CCTV videographer Tuija Lindell shot this footage of Chelsea Clinton touring downtown Burlington this morning….

Burlington, Clinton, video | 2 Comments »

Yesterday the Burlington Free Press ran a story about how the state shut down the Burlington Intervale composting operation due to “pollution concerns” and “recently mandated permits.” Today on Green Mountain Daily, a flurry of comments has appeared following blog moderator John Odum’s post on the subject. Odum writes…

the problem was that [Governor Douglas and ANR Secretary George Crombie] were dealing with environmentalists, and unlike their GOP business buddies who might mutter and fume about having to cowtow to the tree-huggers, the folks at the Intervale were fully and humbly prepared to comply - providing, in the process, an example to others.

That would never do for Douglas. So what does he have Crombie do? Revoke the Intervale’s classification as a farm, retroactively making it subject to all the Act 250 provisions it had never built into its business plan. The new, unexpected burdens - particularly ones relating to concerns about possible siting on archeological sites - suddenly dumped never-accounted for costs that, with an unfriendly agency, would clearly go well into six figures.

If you’re still entertaining the notion that this wasn’t a political hit job, consider the rumor in circulation that I was able to confirm with a source close enough to know. In a conversation with the Intervale Director, Crombie openly gloated that he had the Intervale “in a noose” and wasn’t about to let go.

That’s right. He actually said “in a noose.”

There’s an active discussion raging in the comments section of this post, including this comment from author and environmentalist, Bill McKibben…

Shouldn’t this be a big campaign issue? Shouldn’t Anthony Pollina be holding a press conference out on top of the intervale compost pile today? (or, for that matter, Peter Galbraith?). Isn’t this a chance to knock the nice-guy moniker off jim douglas? And to remind folks what an anti-environmentalist he’s proved to be? Shouldn’t there be bumperstickers that say: ’save the intervale–fire douglas’. Shouldn’t everyone be pointing out how this threatens 7 or 8 % of burlington’s fresh food supply? Can’t we have some pictures of what the intervale used to look like (i.e., informal dumping ground)? Can’t we have pictures contrasting the intervale with the kind of development douglas thinks is environmentally sensible (the st. albans walmart). can’t someone organize around this?

This is a freedom-to-farm issue, a local agriculture issue, a revitalized cities issue, a healthy food issue, an abuse-of-power issue. It’s a dirty trick that will impact lots of people. Don’t campaigns pray for this kind of opportunity?

Click here to read the full post and all of the comments.

See also this post by Burlington blogger Charity Tensel and this Vermont Tiger piece by Geoff Norman (which also has a good comments section brewing).

Burlington, VT bloggers | No Comments »

Broadsides‘ Michael Colby has a post up today that’s critical of the leading Democratic presidential candidates.  According to Colby, Obama’s appeal is all about his rhetoric, but when it comes to issues, he’s just another craven politician.  Colby writes…

There is apparently no end to the suspension of logic. But I guess we already know that since the dominant theme of the apparent winner of the Dem Oz-fest is the “man of hope,” Obama. At least he’s being honest. He’s not talking about accomplishments. Revolution. Systematic overhaul. Peace. Or any such measure of true change. Nope, just hope. And the crowds go wild, tap, tap tapping away….

All this hope comes from a most distinguished place of privilege too. If you’ve got a couple of years to do little but hope you certainly aren’t amongst those who are dodging bullets and IEDs in Baghdad. Or amongst those who are drowning in the financial atrocities of the subprime fiasco. Or amongst those who are so marginalized by the workforce that they no longer even qualify to be counted in unemployment numbers. And just try to send a hopeful note to your insurance corporation seeking an extension on the policy you can no longer afford. Good luck with that.

Sorry, but hope works better on a bumpersticker.

Read Colby’s entire post here.

Obama, VT bloggers, presidential race | 44 Comments »

With the recent passing of noted conservative intellectual William F. Buckley Jr., many media outlets and bloggers are looking back on Buckley’s career and offering their perspectives on the man and his legacy.  Here are two Vermont bloggers’ reactions to the news of Buckley’s passing…

JD Ryan from Five Before Chaos writes:

I can’t help but see something symbolic in his death in the way it relates to the conservative movement today.

Norman Mailer:

“No other act can project simultaneous hints that he is in the act of playing Commodore of the Yacht Club, Joseph Goebbels, Robert Mitchum, Maverick, Savonarola, the nice prep school kid next door, and the snows of yesteryear,” Mr. Mailer said in an interview with Harpers in 1967.

Good riddance to a both eloquent and deplorable man.

And Vermont Tiger’s Jon Harrison writes:

Bill Buckley died yesterday. In the second half of the 20th century, Buckley, along with Milton Friedman, was one of the two most influential public intellectuals on the Right. When Buckley started National Review in 1955, the conservative movement in America was fractured and without influence. Twenty-five years later, it rode into the White House with Ronald Reagan. Only Reagan himself deserves more credit for that victory than Buckley.

I grew up watching Buckley’s PBS program, Firing Line. It was for years the best program on TV. It contributed greatly to my intellectual coming of age. Buckley was simply the best thing to happen to conservatism in a long, long time. He will be sorely missed.

VT bloggers | 3 Comments »

There have been a few references in the blogs today about this WCAX poll, which shows that an overwhelming majority of those polled would vote to re-elect Governor Jim Douglas over possible Democratic challenger Peter Galbraith and Progressive Anthony Pollina. According to WCAX…

53 percent say they support Douglas– 22 percent would vote for Democrat Peter Galbraith– and 15 percent for Progressive Anthony Pollina. 10 percent are still unsure.

“This is a strong position for an incumbent Governor to be in,” says Middlebury College Political Scientist Eric Davis.

Davis says part of Douglas’ success is that some Democrats vote for him.

“Governor Douglas is the beneficiary of a good deal of ticket splitting– voters who are voting for Democratic candidates for other offices are voting for Douglas for Governor,” explains Davis.

What’s interesting Davis says, is that Democrat Peter Galbraith leads Progressive Anthony Pollina by 7 percentage points– even though Galbraith is not officially in the race yet.

The gubernatorial election isn’t until November, but let’s conduct a non-scientific Exit Voices poll. Who would win your vote for Governor if the election were held today?

November, Vermont | 2 Comments »

In order to Vote in Tuesday’s Vermont Presidential primary, you must register with your local town clerk by 5:00 pm today!

And remember, there will be a live web chat with representatives from all of the major presidential candidates tonight starting at 7:30 pm at Vermont Public Television’s website.  All are free to participate.

Vermont, presidential race | 2 Comments »

Dan Barlow has a piece in today’s Rutland Herald about State Senator Bill Doyle’s annual Town Meeting poll, which he’s conducted every year since 1969…

Each year’s questions seem to reflect the top issues of the time — although there are questions that pop up year after year — a question on increasing the gas tax to fund roads and bridges pops up both in 1990 and on this year’s list.

Questions during the 1970s often focused on the environment — including a 1974 question on rationing gas coupons and a 1976 question asking if smoking should be prohibited in parts of public buildings. War was on the mind of Vermonters during the early years of the ’70s, as shown in a question from the poll’s second year that asked if veterans should be given an additional $120 for their service in the “Vietnam crisis.”

Many of the questions from the 1980s focused on economics, education and infrastructure, including a 1987 question on raising the interstate speed limit to 65 and a 1981 question on casino gambling in the state.

Questions during the 1990s often centered on recycling, mandatory seat-belt laws and some “hot button” issues, including questions in 1992 on welfare and abortions and a 1999 question that asked if minors who make bomb threats should be charged as adults.

Read the whole article.  Here are this year’s poll questions:

1. Should drivers be prohibited from using cell phones while driving?
2. Do you support same-sex marriage?
3. Should Vermont take the lead in addressing climate change?
4. Should Vermont lease its lottery?
5. Are you optimistic about Vermont’s economy?
6. Do you support the legalization of hemp?
7. Should jail time be removed for the possession of one ounce of marijuana?
8. Do you support a four-year term for governor?
9. Do you support a four-year term for legislators?
10. Should Vermont Yankee’s license be renewed in 2012?
11. Should the gas tax be increased to improve our roads and bridges?
12. Do you believe the Vermont Legislature is doing a good job?
13. Do you believe Gov. Douglas is doing a good job?
14. Consider expressing your preference for the 2008 presidential election: Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Mike Huckabee, John McCain.

Exit Voices readers are encouraged to answer these questions in the comments.

