Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Alicia Freese
Councilor Sharon Bushor, far right, voices concerns about the city's new naming policy for city parks at Monday's city council meeting.
It was the final meeting for councilors Kevin Worden (D-Ward 1), Paul Decelles (R-Ward 7) and Bryan Aubin (D-Ward 4), all of whom had opted not to run for reelection on Town Meeting Day. Fellow councilors, regardless of party affiliation, praised the three men for their wisdom and levelheaded approach to governance. Incoming councilors Selene Colburne (P-Ward 1), Bianka LeGrande (D-Ward 7) and Kurt Wright (R-Ward 4) will replace them.
Jesse Bridges, Burlington's director of parks and recreation, then presented the council with a proposal for the city's first-ever naming policy for its parks and related programs. Bridges was making good on an agreement reached in September 2013 between the city council and the Parks Foundation of Burlington.
The policy gives “prospective donors the opportunity to name, dedicate, or rename Burlington parks’ assets appropriately in return for significant financial contributions.” Playgrounds, dog parks, tennis courts, and other facilities within a park would also be eligible for naming, as would scholarships, events and other park programs. The parks and recreation director and the Parks Commission would have final say on whether naming requests are granted.
Councilors endorsed the policy with a 9-2 vote, but Sharon Bushor (I-Ward 1) and Max Tracy (P-Ward 2) dissented. Bushor said she was concerned about erasing history; she argued for changing the policy to allow for naming new park assets but to preclude the renaming ones that already have an established identity.
Tags: city council , Elihu B. Taft School , burlington school board , jeanne collins , mayor miro weinberger , Image , Web Only
Thursday, March 27, 2014
One step closer. The Burlington City Council on Wednesday selected a financier for a $6 million bridge loan to pay off the city's settlement with Citibank in the Burlington Telecom dispute.
Councilors unanimously voted to accept a loan from Burlington businessman Trey Pecor and Merchants Bank over an offer from Rosemawr Management LLC, a firm based in New York City that specializes in municipal financing. With the loan, the city will be able to pay the $10.5 million settlement with Citibank over Burlington Telecom's financial woes. Citibank financed the infrastructure for the city-owned utility. It sued two years ago, demanding that the city pay $33.5 million for the cost of the network.
The Pecor/Merchants Bank loan offered a lower interest rate — seven percent — and would allow the city to recoup more money from an eventual sale of Burlington Telecom than Rosemawr's proposal. Here is how it will work:
Councilors unanimously voted to accept a loan from Burlington businessman Trey Pecor and Merchants Bank over an offer from Rosemawr Management LLC, a firm based in New York City that specializes in municipal financing. With the loan, the city will be able to pay the $10.5 million settlement with Citibank over Burlington Telecom's financial woes. Citibank financed the infrastructure for the city-owned utility. It sued two years ago, demanding that the city pay $33.5 million for the cost of the network.
The Pecor/Merchants Bank loan offered a lower interest rate — seven percent — and would allow the city to recoup more money from an eventual sale of Burlington Telecom than Rosemawr's proposal. Here is how it will work:
Tags: Burlington Telecom , Citibank , Pecor , Web Only
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Alicia Freese
Burlington High School students confer ahead of a school board meeting to discuss potential budget cuts.
In reference to the high school cafeteria's fire code restrictions, one school official joked, “If anyone asks, we have under 500 people. We aren’t counting.”
The rest of the night, however, entailed a lot of counting. A long procession of teachers — several on the verge of tears — came before the school board, each emptying the contents of a plastic bag on the table next to them. These were the teachers, generally in their first or second year, whose jobs are in jeopardy; their names have landed on the “reduction in force” (RIF) list, which identifies 48 positions that could be cut. The teachers had brought wooden blocks — one for each child they teach — to demonstrate how many youngsters would be impacted by their absence.
“Cutting even one of these teachers will be damaging,” said Megan Fitzpatrick, a second grade teacher at the J.J. Flynn Elementary School. “Cutting dozens will be devastating.”
Tags: Burlington School Board , Jeanne Collins , Mayor Miro Weinberger , Burlington High School , Image , Web Only
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Two days ago, Harold Wallace, 63, fell off his bike and broke his nose, but as of this morning, he still hadn't seen a doctor. Because of the CCTA bus driver's strike, now in its fourth day, he hasn't been able to find a ride to his office.
