The Scoreboard: This Week's Winners and Losers

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Each week when we compile The Scoreboard, we send out an email to a number of friends, sources and other assorted scofflaws asking their help in identifying the week's winners and losers in Vermont news and politics. 

This week, every single person who replied suggested the same name for our loser column: Gov. Peter Shumlin.

We’ve never seen that kind of uniformity.

So this time we’re going to switch things up a bit and start with the losers. Without further ado, here’s The Scoreboard for the week ending Friday, May 24:

Losers:

Gov. Peter Shumlin — Politics and shady-looking land deals just don't mix. Ask Bill Clinton. Worse yet are rumors of FBI investigations. But the biggest problem for the governor in his dispute with neighbor Jeremy Dodge is that it reinforces the notion that he's a cold-hearted capitalist with little regard for poor Vermonters. Whether there's more to the story than meets the eye — and we suspect there is — this has simply been a terrible week for Peter Shumlin.

Chittenden County — It is one soggy mess.

Magic Hat — Wait, aren't Vermonters supposed to be the good guys in trademark disptutes? 

Winners after the break...

A Neighbor in Need: Jeremy Dodge Hopes to Stay Put on Shumlin's Land

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Everyone around him says he got screwed, but Jeremy Dodge still doesn't have an unkind word to say about his neighbor to the east.

"He is a fantastic person, don't get me wrong," Dodge says of the neighbor, Gov. Peter Shumlin. "He's helped me a lot, at different times, when no one else would."

Dodge, a stick-like man with kind eyes, no teeth and a stutter that renders him nearly incomprehensible, pauses for a second.

"I would like to just say I've had more time to think about what I did," Dodge continues. "I screwed up. I should've found a way to find somebody, somehow, to help."

On a drizzly Thursday evening in East Montpelier, Dodge once again explained to an uninvited reporter what led him to sell his family's 16-acre property to the governor last fall, just days before it was scheduled to go to tax sale. He's been doing this since late last week, when a WCAX-TV van arrived at his house unbidden to ask about a real estate deal Dodge says he didn't fully understand and now regrets.

"A guy and girl hopped out. I immediately thought they were Jehovah's Witnesses or Mormons," Dodge says with a chuckle. "They said they received an anonymous call."

On Wednesday, Dodge's story hit the front page of the Barre-Montpelier Times Argus and the Rutland Herald. That night, WCAX ran its first report on the saga. Vermont's political world has been atwitter ever since, with the Democratic governor's tongue-wagging critics suggesting — mostly off-the-record — that the multimillionaire businessman and real estate collector had taken advantage of a neighbor in need.

"I hope that he's able to account for what happened, because it doesn't appear to be something we would do here in this state of Vermont — not to one of our vulnerable citizens," Lt. Gov. Phil Scott, a Republican, said Thursday. "I just feel that we, as elected officials, have to hold ourselves to a higher standard — and I hope the governor can defend his position."

The situation even attracted the attention of federal agents, though it is unclear precisely what they were investigating and whether they are continuing to do so. An FBI agent who interviewed a friend of Dodge's earlier this week declined to comment Thursday. A spokeswoman for the bureau's Albany division, which covers Vermont, directed inquiries to U.S. Attorney Tristram Coffin.

"What I can confirm is that the FBI followed up on a tip and there's no active investigation in our office," Coffin said Thursday.

After defending the deal in a series of written statements earlier this week, Shumlin moved Thursday to quell the controversy. In yet another statement, he indicated he would allow Dodge to remain in his house past their mutually agreed-upon deadline.

"As I have said, I was saddened and disappointed that Jerry Dodge now regrets our agreement. I see and talk with Jerry frequently, and yet first heard about this from the press," Shumlin said. "When Jerry asked for my help to avoid the tax sale, I agreed, and I want to see this through to a good resolution. If that means Jerry stays in the house beyond July 15, that's fine with me."

'Rock-Star' Richards Gets Top Post at BTV

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Gene Richards is a mortgage broker and landlord, and he looks the part. But at a news conference Thursday announcing his designation as aviation director of Burlington International Airport, he was lauded as a rock star. Richards, 52, has been holding BTV’s top post on an interim basis for the past 10 months.

Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger led a chorus of local business leaders and city officials in praising Richards’ work in stabilizing the airport’s finances and initiating improvements in its services and facilities.

“Gene has the eye of a businessman,” Weinberger said. In addition to saving $300,000 a year through refinancing $24 million in airport debt, Richards “has found a way to make substantial investments in this facility,” the mayor added, pointing to a new roof being installed on the airport terminal. Richards has also landed “the first new service in years” at BTV — daily Delta Airline flights to and from Atlanta starting next month, Weinberger noted.

The mayor said he will ask the Burlington city council to approve Richards’ appointment at its June 3 meeting.

“Things are going in the right direction,” Richards commented while taking a brief turn at the podium. “We have a bright tomorrow. It’s a new day for us.”

On Gay Rights and Immigration, Leahy Sticks it to Fellow Democrats

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As the Senate Judiciary Committee wrapped up its weeks-long debate over comprehensive immigration reform late Tuesday, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) did a rare and remarkable thing: He forced four Democrats who generally support gay rights to publicly acknowledge they would vote against a controversial gay rights measure.

In the backslapping world of the U.S. Senate, in which members of the same party typically look out for one another's political interests, that ain't how it usually works.

"It's courageous," former Massachusetts congressman Barney Frank tells Seven Days. "The hardest thing to do is to have to break with some of your friends."

The issue at hand, as we touched on briefly in this week's Fair Game, was a pair of amendments Leahy authored that would extend to gay Americans the right to request green cards for their foreign-born partners.

Leahy's been pushing the idea for a decade — first as a stand-alone bill called the "Uniting American Families Act." When its provisions weren't included in the comprehensive immigration bill drafted by the bipartisan "Gang of Eight," Leahy filed two amendments to the bill that would accomplish the same.

But the pushback from Senate Republicans was fierce — and even Democratic members of the Gang of Eight warned that if offered and accepted, Leahy's amendments could topple the delicate balance of immigration reform yet again. Those Democrats were so nervous Leahy would force a vote on the matter, they asked the White House to intervene — which it did Tuesday, according to the Associated Press.

"The real question was, 'Will Leahy buck the pressure and offer this?' Not even will he call for a vote, but will he offer it?" says Heather Cronk, co-director of the LGBT social justice group GetEqual, who attended Tuesday's mark-up.

Sure enough, after dispensing with nearly 300 other amendments to the immigration bill, the Judiciary Committee chairman called up one last amendment late Tuesday: his own.

"I don't want to be the senator who asks Americans to choose between the love of their life and the love of their country," Leahy said. "Discriminating against a segment of Americans because of who they love is a travesty and is ripping many American families apart."

Then, without indicating whether he would force a vote on it, the senator from Vermont said, "I know this issue is important to many who serve on this committee. Before I speak further, I'd like to hear from other members — especially from those who drafted this bill — who, for whatever reason, decided not to remove discrimination from our current immigration system in their legislative proposal."

Translation: If you're against this, speak up now and explain yourself. I won't let you quietly dodge the issue.

Four Democrats did.

Vermont Life Wants You!

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In case there was any doubt remaining that Vermont Life is in the middle of a reboot, don't miss this ad in this week's issue of Seven Days. It's been no secret that the state-owned quarterly, now 67 years old, is trying to recruit new, younger, and in-state subscribers.

And apparently Seven Days readers fit the bill. The magazine is inviting you bold, hip, edgy lot to try the magazine for two years for the price of one. 

Drumming up new subscribers is crucial for the magazine, as we reported in January. As of this winter, paid circulation was at its lowest point in the magazine's history. Vermont Life has reported deficits for 17 of the last 28 years, putting the magazine in the hole for a cumulative $1.3 million. And while the magazine's aggressive changes are an effort to dig out from that hole, only time will tell if the quarterly once most popular among out-of-state, silver-haired vacationers will win over a new demographic.

This Week's Issue: Unions, Gramma and the Changing New North End

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This week's dead-tree edition of Seven Days is the summer preview issue!

Inside, you'll find stories about a brewery tour, photographing every Vermont town, the new state entomologist and summer art tripping (not that kind of tripping).

And in the news pages, you'll find a smorgasbord of stories.

• Burlington's New North End ain't what it used to be. (Read: it's younger and hipper.)
• Some say Burlington's effort to redistrict its voting wards is mired in dysfunction.
• Vermont's F-35 foes have a new hand-picked poster child — and her name is "Gramma."
• And in Fair Game, Paul Heintz reports on a brewing labor battle, division within the Vermont GOP and Sen. Patrick Leahy's decision to withdraw a gay-rights amendment from the immigration reform bill.

 

Morning Read: East Montpelier Man Regrets Real Estate Deal with Shumlin

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The legislature has adjourned, and you know what that means! Vermont Press Bureau scribe Peter Hirschfeld is back on the gubernatorial real estate beat.

Hirschfeld, as you may recall, wrote a series of stories last October about Gov. Peter Shumlin's real estate wheelings and dealings as the gov relocated to East Montpelier. As Hirschfeld first reported, Shummy got a pretty sweet deal on a plot of land he bought last summer with a few friends. 

When reporters raised questions about the transaction at a press conference soon after the story appeared, Shummy got mighty huffy and accused Hirschfeld of practicing tabloid journalism.

That didn't stop the Press Bureau chief from following up the next week with a story about the gov buying another East Montpelier property. This one, adjacent to the first, was headed for a tax sale before Shumlin agreed to help out its owner, Jeremy Dodge, by lending him money and allowing him to stay on the land for a time.

Well, Dodge and Shumlin are back in the pages of the Rutland Herald and Barre-Montpelier Times Argus today. Dodge, it seems, is having second thoughts about the deal he struck with Shumlin last fall.

As Hirschfeld reports, the East Montpelier man says he didn't have a lawyer when he signed over his property and now believes he got a bum deal:

“I don’t have nothing bad to say about [Shumlin], but yeah, I got ripped off, plain and simple,” Dodge said Tuesday. “I wish it had turned out differently. I wish that I had let it go to tax auction.”

Shumlin, who says he advised Dodge to get a lawyer, sees it differently:

“I believe $58,000 was a fair price, and we both agreed to it,” Shumlin said. “The house is in terrible shape; it will have to be knocked down or totally gutted.”

It's a fascinating story — and we don't want to spoil the details — so be sure to check it out online or grab a copy at the news stand. 

Morning Read: Suspects ID'd in O'Hagan Murder

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Burlington Free Press cops reporter Mike Donoghue has a scoop in today's paper about the unsolved 2010 murder of Sheffield senior citizen Patricia O'Hagan. Donoghue has been reporting for months about how prosecutors had identified one of the suspects as 22-year-old Michael Norrie in court documents related to a separate case.

Now, in newly filed court papers in yet another case, prosecutors name two other men as suspects in the homicide: 26-year-old Richard E. Fletcher and his brother, 32-year-old Keith Baird. None of the three has been formally charged with O'Hagan's murder.

From the Freeps:

The papers say O’Hagan, 78, was shot in the back of the head inside her home and sexually assaulted during the incident.

The suspects, who are related, provided different reasons for the killing, including robbery and that O’Hagan had learned about methamphetamine being cooked at an abandoned home next door, the U.S. Attorney’s Office stated in the court paperwork.

Donoghue also reports that prosecutors allege Fletcher left a confessional note in his jail cell that read, "I Richard E. Fletcher ... was involved with the robbery that went wrong on the night of Sept. 10, 2010. Me and my brother Keith John Baird ... pland (sic) to rob Miss O’Hagan."

The story relates some unsettling details about the crime and the attempt to cover it up. It also notes a striking coincidence: One of the prison guards who Fletcher allegedly confessed his crime to was among the people who discovered O'Hagan's body while bird hunting in Wheelock, three weeks after her murder.

Click here to read the full story.

Weinberger Reaffirms Support for Gun Control and Urges Additional Action

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Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger reaffirmed on Monday his support for banning assault weapons in the Queen City, and urged city councilors to take additional steps aimed at preventing gun violence.

"You are on strong legal ground to move forward with an assault weapons resolution of some sort, and I support that,” Weinberger told the three members of the council’s charter change committee. He noted that similar initiatives by other municipalities have survived court challenges.

But any attempt by Burlington to regulate possession of firearms would require a change in the city’s charter thus could not take effect unless approved by the state legislature. City Councilor Rachel Siegel, the Ward 3 Progressive who chairs the charter-change committee, said it’s unlikely the legislature would even consider such an initiative until 2015, assuming it was first endorsed by the council and approved by Burlington voters in March 2014.

“More immediately,” Weinberger told the committee, Burlington might be able to adopt another measure relating to access to firearms.

He noted that in the aftermath of the Newtown, Connecticut, mass murder of schoolchildren and educators, 24 communities around the country “have passed resolutions to encourage action to fix the federal background-check system.” This screening process for prospective gun buyers is “badly broken,” the mayor said. He added that Vermont is one of 19 states rated as having done the least to submit data to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.

Weinberger then handed out to committee members a model resolution that urges action to strengthen federal background checks.

“Burlington does have a stake in this, and I’m very much in favor of it,” the mayor said.

The Week Ahead: On Hiatus

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This just in!

The Week Ahead is on indefinite hiatus. Actually, it's been placed on paid administrative leave. The Week Ahead declined to discuss the reason for the absence, but sources close to the situation said it related to an inappropriate incident in Montpelier last week involving the Scoreboard. And a Bengal tiger. And Mike Tyson. We'll have more on this developing story as we get it...

In the meantime, check back on Off Message often for the latest Vermont news and politics.