Monthly Archives: May 2015

Bill Sorrell’s ethical quagmire

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h/t to Ice-T, once a gangsta.

h/t to Ice-T, once a gangsta.

So I finally read through the cache of Bill Sorrell emails uncovered by Paul Heintz and Brady Toensing, and boy do I need a shower.

The Eternal General’s correspondence with high-priced lawyers at big-time law firms may not constitute illegal activity, but it does reveal an unseemly, fundamentally squicky ethical swampland. Sorrell happily splashes around in this slime pit like it’s the kiddie pool at one of those swanky hotels he enjoys on the law firms’ dime.

In public service, there should be distinct lines between friend, colleague, benefactor, client, and adversary. In his communications with these lawyers, Sorrell stomps and pisses all over those lines until they all but disappear.

Perhaps my interpretation is skewed by the fact that I have more doctors than lawyers in my family. It used to be that doctors routinely accepted gifts, meals, and expensive travel from drug company representatives. Since then, the profession’s standards have tightened considerably. Doctors, health care organizations and professional societies have very strict limits on such things.

With Sorrell, it’s the Wild West. And while he can assert that his conduct is not affected by all the freebies, the appearance itself is awful. Especially for the guy who’s supposed to be the people’s lawyer.

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Kremlinology III: the public and the private

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Not to beat a dead horse, but something just occurred to me about Bill Sorrell’s presence and/or absence at recent gubernatorial signing events.

To recap, on Monday I noted our Eternal General’s conspicuous absence at two recent events, and the even more conspicuous presence of Sorrell’s once and (perhaps) future challenger, TJ Donovan. Three days later, the Governor’s office released a photo of Shumlin signing a bill in the presence of Sorrell and many of his staffers.

But there’s one huge difference between the latter occurrence and its predecessors.

The two non-Sorrell signings were public events with the media on hand. Thursday’s signing was a closed affair in the Governor’s office. No reporters, no video, no pictures except the official one.

The obvious explanation: there’s no way in Hell that Governor Shumlin wants to stand next to Bill Sorrell in the presence of reporters. We’d ask a few courtesy queries about the issue of the day, and then we’d bombard both men with questions about Sorrell’s ethical troubles. Shumlin would have to stand close by while Sorrell tried to explain himself; and even worse, Shumlin would have to give his take on the whole affair. “Do you stand by the Attorney General?” “Do you think he should continue to serve?” “Is it proper for The People’s Lawyer to accept free travel, accommodations, deluxe meals, and political donations from law firms that do business with the state?”

Etc., etc., etc.

The Governor would decline comment because of the ongoing investigation, but boy, would it be uncomfortable.

It’s a profoundly weird situation when you think about it: the Governor and the Attorney General, both elected officials from the same party, can’t appear in public together for fear of embarrassing questions.

Things I learned at the Statehouse (or, My First Listicle!)

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I’ve been blogging about Vermont politics for almost three and a half years (first at Green Mountain Daily and then here), but this was the first year I spent considerable time observing the Legislature at work. In previous years, I’d dropped in here and there, but I became an irregular regular this time around.

In addition to following the fates of particular bills, I also took away some overall lessons. Many of them actually positive. And here they are, in no particular order.

— Our lawmakers work pretty hard. They get paid a pittance, and spend lots and lots of hours under the Dome. Seemingly endless hearings and debates, having to actually read and understand legislation: I wouldn’t have the patience for it. And their attendance record is shockingly good. Many of them have real jobs and/or travel long distances to Montpelier; on any given day, almost all of them are there.

— There’s always plenty of partisan rhetoric flying around, but people who disagree on the issues work surprisingly well together. This is especially true in committees, where a small group of folks work collaboratively, and cooperatively. It’s not all peaches and cream, but there were times when I was watching a committee debate and it was hard to tell which lawmaker came from which party.

Not that they were selling out; just that they were more interested in getting stuff done than in scoring political points.

