather than by making shit up or mischaracterizing what people say. In this case, its no contest. I trust Totten.

What sucks here is that some blood has indeed been drawn, as I previously stated. Days have passed, and the hit that Pollina has taken – in the context of overall impressions – hurt. And yeah, that’s totally unfair, but it highlights the need for rapid response. The Governor moved fast to vault this hit job against Pollina into a counterattack. In the future, Pollina should be prepared to call BS right back within the same news cycle. Again – as wrong as it seems – these are bells can’t be cleanly unrung once they’re out there in the press.

(Side note: As to repeating “shit” that was “spewed” on a blog, the problem is that PolitickerVT is a blog (in the loosest sense) that has passed itself off as a professional journalism site. And in the strictest sense, that is what it is, albeit a problematic one. But the lines do blur. Totten is a columnist/journalist, although one could be forgiven for thinking he was a blogger given that bit of self-congratulation on display… heh…)

It has been noted that mass transit ridership and fuel efficient car sales are going up as people feel the pinch of higher gas prices. Now a Pew research poll shows that some attitude shifts are also underway in regard to fuel prices. Some of this is surprising .The number of people considering conservation important declined.Conservation in practice and cost is different than conservation as concept. Those in favor of drilling in more and different places increased .A big change also in the 18-29 year old groups attitude. Maybe the American lifestyle is not negotiable when push comes to shove .Poor Jimmy Carter suffered the consequences way back when of trying to deliver an unwanted message to the country that we live in a World with limited resources that should be used wisely.Today the ever helpful Newt the Gingrich has a website with a petition to “drill here ,drill now ” …1.2 million hits .

-Nearly half (47%) now rates energy exploration as the more important priority, up from 35% in February. The proportion saying it is more important to increase energy conservation and regulation has declined by 10 points (from 55% to 45%).

-The proportion of liberals who say expanded energy exploration is the more important priority also has doubled (from 22% to 45%).

-About the same proportions of Democrats (46%)and Republicans (43%) now say expanded exploration

-the percentage of liberals who said expanding energy exploration was their most important priority doubled from 22 percent in February to 45 percent; increased by 19 points to 50 percent among independents; and by 18 points to 46 percent among women.

-Fully half of people ages 18 to 29 (51%) now say expanding energy exploration is a more important priority for energy policy than increasing energy conservation and regulation,up from about a quarter (29%)

http://people-press.org/report…

Per The Rutland Herald’s Administration cuts 150 state jobs:

Gov. James Douglas’ administration revealed its list of 150 job reductions across more than a dozen state agencies and departments Tuesday, the first step toward cutting costs in the face of a weak economy.

The reductions in areas of state government, such as human services, corrections, education, transportation and natural resources, are all vacant positions, meaning no actual workers were laid off as a result of the move, according to the administration.

“People need to know that we are not planning any layoffs as some other states are,” said Linda McIntire, the deputy secretary of the Vermont Agency of Administration. “There are all positions that have either been vacant or seen a retirement.”

Oh, really?

After the fold, we’ll go back in time just a wee little bit.  

Let’s just go into the not-so-far-back machine for a moment.  Specifically, we’re going back to June 17th, 2008, when I posted this piece, which included this quote, also from the Rutland Herald:

“It was a surprise,” said Dean, who has worked in state government for eight years and is – at least until the middle of next month – an information technology manager in the Agency of Commerce and Community Development.

Dean and three other workers in the agency – a tourism data administrator, a systems developer and a community development consultant – had work to do and lost their jobs because of lack of money to pay them, not because of how they did their jobs, state officials said.

I will also note (as I did before) that I know from direct personal experience that at least one other agency has had to eliminate several temporary employees due to budget cuts and has been told in no uncertain terms that they need to have a reduction in four positions by December.  

I find two things troubling about this in terms of the process here:

1. That the Douglas administration would make such a blatantly false claim that’s easy to demonstrate to be false;


2. That the Rutland Herald would be so complicit in that claim as to state it not just as the administration’s claims but to present it as actual fact

I also find the cuts themselves to be immensely troubling.  I’m curious as to whether or not any of Douglas’ own staff or resources have been cut here.  It somehow seems unlikely, given that the legislature didn’t target any administrative personnel for cuts with the understanding that none of the cuts would result in layoffs.  Again, from the Herald’s June 17th piece:

The layoffs bother Sen. Vincent Illuzzi, R-Essex/Orleans, and a member of the Appropriations Committee.

That’s because when some lawmakers wanted to target the communication specialists or spokespeople in the administration – such a measure has come up in each of the last two years – he blocked it, with the assurance that it would not result in layoffs, Illuzzi said.

