As the Cold War between the Burlington City Council and the Mayor over financial decision making and transparency has (predictably, but avoidably) turned into a debate over the very viability of Burlington Telecom, the next wave of public pressure and bad press may be approaching.

First comes the news, first reported in the Free Press, that usual suspect Republicans Gene Shaver and Fred Osier have filed a lawsuit against the city on the matter, claiming (from the filing):

This is a taxpayer suit to recover approximately $17 million in city funds which

were borrowed and not repaid by Burlington Telecom (“BT”) to the City of Burlington’s pooled cash management system within 60 days, and have not been repaid to date.[…] Plaintiffs seek an order requiring Defendant to promptly repay such funds with interest to the pooled cash management system; an accounting to determine how the funds were spent and exactly what amount is owing; and an injunction to prevent Defendant from taking any further actions with respect to BT which would place taxpayer funds at risk…

Although the lawsuit doesn’t seem likely to go anywhere, it does amount to a fairly comprehensive bill of particulars against the Kiss administration, and its very existence will increase the pressure. All of which again proves that Kiss, with the backing not only of the Council Progressives but the State Progressive Party itself, have gift wrapped an early Christmas present to Republican opponents of Burlington Telecom by digging in, refusing to acknowledge any screwups, and instead making the whole dustup about BT itself, rather than honestly and honorably confronting charges of misconduct. It took a lot of blind, foolish pride to goeth before this particular fall – however far the fall turns out to be.

But the more interesting bit comes from the media. There has been some behind the scenes muttering about the possibility of Freedom of Information Act requests (demands?) for the business-related particulars of BT’s finances and business plan (the information that Kiss is guarding closely and only releasing in the most limited capacity to the City Council on the condition it not be shared with anyone). Turns out, though, that Shay Totten of 7 Days already has made such a request – but by way of Council President Bill Keogh. This week, he requested copies of all communications between Keogh and the Public Service Board from October 1st through this week, but also “pro forma” financial documents submitted in open session (why stop at the executive session door? Let the sunshine in, I sez… sounds like there’s still room for another request…).

It’s worth noting, too, that not all the requests are being honored. Materials the city deems relating to “trade secrets, litigation records, contract negotiation records, and) preliminary to determination of policy records” were not turned over.

(And does anybody else feel that the blanket “trade secrets” excuse is weak? This aint the secret recipe for Coca Cola here. And yes, I know Comcast is among the evilest of evil companies, but – “trade secrets?” C’mon. The flavor of the fiber? Everybody knows the goals, here, and the technology is hardly unique. But I digress…)

The document dump could make for some interesting coverage, given that 7 Days, after doing much of legwork breaking the story, has since been positioning itself in fairly brazen opposition to the City Council’s efforts to wrest both information and control of the process from the Mayor’s office. Stay tuned.