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.

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.

Of Puppies & Death Metal: Video Version

As announced on SolidState on Monday — and cleverly reported here by Lauren Ober yesterday — Scumlords of the Universe, GWAR, judged Burton's 14th annual "Howl-O-Ween Doggie Costume yesterday afternoon in the lobby of the Burton factory. And let me tell you, it was just about as awesome as it sounds.

What follows is a video I compiled documenting the afternoon's proceedings. No dogs were harmed in the production of this film. Except one, maybe …

Councilor Wants City CAO Placed on Leave

Democratic City Councilor Ed Adrian is calling on Mayor Bob Kiss to place his top administrator on unpaid leave while a full investigation is conducted into how the city loaned $17 million to Burlington Telecom.

The $17 million loan from the city to BT was first reported in "Fair Game" several weeks ago, and its revelation has released a torrent of criticism from the general public to top state regulators.

Kiss yesterday said he would support an independent audit of Burlington Telecom's finances. The city council meets tonight in a special session to discuss the recent spate of news related to BT.

Adrian informed Kiss' office this afternoon about his request, and had a half-hour talk with the mayor's assistant, Joe Reinert.

In his letter, Adrian said BT is at a critical  turning point and making the wrong decision could spell doom for the fledgling telecom venture.

"BT may still be a viable venture for Burlington, but it has become clear to me over the last month that it has been mismanaged and that the CAO is responsible for this mismanagement," wrote Adrian. "For the people of Burlington, the City, and BT, I would encourage you to move forward and support a leave of absence for the CAO and an independent investigation that will determine the mistakes that were made and keep BT from making similar errors in the future."

Adrian told Seven Days the leave of absence should last as long as it takes to conduct a review of Chief Administrative Officer Jonathan Leopold's actions.

Mayor to Propose Burlington Telecom Fixes

In a letter to Burlington city councilors in advance of tonight's special meeting about the fate of Burlington Telecom, Mayor Bob Kiss said he supports a full, independent audit of the utility's finances, among other steps, to reinstate residents' confidence in the fledgling venture.

The audit request comes on the heels of an extensive war of words between the Kiss administration and David O'Brien, the state's public service commissioner. O'Brien's department represents ratepayers in cases before the Public Service Board, the quasi-judicial body that regulates utilities.

Currently, BT is in violation of two key conditions of its certificate of public good (CPG) issued by the PSB: it hasn't built out its network within the Queen City as fast as it originally claimed and it borrowed a total of $17 million from the city without repaying the money within 60 days.

Kiss said another city entity, Burlington Electric Department, already has audits conducted separately from the citywide financial audits, and a BT audit could likely be completed before the end of the calendar year.

"I agree with suggestions for an independent audit of the current state of BT finances and operations. My administration will work to ensure that such an audit is completed in an expedited fashion if we choose to pursue a separate audit of BT similar to the process used by [Burlington Electric Department]," writes Kiss in his letter (a full copy is pasted below). "I think a separate audit of just BT can ... help to allay public concerns."

Kiss also said that Chief Administrative Officer Jonathan Leopold, who alone OK'd the city loans to BT without explicit approval from the Board of Finance or the City Council, will recommend several refinancing options to councilors by their Nov. 16 meeting. That financing plan will include an immediate repayment of the $17 million.

The Kiss administration will outline additional steps it believes the council should take to reinforce its support for BT. Two weeks ago, the city council voted 13-1 to seek relief from the repayment condition of its CPG. That vote came after the $17 million in loans was publicly revealed.

State Tells City: Stop Loaning Cash to Burlington Telecom

The Department of Public Service told the city of Burlington late Friday it wants a firm commitment from the Queen City that it will not loan Burlington Telecom another dime and will repay the $17 million already owed to city's checkbook.

The request came Friday in a filing by the department in the ongoing case before the Public Service Board. In that case, Burlington Telecom is seeking to amend its certificate of public good to operate for two reasons: One, it hasn't completed its build out within the timeframe it promised, and it has borrowed money from the city without repaying it in 60 days.

In fact, Burlington Telecom has borrowed about $17 million since early 2008. Neither the city council nor the city's board of finance explicitly agreed to loan the money. Instead, the decision to loan the money was made by Chief Administrative Officer Jonathan Leopold. 

Public Service Commissioner David O'Brien informed Seven Days via email Saturday that the request is necessary given the amount of money involved, and the city's failure to comply with its repayment condition for nearly two years.

"In our view they should not continue to violate the condition of their CPG, i.e. cause more harm, while the matter is investigated," said O'Brien.

Vermont YouTube of the Day: Impromptu UVM Thriller Performance

Came across this video today when a friend posted it to Facebook. The YouTube page says it's an edited version of a surprise Thriller performance by UVM student leaders. I say it's awesome.

Comcast Completes Audit of RETN Finances

A long-awaited review of Regional Educational Technology Network's finances by telecom giant Comcast is complete, with no major findings of irregularity or a need to probe further.

That's good news for RETN officials, who have feared that Comcast would try to exert undue and unprecedented oversight on its day-to-day operations. Comcast disagrees with what RETN and other public-access channels spend on certain equipment and programming. The company currently has a petition before state regulators.

The two sides, which have been locked in tough negotiations for more than a year, have also agreed in the past 24 hours to attempt to resolve their disputes by meeting face to face, said Scott Campitelli, RETN’s executive director. The first negotiation will take place on July 2.

"We're hopeful a negotiated settlement can be reached," Campitelli told Seven Days.

Hula Boola

This episode of "Stuck in Vermont" is so stinkin' cute I can't stand it. Preschoolers hula hooping!

Nicely done, Eva.

Herb and the BBC

Henrietta Henspecker of the BBC recently interviewed local rock star/sketch comedian Herb van der Poll in his basement dwelling also known as Pure Pop Records: