Category — Ed Adrian

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Obama is coming to Burlington today.  By the time I’d learned about the visit, all of the affordable tickets were sold out.  I feel a little bad that my kids won’t go, but I don’t really care for myself.  I met Bill Clinton when he came.  How many presidents is somebody supposed to meet in a lifetime?  One’s probably good enough.  It is a little weird Obama won’t be meeting anyone for free.  Maybe that will turn out to be wrong.  I will vote for Barack Obama in the general election in November, unless Ron Paul somehow becomes the Republican nominee.

I hope Ed Adrian gets a good picture today.  Good luck Ed.

Breaking News:

I received a fundraising email from Ed Adrian two hours ago:

From: Ed Adrian eadrian@comcast.net 
Sent: Tuesday, March 20, 2012 10:28 PM
Subject: Exploratory Senate Run

“Dear Friends…
…I am exploring a run for Vermont Senate.  I wanted you to hear it from me first.  That path will be a very short one without your help.  Right now I am trying to raise enough money to begin the journey.  Please consider a small donation in the amount of $10, $25 or $50 to help me prepare.

You can use this link – https://secure.actblue.com/entity/fundraisers/29389

As always please do not hesitate to call 233-2131 if you have any questions or concerns.
Best, Ed

City Council Dem Caucus Chair Ed Adrian forwarded me this memo written by attorney Dan Richardson of “eat more kale” fame.  He indicates the city would have an uphill battle to give voting rights to non-citizens.

Click Here to Read Memo

I know there’s a lesson for me in the response to that last post, but I’m still unpacking it.  I was trying to express the listless, dissapointed feeling I had after spending all day Sunday at the caucus only to see my candidate lose and a stalemate between my least favorite candidates which might last another month.  Now I still have all the suspense with none of the hope.  I probably should have stuck to the original story-line, and title I was mulling for my caucus report:  ”Cluster-Fuck Shit Show Crashes and Burns”but I thought that might offend people.  So clumsily I pointed to the non-eliminated candidates’ Harvard graduate degrees as evidence of privilege in an attempt to lament how even in Burlington, personal wealth correlates to electoral success.  My argument was poorly informed, emotion driven and rhetorically weak, but to read some of responses to it in the comments section, you’d think I was somewhere between George W. Bush and Pol Pot on the spectrum of disdain for education.  Let’s review some of the choice language thrown at me in the comments…

…pathetic …anti-intellectual …weak …elitism …’troll’ …reactionary …plain wrong …baiting …trivializing …pseudo-blue collar elitism …negative …inane …embarrassing …whining …contrived …squarely against anyone with an education …misguided …you jumped the shark.

I feel like I’m in Loren Ober territory.

To my credit, I did admit that I don’t really know how much money Ashe and Weinberger have in their personal bank accounts.  I’d like to know, but I don’t. 

For those who fault me for walking right past the ballot box and out the door with my 3rd round ballot… Well it was my choice.  I did not feel compelled to vote for either so I didn’t.  I really thought about it hard too… moving along in the long line of people up in the balcony toward the ballot box I had I good five minutes to agonize, but I could not escape the feeling of being left with a choice between the person trying steal the nomination and the one trying to buy it.  When I got up to the box the little voice in my head said “just leave.”  You gotta listen to the little voice.

So let’s move on, shall we?  The Shark has been jumped.  I’ve ruined my blog’s credibility and reputation, and I do not see a way to repair the damage.  There is now a gaping hole in the hull of the ship, which is taking on water and will soon be resting at the bottom of Lake Champlain right next to iBurlington and The Stech Blog. 

But while I’m still here, I do just want to point out one thing Ed Adrian and Steve Howard are not going to advertise.   Folks who checked in early at the caucus had their names marked off of computerized voter lists.  I registered this way.  At some point the computers failed and the volunteers began to check registering folks against paper voter lists instead.  If I had wanted to I could have gone back and picked up a second ballot when this happened, since there is no way my name was crossed off the paper list, simply by virtue of the fact it was crossed off the computer list.  That way I could have not voted in the 3rd round twice.

You see my point of course.  The committee now has the info to go back and see if any names were crossed off both lists- which would mean someone voted twice, but even if they discover that this happened, there is no possible recourse except to have a do-over, which they are anyway.

Still though they should probably just use paper voter lists from the start next time.

Here is the video of Jonathan Leopold telling Matty Tanner and “Mike Jones” that the Board of Finance was briefed in May of 2008 about Burlington Telecom’s inability to get financing and of its continued use of pooled city cash in violation of its certificate of public good.  May 2008 was about a year before the story broke and almost a year before the re-election of mayor Bob Kiss.  If Kurt Wright had wanted to, or had been smart enough to, he certainly could have used that information in the last election, and he probably would have won. You may recall that at the time the Board of Finance was made up of the following five people- Mayor Kiss, Chief Administrative officer Leopold and a city councilor from each party.  Democrat Andy Montroll, Republican Kurt Wright and Progressive Time Ashe.

And Where’s Lloyd Benson when you need him?  This week the Vermont chapter president of the American Federation of Teachers called Ashe the best choice saying  “Tim Ashe is a young Bernie Sanders.”  That’s like saying The Phantom Menace is as good as the orignal Star Wars.  Ridiculous on its face.   Somebody’s got to say it…

“Senator, I served with Bernie Sanders. I knew Bernie Sanders. Bernie Sanders was a friend of mine. Senator, you’re no Bernie Sanders.”

Below the row of stars to follow is Ed Adrian’s Burlington Free Press “My Turn” post from Sunday.  In it he again calls for the council to be smaller and to be paid more. I presume Ed is going to follow up on his pay-the-council campaign by offering a charter change or resolution of some kind, but I don’t know.

I hope so.

*****
From The Burlington Free Press:
My Turn: Burlington City Council limited by lack of resources
Written by Ed Adrian
6:42 AM, Mar. 27, 2011

My The Free Press re­cently opined that somehow the Bur­lington City Council shared responsibility for the disrespect demon­­strated to Burlington voters and the Vermont General Assembly by the Kiss ad­ministration’s failure to meet the statutorily-man­dated legislative deadline for filing the documents to change the City Charter (“City’s missed deadline shows disrespect for vot­ers,” March 20).

This charter change, recently approved by 68 percent of the voters, would remove the chief administrative officer from the council’s Board of Finance and replace the CAO with another city councilor. The Free Press claimed that the City Council “should have been on top of the situation, making sure things are getting done properly and on time.” This claim demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of how power and resources are allocated in Burlington’s government.

Burlington city government in its current construction is a strong mayor/weak council form of municipal government. What this means is that essentially all of the resources (money and staff) in Burlington’s government are under the control of the mayor’s office. The Free Press correctly points out that 600 people work for the city. The vast majority of these employees are hard working people who report to the mayor and not the council.

Even at the top tier of administrators, the mayor has over a dozen full-time professionals at his disposal to carry out the will of the administration. The council has approximately “zero” full-time and part-time employees. Not only does the mayor have an arsenal of public servants, but he ultimately has total control of how his will is executed. In other words the buck stops with the mayor. The mayor also gets paid a full-time annual salary (approximately $140,000 including benefits) and has a daily physical presence in City Hall.

The council, on the other hand, has almost no control over how its will is executed, if its will gets executed at all. And then there is the question of what exactly constitutes the “will” of the council. Administration officials have told councilors on repeated occasions the only way the council can act as a body is by a majority vote. For example sometime an individual councilor makes a request and it is “granted” by the administration and sometimes the request “denied” under the pretext of it being too cumbersome or expensive to carry out. Usually these requests involve the production of information or request a task by administration staff. If the request is rebuffed, then the maker of the request can have the entire council vote to make the request. Even when the council votes, the mayor still has the option to ignore the will of the council.

The make up of the council is simply too big. Most similarly sized cities in this country have councils comprised of 7-9 (or fewer) people. This makes it more difficult for the Ccuncil to act cohesively and allows the administration to divide and conquer the council. We are comprised of volunteers with varying commitments and obligations — some more extensive than others. We are given a “stipend” of $3,000.

Many, many qualified candidates are discouraged from running because of the pugilistic nature of Burlington politics; a concern that council service may have ramifications on a councilor’s occupation; and the inability to adequately justify to a spouse or partner the many hundreds of hours spent annually on council work without remuneration.

