2010: Putting the 'Tic' in Politics

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Ed. Note: During the last week of the year, we asked our writers to reflect on the highs and lows of 2010.

My 2010 political season didn't revolve entirely around the gubernatorial race — not when Burlington City Hall and the three-member Congressional delegation are part of my beat.

Here are some of my most memorable moments from this past year ... in politics.

• Gov. Jim Douglas called for a "time out" to quell the rising anger toward Vermont Yankee after it did silly things like lie to state lawmakers and regulators about the existence of underground pipes only to have those pipes break and spew thousands of gallons of tritium into the groundwater and Connecticut River. Whoopsie.

• Not too long after that "time out," President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin called a "time in" and got 25 of his colleagues to vote against relicensing Vermont Yankee beyond its originally scheduled closing date of 2012.

• Shumlin continued to jump on the anti-nuke bandwagon, literally, by pirating a ride on a float owned by the Vermont Public Interest Research Group and Greenpeace. That didn't sit well with Shumlin's four rivals in the five-way gubernatorial primary.

• Who can forget Burlington City Councilor Ed Adrian's call in March for Mayor Bob Kiss to ... resign. All because Instant Runoff Voting was nixed by voters after two mayoral elections and any Prog-allied Democrat, or contested Progressive, lost.

• Kiss didn't take Adrian up on his offer, nor did Adrian or the council push the issue. Given the increasing pressure that Burlington Telecom is placing on the city's budget and city personnel, maybe Kiss should have taken him up on the offer back then. Not sure anyone could pull Burlington back from the brink at this point. Time will tell.

• During that March election, Progressives lost both bids for seats on the council in the stronghold of Ward 2. That's a first since 1981, the year that Bernie Sanders was elected mayor.

• Things quieted down as lawmakers settled into the doldrums of sausage-making under the Golden Dome. Then, as luck would have it perhaps my favorite political item from 2010 dropped in my lap. After weeks of going back-and-forth with the office of state Auditor of Accounts Tom Salmon about the true size of his budget — which contradicted his public statements last year that pay raises to a select few employees didn't increase costs — and then asking him bluntly about sending a political missive from his state email, he told me, "Fuck off." He then rambled further in a follow-up email that Seven Days published online.

• But, all's well that ends well. Salmon apologized, I accepted and we're now Facebook friends. Which, given Time's Person of the Year award, is what really matters in life. We even mugged for photos at the Republican "victory" party election night in Montpelier.

• Once the legislature let out, there was plenty to follow in the five-way Democratic primary. But, it's all a blur now and who cares? Shumlin won by a ... nose. Or, something close. So close that second-place finisher Doug Racine requested a recount.

• Aside from the ongoing fiscal fiasco around Burlington Telecom, the city council managed to stir up the emotions of Queen City residents. How? First, they debated a way to stop people from sitting on the sidewalk on streets leading onto the Church Street Marketplace.

• You'd think they were shipping homeless folks out of Burlington on a bus. In the end, the proposal was nixed. Then it returned later as an "education" effort to get people to abide by accessibility codes and give a five-foot right-of-way to ensure people with wheelchairs could navigate downtown. That's been all but shelved, too.

• Speaking of right-of-ways, Sen. Ed Flanagan was involved in two serious bike crashes in a short period of time. The crashes raised concern that the traumatic brain injury was proving too much for him to handle (especially while driving at high speeds on his electric bike). Flanagan lost a Democratic primary for auditor of accounts to Doug Hoffer who, in turn, lost to Salmon.

• Just as things started to get hotter on the City Council regarding Burlington Telecom, one of the council's two Progressives — Ward 3 Marissa Caldwell — resigned and moved out of the city. That left the smallest number of Progressives on the council since 1981. And it left the council with only 13 members, and in a bit of a quandry. Was a majority of the council seven or eight? Such a philosophical dilemma.

• As the general election matchup between Sen. Shumlin and Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie heated up, Dubie was the one who punched first and hardest — taking aim at the Putney lawmaker's weakness: His perceived unethical behavior. Our Seven Days survey suddenly became a hot topic (after having been ignored for more than six months prior) and calls for the proverbial head of our publisher on a platter were uttered by Democratic allies. Or, in the very least an apology for publishing a survey that said mean things about their candidate.

