Archive

Vermont has a “consensus” problem. We don’t understand the concept. This confusion manifests itself especially when leadership is weak. For example, there’s broad agreement that we need more affordable and… Read More

Whomever we elect to lead us for the next two years, we’ll need to confront two gaping holes in our governance: strategic planning and ethics. Our last few decades ought… Read More

I’m struggling to reconcile the unfolding Jay Peak scandal and the “we did a great job” remarks of our elected administration officials. According to the SEC, the developers misused $200M.… Read More

The Mt. Peculiar Jabberwalkers With apologies to Lewis Carroll on the last day of the 2015-16 session   ’Twas quiblous in Peculiar Town Rambunction and dysfunction, As Ceres eyed the… Read More

As the legislative biennium winds down, it’s time to consider what happened, what didn’t, and more important, why? Many Vermonters are vocal about wanting their government branches to change how… Read More

There are many actors in the Jay Peak/Q-Burke tragedy playing out on our Northern Vermont stage. The unfortunate investors whose investments were by law “at risk,” have been clearly deceived… Read More

“We must agree to disagree” is a fair resolution to any discussion and such was the case with a thoughtful discussion I had recently about S. 107, a bill to… Read More

Periodically, we must relearn old lessons. A key such lesson is Franklin’s “Ounce of prevention…” adage – as relevant today as when Franklin applied it to fire prevention 250 years… Read More

As the new legislative session ramps up, I’d like to offer some thoughts. Don’t micromanage complex issues. We already have too many laws and administrative statutes, many poorly drafted, ambiguous,… Read More

How does a tiny state with a $5.5 billion budget – half of which is allocated to help struggling people and communities, a philanthropic community that contributes almost $3M to… Read More

The national media’s rife with bread-and-circus candidates of every ideological stripe and I.Q. and that’s gotten me thinking about what I’ll want to see in Vermont’s next governor. There are… Read More

I’m not one to spoil a party but I remain puzzled by Castleton’s decision to become a university. It’s a fine school and President Wolk deserves kudos for making it… Read More