You may have noticed over the past month that GMD has been unusually inactive.  That’s because our energies have been concentrated on a transition that will bring you an exciting new Green Mountain Daily; hopefully, within the next few weeks.

The 2016 election is already shaping into a unique and transformative contest, both statewide and on the national front.   What happens over the next fifteen months will tell us much about what kind of political future we face in the coming decade.

We want GMD to be ready for the challenges of that future, so our admin elves are hard at work on an ‘upgrade.’

Please excuse us while we take this little break; and stay tuned.  We will return better than ever!

In recognition for the significance of this effort, we are sharing with our GMD community, in its entirety, this group letter from Vermont’s environmental advocates to individual Legislators

Dear Vermont Legislator:

Forests define the Green Mountain State!

Our forests are a major driver of our economy. Forest based manufacturing, recreation, and tourism employ approximately 13,000 Vermonters and contribute about $1.5 billion in revenue to the state every year.

Our forests also provide a rich array of important ecological functions. They support wildlife habitat, protect water quality and help insulate communities from the effects of extreme weather, such as flooding. According to the Gund Institute every acre of forestland provides approximately $318.50 worth of benefits for services like rainfall regulation and flood control on an annual basis.

In addition, Vermont’s forests remove an estimated 75,000 metric tons of carbon and 1,610 metric tons of other pollutants from the atmosphere each year – a function that would be worth about $16 million if we paid for these pollution control services out-of-pocket.

Vermont’s forests are productive in many respects. From supporting forest products, including maple syrup, to the leaf-peeping economy, to providing ecosystem services and recreational opportunities like hiking, skiing, hunting, and wildlife watching, forests contribute to the health and wellbeing of our state.

It is important to note that in recent decades, we have improved how our forests are managed. Because of the Current Use Program and technical assistance efforts, more forests are being managed in accordance with management plans. The utilization of Acceptable Management Practices helps maintain water quality on logging jobs. More landowners are managing their woodlands for wildlife and biodiversity, and every year more forestland is conserved due to landowners working proactively with conservation groups.

Yet the continuation of these successes cannot be taken for granted, especially since for the first time in over a century our forests are actually declining in extent. While it is hard to pin down the exact amount of acreage that has been lost, between 1982 and 1997, 51,000 acres were converted to other land uses. A more recent Forest Service report suggests that Vermont may have lost up to 75,000 acres of forestland from 2007 to 2013, although the Forest Service does not report this as a statistically significant change due to the margin of error in the analysis. Regardless of the actual number of forest acres lost in recent years, there are certainly reasons to be concerned about the impacts of forestland conversion.

From above, the Vermont landscape has an appearance of densely forested lands; however a closer look at the surface reveals that our forests are being compromised and fragmented by rural sprawl. Data from the Forest Service demonstrates that we lost five percent of forests over 100 acres in size between 2001 and 2006. Other research indicates the amount of forested parcels larger than 50 acres that were undeveloped decreased by about 34,000 acres between 2003 and 2009.

Forests encompass 75% of the state and are vitally important for our economic and ecological wellbeing.

In Vermont, we value well-planned development and a growth pattern of supporting downtowns and village centers surrounded by rural countryside. If we are smart about our future, we can continue to accommodate new housing while ensuring that our forests provide for diverse forest products, modern and efficient wood energy, intact wildlife habitat and clean, healthy water.

Vermonters overwhelmingly value our working lands, our rural character, natural environment, and forested hills and iconic mountains. We have an incredible opportunity to be proactive and develop lasting policies that will keep our forests intact.

With this in mind, it is important for policy makers to play a positive role in maintaining or increasing the contribution of our forests to the state’s economic, ecological, and cultural wellbeing. Therefore, the undersigned organizations and individuals call on the Vermont Legislature to support a stakeholder process to develop legislative recommendations to maintain the integrity of Vermont’s forests into the future.

Vermont Natural Resources Council The Nature Conservancy of Vermont Vermont Land Trust

Vermont Woodlands Association Vermont Audubon

The Trust for Public Land /Vermont Office

Upper Valley Land Trust

The Lyme Timber Company

National Wildlife Federation, Northeast Regional Center Green Mountain Division Society of American Foresters Forest Guild

Vermont Coverts

Vermont Conservation Voters

Vermont Council of Trout Unlimited Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund

The Vermont Chapter of the Sierra Club North Woods Forestry

Meadowsend Timberlands Ltd.

