Two months after her firing as the City of Montpelier's planning and community development director, Gwendolyn Hallsmith says she's seriously considering running for mayor of Vermont's capital city. 

"My motivation for running is to continue to give citizens a voice in their future and to make sure their voice is not forgotten," she says.

Hallsmith (pictured at right) says she is collecting signatures to put her name on the ballot and is "tentatively" planning to announce her bid on February 5, though she says she may still reconsider. 

Hallsmith would face off against Mayor John Hollar, with whom she publicly tangled throughout the fall. After she was put on paid leave in November, Hallsmith accused the mayor of orchestrating her ouster because of her outspoken advocacy for public banking. Hollar is a contract lobbyist whose clients include Wells Fargo and Bank of America.

Remember that campaign finance bill? The one that increases the amount of money statewide politicians, parties and political action committees can raise? (We wrote about it here, here, here and here.)

Whelp, a bill it is no longer. Asked Thursday afternoon when it would be signed into law, Gov. Peter Shumlin's spokeswoman Sue Allen said the deed's already been done.

"The Governor signed the campaign finance bill earlier today," she said in an email.

If you were waiting for a public signing with a crowd of supporters and plenty of pens to give away, you apparently didn't miss anything. The gov signed the bill into law without any public notice, nor — as of this writing — any public statement. (Updated below with a statement from Shumlin's office)

There's no shortage of teachers, lawyers and retirees serving in the Vermont legislature. But just what would happen if one of Montpelier's top lobbyists — a co-owner and namesake of one of its most influential firms — were to join the Vermont Senate? 

That's the question many in the Capitol are pondering as Gov. Peter Shumlin appears likely to appoint Michael Sirotkin to a vacant Chittenden County Senate seat.

As the widower of the late Sen. Sally Fox, whose seat he would fill, Sirotkin would, in many ways, be a natural pick. But as a contract lobbyist with a three-decade history of influencing his (potential) peers, his appointment could raise some novel questions.

Recognizing that, Sirotkin says that, if appointed, "I would be resigning from my practice immediately." 

And he wouldn't simply serve out Fox's term in a caretaker role, then return to lobbying. If appointed, he says, "I would most likely run in 2014."

Nor would he remain an owner of Sirotkin & Necrason. "I would not seek to retain an interest in my firm," he says.

But even if he severed all ties with the lobby shop, would Sirotkin not feel some residual loyalty to his former partners and clients? Would it be difficult to make the transition?

"There would be some challenges. I think not as many as people would think," he says. "Of course, most of the people I've advocated for directly are grassroots kinds of interests, and those are the kinds of interests I'm most interested in."

After a day of high drama in Vermont political circles, Chittenden County Democrats on Wednesday evening settled on three names to send Gov. Peter Shumlin as he considers who should fill the county's vacant senate seat.

Among them was the race's most recent entrant — and its heavy favorite: Michael Sirotkin, whose late wife, Sally Fox, held the seat until her death nearly two weeks ago.

Sirotkin's announcement earlier Wednesday that he was interested in succeeding Fox roiled the contest and prompted three leading contenders to withdraw. But two other candidates — Williston Selectboard member Debbie Ingram (pictured at right) and Burlington management consultant Dawn Ellis — kept their names in the running. 

In the end, the county Democrats gathered at Burlington's Fletcher Free Library voted to send all three names to Shumlin. 

With 60 eligible voters casting up to three votes each, Sirotkin won 48 votes, Ingram 33 and Ellis 20.