“I went to bat to protect the public relations people. I went out of my way as a member of the Appropriations committee to protect them from being eliminated,” Illuzzi said. “We had a discussion about reduction in force. The clear understanding was that they were going to do this by attrition.”

Now the Joint Fiscal Committee – that is the legislative committee that remains in place to deal with money issues – should take up the matter, Illuzzi said.

The thing to do next is to slash the administration’s own budget.  Administrative spokespeople do not take priority over human services, no matter how much Douglas might enjoy having his lackeys around to make his budget cuts sound all nice and fluffy.

• Somebody’s polling… but is it above board? Got an email today from a reader who got a polling call. The caller “…asked if I was registered to vote at this address, and then he got sort of flustered (not at me, at his computer screen) and said that was all the questions he had, and that he thought the quota was filled.” The call came from Pacific Crest Research, a company that’s based out of California, but also has an office in Ogden, Utah. PCS mainly does market surveys, but also does work for political candidates – as near as I can tell, exclusively Republican ones. And yes, that includes push polls.

  If anyone got a complete call, I’m sure GMDers would love to hear what questions were asked…

• Note/Clarification/Blogger Sloppiness: A couple weeks back or so, in discussing the Washington-5 Democratic primary, I referenced Rep Warren Kitzmiller’s “support” of Montpelier Mayor Mary Hooper, who is running in the primary with Kitzmiller and Jim-Dog Rep. Jon Anderson. I was referring to that “support” in an informal, good-friends-working-together-everybody-knows-he’s-encouraged-her sense, not a formal endorsement sense. Whoops.
• Speaking of Rep. Jon Anderson, I’ve now heard from several different people that he’s not bothering to mask the fact that he’s encouraging self-identifying Montpelier republicans to pick up Democratic ballots in the primary and bullet vote for him. Sleazy? Yeah, sure – but he’s still gonna come in third.
• Randy Brock running for Franklin County Senate? That’s what Politickervt.com is reporting. This could be a tough race to handicap, as Democratic Senators Kittell and Collins always have tough races. Despite always being targeted, they do consistently manage to get re-elected, though – and its hard to imagine Franklin County voters ignoring the fact that Brock has become something of an electoral carpetbagger, given that he’s reportedly been living in Florida since his statewide election loss.

  On the other hand, in 2006 Brock received 9812 votes in Franklin County in his losing bid for a return to the Auditor’s office. Kittell and Collins got 8598 and 8299 respectively in their State Senate re-elections, so its easy to see the appeal to the GOP of Brock as a candidate. If true, it clearly becomes their best opportunity for a pickup.

Tonight residents of Newbury, Wells River, Groton and Topsham were treated to what may have been the tastiest campaign event I’ve ever attended.

It was a combination dinner/fundraiser. The superb chefs were David Nelson and Emily Hausman, both of Newbury. The dinner was for Chip Conquest, who’s jumping into the ring to unseat Bud Otterman, long time representative for Orange-Caledonia-1 (Groton, Topsham, Newbury, Wells River).

Speaking of unseating, one of the funniest lines of the night came from Yorke Peeler, the MC. Background is needed for this: Yorke was introducing the small cadre of folks in the room who ran against Bud in the past: Himself, Kevin Lawrence, Peter Herman, and Newbury select-board chair Alma Roystan (who came within 45 votes in her run).

… which goes to show: it’s easier to win the race to the outhouse than to unseat the current occupant.

Pretty much says it all.

To say the event was a success would be a serious understatement. We were hoping for 40 attendees, but approximately 70 people RSVP’ed and it seems they all showed up (plus kids, of which there were quite  a few). The five tables, seating sixteen people each, were packed.

Bud Otterman current occupant of the Orange-Caledonia-1 seat is a nice guy and is a local institution. He’s well connected and well respected in the communities he serves. He’s also a party-line republican, who, among other things, is a global warming denier, trickle-down supply sider.

With the incredible challenges we face as a state and a nation, this is not the time to be voting for someone just because he’s always been there.  We need someone in office who will work hard to strengthen our local communities so we can make it through the tough times ahead.

Chip’s life as a small farmer, small carpentry business owner, library board member, husband of a doctor in a rural practice, and high school soccer coach, gives him a broadbased and unique perspective on the business, health care, and school funding landscape. He believes in bubble-up economics. Our economy should not provide a miserable trickle to the average person, but should enable the average person to do the work that will create a strong economy. His speech was brilliant (and my laptop was in the car).

This is going to be a tough race, but Chip is an excellent candidate, and I believe he has an excellent chance. We’ll need plenty of volunteers as well as the ever-necessary funds. When I’ve got the details on his web site, and a copy of his extraordinary speech, I’ll post it here.

With that said, I have to share the menu, just to make you all jealous.  Chip is a local farmer and the farm liaison for the Farmer’s Diner, so he knows where to find great food from local sources! (Take a peek below the fold for all the mouth-watering details.)