Green Mountain Club

The Working Lands Coalition

Rural Vermont

The Conservation Fund

Conservation Law Foundation

NorthWoods Stewardship Center

Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences Northeast Master Logger Certification

The Trust to Conserve Northeast Forestlands Conservation Collaboratives

Two Countries, One Forest

Northern Forest Center

New England Forestry Foundation

Wildlife Management Institute

Little Hogback Community Forest

Cold Hollow to Canada, Inc.

Green Mountain Conservancy

New England Backcountry Hunters & Anglers

Vermont Center for Ecostudies

Highstead

William Keeton on behalf of the UVM Rubenstein School Forestry Program

Robert Moses, President of Britton Lumber Company

Doug Britton, Britton Lumber Company

Jeffrey Smith, Butternut Hollow Forestry

Rodney Elmer, Mountain Deer Taxidermy

Eric Zencey, Fellow of the Gund Institute for Ecological Economics*

Bob Lloyd, Forest landowner and President Emeritus of Vermont Coverts

Steve Faccio, Conservation Biologist, Vermont Center for Ecostudies

Rosalind Renfrew, Vermont Center for Ecostudies

Marc Lapin, Faculty, Program in Environmental Studies, Middlebury College

Beverley Wemple, Associate Professor, Geography and Natural Resources, University of Vermont Eric Palola, Guanacaste Dry Forest Conservation Fund*

Leo Laferriere, Retired consulting forester

Farley Brown, Faculty at Sterling College*

Kathy Doyle, Doyle Ecological Services and Visiting Instructor, Middlebury College

Lynn Levine, Consulting forester, Forest*Care and Heartwood Press

John M. Fogarty, Fogarty Forestry, LLC

John McNerny Forest landowner, and Past President of Vermont Coverts

Leon Whitcomb and Rhoda Bedell, Forest landowners

Leslie and Jim Morey, Forest Landowners

Hugo Liepmann, Forest Landowner

Don Dickson, Member of Forest Roundtable

As 2013 looms on the horizon, GMD would be remiss if we didn’t indulge in some of the customary prognostication.  So here, in the spirit of holiday good humor, is a mostly optimistic if highly unlikely look forward to the New Year:

The Governor‘s first New Year resolution is that he will actually earn his designation by leftist magazineThe Nation as “Most Valuable progressive governor.” He resolves to at least think about funding healthcare subsidies for the working poor by letting a bill raising marginal tax rates on the income of the top two-percent of Vermonters become law without his signature.

Doug Racine, Deb Markowitz, and Susan Bartlett locate the whereabouts of Matt Dunne. Together they hook-up, “4 Tenors” style, to form a Greek chorus of cautionary voices. They board the bus once again to shadow the Governor everywhere he goes, reminding him to think before he speaks.

Peter Shumlin buys some pajamas, stays at home and watches “The Quiet Man” on Netflix.

Doug Hoffer finally brings some dollars and sense to the Auditor’s office. While cleaning out Tom Salmon’s desk, he discovers a ball of twine as big as a basketball, together with plans to really crank-up tourism in Newfane.

Hoffer has a moment of unease early on when he discovers a spandex Authentic Self-utilizing Power Superhero suit, mask and cape made by Acme Co. The suit, emblazoned with the name Super Tom Salmon, is immediately and safely sealed in a double strong plastic drum and stored in State of Vermont vault for eventual disposal.

Chittenden County State’s Attorney and former Attorney General candidate TJ Donovan is shocked to find his name on the list of bogus tickets written by former State Police Sgt. Jim Deeghan. “So that’s why my insurance rates went up,” he tells media. Suddenly he finds a spine and stops bending over at Deeghan’s lawyer’s insistence that the list remain private and allows the media to publish all 900-plus names.

The Air Force reveals that the “environmental” reason why Burlington airport was identified as a preferred location for the F-35 program is because of its proximity to the underground grease reservoir at Al’s French Frys.

DeveloperJeff Davis finally admits that Walmart has no intention of ever operating the store in St. Albans that was specifically permitted under Act 250.  Instead, he tells us he has secretly donated the land to UVM, and that it will be developed into a Sustainable Agriculture Learning facility, featuring a model farm, a state-of-the-art composting and bio-fuel facility, and community gardens.

Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger gets federal funding to turn the Moran Plant into subsidized and ADA accessible housing, and the rehab is completed within the year, handled at cost by budding real estate tycoon Kurt Wright.

Vermont House and Senate members get real about the budget shortfall and raise marginal tax rates on the top 2%, then – despite chief enforcer Jeb Spaulding‘s toughest efforts – they override Shummy’s veto.

House Judiciary Chair Bill Lippert guides his committee and the House to reject drug-war nonsense arguments and protects Vermont citizens’ prescription records from warrantless searches by police. He arm wrestles Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Sears into getting the Senate to reject any bill containing permission for warrantless searches of the state’s prescription databases.

Senate Pres pro tem John Campbell, having spent some of the holidays in a re-education/encounter group for bullies, shows his softer and more organized side to Sens. Ashe, Baruth, Galbraith, Benning, Pollina, Snelling, and Cummings

The Supreme Court of Vermont and the Public Service Board simultaneously, and for different reasons, issue rulings declaring that Entergy Louisiana’s Yankee nuclear power plant’s violations of contracts and permits require its immediate shutdown. State fire marshals, HazMat teams and the Vermont Guard surround the plant, letting through only employees needed to shut down operations.

Legal Aid Mental Health Project Director (and GMD front pager) Jack McCullough is appointed director of the Human Rights Commission, replacing Robert Appel, who is joining the Hinesburg law firm Kohn Rath Blackwood & Danon, following Eileen Blackwood‘s appointment last year as City Attorney for Burlington.

Todd Smith of the Caledonian Record continues to spit and sneer at anything to the left of Atilla the Hun, his blood pressure medications having been increased after the last election when St Johnsbury sent two Democrats to the House in Montpelier for the first time.

Angry Jack Lindley is still angry; the ghost of Ethan Allen continues to appear at the foot of Rob Roper’s bed demanding the institute be called something else, and Tayt Brooks’ undisclosed secret location is revealed to be the basement of Lenore Broughton, who, by the way, has decided to bypass the process entirely and just bid on the Statehouse.  

Among Democratic Party activists at the Hamburger Summit, some of whom attended Saturday morning’s VDP State Committee meeting, the overall perception was that Attorney General Bill Sorrell is campaigning badly. A few even suggested he’s “phoning it in,” whether from ineptitude, laziness, or a sense of entitlement. Several themes emerged in discussions of Sorrell’s endorsement loss.

[Note: the vote was reported to us as 16 for endorsement, 12 against, 2 abstentions; 19 yes votes, or two-thirds, were required for the endorsement motion to pass; the motion failed. The “No” voters of the Committee were given several opportunities to request a reconsideration, and no one volunteered.]

Among those themes:

• Sorrell failed to file his endorsement paperwork on time to receive a co-endorsement with TJ Donovan in May, despite outreach from the VDP staff to facilitate that outcome.
• None of the State Committee members received a call from the candidate asking for their votes (a Tip O’Neill moment).
• The candidate didn’t come to the meeting, citing a prior commitment to a parade in Lyndonville (Northeast Kingdom, where no doubt there was a ton of Democratic primary voters).
• Sorrell used a non-union shop for printing campaign materials which have been in distribution for more than a week.
• Sorrell’s surrogates, campaign manager Mike Pieciak and Chief Deputy AG Janet Murnane, did not do a good job selling the candidate or his approach to issues raised by State Committee members.
• Sorrell has a long history of refusing to contribute to the coffers of the Coordinated Campaign.

The overall impression is that the incumbent Sorrell has barely moved into campaign mode, although his campaign staff was on board more than three months ago. Further, several observers characterizeded Sorrell’s approach as “taking it for granted” that he would be endorsed.

[After the jump: what happened at the meeting.]

 

Pieciak opened his presentation by ineffectively apologizing for his candidate’s absence, saying, in part, “We only just found out earlier this week that this meeting was happening today …”

And that is the sort of political ineptitude that keeps happening for Sorrell’s campaign, and is unexpected from a 15-year incumbent. Although, one observer noted that Sorrell was appointed to the position (once his predecessor was moved on to the state Supreme Court) and has rarely faced opposition since.

The questions raised at the meeting included Sorrell’s recent court losses on state control of the Entergy Yankee nuclear power plant’s closure, campaign finance regulation, and protection for physicians from data-mining based marketing by pharmaceutical companies.

The ethics of Chief Deputy A.G. Janet Murnane’s status as an employee campaigning for her employer was also questioned, along with Sorrell’s inaction on other states’ DOMA (the federal Defense of Marriage Act) cases.

Murnane sprinkled some form of the word “active”  throughout her explanation of her office’s current activities, about every sixth word: “Bill Sorrell is actively pursuing …” “We are taking an active role on …” But the argument was obviously not convincing.

In the committee meeting there was a lot of discussion as to the meaning of a State Committee “endorsement.” The process originated as a way to support Bernie Sanders’ first run for the Senate; without a state party endorsement, he could not receive help from the DNC. In a couple of cases since then, it has also allowed the committee to keep Republican ringers out of the state party’s campaign funds and off the Democratic ballot line. The bylaw provision is, said VDP Treasurer and longtime activist Linda Weiss, more of a certification that this person is a bonafide Democrat. (Or, in the case of Bernie Sanders, someone Democrats should and would support due to shared values.) 

In an odd twist that led to yesterday’s vote, the committee is allowed to “endorse” multiple candidates for the same office.

Rutland County Democratic Committee Chair Kathy Hall apparently shared Sorrell’s expectation of an easy and automatic endorsement. Visibly and audibly angry at the results, she said she was leaving, because the vote did not reflect explanations of the meaning of the “endorsement” vote she heard at the May meeting where T.J. Donovan was successful. She walked out of the meeting and sat in a hallway, despite a plea from Weiss to stay.

“We’re Democrats, this is what we do: we fight with each other,” said Weiss. “We don’t walk out, we sit down and try to figure out how to make it better.”

In reaction, we expect Bill Sorrell to discount the importance of the vote and maybe even to denigrate the State Committee rather than take responsibility for his own campaign errors.

There’s a faint chance that Sorrell’s pre-primary campaigning in the Republican-friendly Northeast Kingdom instead of among his own party activists, may be a counter-intuitive strategy: courting Republican voters to cross over to vote for him in the Democratic primary.

If he wins the primary, the State Committee’s no-confidence vote will likely come back to haunt its members.

At today’s meeting of the Vermont Democratic Party State Committee, Bill Sorrell’s petition for the committee’s endorsement failed to attain the required two-thirds of members present and voting.

More to follow later, but the gist is as follows:

The Committee had its bi-monthly meeting in Montpelier this morning, and its first order of business was endorsements. The vote against Sorrell’s endorsement followed the successful vote to endorse Congressman Peter Welch.

The State Committee’s endorsement process has been in place since 2006; this is the first time a sitting Democrat has not received the party’s endorsement.

The State Committee previously voted to endorse challenger T. J. Donnovan at its May 2012 meeting.

Bill Sorrell did not attend the meeting but he did send his campaign manager and an attorney from the Attorney General’s office to speak on his behalf.

Analysis and commentary to follow later.  The Staff of GMD is currently at North Beach eating burgers and drinking beer/soda/etc.

Update: This afternoon all members of the State Committee received a meeting reminder from the State Chair with a copy of letter from labor representative Jeff Fannon in which he says that “Different unions have differing reasons for their positions on the Attorney General race, but on this they are united: a candidate who reflects such basic insensitivity to a major Democratic constituency does not deserve the supermajority support of the Democratic Party's State Committee.”

There appears to be more trouble for Bill Sorrell with organized labor.

  If you're a regular reader you know that T.J. Donovan has been scooping up labor endorsements right and left. The Vermont Labor Council (AFL-CIO), the State Employees' Association, the Vermont Troopers' Association. Pretty much every labor organization in the state that's taken a position so far is supporting Donovan.

You could say that those are all situations where the union just likes Donovan and hasn't been given any particular reason to side with Sorrell. This week, though, Green Mountain Daily has learned that Sorrell has actively alienated labor leaders, and at a very bad time.

If you've spent any time around politics, or at least Democratic politics, you know that when you're printing flyers, brochures, or other literature it needs to have what?

The union bug. 

