State Auditor Answers Questions about DUI, Finances

In a wide-ranging and at times rambling press conference Friday, State Auditor Tom Salmon addressed a number of personal and public shortcomings that have come to light in recent weeks

He dedicated his Statehouse press conference to "the warrior in all of us."

For 45 minutes, Salmon walked reporters through his political and personal biography, offering his assessment of the state's financial condition and his own private failings along the way. Those include his recent arrest for driving while under the influence, and racking up nearly $30,000 in debt while living in Los Angeles and not repaying it until after he was sworn in as the state's fiscal watchdog.

"What I want to say to Vermonters is, 'I am sorry and I apologize,'" said Salmon. "I screwed up and made a mistake."

To get a sense of the variety of topics, and Salmon's comments, check out my Twitter feed. To read the prepared text of his speech, click here.

Salmon did tackle a few issues head on, including what prompted his own financial struggles, and why he is giving promotions and pay raises in his office while simultaneously calling for state government and unemployed workers to do more with less.

Salmon said a $48,000 stock loss due the collapse of Enron prompted his financial troubles. He also tackled questions about his DUI arrest, which came after a night of drinking with colleagues celebrating promotions and pay raises in the office.

Council Balks at Burlington Telecom Refinancing

After two hours of feisty, and at times acrimonious and partisan debate, the Burlington City Council early Tuesday morning scuttled a $61.65 million refinancing proposal for Burlington Telecom.

Mayor Bob Kiss came to the council with a resolution offering to repay any money BT borrowed from the cash pool since October 1 within 60 days, while at the same time seeking council approval to work with financier Piper Jaffray to fully develop a refinancing deal to keep BT afloat and help it complete its buildout.

A complete deal, he said, would come back to the council sometime in mid- to late January for final approval.

In October, the council asked the administration to come back to it with refinancing options, and financing strategies, no later than November 16. Kiss, and Chief Administrative Officer Jonathan Leopold, said the proposal with Piper Jaffray was in response to that request.

Of course, no one said the council would approve what the administration proposed. The council also felt as if the administration was unfairly pushing the council to make a rush decision without giving it enough information.

Council Debate on Telecom Continues

Tonight's Burlington City Council meeting will feature three resolutions addressing (what else?) Burlington Telecom.

Also, this week will mark first meetings of two ad hoc committees created by the city council to delve deeper into the problems at Burlington Telecom. One will craft an audit of BT's finances and operations, while the other will examine its governance.

Tonight's council meeting, however, will help to shed more light on the unfolding saga of Burlington Telecom. At issue is what city officials knew, and when, and if they ignored the advice of attorneys.

As I noted in last week's "Fair Game" one resolution, if approved by a majority of the council, would force the public release of various legal memos and correspondence between the city's attorneys and the administration of Mayor Bob Kiss. The memos, all dealing with Burlington Telecom, date back to August 2008.

This resolution is sponsored by Democrats Ed Adrian (Ward 1), Mary Kehoe (Ward 6) and Russ Ellis (Ward 4) along with Ward 7 Republicans Paul Decelles and Vince Dober.

Fiber from the Chaff

As the saga of Burlington Telecom continues to unfold, a growing number of observers are offering their take on the ever-popular topic.

From the pages of the Burlington High School newspaper to the airwaves of Vermont Public Radio, the topic is capturing the public's imagination. Given the confluence of issues in play, such interest makes sense: We're looking at a $17 million loan that was never given an explicit OK by the city council; the use of that money in violation of BT's certificate of public good; a growing revulsion among some people toward anything government-run; and decades-old political turf wars between Democrats and Progressives thrown in for good measure.

As I noted in this week's "Fair Game," there are plenty of parties to blame for missing all the signs of a possible scandal (and the media aren't exempt). But where to go from here?

That's where these commentators come in. I'll simply provide a salient quote and a link to some of the thoughts being offered on how to move forward with Burlington Telecom.

Got Burlington Telecom?

The ongoing debate in Burlington about the use of $17 million in city funds to keep its fledgling telecom utility afloat has taken up a lot of the political, and policy, discussion in the Queen City.

One frequent, and fun, question that comes up in discussions is: Of Burlington Telecom's 4600 subscribers, how many are city councilors?

I know that's not the biggest question people have, and the formation of two special council committees is a step into finding out answers to the bigger questions around how the money was spent, and whether or not the current governance structure is adequate. As this week's lengthy council meeting proved, there is no end to the angles that can, and will, be explored.

I thought it'd be a fun exercise to find out which councilors buy BT and which buy from other companies. Would they fall into neat political categories? Would the pro-BT voices on the council all have triple play? Would the anti-BT voices have Comcast or whomever?

So, I polled the entire council and with all 14 members responding, their answers may, or may not, surprise you.

Special Council Panels Created to Review Burlington Telecom

Burlington City Council President Bill Keogh Thursday formed two special panels to look into various aspects of Burlington Telecom, the first step in trying to get a handle on how it came to be that the city loaned the fledgling utility as much as $17 million without explicit public knowledge.

That loan came without explicit approval from the city's Board of Finance or the City Council, and because none of the money was repaid within 60 days it's also a violation of BT's certificate of public good.