Despite these numerous hurdles, several councilors have been able to adequately fulfill the council’s watchdog obligations. In fact Council President Bill Keogh both before and after the article on the charter change issue appeared in the Free Press, raised the issue with City Attorney Ken Schatz and remained in constant contact with Vermont House of Representatives Government Operations Vice Chairman Ken Atkins, to help ensure that the charter change would be acted on by the 2011 General Assembly and that it would take effect upon legislative passage.

The City Council does an adequate job fulfilling its responsibilities with essentially no resources at its disposal. City Councilors want to make sure that the residents of Burlington get the respect they deserve. We just need the resources to do it.
Ed Adrian is a Burlington City Councilor from Ward 1 and chairman of the Council Democratic Caucus.

Breaking News

In an email with little precedent, Burlington’s Community and Economic Development Office (CEDO) director Larry Kupferman told city councilors on Friday his office cannot afford to staff a task force which the council will vote on creating Monday night.  With little explaination he estimates the council would need to give CEDO an additional $10,000 to staff a proposed new task force on urban agriculture.

Does this mean CEDO is now working at its maximum capacity and cannot take on any more work?  If so, then shouldn’t the council have been alerted to that a while ago?

Below the row of stars to follow is Kupferman’s email and below the row of stars after that is the resolution to be discussed at the 03.21.11 city council meeting. 

*****
From: Larry Kupferman
To: Bram Kranichfeld, Ed Adrian, Joan Shannon, Nancy Kaplan, Vincent Dober, Bill Keogh, David Berenziak, Karen Paul
Cc: Ken Schatz, Richard Haesler, Bob Kiss, Jonathan Leopold, Richard Goodwin
Sent: Friday, March 18, 2011 3:30:03 PM
Subject: Urban Ag Task Force?

Councilors:

I notice that a council resolution entitled “Creation of Urban Agriculture Task Force” is scheduled to be discussed at Monday’s meeting.

I have not been involved in the discussions that have led to this resolution nor consulted about the staff time required to staff a task force of this nature.

Based on my experience with past task forces staffed by CEDO, I will state now that the department does not have funds designated now or in the next budget year for such staff assignment. If Council does not appropriate a sum (I estimate $10,000) for this purpose, I am afraid it will be an unfunded mandate until a way to pay for staffing requirements is determined.

I’ll be glad to discuss the intent of this resolution further before Monday night. Thank you.

Larry

Larry Kupferman
Director
Community and Economic Development Office
City Hall, 149 Church St.
Burlington, VT 05401
direct 802-865-7174
fax: 802-865-7024
www.cedoburlington.org

*****

RESOLUTION RELATING TO CREATION OF
URBAN AGRICULTURE TASK FORCE

WHEREAS, a strong community-based food policy can provide benefits to the citizens of the City of Burlington including access to a healthier diet, a stronger local economy, a more robust food supply, and environmental benefits;

WHEREAS, Burlington is home to innovative, community-based food projects including the Burlington School Food Project, the Burlington Area Community Gardens, the Food Systems Spire at the University of Vermont, and the Intervale Center, a nationally recognized leader in food system innovation;

WHEREAS,Burlington residents are engaging in urban agriculture, defined broadly as “the growing of food and related activities within city boundaries,” including urban homesteading, permaculture, gardening, and community farming;WHEREAS, the City of Burlington currently lacks sufficiently clear regulations or a cohesive policy addressing urban agriculture;WHEREAS, this lack of sufficiently clear regulations or policy can cause confusion and creates an obstacle to engaging in these activities;WHEREAS, there currently is no single governing board devoted to review issues related to urban agricultural activities;

WHEREAS, the City of Burlington currently supports the continued development of a healthy, equitable, and sustainable food policy through the Burlington Food Council;

NOW, THEREFORE, LET IT BE RESOLVED that the Burlington City Council hereby creates the Urban Agriculture Task Force (“Task Force”) which is charged with recommending to the City Council a cohesive urban agriculture policy, improved rules and regulations addressing urban agriculture, and steps to better promote and govern urban agriculture in Burlington;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Community and Economic Development Office is designated as the lead department for providing staff support for the Task Force with additional staff support to be provided as appropriate and as necessary by the Planning & Zoning Department, the Code Enforcement Office, the Parks & Recreation Department, the City Attorney’s Office, and the Public Works Department; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Task Force shall consist of one (1) member of the Burlington Food Council appointed by the Burlington Food Council, one (1) member of the Board of Health appointed by the Board of Health, one (1) member of the Planning Commission appointed by the Planning Commission, and up to 4 additional community members appointed by the Burlington Food Council;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, in particular, the Task Force is to