Via PolitickerVT

Town Meetings, Vermont | 3 Comments »

Crossposted at Candleblog…

It’s spelled V-e-r-m-o-n-t.  It’s the 14th state — the first one after the original 13 colonies.  It’s right next to New Hampshire and it’s similarly shaped.  But people don’t seem to know we exist.  The other night as Emily and I were watching some election-related news coverage, we heard a pundit refer to the March 4th primaries in “Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island and the other states.”

In tonight’s Democratic debate, Hillary Clinton said, “I want to help the people of this country get the chances they deserve to have. And I will do whatever I can here in Ohio, in Texas, Rhode Island, in the states to come making that case.”

What are we, chopped liver?  We have 15 delegates!  There are only four contests for the Democrats on March 4th.  Nobody seems to have any trouble remembering the other three.

It reminds me of the theme from Gilligan’s Island.  At the end of the opening credits as the lyrics listed the characters on the island, the song we all remember would go, “With Gilligan, the Skipper too, the millionaire and his wife, the movie star, the professor and Mary Ann….”  But remember when the show was still black and white?  It had a slightly different version of the song.  Originally, the song was sung, “…the movie star, and the rest!”  The rest?  The professor and Mary Ann were “the rest?”

That’s us up here in Vermont.  Texas and Ohio are the Skipper and Gilligan.  Vermont is the state that’s not worth taking up theme song time with.  But remember, Vermont is also the state that can charge radio batteries using coconut shells and sea water AND is the state most people want to marry.  So there.

Vermont, presidential race | No Comments »

Reading Vermont View, I see that The Huffington Post has generated a nifty little GoogleMaps hack called FundRace that shows you exactly who in your neck of the woods donated money to a presidential campaign.  Looking at Burlington, I can see that Seventh Generation CEO Jeffery Hollender gave $2,300 to Chris Dodd’s campaign, for example.  I also see that Madeline Kunin gave $400 to the Clinton campaign (not too surprising considering Kunin is co-chair of Clinton’s Vermont campaign).  Pepsi mogul Skip Farrell gave $250 to Rudy Guiliani.  The list goes on.  Just click a red or blue dot on the map to see who’s giving campaign contributions to who.

Vermont, presidential race | No Comments »

Burlington Libertarian blogger Jeremy Ryan has a post today describing his reasons for voting against the ballot question in Burlington on March 4th concerning the much-debated fate of the Moran plant on Burlington’s waterfront. The city’s proposal is to create a facility that would house:

… a world-class indoor ice and rock climbing facility, restaurant and café, children’s museum and expanded community sailing center. Year-round, public access to the building (including observation deck) and all activities within the building are targeted at public enjoyment and enrichment. This would create a variety of recreation and education opportunities and amenities to the people of Burlington in a public facility that ensures access and enjoyment of Lake Champlain. Also proposed are upgrades to the bike path, increased green space and park amenities, children’s splash park, seasonal refrigerated skating rink and a rebuilt skate park.

Ryan says he has practical concerns about the financing of the project and more general concerns about governments getting involved in business. Here’s a snip from his post…

My concern with the project is the financing and government management of the project. It appears that the financing is shaky. Bill Keogh, who has opposed the project, has cited that the federal government doesn’t intend to provide around 7 million that would be needed from them in order to complete the project. Nothing is set in stone regarding who pays if goals are not met and we are talking about a lot of money here and now is really not the time for the city to be risking more of our money in big development schemes. We already have Burlington Telecom and Burlington Electric that are on shaky financial ground and need to be managed to sustainability.

Then, there’s the fact that the government really shouldn’t be in the business of starting and running businesses. It is simply not there place in my mind. I do not believe that the council is qualified enough to manage big real estate development deals such as this as the last I knew, no one on the city council is currently a real estate developer or in the hospitality, entertainment or property management industries.

For more opinions on the Moran Plant development question in Burlington, see Charity Tensel’s page on Burlington Politics at She’s Right.

There will also be a live call-in TV show on CCTV Channel 17 this Thursday evening from 6pm to 7pm with proponents of both Moran Plant ballot initiatives taking questions from the audience. The show will be moderated by Mark Johnson.

What do you think? Feel free to let us know in the comments.

Burlington | 6 Comments »

Here’s a snip from a blogger in the Northeast Kingdom who is looking forward to the Danville Town Meeting so he can practice his Robert’s Rules chops. This was posted yesterday…

Now I have to say, this sounds catty, but I’ve been waiting an entire year plotting my “Robert’s Rules” strategy for the coming Town Meeting. I sometimes practice it and practice counter-tactics. Every now and then I have to think up a strategy, some of which requires that the Moderator know his “Rules”. If he does, I think I can pull off a move. If not, I’m sunk unless I call a “Mr. Moderator, a point of order” to instruct him in The Rules.