Mayor Bob Kiss and Chief Administrative Officer Jonathan Leopold have said the loan was both appropriate and necessary. Leopold apologized to councilors last week for not being clear in his presentations that money from the city's so-called "cash pool" was funding BT, and said it was a mistake to keep them in the dark about the CPG violation. Leopold said he first became aware of the violation in November, but didn't disclose it to the council until May.

The panels were approved during a long and contentious council meeting that began Monday night and ended early Tuesday morning. Despite the acrimony over whether to put Chief Administrative Officer Jonathan Leopold on paid leave, the resolution calling for further investigation into how money was approved and spent on BT's behalf passed unanimously.

After Lengthy, Contentious Debate, Council Votes to Put CAO on Leave

Perhaps it was sitting through five hours of contentious debate at the Burlington City Council last night, but nonetheless I think I can say with all due respect: Good political theater doesn't make for good government.

After hours of at times spirited and contentious debate, the Burlington City Council voted 8-6 early Tuesday morning urging Mayor Bob Kiss to place his top aide, Chief Administrative Officer Jonathan Leopold, on paid leave.

The council knows, as does the mayor and CAO (pictured right), that the council's request is not binding. Heck, it's not even allowed. The council doesn't have the power or authority to put a mayoral appointee on leave. Only the mayor can do that. And, it's clear Kiss has no intention of putting Leopold on leave.

"This is purely about politics," said Kiss.

He may be onto something. The vote broke down largely upon party lines, with Democrats leading the charge. In the week leading up to last night's vote, a number of councilors stepped forward asking Kiss to put Leopold on some form of leave — either paid or unpaid.

Voting in favor of the resolution were six Democrats: Ed Adrian (Ward 1); David Berezniak (Ward 2); Nancy Kaplan (Ward 4); Mary Kehoe (Ward 6); Bill Keogh (Ward 5); and Joan Shannon (Ward 5). They were joined by the council's two Republicans: Paul Decelles (Ward 7) and Vince Dober (Ward 7).

Burlington City Council Set to Debate Telecom Fixes

Updated at 11:45 a.m., Monday

After a weeks-long sturm und drang over the use of $17 million in city cash to keep Burlington Telecom afloat for more than two years, the city council Monday night will debate at least two resolutions designed to shore up the finances, and public trust, of the fledgling utility.

One, sponsored by Councilor Clarence Davis (P-Ward 3), would: Create an ad hoc committee of at least five councilors to review BT's governance structure and recommend possible changes; charge the finance board with hiring an auditor to review BT's operations and finances, and have the administration present to the council by mid-November refinancing options and other investment strategies for BT.

This first resolution mirrors, in large part, the fixes Mayor Bob Kiss suggested to the council on Tuesday at a special council meeting.

A second resolution, sponsored by four Democrats — City Council President Bill Keogh (Ward 5) and councilors Ed Adrian (Ward 1), David Berezniak (Ward 2) and Nancy Kaplan (Ward 4) — would: Create an ad hoc committee of at least three councilors to prepare a request for proposals to hire an auditor to review BT's operations and finances, and create a separate an ad hoc committee of at least three councilors to prepare a request for proposals to appraise BT's value.

Earlier this month, the city council approved a resolution to allow BT to possibly provide services outside the Queen City as a way to bring in needed cash to complete its network build out within the city. It also asked Mayor Bob Kiss to tell the council how much cash has been loaned to BT from the city's "cash pool". That finance report is due Nov. 16.

At a work session prior to the meeting, councilors will discuss the funding, and hiring, of staff to help the council sift through budget materials, and other information, provided by the administration.

Councilors and Citizens Call for Burlington CAO to be Put on Leave

More Burlington city councilors are asking Mayor Bob Kiss to put Chief Administrative Officer Jonathan Leopold on leave while an audit is conducted of Burlington Telecom's finances.

As of today, six of the council's 14 members are calling on Kiss to place Leopold on some form of leave — either paid or unpaid — due to his role in loaning $17 million from the city's "cash pool" (i.e. checkbook) to Burlington Telecom.

That loan has accumulated over a period of almost two years, and is in violation of BT's license to do business — its certificate of public good (CPG) — issued by the Public Service Board. Any borrowed money had to be repaid within 60 days.

Leopold has claimed responsibility for making the loan happen, though he remains steadfast in his claim that state and city officials were briefed about BT finances and the use of the "cash pool" financing. However, he admits in hindsight that he should have been more forthright with the council and the board of finance about the violation.

Ed Adrian (D-Ward 1) was the first councilor to call for Leopold's removal. He sent a letter to Kiss on Tuesday before a special city council meeting called by the mayor. At that meeting, the mayor laid out a multi-step plan to clear the air around Burlington Telecom. Councilors also grilled the administration for more than two hours, trying to find out why the administration had failed to tell them, or the city's board of finance, about the violation for more than six months.

Now, five other councilors have joined Adrian's cause: Ward 7 Republicans Vince Dober and Paul Decelles, along with Democrats Nancy Kaplan (Ward 4), Mary Kehoe (Ward 6) and David Berezniak (Ward 2).

Quick Guide to Burlington Telecom Controversy

Tonight, the public will finally be asked to sound off on the ongoing controversy regarding Burlington Telecom and its use of $17 million in city funds to keep it afloat.

The City Council called the special meeting, which will begin at 7 p.m. inside City Hall's Contois Auditorium.

Here is a quick recap of the BT controversy, along with links to past articles and blog posts tracking this unfolding story.