On Thursday morning, Wallace walked to the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity (CVOEO) on South Champlain Street in Burlington, looking for help. The Queen City resident, who lives nearby on Shelburne Road, said he was biking early Tuesday evening, carrying a bag of two-liter bottles to recycle, when the bag hit his tire, sending him over the handlebars.
Sitting in the CVOEO waiting room, Wallace said he would normally take the bus to see his doctor at the Ethan Allen Medical Center in Colchester. From where he lives on Shelburne Road, he estimates it's a five-mile trip. "It's hard to get up to my doctor's. I've got no money for a cab or anything," he said.
Wallace, whose nose was crooked and visibly swollen, said he'd held off trying to get medical attention in the hopes that the strike would end soon. By Thursday, he'd given up. "I'm in pain. I can't breathe. I've got dried blood in my nose," he said.
When he can't bike, the bus is his only mode of transportation, Wallace said, adding that biking on slushy roads can be treacherous, especially at his age.
CVOEO staff scrounged up cab fare for Wallace to get him to Colchester, but until the strike ends, he said he'll be out of luck when it comes to getting anywhere else.
Clearly distressed, he described his frustration at the strike: "It's bad for everybody. Everybody depends on this bus."
On Thursday morning, Wallace walked to the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity (CVOEO) on South Champlain Street in Burlington, looking for help. The Queen City resident, who lives nearby on Shelburne Road, said he was biking early Tuesday evening, carrying a bag of two-liter bottles to recycle, when the bag hit his tire, sending him over the handlebars.
Sitting in the CVOEO waiting room, Wallace said he would normally take the bus to see his doctor at the Ethan Allen Medical Center in Colchester. From where he lives on Shelburne Road, he estimates it's a five-mile trip. "It's hard to get up to my doctor's. I've got no money for a cab or anything," he said.
Wallace, whose nose was crooked and visibly swollen, said he'd held off trying to get medical attention in the hopes that the strike would end soon. By Thursday, he'd given up. "I'm in pain. I can't breathe. I've got dried blood in my nose," he said.
When he can't bike, the bus is his only mode of transportation, Wallace said, adding that biking on slushy roads can be treacherous, especially at his age.
CVOEO staff scrounged up cab fare for Wallace to get him to Colchester, but until the strike ends, he said he'll be out of luck when it comes to getting anywhere else.
Clearly distressed, he described his frustration at the strike: "It's bad for everybody. Everybody depends on this bus."
On Town Meeting Day, all three incumbents in the Burlington school board elections were ousted by newcomers who crushed them when it came to raising cash.
Helping two of them along in no small way was a familiar name: Lenore Broughton, the conservative donor who’s channeled large donations to conservative candidates and causes through the Vermonters First super PAC. Broughton gave $1,000 apiece to Scot Shumski and David Kirk, successful candidates in Wards 4 and 7, respectively.
Both men stood out among the school board candidate pool for their opposition to the proposed 2015 school budget, and their criticism of the current board as being ineffective stewards of that spending plan. (Tuesday’s campaign finance filings also show Broughton contributed $10,000 to Vermonters First last August. She also gave $1,000 to the Vermont Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs, which advocated, unsuccessfully, for the defeat of the three gun control items on Burlington's Town Meeting Day ballot.)
Broughton made her contributions to Shumski and Kirk on February 25, one day after the last campaign finance filing deadline leading up to Town Meeting Day. Until then, Shumski had largely financed his campaign through loans he took out and donations under $100; Kirk also took out a loan and he received $790 from Shumski in two installments on February 11 and 19 for a joint ad in the North Avenue News. Contributions made after the February 24 deadline aren't disclosed until two weeks after the election.
Shumski, who raised a total of $2,702 and spent an additional $1,000, unseated Bernie O’Rourke by a wide margin — 1,096 to 558. Shumski said he's been friends with Broughton for more than a decade and he welcomed her generosity. Raising a hefty amount of money was necessary, according to Shumski, given the low-profile nature of school board races and the fact that he was taking on a current member of the board.