Here’s an example: If anyone, during the discussion of a motion, “calls the question”, the house is immediately polled (no further discussion is allowed) on whether or not they want to end debate and put the question being discussed to a vote. Whether the house votes “yea” or “nay” is immaterial. It allows me to gauge the interest in the debate.

One year. That’s all we have. We have our jobs and our lives and our interests and concerns and the Town Report and dang if we won’t mull and ponder and plot and scheme and as soon as Town Meeting comes, I can tell you right where I’ll be sitting: 3/4 the way toward the back of the bleachers in the gym, sort of to the left (from the moderator’s perspective). And at lunch I’ll have the baked ham and slaw and potato salad and cranberry relish and the rolls and butter and a chocolate milk.

Northeast Kingdom, Town Meetings | 1 Comment »

If you have a blog or other web presence and you are interested in helping to promote the Exit Voices project, please feel free to use this little banner I threw together…

It should fit in most sidebars but if you have trouble with it, let me know and I can make a different size for you. If you use the banner, please make it hotlink back here to Exit Voices. Thank you!

housekeeping | No Comments »

UVM professor, novelist, VPR commentator and blogger Philip Baruth has been invited to address a group of young Obama supporters at Nectar’s tonight in downtown Burlington.  According to Baruth…

 A small army of UVM students, led by student organizer Dana Jokela, have thrown together an impressive event for Monday night, aimed squarely at turning out the youth vote for Obama. They’ve asked me to speak somewhere between a band called The Sepia Tones, and another by the name of Chainlink Gunlove. Which sounds fairly intense. Stop by, talk strategy, or just groove on the gunlove, whatever that turns out to be.

The event is billed as “Barack Obama Jam for Change” and it begins tonight at 9pm at Nectar’s.

Obama, presidential race | No Comments »

Vermont Public Television will host a live web chat with representatives from all three major presidential candidates this coming Wednesday evening at 7:30 pm. The one-hour chat is free and anyone is welcome to participate. According to VPT, blogger Neil Jensen of Vermonters for Obama; former governor Madeleine Kunin, co-chair of Hillary Clinton’s Vermont Campaign; and Robert Chernin, a McCain supporter, have agreed to participate.

The web chat is part of VPT’s Vermont Primary Tracker, which the public television channel describes as “a website for keeping up to date with the state’s presidential primary.” According to VPT…

Vermont Primary Tracker offers a variety of content, including candidate information and position papers. Discussion areas include issues of special concern to Vermont voters, such as retirement security and health
care, as well as broader topics like the Iraq war, global warming and education.

Go to VPT’s website to login to the web chat.

Clinton, McCain, Obama, Vermont, presidential race | 7 Comments »

Exit Voices is a Vermont blogging experiment.  In November of 2006, Vermont Community Access Media and the CCTV Center for Media and Democracy joined forces to create an online public forum where Vermonters could discuss the issues and candidates on the ballot in that election cycle.  The result was Exit Voices, a moderated community blog specifically designed to be a sounding board for voters who had more to say than just speaking with their votes.  The blog featured posts by prominent Vermont bloggers, video interviews with voters exiting their polling places and comments by anyone who cared to participate.

For Town Meeting Day 2007, Exit Voices expanded its geographic scope and featured guest posts from bloggers in the Northeast Kingdom, southern Vermont and central Vermont as well.  Despite being a relatively quiet election (no major statewide or national candidates running), the Exit Voices blog was quite active, with dozens of commenters participating in the discussions from all over Vermont.

March 4, 2008 is likely to be a big day in Vermont.  Along with the usual excitement of Town Meeting Day, it’s the Vermont presidential primary as well.  With the looming possibility of a brokered Democratic convention, Vermont’s 15 delegates could actually make a difference in helping to pick the Democratic nominee.  Voter turnout is likely to be higher than average and hopefully that excitement will spill over to the Exit Voices blog.

On the evening of the 4th, CCTV (Comcast and Burlington Telecom channel 17 in the greater Burlington area) will include comments and video posts from the blog in its live election night coverage.  CCTV’s coverage will also be streamed live online at cctv.org.

Town Meetings, Vermont, housekeeping | 3 Comments »