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Kremlinology II: Back from Siberia

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I’m sure this is juuuuuuuuuust a coincidence.

Three days ago, I wrote a piece about Attorney General Bill Sorrell’s conspicuous absence from a pair of recent gubernatorial photo-ops. Both times, the theme was related to law and justice; both times, our Eternal General was nowhere to be seen while Chittenden County State’s Attorney (and former Sorrell challenger) TJ Donovan was in prime photo-op position, directly behind the Governor’s shoulder.

Well, today brought another law-related bill signing… and guess who was back, baby?

ShumlinSorrell

Yep, there’s Bill Sorrell. Along with, so I’ve been told, many members of his staff, gathered closely around the Governor. And no sign of Donovan.

I smell overcompensation.

Do I dare take some credit for this? The timing certainly suggests I can.

Vermont: Hellhole or paradise?

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There’s something of a disconnect on the Republican side of things when it comes to the health of Vermont’s business climate. On the one hand, it’s so disastrous that businesses are closing left and right, the rich are scoping out tax havens, and regular old workers are, in the words of Burlington school board member (and spectacularly unsuccessful House candidate) Scot Shumski’s Twitter feed, “fleeing” by “the thousands.”

Hardworking Vermonters in full flight mode

Hardworking Vermonters in full flight mode.

Which you’d think would show up in our Census figures, but never mind.

Funny thing about the notion that Vermont is a horrible place to do business. During the past Legislative session, Republicans threw their weight behind a proposal that came out of Lt. Gov. Phil Scott’s series of “economy pitch” sessions: the need for a marketing campaign that promotes Vermont as a great place for budding entrepreneurs and relocating businesses.

Well, which is it? A hellhole of taxation and regulation that doesn’t give a damn about the needs of business? Or a great place to work that just needs an image tweak?

Sorry, it can’t be both. If Vermont is really such a bad place for business, then you won’t attract entrepreneurs with catchy slogans and web videos. And even if you do attract some, won’t you be guilty of false advertising?

In truth, conservatives do damage to Vermont’s image with their constant drumbeat of negativity. Constructive criticism and new ideas are fine; across-the-board trashing is not. When Phil Scott launched his economy pitches, I was skeptical. I still don’t think they made a huge difference, but they did accomplish something important: they turned the conversation in a positive direction.

That’s a good thing for our political discourse. But it does undercut the right-wing narrative about Vermont.

Small business should beware of joining the corporate army

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A while back, I proposed that Vermont’s small retailers ought to open their own interest group. I suggested the Vermont Association of Independent Retailers, or VAIR for short.

The idea came to me while reading about their putative Montpelier representation, the Vermont Retail and Grocers Association, helmed by the very effective Jim Harrison. One of his favorite techniques is to bring some mom-and-pop types to the Statehouse whenever there’s legislation that might touch on retail interests, such as the proposed sugary-beverage tax.

Truth is, Harrison gives a lot of lip service to the little guy, but his real clients are in Big Retail — the WalMarts, Hannafords, and Dollar Generals of the world. And quite often, the interests of Big Retail are at odds with what’s best for small business. Guys like Harrison draw a stark divide between the private sector and government; in fact, the real divide is frequently found between big retail and small. I would ask this of real independent retailers: which is the biggest threat to your existience? A change in state regulations, or the big boxes and dollar stores springing up all over the place?

This is also true in the broader business world. And in that field, there’s a thousand-pound lobbying gorilla called the National Federation of Independent Businesses, or NFIB. Which has a Vermont branch, helmed by veteran corporate lobbyist Shawn Shouldice. (Who also, I can’t help but note, does PR for Bruce Lisman.)

The NFIB sounds like a joint effort of all the mom-and-pops. It bills itself as “the voice of small business.”

Well, it’s not.

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Laff line of the year: two strong nominees

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As it usually is, the Vermont Legislature was not exactly a wellspring of humor. Especially in the tense, action-packed closing days. But adjournment brought a couple of classics, albeit of the unintentional variety, from two of Vermont’s finest unintentional funnymen: John Campbell and Peter Galbraith.