Appetizers

Vegetable Crudites with a Spinach Cucumber Dip (Vegetables from the Gray’s Four Corner’s Farm, Newbury)

Local Cheese Platter

(cheeses from Blythedale Farm, Corinth)

Emu Summer Sausage

(Riverside Emus, Newbury)

Sesame Soy Ginger Marinated Chicken

(Chicken from Wild Goose Produce and Poultry, Wheelock)

Spinach Salad with Grapes, Mandarins, Tomatoes and Cucumbers

(Vegetables from Gray’s Four Corner’s Farm, Newbury)

Dinner

Smoked Turkey with Apricot Mustard Sauce

(Turkey from Stonewood Farm, Orwell)

Roast Pork with Maple Rosemary Apricot Mustard Sauce

(Pork from Thunder Ridge Ranch, Thetford)

Sauteed Fresh Garden Vegetable Medley

(Vegetables from Gray’s Four Corner’s Farm, Newbury)

Garlic Roasted New Potatoes

(New Potatoes from Crossroad Farm, Newbury)

Fresh Garden Vegetable Primavera

Dessert

Vermont Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp with Cinnamon Ice Cream

(Crisp from Cook’s Farm, Newbury, Ice Cream from Strafford Organic Creamery, Strafford)

So here Vermont stands, at the edge of an uncertain future, like looking out over a gorge. Will our state falter and fall into the abyss of economic disparity? Be washed away in the currents of time? Or will we build a bridge to get our state across to solid ground?

Forget the rest of the country, right now I’m just worrying about Vermont, and Vermonters. We need to look back at history, and see what’s worked. Modify it for current times and employ new strategies. I conceptualize a cross somewhere between “Pulling yourself up by your bootstraps” and a “New Deal”.

We need to work to get less people relying on government assistance. We need to inspire people to work, and give them meaningful work to accomplish. We need to drastically reduce Vermont’s unemployment rate while working toward a goal of full employ. We need to make Vermont work, for working Vermonters.

The problem with new strategies and programs is the need to create bureaucracy to administer them. The largest employer in the state of Vermont, is The State of Vermont. A lot of people seem to have problems with this, I personally don’t. I don’t foresee private enterprise jumping in to save Vermont, so state government will have to do!

The fingers of state government have worked their way into all our lives through taxes, education, transportation etc. It’s time those fingers were used to massage the lives of the citizenry instead of keeping them in a death grip. Vermont state government needs to present Vermonters with one thing; opportunity. Opportunity to deduct from their tax burden, and help out fellow Vermonters. Opportunity to provide for themselves and their families. Opportunity to have a viable future in the state of Vermont.

There’s no way I can lay all this out in one post, but here’s my main idea, a Vermont Works Progress Administration that coordinates with the needs of Vermont State Government. Put Vermonters to work to reduce the overall tax burden, and also provide goods and services to improve the quality of life of Vermonters. Yes, this means less contracting between government and private enterprise, and yes, this does sound a bit like communism. As long as the end justifies the means, so be it.

How will we pay for the new administration? My favorite part, simple; roll back the bonuses that Governor Douglas gave to the administration, and roll back the last raise our legislators voted to give themselves. Desperate times, desperate measures, and I don’t think the people who serve the state of Vermont should be getting pay increases while those who pay for those increases see their own paychecks decrease!

State sponsored food bank farms to supply fresh food to help the poverty stricken. Require people receiving state assistance to put in a couple hours, they can bring the kids, no need for daycare! Prisoners can start all the plants in greenhouses at the prisons. Even better if we can get the correction officers union to negotiate and allow some prisoners to work in fields.

State sponsored School Lunch farms. Great project for kids who are off all summer. Maybe even give the parents a tax break for the hours their kids work? Grow certain crops for canning or freezing for the school year. Beans would work great, broccoli, potatoes. The added bonus would be the kids are growing their own food, and would have a much greater appreciation for where their lunches come from. A variation could be groups of kids who go out berry picking etc. and freeze them for school use.

Town growth centers. This is an idea that’s been kicking around our state for awhile but hasn’t gotten the boost it needs. The idea is to concentrate growth in designated areas of towns. What better time to create infrastructure than when people need work? Why not put people to work creating sewer systems in a designated growth center in each town, and allow towns to grow their tax base?

Coupled with the town growth centers we need to attract and grow small businesses throughout the state. Ideally situating these businesses within the growth centers of various towns. We need to spread the work out all around the state instead of concentrating it in Chittenden County. Less people commuting means less gas usage, less pollution, and more money staying within local economies. There is no real need for a large percentage of the inhabitants of the state to commute to the same county to work.