In St. Albans City, Ryan Doyle defeated Joe Luneau and Chad Spooner held his seat against Will Howrigan.

And it appears that math-challenged Alburgh Town Clerk/Treasurer Carol Cleland and her equally challenged daughter, Lister Cheryl Dunn will NOT be returning to office this year.  What a surprise.

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As always, the comings and goings in Chittenden County will more than dominate the news on Town Meeting Day; and we at GMD will take a special interest in the Montpelier City Clerk’s race in which our own favorite candidate, John Odum, will hopefully prevail.

I would be remiss if I didn’t take this opportunity to call attention to some of the stuff that’s going on in my home County of Franklin, which can be quite compelling as well.

A given is that the City of St. Albans will have a new mayor by the name of Liz Gamache (Democrat.)  An extremely popular candidate, having served in the past both as interim City Manager and Chair of the Downtown Committee, Liz is running unopposed, and the prospect of having this intelligent, capable, and progressive woman in the driver’s seat brings a smile to many faces around here!  As some may recall, I have had an openly hostile relationship with outgoing Mayor Marty Manahan, so I am definitely to be counted among that happy number.

City Council has two seats in competition this year: Wards 5 and 6.  Sitting Councilman, Chad Spooner is being challenged by a member of the extensive and powerful Howrigan clan, Will Howrigan, in Ward 6; and in Ward 5, Ryan Doyle is giving sitting Councilman Joe Luneau a run for his money.

I use the phrase “run for his money” advisedly, as Luneau has all the money, being himself  a member of the wealthy and influential Luneau family.  Doyle, however, has youth and idealism on his side, and has favorably impressed those of us who know him well, as carrying the real future of St. Albans in his vision.   He is perhaps the most independent political aspirant that this City has seen in a very long time.  He actually refused campaign donations, on principle!

Mr. Luneau has his allies on the City Council, and as a bloc under his direction, they generally oppose “non-essential” expenditures and anything that might raise the tax rate.

One example of a “non-essential” expenditure that Mr. Luneau opposed last year, was functional repair to the City pool, which generally serves the needs of the underprivileged in our community.  His family business is a large car dealership that is in the process of relocating to the Town’s growth center at Exit 20 near the proposed Walmart; so his interest is more in facilitating drive-through traffic than in pedestrian welfare issues.

He’d like to see the City spend the $50,000. that it still has available from the Walmart deal, on road improvements to Federal St.; this, despite the fact that the Federal Street Connector is already in the pipeline for major funding and will cost several millions of dollars to complete. That $50,000. could go a lot further toward making the pedestrian experience in downtown St. Albans more conducive, thereby encouraging foot-traffic on Main St.

Greasing the wheels of democracy, Mr. Luneau, Mr. Howrigan and Republican Representative Dustin Degree hosted a big pancake breakfast for the voters a couple of Sundays ago; and they have so many signs out there that they might as well be running for governor!

Mr. Luneau and his bloc, which will include Mr. Howrigan if both of them are elected, will likely form a powerful resistance to much of the initiatives that will be introduced by Liz Gamache and her own allies on the City Council.  This could get interesting, and I for one plan to begin attending Council Meetings, as a member of the public, rather than just watching them on public access TV.

In the Town of St. Albans, things are already well-beyond “interesting,” and approaching all-out warfare.  Bill Nihan, a retired Pacific-rim manufacturing manager, has persuaded and bullied his way to virtual control of the Town’s development agenda.  This is particularly significant since it is practically their only agenda.  

The Town has avoided committing to niceties like sidewalks, public spaces and recreational opportunities.   Like Mr. Luneau’s bloc in the City, Mr. Nihan’s bloc in the Town is opposed to just about anything that might raise the tax rate or slow development of the big box build-out of retail at Exit 20.

The Planning Commission of the Town is also elected rather than appointed by the Selectboard.  As a consequence, the Planning Commission has been frustrated repeatedly in its attempts to draft a Town Plan that will satisfy both the requirements of the Regional Planning and the vanity of certain Selectboard members.  So that is an ongoing drama on the perimeter.  

Despite Selectboard opposition, the Town Planning Commission, being an elected body, was free to pursue the question of merger with the City in a joint study-group, which they have done enthusiastically.  

The Selectboard, as a body, has refused to endorse the study and are withholding access to appointed staff which would make the work of the study committee much easier.  But not all members of the Selectboard oppose the study, and this election will determine whether the intransigent Nihan bloc will maintain control of the board.

With, one-, two-, and three-year seats on the line, the election has coalesced into a kind of showdown between three Nihan-backed contenders – Brent Palmer, Steve Coon and Bernie Boudreau – who seem to have made a pact not to answer any questions raised by the Messenger except in writing; and three sane opponents – Bruce Cheeseman, Paul Larner and John Gray.  Stay tuned.

Finally, we can’t leave Franklin County/Grand Isle without mentioning the “mistake” made by Alburgh Town Clerk and Treasurer, Carol Cleland, who has admitted to “accidentally” overpaying her daughter, Town Lister, Cheryl Dunn $17,381. which represented 46% of her annual salary!

Lest anyone raise an eyebrow at the family connection, Ms. Cleland also overpaid another lister, James Magner, by $5,755.

So, we are to conclude that it was an honest mistake and she is just guilty of gross incompetence?  Wow!

Coming as this does on the heels of the Hardwick embezzlement conviction, which also involved a mix of family relations, perhaps we must conclude that towns should choose bona fide graduates of the outside gene pool to manage their books.

I’m sure there are many more compelling dramas playing out in local politics that I have missed, so I invite you to expand in the comments section.

We takes our entertainments where we gets it!