• Others unexpectedly jumped into the game, too. State troopers and the Department of Public Safety Commissioner Thomas Tremblay ended up in a politcally charged debate over whether they should be releasing roadside videos. They did in the case of a Democrat; they refused in the case of a Republican.

• Dubie played this "ethical lapse" card one too many times, however, and it cost him support among key allies. And in the end it may have been enough to toss the electon to Shumlin.

• Now, Shumlin gets to make all those picks to fill adminstrative posts. To date, half of Shumlin's appointees have been women, tipping the gender balance back toward something resembling society not a boardroom of the 1970s.

• In the waning days before the election, Sen. John McCain came to Vermont to stump for GOP Senatorial hopeful Len Britton, who was challenging Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT). Leahy won easily, and he now enters the next Congress as the second longest serving Democrat, and potentially in line to chair the Appropriations Committtee before his next term expires in 2016.

• Despite his "Get Off My Lawn" reputation, McCain was quite amiable and at ease with the press. Funny, too. VPR reporter John Dillon and I spotted McCain slipping into the side door and walked over to talk to him. We ended up snagging a two-on-one interview with the Senator for a few minutes before his savvy press aides whisked him away.

• McCain wasn't the only national political figure deployed to Vermont to rally the troops. The day before Nov. 2, Vice President Joe Biden entertained Democrats at the University of Vermont's Patrick Gym — stumping for Shumlin, Rep. Peter Welch and Sen. Patrick Leahy. During the event he declared Sen. Bernie Sanders the "conscience of the United States Senate."

• The week before the election, Seven Days printed perhaps one of my favorite stories of the year — a profile of longtime political insider and kingmaker Harlan Sylvester. The elusive Sylvester refused to take part in the article, so I had to find plenty of people — friends, foes and politicians — to talk about him. It's the first major profile of Sylvester, who has had the ear of every governor since Gov. Tom Salmon in 1974.

• Post-election, things started to pivot more toward Washington, DC and the "lame duck" Congress. (OK, can you really tell the difference?) There, Vermont's three-member delegation fought against a compromise tax cut deal on the basis that it gave tax breaks to wealthy folks who don't need them, underminds Social Security and adds to the national debt. Sen. Sanders led the fight in his chamber while Rep. Peter Welch led the way in the House.

• To draw attention to the bad deal, and flawed economic policy, Sanders took to the Senate floor for an eight-and-a-half hour faux filibuster. The speech heard around the world didn't slow the $800-plus billion tax cut package, but it earned him near folk hero status among the nation's progressive left. The requisite "Bernie for President" petitions were launched, websites designed, etc. Don't count on it. Sanders is focused on reelection to the Senate in 2012; his first reelection bid as a Senator. No word on his GOP challenger.

Get ready folks, 2011 is likely to be even more exciting given a new governor to write about and the 2012 election just around the corner. 

Comments

[Jsanchez]

Shay the picture of you and salmon says it all. You'll kiss anyone's ass for a story and stoop to any low. That guy salmon is gross. He got a DUI and kept ha job. Sounds like Marion Barry from DC. Smoked crack, got his job back. I can't believe you suck up to him and print his bumbling rants. He's an embarrassment to the good salmon name his father set for him.

[Andrew]

Shay--Just wanted to voice appreciation for your work, good humor (see Salmon pic), and the insight you bring to bear on local politics. The role of the press in spurring government toward accountability and progress has diminished so much in our 'modern' era (see Fox News), but in that space you stand tall and I am very grateful to you and the publishers of Seven Days for keeping things honest (or rather, a little less dishonest). Keep up the good work.

[Jack McCullough]

What quandary? If the body is 13 a majority is 7. There is absolutely no question.

The problem arises because of the commonly, but inaccurately, repeated phrase that a majority is "50% plus 1". In fact, a majority is anything above 50%. Thus, if there are three members, a majority is two. If there are 999 members a majority is 500, even though in each case it isn't 50% plus 1.

Happy New Year.

[Tim]

"Despite his "Get Off My Lawn" reputation, McCain was quite amiable "

Nice one!

[Liz Curry]

Shhh, don't tell anyone,the joke's on Salmon

[Jimmy]

"Shhh, don't tell anyone,the joke's on Salmon"

Because he didn't know who he was posing with when Totten asked for a picture?

[oy]

So, they really pay you?

[Haik Bedrosian]

Jack, I think Shay meant to say "quorum," not "majority," but your theorem is fun to ponder. Imagine half a person walking into the voting booth.