Shumlin:
“Neale has experience with every office of state government, including as Secretary of Transportation, as well as in the private sector,” said Gov. Shumlin, who made the announcement today at a news conference. Lunderville also served as Douglas’ administration secretary. “He’s a proven problem solver, and gets things done. Neale can focus those skills on getting Vermont communities back on their feet, while we also continue to ensure that every Vermonter has affordable health care, broadband access and a quality education.”
While competent, there are obviously less political people (on either side of the partisan divide) who would have been just as competent – and probably some who have experience with disaster relief. Rather than being a bold, apolitical stroke, this feels more like another attempt at the patented Shumlin political calculus – to put the GOP Wonderboy in charge and insulate himself from cleanup and recovery criticism from his next Republican opponent (whoever it may be) and undermine their support by building more inroads among the GOP big dogs.
If that sounds cynical, so be it. This appointment disappoints me, because it feels cynical.
And if I’m right, it’s another sign that Shumlin’s political meter is always running and isn’t focused on the bigger picture. Rather than drift into obscurity, this position will put Lunderville front and center, giving him a great launching pad to run for statewide office.
Hopefully I’m wrong, and it’s just about the best person for the job. Lord knows we need him or her.
(Quick PS… someone just pointed out to me – knowing me – that if this is a clever political move, shouldn’t I of all people be for it? My big political concern with this administration is that they don’t do to the Democratic Party what Jim Douglas did to the VT GOP… Douglas tasked the party and his own strategery so myopically to his own benefit, that the greater Vermont Republican Party atrophied, leading to their small minority. I don’t want a mirror version of history to repeat itself.)
As Harry Dean Stanton put it so succinctly in Repo Man. I just got done agreeing with you on letting Shumlin be Shumlin (with Executive powers to act immediately) and THIS is what we get. Well, an Emergency Legislative Session ain’t gonna help on this one.
by 15/32nds
And, I just got done disagreeing with you on holding a special session and the Governor does this! — which, in my opinion, is even more reason for one to be held now.
Otherwise one fear would be how, given the past track record of this recent most political appointee as well as other hold-over appointees from the previous administration, by the time January comes there could be little if any hope for the legislature to get a solid grip on anything that particular (Douglas 2.0) wing of the administration does from here on out.
Let me also state how, the above comments and related concerns aside for the moment, while I might find some disagreement concerning the stance on the special session (by the way, a special session need not take even an entire week, it could be much shorter than that and they have done so previously when needed), I too believe the Governor and his administration has been doing a fine job overall of handling this emergency situation and, since this was not at all in dispute, I did not bother touching on it within my rather lengthy comment(s) to the other post.
However, that stated as well, me thinks the Governor’s overconfidence at being able to juggle so many things at once and also being able to handle people well enough in order to keep them all in line might either have gotten the best of him or at least is at great risk of doing so.
Enough said!
IIRC, when Blunderville was Transportation Secretary, he magically decreased the number of roads rated (paraphrasing) severely deteriorated by simply changing the scoring scale.
So, if he does a decent job (or even if he does a mediocre one), how does this NOT help Blunderville’s resume?
If he screws up, how does it NOT reflect on Shummy and his (ahem) Democratic Administration?
So-o-o glad I’m not having to cheerlead next year.
NanuqFC
The American people are quite competent to judge a political party that works both sides of the street. ~ FDR, Boston, Nov. 4, 1944
Might seem clever to co-opt Lunderville and make him the point man for what’s likely to be a long, drawn-out… and quite possibly underfunded… recovery process. However…
John Lynch pulled a similar move in New Hampshire. Kelly Ayotte had been appointed Attorney General by (the universally loathed) ex-Gov Craig Benson; when her five-year term was up, Lynch renominated her for another term. Made him look all statesmanlike.
But it gave Ayotte a statewide platform and a boost in name recognition. And now she is NH’s junior senator, a reliable vote for the right-wing agenda. Thanks, John.
It does seem like a position you would want to put someone in in order to give them a chance to do a good job, get name recognition, and be propelled to a higher trajectory. It was an opportunity lost.
And what was Neale doing before he was picked for this position? Presumably he was doing something important for Green Mountain Power, though it was not evident in public. Is this more about Vermont becoming the “Green Mountain Power State?”
http://vermontersforacleanenvi…