Here's a picture of a union bug: 

The union bug guarantees that your job was done at a print shop that provides its workers good wages, benefits, and working conditions. Since the working people of the country are one of the most important constituencis of the Democratic Party, it is vital for Democratic candidates to have their jobs done at a union shop and have the union bug printed on them.

There is only one union print shop in Vermont, First Step Print Shop in Underhill, and they've done printing for unions and Democratic candidates all over the state for many years.

 Here's the problem. We haven't seen it yet, but GMD has learned that when the Sorrell campaign sent out an appeal from Howard Dean last week it did not have the union bug.

Big mistake and union members are pissed. 

The Vermont Democratic Committee is meeting in Montpelier on Saturday and on the agenda is a proposal to endorse Bill Sorrell. The committee has already endorsed Donovan, but up until now the endorsement for Sorrell has looked like a shoo-in. As the story of the missing union bug circulates among the union members and other activists on the State Committee, though, that endorsement may be in doubt.

 It's very hard to understand how any statewide campaign could make this kind of mistake. It couldn't be an intentional snub, but in light of the successful work Donovan has done to attract union support it sure can't help.

Recent events on GMD have lead us to believe that it’s time once again to remind all users of our terms of use, which are laid out in detail under “The GMD Team.”  After clicking on the tab, follow the link at the bottom of the list of admins to the bio page. The rules appear at the end of that page.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, everybody back in the pool!

The official results for the top two are 18,276 for Peter Shumlin, 18,079 for Doug Racine – a difference of 194 197 in Shumlin’s favor and representing a 12 vote increase in the margin as originally reported. Other numbers: Markowitz – 17,580, Dunne – 15,323, Bartlett – 3,759, for a D turnout of 74,634. Click here for more detail

The Racine campaign has announced a press conference for 3:30 pm at the Richmond Town Center to announce the Senator’s “decision,” as the press release says. Word parsers may consider the implications of using the word “decision” as opposed to something more open-ended, such as “next step.” Senator Racine has indicated he will request a recount.

Other results as they become available.

Update: In other news Progressive Party gubernatorial candidate Martha Abbott has declared that she will withdraw her name from the November ballot, declining the party’s nomination. Today at 5 p.m. is the deadline for such notifications to the Secretary of State’s Elections Division Office.

Progressives had indicated earlier that they might well withdraw after the primary election if the Democrats nominated a candidate with whom they could agree on major issues. With several Progressive candidates for the legislature running as Democrats, there seems to be an increasing recognition that splitting the liberal vote is not a winning strategy.

update Markowitz’s statement:

Although it was not my intention to initiate a recount, I respect Doug’s right to do so under the law. I know this must have been a very difficult decision for him to make. Now the recount process must play itself out according to the law. The recount is overseen by the Washington County Superior Court. I know the courts will proceed as quickly as possible so that the general election campaign can begin in earnest. I know that both Peter and Doug share my values, and the values of most Vermonters, while Brian Dubie does not. Our focus must be to count the votes and move forward quickly so we can beat Brian Dubie and get Vermonters back to work.

update Shumlin’s statement:

Burlington, Vt – “I am encouraged by the unofficial certified numbers released by the Secretary of State today, which show me receiving more votes than the other contenders.  Doug is a great candidate who ran a great race.  I understand that Doug is going to exercise his legal right to a recount and I respect his decision.”

Update Racine’s statement:

Just a short while ago, I announced that I will request a recount of the primary election results. I spoke with Peter Shumlin earlier today, and he said he would support my decision.

I have heard from hundreds of you in the past few days, and the overwhelming sentiment is that a recount is necessary. In the end, this is about our democratic process. Every Vermonter deserves to know that his or her vote was counted correctly.

With fewer than 200 votes separating Peter and me (that’s less than one vote per town), I owe it to Vermonters to make sure this is the correct outcome.

I will do everything I can to expedite the recount process. In the meantime, I would urge you to get involved in the Vermont Democratic Party’s coordinated campaign, the organization responsible for getting out the Democratic vote for candidates up and down the ballot in November. Thank you for your support.

With Peter Shumlin coming out on top in the pre-recount universe, it seemed like a good time for a greatest hits moment that still draws regular comments on the internet. In this clip from two years ago, Ralph Nader goes after Bernie Sanders for his approach to health care reform, and Shumlin steps up in Bernie’s defense: