| Editorial
 What
is it that Gaye doesn't want us to know?
By Rob Roper
The reason Vermonters expect
gubernatorial candidates to disclose their full household financial information
is to uncover any real or potential conflicts of interest. Gaye Symington
has refused this access, choosing instead to keep voters in the dark about
her husband's many business dealing. This editorial by the Caledonian Record
asks the right question: "What is it Gaye doesn't want us to know about?"
"...Perhaps more troubling
than the speaker's role as a spokesperson for Intervale is her role as
a fund-raiser. In 2006 the Burlington Electric Department decided to sell
179 acres of land to Intervale in what many Burlington residents decried
at the time as a sweetheart, no-bid deal at significantly reduced price.
The Burlington City Council
(then headed by Vermont Democratic Party Chairman Ian Carleton, who received
a $2,500 donation to the Vermont Democrats from Intervale's honorary founding
member, Will Raap, just days before the council first took up the land
deal issue) voted to approve the low sale price of the property on Oct.
23, 2006. But even at 50 to 80 percent off (depending on whom you ask),
Intervale would need $200,000 to cover the cost. Where would they get it?
The answer was a $220,500
grant from the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board. The VCHB is dependent
upon the Legislature for its budget. Back in November 2006, Vermont Business
Magazine noted that "allocations for the board were increased through the
actions of the Democratic-controlled Legislature" (Vermont Business Magazine,
Sept. 1, 2006).
Who controls the Democratic-controlled
Legislature? Speaker of the House Gaye Symington. It is a legitimate question
for Vermonters to ask (and have answered) if it is ethical or a conflict
of interest for the speaker of the House to be intimately involved in both
sides of a deal that transfers taxpayer dollars to a company that pays
Symington a salary to fund-raise...."
As the Douglas campaign has
pointed out, Symington's husband is involved in many business dealings,
from grass fed beef eugenics to telecommunications. Symington has an obligation
to come clean with full disclosure of Chuck Lacy's financial dealings.
Vermonters are getting tired of waiting.
Rob Roper is the Vermont
GOP Chairman
Read the full Times Argus
commentary here: Did
Symington gain special treatment for Intervale?
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