(1) Generate a cohesive urban agriculture policy informed in part by current research, best practices, and the needs of City residents,

(2) Review the current rules and regulations that govern urban agriculture in Burlington, including but not limited to city ordinances and zoning regulations,

(3) Seek input from residents, stakeholders, and experts as appropriate, such as the Intervale Center and the UVM Food System Spire;

(4) Identify potential inconsistencies or gaps in the current regulations and make recommendations on clarifying and improving them,

(5) Identify barriers to urban agriculture and make recommendations on how the city can better promote and govern urban agriculture,

(6) Make recommendations on how to integrate the needs of city residents with statewide and regional food system development efforts, and

(7) Create a written action plan including actionable next steps for the City Council and city departments, a timeline and outline of necessary work, and potential funding sources for further policy development and implementation; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Task Force shall provide a final, written action plan as outlined above to the City Council within 1 year after adoption of this Resolution by the City Council, with interim reports to the City Council at three-month intervals describing activities to date.

Some public officials talk about the Lockheed-inspired city council resolution in the comments of this post at the blog  “No Lockheed.”

Below the row of stars to follow is this week’s North Avenue News  “Councilor’s Corner” by Ward One city councilor Ed Adrian.  In it he discusses the imbalance of civic power between the mayor and the city council.  I’ve been saying that’s a problem for 15 years.  It’s nice to finally have some company. 

*****

Councilor’s Corner by Ed Adrian

(from North Avenue News Vol.41, No. 3 week of March 1, 2011)

With elections just around the corner, it is a perfect time to take stock in Burlington’s system of government and see what is working well and what could be improved upon. Good government depends on a system of checks and balances. Without a system of checks and balances, one branch can amass an excess of power and can then proceed to make decisions that stand in stark contrast to those championed by the public-at-large.

The City of Burlington has reached a junction where it is clear that our system of government needs to be fixed. The keystone to good government is trust. At the City Council meeting of January 27, 2010 the Mayor refused to indicate what his plan was moving forward in order to restore public trust in his Administration in the wake of the way it has handled Burlington Telecom. This follows on the heels of former Progressive City Councilor Marrisa Caldwell’s statement in October, 2009 that “the money will be paid back to the City, either through revenue, a new financing structure, or in the worst case scenario, if BT were to fail, we would recoup the money through the sale of the assets.” And is reminiscent of former Progressive City Councilor Tim Ashe’s proclamation about Burlington Telecom in November, 2009: “There is no scandal. There is no controversy. And there is no poor health of our municipally owned telecom service.” The Mayor and his allies simply are not capable of moving forward to restore trust.

The current Administration’s lack of foresight is unfortunate; it is even more problematic that the Council by its form and structure is nearly powerless to counter any Administration in City Hall. Several years ago when the City was sued over opening ballot boxes prematurely, the current CAO opined under sworn oath that having a Council without a majority of any party made his job easier. In scratching the surface of this statement it is evident that the current Administration will continue to act with impunity until the next election.

I am suggesting that we overhaul the way we do business in City Hall. Here are my recommendations: 1) We reduce the number of City Councilors from 14 to 7. This will make it more difficult for future Administrations to attempt to divide and conquer future City Councils. It will also make it easier for Councilors to better keep in contact with each other. 2) Actually pay the City Councilors for the work that is performed. Currently we receive a “stipend” of $3000. Councilors will become more vested in what they do if treated and compensated like professionals and will be better able to justify to their families the time spent away from home (I am speaking from personal experience). It also makes serving more equitable since running for office would likely become more (financially) justifiable to a broader ranger of individuals. 3) Put together a stronger system of checks and balances that will hold a mayoral administration politically accountable for its actions. A good start in the right direction is to vote YES on ballot question 7 to change the charter to take the CAO off the Board of Finance and substitute the appointed official with an elected one accountable to the public.

I would love to hear from you on these issues. Feel free to call 233-2131, e-mail eadrian@comcast.net or tweet me @CouncilorAdrian