Everyone around him says he got screwed, but Jeremy Dodge still doesn’t have an unkind word to say about his neighbor to the east.
“He is a fantastic person, don’t get me wrong,” Dodge says of the neighbor, Gov. Peter Shumlin. “He’s helped me a lot, at different times, when no one else would.”
Dodge, a stick-like man with kind eyes, no teeth and a stutter that renders him nearly incomprehensible, pauses for a second.
“I would like to just say I’ve had more time to think about what I did,” Dodge continues. “I screwed up. I should’ve found a way to find somebody, somehow, to help.”
On a drizzly Thursday evening in East Montpelier, Dodge once again explained to an uninvited reporter what led him to sell his family’s 16-acre property to the governor last fall, just days before it was scheduled to go to tax sale. He’s been doing this since late last week, when a WCAX-TV van arrived at his house unbidden to ask about a real estate deal Dodge says he didn’t fully understand and now regrets.
“A guy and girl hopped out. I immediately thought they were Jehovah’s Witnesses or Mormons,” Dodge says with a chuckle. “They said they received an anonymous call.”
On Wednesday, Dodge’s story hit the front page of the Barre-Montpelier Times Argus and the Rutland Herald. That night, WCAX ran its first report on the saga. Vermont’s political world has been atwitter ever since, with the Democratic governor’s tongue-wagging critics suggesting — mostly off-the-record — that the multimillionaire businessman and real estate collector had taken advantage of a neighbor in need.
“I hope that he’s able to account for what happened, because it doesn’t appear to be something we would do here in this state of Vermont — not to one of our vulnerable citizens,” Lt. Gov. Phil Scott, a Republican, said Thursday. “I just feel that we, as elected officials, have to hold ourselves to a higher standard — and I hope the governor can defend his position.”
The situation even attracted the attention of federal agents, though it is unclear precisely what they were investigating and whether they are continuing to do so. An FBI agent who interviewed a friend of Dodge’s earlier this week declined to comment Thursday. A spokeswoman for the bureau’s Albany division, which covers Vermont, directed inquiries to U.S. Attorney Tristram Coffin.
“What I can confirm is that the FBI followed up on a tip and there’s no active investigation in our office,” Coffin said Thursday.
After defending the deal in a series of written statements earlier this week, Shumlin moved Thursday to quell the controversy. In yet another statement, he indicated he would allow Dodge to remain in his house past their mutually agreed-upon deadline.
“As I have said, I was saddened and disappointed that Jerry Dodge now regrets our agreement. I see and talk with Jerry frequently, and yet first heard about this from the press,” Shumlin said. “When Jerry asked for my help to avoid the tax sale, I agreed, and I want to see this through to a good resolution. If that means Jerry stays in the house beyond July 15, that’s fine with me.”
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The last time that happened, we helped avert a crisis in a small country.
Um, no. There’s a big difference. I haven’t made unfounded accusations against Olsen. You have. That goes beyond merely offering your opinion. But it’s par for the course.
And as for courage, you confuse that with foolishness.
I believe, Sutton_Hoo, that everyone here is simply offering their opinion. No one has any inside information on the situation. The only difference between you and me is that I have the courage to use my real name. You, on the other hand…..
If all you’re doing is opinionating on what you’ve read in the papers, and have no additional info or special insight to offer, why do we need your opinion? Everyone here is at least as informed as you are on this matter. So far, all you’ve done is shilled for Shumlin and made an unfounded accusation against Olsen. Congrats. What else do you do?
Can y’all ease up on the personal bickering and unfounded accusations? Hash it out over a beer, not in the comments section. Jeezum.
Now Oliver, this is me you’re talking to here. You really want to go down this road? Let’s start with what did you do before you were elected? I would see you sitting around the State House with your ear bud in your ear; just milling around. I asked a friend who you were and I was told that you were working for Rep. Patty Komline when she was the leader of the House Republicans.
Now, I presume that you are going to say that you just did research. Right. Frankly, once I saw your letter in response to this deal I said to myself, “Yup, this has Oliver’s fingerprints all over it”. I don’t know if you were the “anonymous tip” to the press or not, but come on, Oliver, would anyone really be surprised if it was you?
Well, tim with a T (whoever you are) all I can respond to is what I’ve read in the papers. Dodge’s property was going up for tax sale the next day. Neither his friends or family were willing to step up and help him keep the property. Dodge went to Shumlin (not the other way around) and asked for Shumlin to help him. Shumlin agreed to buy the property. He also agreed to pay to fix the place up enough so that Dodge would have heat and water. Had it gone to tax sale, yes, Dodge could have lived there for a year, but he (or his now concerned friends & family) apparently were not able or interested in investing in the property to make it inhabitable.
If you want facts and sources I guess you’ll have to do what I did; read the papers.
“Shumlin actually cared for this man (as opposed to his family and friends who’ve all turned their collective backs on Dodge). “
I’d call that two assertions unsupported by facts or sourcing.
Hi Bob, as I have pointed out in another forum, your continued suggestion that I was behind this story is patently false. I first read about this in the Rutland Herald, and yes, I do have some concerns, particularly as they relate to the question as to why Mr. Dodge was being charged $4,500 a year in property taxes, when he probably should have only been paying something like $500 a year. From what I have read, Dodge asked for help. A good first step would have been to make sure this guy had filed his homestead declaration and claim for a property tax adjustment. That would have at least stopped the bleeding.
On being an operative. If I follow your logic, since you were once a Republican state representative, does that make you a Republican operative?
Considering my voting record and my public stance on a whole host of issues – from Death with Dignity, Marijuana Decriminalization, and Marriage Equality, your suggestion falls flat. Yes, as you know, when I spot an issue that looks questionable, I am going to take a sharp look at it and call it as a see it, which is why I have raised the question about why our Governor didn’t help this guy get the property tax relief he was entitled to. I think it is a reasonable and important question to ask.
Really?
Did you know that when I began my career as a lobbyist that I spent
the first three sessions fighting then Sen. Shumlin. He considered me
to be one of the biggest pain in the butts he’d ever met. He was right.
Since then we have worked together on more issues than we’ve fought on;
that’s true. I do admire his skills and abilities but by no means
agree with him on everything. I would say that regarding the governor’s
race he was much better than the alternative(s).
I’m sure you
don’t agree. I don’t particularly care. Oh, and the reason you and
others “know” me is because when I write a column, a blog, or a post in
one of these lame discussions I sign them with my real name.
And
no, any bias I may, or may not have towards Gov. Shumlin is not relevant
in these discussions. I am suggesting that this story came about
because someone is working to take as much political advantage of Mr.
Dodge as they are claiming the governor took advantage of him; which
when you hear both sides doesn’t appear to be the case at all.