"A hard and fast rule about incumbents is that it's difficult to unseat them," he said, adding: "No one was doing any articles on me, and no one was shining the spotlight on me."
Helping two of them along in no small way was a familiar name: Lenore Broughton, the conservative donor who’s channeled large donations to conservative candidates and causes through the Vermonters First super PAC. Broughton gave $1,000 apiece to Scot Shumski and David Kirk, successful candidates in Wards 4 and 7, respectively.
Both men stood out among the school board candidate pool for their opposition to the proposed 2015 school budget, and their criticism of the current board as being ineffective stewards of that spending plan. (Tuesday’s campaign finance filings also show Broughton contributed $10,000 to Vermonters First last August. She also gave $1,000 to the Vermont Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs, which advocated, unsuccessfully, for the defeat of the three gun control items on Burlington's Town Meeting Day ballot.)
Broughton made her contributions to Shumski and Kirk on February 25, one day after the last campaign finance filing deadline leading up to Town Meeting Day. Until then, Shumski had largely financed his campaign through loans he took out and donations under $100; Kirk also took out a loan and he received $790 from Shumski in two installments on February 11 and 19 for a joint ad in the North Avenue News. Contributions made after the February 24 deadline aren't disclosed until two weeks after the election.
Shumski, who raised a total of $2,702 and spent an additional $1,000, unseated Bernie O’Rourke by a wide margin — 1,096 to 558. Shumski said he's been friends with Broughton for more than a decade and he welcomed her generosity. Raising a hefty amount of money was necessary, according to Shumski, given the low-profile nature of school board races and the fact that he was taking on a current member of the board.
"A hard and fast rule about incumbents is that it's difficult to unseat them," he said, adding: "No one was doing any articles on me, and no one was shining the spotlight on me."
Tags: Kurt Wright , Miro Weinberger , Partnership for Burlington's Future , Vermonters First , Burlington school board , Image , Web Only
Thursday 2:25 p.m. update: Drivers' union presents counter-offer.
If labor and management continue to bicker, can anyone force the Chittenden County Transportation Authority bus drivers’ strike to end?
CCTA received a counteroffer from the union this morning and will likely meet with drivers this weekend, agency spokeswoman Meredith Birkett said. Birkett said the agency is reviewing the union's proposal this afternoon.
If the two sides can't arrive at a negotiated settlement, there appear to be three potential paths to pushing the groups to settle a strike now moving into its fourth day. All have significant complications and are relatively untested.
To begin with, experts say, there are two possible legal solutions: The Vermont Labor Relations Board or a Vermont Superior Court judge could be asked by one of the warring parties to intervene. And in the halls of state government, the Agency of Transportation — which provides much of CCTA’s funding — might be able to exercise a provision in its contract with the nonprofit bus agency to cancel the agreement and hire another entity to provide mass transit in Chittenden County.
“We’re watching this hour by hour. I’m not going to set a deadline, but certainly we’re going to have to see continuous signs of progress and movement towards a resolution,” said state transportation chief Brian Searles. “I’m very concerned, the governor is very concerned, and we’re watching it closely.”
None of these alternatives is simple. But, then, neither is the CCTA strike, which is occuring under a little-tested state law governing labor disputes.
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Mark Davis
Striking CCTA bus drivers man a picket line on Church Street this afternoon. They say they plan to maintain the protest every day until they agree on a new contract.
Striking bus drivers are preparing a counter-offer for Chittenden County Transportation Authority management that could be ready as soon as Wednesday, a union spokesman said Tuesday.
In an interview, bus driver Rob Slingerland said officials from the Teamsters Local 57 union are putting the finishing touches on a proposed contract and are hoping to soon meet with CCTA to try and resolve the strike, which is now in its second day.
Slingerland made his comments while taking a brief break from a picket line at the intersection of Church and Cherry Streets that he says drivers plan to maintain every day until a deal is reached. While around 50 drivers manned the line at times Monday, Slingerland said drivers will be taking shifts in the coming days — Eight drivers were present early this afternoon.
“We’re out here upbeat,” Slingerland said. “We’ll be out here all day. It’s worth the effort. We’re determined. We’ve reached the point of no return, and we’re (tired) of the way we are being treated.”
Monday, March 17, 2014
Alicia Freese
Christina Hart, left, and Zoe Gagnon, right, share a taxi ride from their jobs at the University Mall home to downtown Burlington Monday evening.
As St. Patrick's Day revelers filtered onto Church Street yesterday evening, they stumbled upon a scene that may have been more raucous than the one they had just left behind: Roughly 50 people marching in a circle at Church and Cherry streets, shouting "Union jobs are here to stay," and "Get up, get down, Burlington is a union town."
As the first day of their strike wore on, Chittenden County Transportation Authority bus drivers continued to express displeasure with management — and their would-be customers began voicing their own opinions.
Winooski resident John Satenstein, who usually relies on CCTA for most of his travel, had to walk to downtown Burlington for an appointment. But, as he surveyed the picket line on Church Street, he said he hoped that drivers would prevail in their quest for a more favorable contract.
"I believe in their concerns about working conditions," Satenstein said. "Their employers should be supportive of them. It's an issue of the people."
Others offered a less generous view. Gary Showers usually takes an 8:30 p.m. bus from his home in Burlington's North End to the Hannaford grocery store on Shelburne Road, where he stocks shelves during the overnight shift before returning on the 6:30 a.m. bus. Yesterday, Powers walked back and forth to work in frigid temperatures and said he was upset that drivers — who make far more than his $10-an-hour wage — had left him stranded.
"It's frustrating. How do you get to work with this crap?" Showers said as he watched the evening protest. "They're driving people that are poor. I don't make that much."
Alicia Freese
CCTA bus drivers picketing on Church Street after going on strike over failed contract negotiations.
The long-discussed, much-threatened bus drivers' strike is on.
Instead of ferrying thousands of workers, students and families across Central Vermont, drivers from the Chittenden County Transportation Authority are spending the day walking picket lines and attending downtown rallies.
After voting down the agency's most recent contract offer last week 54-0 drivers carried through with today's threatened strike, shutting down nearly all of CCTA's routes, which ferry roughly 10,000 passengers daily. Drivers had backed away from a previous strike threat earlier in the month.
Bus stops in Burlington and surrounding communities stood mostly empty. Charlotte Sando, an exchange student at Champlain College who hails from Norway, was facing a 30-minute walk back to her Winooski home after class. Sando said Burlington is much colder than she’s used to, and given today’s frigid weather, “I’d rather take the bus.”
Riders have also been documenting their commuting woes on social media. Katie Mobley, who works at the Community College of Vermont in Winooski, tweeted that students “are scrambling to find rides to make it to class.” Kristine Harootunian posted on Facebook that “my husband biked to Skirack for work this morning. Said his toes nearly froze off.”
Michael Blood, a junior at University of Vermont, was waiting at a stop on South Winooski Street. Blood takes the bus to class most days to avoid the 15-minute walk uphill from his apartment to campus. He’d forgotten there was a strike but when reminded, he took the news in stride and he said found the drivers’ requests reasonable. “I feel like compensating for basic human needs is important,” said Blood, referencing their complaints that shifts are too long and don’t allow for bathroom breaks.
Friday, March 14, 2014
Oliver Parini
Paul LeClair has worked for CCTA for 21 years.
We can't seem to go more than a few hours without a new salvo being fired in the feud between the Chittenden County Transportation Authority and its bus drivers. This morning, the CCTA Board of Commissioners has urged bus drivers to reconsider their decision to reject arbitration as a way to move beyond the contract impasse.
Yesterday, bus drivers — who are threatening to strike on Monday — dismissed pleas from both CCTA and Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger to settle their differences with legally binding arbitration.
CCTA's board, which has up until now remained silent in the dispute, is urging drivers to reconsider. CCTA is governed by a 13-member volunteer board. Members are appointed by communities served by the bus lines.
"The CCTA Board supports binding arbitration as a method to bring both parties back to the table and to prevent the disruption of the public transportation services so many Vermonters rely on every day," said CCTA board chairman Tom Buckley of Winooski. "The Union’s refusal of binding arbitration prevents the parties from engaging in a fair and neutral process that would prevent a strike and reach a resolution.”
Tags: CCTA , Transportation , Image , Web Only