Craig Hill Responds to Kevin Ryan

VT Green Co-Chair Craig Hill sent this like, a week ago. Sorry it took so long to post. It got lost in my inbox. (Craig's words below the row of stars.)

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As a friendly as well as honest observer of the meeting Kevin as usual mis-describes in his letter to you, i draw your attn to the following:

- Because the Green Party is oriented by principle to grassroots democracy, we must follow certain guidelines, which includes the fact, unfairly as usual omitted by Kevin, as reiterated several times during the discussion of Steve Ekberg's de facto abdication and subsequent sabotage of the town committee he so dearly clings to chair, that once a meeting is posted, as this one was at the end of the prior meeting on Jan 7, a chair cannot willy-nilly cancel it because he knows there will be topics discussed, i.e., him and his behavior, he doesn't want any Greens to discuss. When he announced the meeting was canceled, i wrote him a few emails telling him (1) he can't do that, that if he doesn't want to attend a meeting or can't, the vice-chair takes over in his stead, which is the point of the existence of the vice-chair, right? and (2) that rather than run and hide and deprive all Burlington Greens from their democratic meeting he should organize his recruits to defend him at it. Sounds fair all around, oui?

- Steve's response a few days before the filing deadline instead was to refuse to sign some of the forms instructing the town clerk, Jo la Marche, to put certain Greens on the ballot for March 7, due solely to the fact that they included Green candidates, duly endorsed at the Jan 7 meeting Ekberg chaired, mind, who opposed his continued leadership due to his alienating behavior. So this is the guy who wants so badly to remain town chair he intentionally sabotages his own candidate slate out of pique. What a great chair, eh? After a series of phone calls to La Marche and the town atty Kevin Shotz (sic?) it was determined, by them, mind, that if an observer to the meeting that endorsed our slate could sign the forms Ekberg refused to sign, with a signature from one of the state Green co-chairs, who in this emergency was myself, the slate would appear on the ballot after all.

Owen Mulligan, who Kevin feigns was not an officer but who in fact was installed as Executive Director of the Burlington Greens at the Ekberg-chaired Jan 7 meeting, tho not present at it due to illness, tracked down the town committee treasurer and elicited her signature on the form. I then signed below her, the papers were filed in the absence of the uncooperative chair, and our slate officially was confirmed. Kevin's selective omission of all this, and more, and his pretense the actions of Owen Mulligan at the subsequent meeting on Feb 4 were illegal, is belied by the fact our slate was recognized by Burlington city officials despite Ekberg's refusal to sign as well as his instruction to the treasurer who did sign to withdraw her signature, which she attempted to do on the day of the filing deadline, but which was not accepted for the fact that her signature 3 days earlier put the issue in cement. Amazinger and amazinger.

- Ekberg then instructed his slate of officers not to attend the Feb 4 meeting Kevin decried as virtually empty of officers, duh, as if! a warned meeting could not go forth, which it must for the fact it was warned, as was explained to the satisfaction of all at the Feb 4 meeting but not explained to your readers thanks to the selective dishonesty of Mr Ryan. Vice-chair Jim Glade did attend, tho refused to officially participate. Owen Mulligan, the next ranking officer present, chaired. Ekberg's behavior was discussed, all sides had their unlimited say, including Kevin, till he refused to stop interrupting others and insisted on raising issues that were not the topic under discussion, the behavior of Chairman Steve. Despite my reiteration that a chair who would sabotage his own slate of candidates had, by those actions, as far as i was concerned, abdicated, literally, his reponsibilites, which of course was fine by the omnipresently interfering infiltrator Bush-supporting Republican Kevin Ryan, Kevin pretends it is the behavior of Owen and the action taken at the Feb 4 meeting officially stripping Steve of his position that is at issue. I ask how detached from reality can one get and still be considered an honest player?

- Finally, the abdication of Ekberg, the attempted sabotage of the slate by the treasurer, the refusal of the vice-chair to participate, and the no-show recidivism of the secretary and asst treasurer lead to the de facto conclusion that Ekberg's officers had designed that in order to save the village they had to destroy it, and deprive Burlington Greens from meeting. Ever. Ever again. Unless Chairman Steve were back in charge. So we were told. Lunacy. The type which Kevin fosters, constantly, as Steve's Karl Rove. Luckily sanity broke out, the meeting went on, Jean was elevated to acting secretary to take the minutes in the absence of Steve's secretary, who rarely showed, and the committee will be resurrected for the physical abdication and non-participation of the "oifficers" who Kevin insists are still running the committee. Hilarious.

As was the scene when Kevin refused to speak to the issue and began as he does raising filibustering and draining non-sequiters. The librarian was called to help, she asked Kevin whether he was a Green and if not what the hell he was doing there, and lead him out by the hand to the unanimous applause of the participating Greens present, sine die. Kevin Ryan, once again, BUSTED. ~ Craig Hill / Green Party of Vt co-chair