Posts from — September 2012

I’m justing going to make a list. Feel free to add suggestions.

Lois the Hot Dog Lady, Pine Street, Clavelle, Church Street, Bessery’s, Beltline, Bernie, Ben and Jerry’s, Groovy U-V, DeGoesbriand, John Dewey, Lake Champlain, Ethan Allen, Mary Fletcher, Centennial Field, Waterfront Park, Lakewood Raft, The Flynn, The North End, The Old North End, Red Rocks, Oakledge, Leddy Beach, Ben’s Sandwiches, Bonfires on the Beach, the Pinnacle, Phish, Magic Hat,

We have to vote “yes.”  If we don’t borrow this now at current rates, then the city’s credit rating will slide off a cliff.  Nobody likes taxes, but life is expensive.  Pay a little now, or pay a lot later.  There are no other alternatives.

Bear in mind our aquaducts need replacing.  In August a sewer structure from 1879 collapsed under Main Street.  Burlington is not a new city, by North American standards.

Please read my post on a city’s priorities from May, 2011.

Harbor Hideaway restaurant on Shelburne Road is no more. I remember eating there once when I was really little. There was a real skeleton in a casket in the foyer, was there not?

Update. Yes.  There was .  My memories from 30 years ago or more still work.  Now where are my keys?

(August 30, 2012)

Dear President Shannon:

Please accept my resignation from the Burlington City Council to be effective September 30, 2012. I have greatly enjoyed my 5 1/2 years of service to the people of the City of Burlington, but now I need to close this chapter in my political career.

Rest assured, that although my service will be ending, I hope to continue to weigh-in on the topics of the day, both in spirit and virtually through #BTVCC on Twitter. We are living in exciting times and just beginning to understand how technology can make government more transparent and more participatory. I am glad that I was able to play a small part in midwifing this new era.

I do want to make sure that there will be someone from Ward 1 replacing me as soon as possible. I have reviewed Charter Section 128 and it is my understanding that there will be a special election for the vacant seat on Election Day (November 6th). What I am less clear about is the timeline from now until then. I would ask that the City Attorney’s Office (I am including Chief Assistant City Attorney Gene Bergman on this correspondence since I know Ken Schatz is out of the office) answer the following questions by the close of business tomorrow (8/31) so that I may pass the answers along to my constituents: 1) Will the election indeed be on November 6th? 2) What is the deadline for filing petitions with the City Clerk’s Office? 3) Will there be a separate and distinct physical ballot for this race (as opposed to being listed with all the other races and ballot items on for election). If the City Attorney’s Office feels that there is anything else that needs to be detailed as far as an election schedule and mechanics, that would also be appreciated.

Thank you all for a tremendous experience.

With warmest regards,

Ed Adrian
Ward 1 City Councilor

So in my last post, I resigned from the school board.  For very personal and painful reasons I am living in ward 3 as part of trial separation from ward seven, and can’t hold the office anymore legally.  There are a number of other reasons.  My father, God bless him, is like 103 years old or something.  I’m sensing I need to clear the decks to be with him as much as I can.  My job, whatever it is, is mentally taxing and emotionally draining and now- separation.  And when I say separation from ward seven- that’s obviously a euphemism.  It’s hard for me to talk about my personal life but suffice it to say that in recent weeks events therein have overhelmed my ability to vigorously represent my constituency and so it would have been wrong of me not to resign even if I hadn’t left the ward.  There will be a special election this year in Ward 7 this year to fill at least one school board seat.  As there will be in ward 1 to fill the city council vacancy left by Ed Adrian’s departure September 30.  Miro was promoting Kevin P. Worden on Twitter tonight.  Oh…  that’s the other thing.  Maybe I can blog a little more too now that I’m off the school board.  I am sorry I didn’t cover the AG primary better.  I’ve just felt blown apart this month and I could barely write at all.  A lot has happened that I’ve missed.

August 24, 2012

Dear Chairman Pillsbury,

For personal and family reasons, I am resigning the position of Burlington School Commissioner effective September 1, 2012.

It has been one of the great honors of my life to represent the people of Ward Seven on the Board these past 29 months, but it’s time for me to step aside. I’m confident a special election will choose a successor with new energy and dedication to the job.  The people of Ward Seven and the children of Burlington deserve nothing less.

With gratitude,

Haik Bedrosian

cc Jeanne Collins, Superintendent

Joseph McNeil, Attorney

Wow.  Dead air.  Dead…air.  So much radio silence.  Just fuzzy static on waves.  No signal.  No beep beep.  Nothing to distract from your own existential humming noise.  Louder and louder with no stories about local politics or nuthin’ to help with that at all.  Not here anyway.  Not lately.  But Seven Days is trying something new along those lines with a purely politcal blog called “off messsage.”