First up, Mr. Pro Tem told VTDigger:

“Sometimes it’s tough to be a leader and a statesman.”

To which my immediate thought was, “How the hell would YOU know?”

My second was that good ol’ country song:

Oh Lord, it’s hard to be humble
When I’m perfect in every way
I can’t wait to look in the mirror
‘Cause I get better looking each day.

I tell ya, for an accomplished politician, Campbell has the worst case of foot-in-mouth disease I’ve ever seen. The over/under on Erika Wolffing facepalms during this session must have been somewhere in the three dozen range.

Next up, the formerly Slummin’ Solon, Peter Galbraith. It was almost exactly a year ago that The Most Hated Man in the Senate announced he would not run for re-election, and instead devote himself to a vaguely-described Middle Eastern peace venture.

He may well be doing so, but he seems to find plenty of time to unleash Words of Wisdom about Vermont politics.

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Kremlinology: Sorrell on the outs?

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h/t Snoop Dogg.

h/t Snoop Dogg.

Poor, poor Bill Sorrell. Our embattled Attorney General faces an independent investigation by straight shooter Tom Little. His unwarranted crackdown on Dean Corren’s minuscule offense has cost him many a friend at the Statehouse.

Strike that. I don’t think he’s ever had very many “friends.” But lately it’s become acceptable to express one’s disdain for a man who ought to be a pillar of the Vermont Democratic Party by dint of seniority alone. Instead, many Dems are hoping against hope that Chittenden County State’s Attorney TJ Donovan will again challenge Sorrell in the party primary.

Indeed, it may not be too strong to say that Sorrell has become a pariah. Evidence: On two recent occasions, Governor Shumlin has held justice-related media events. In both cases, Donovan was conspicuously close to the Governor.

And in both cases, the state’s top law enforcement official was nowhere to be seen.

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2015 Legislature: Triumph of the B-sides

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When I look back on this session of the Legislature, a strange thing keeps happening: over and over again, I’m reminded of a significant bill, and my reaction is “Oh yeah, that.”

RESET bill? Oh yeah, that.

Child protection? Oh yeah, that.

The gun bill? Oh yeah, that.

Consumer protection, including limits on rent-to-own stores? Oh yeah, that.

Same-day voter registration? Oh yeah, that.

Economic development? Oh yeah, that.

The legislative agenda was so top-heavy with high-profile issues — the budget, taxes, education, Lake Champlain — that a lot of normally headline-making issues flew more or less under the radar. Or were quickly dealt with and forgotten.

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The triumph of low expectations

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Well, hooray, we got us a health care bill. It wasn’t looking like it on Friday night and Saturday morning, but Governor Shumlin and top lawmakers finally inked a deal providing a whole three million dollars more for health care reform.

“I wish there were other things we could include,” said Rep. Bill Lippert, chair of the House Health Care Committee. His Senate counterpart, Claire Ayer, called the bill “pathetic.” And single-payer advocate Dr. Deb Richter told VTDigger: “For perspective, $3 million is what we spend as a state on health care in four hours,”

How’d we wind up with $3 million? Ass-backwardly, of course.

At the eleventh hour, health care reform came in last on lawmakers’ list of reasons to raise taxes, behind closing the budget gap and paying enough for clean water that the EPA might, hopefully, get off our backs. As the Governor pushed for fewer tax hikes and more spending cuts, health care was caught in the wringer.

On Friday night and Saturday morning, there were four big bills hanging fire: taxes, spending, economic development, and health care. Health care was a distant fourth. In fact, hallway chatter had it that health care would fall from the agenda, partly because of revenue shyness and partly because any bill would be so small as to not be worth the trouble.

On Saturday morning and early afternoon, as lawmakers and administration officials tried to reach common ground on revenues, it became clear that health care would have to settle for whatever crumbs fell from the conference table.

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