A Burlington city councilor raised ethical concerns Wednesday over City Council President Jane Knodell’s (P-Central District) direct communications with a former Burlington Telecom bidder.
Councilor Joan Shannon (D-South District) criticized Knodell for phone calls to ZRF Partners over the past weeks, which, she said, “wreak havoc on the process.”
“Councilors should not be negotiating with anybody,” she said. The council had hired the head of Dorman and Fawcett, Terry Dorman, as negotiator for a reason, Shannon said.
The criticism came as the two finalist bidders, Tucows and the co-op Keep BT Local, met Wednesday to try to hammer out a compromise proposal to buy Burlington Telecom. Monday, the council deadlocked in a 6-6 vote, and asked the two bidders to partner up. The two entities have until the end of the day Friday to put forward a joint proposal.
If they can’t come to an agreement — or if the council doesn’t support their agreement — two previously eliminated bidders, Schurz Communications and ZRF Partners, would be readmitted to the process.
Shannon also said Knodell’s conversations with other bidders were part of a political charade by councilors who voted for Keep BT Local but now are backing off that support.
“President Knodell isn’t exactly rooting for @KeepBTLocal & @TingBurlington to successfully negotiate,” Shannon tweeted on Wednesday. “I hope KBTL supporters like Schurz because it looks like that’s where we’re headed.”
Councilor Dave Hartnett (D-North District) agreed; he guessed that Schurz would win if given a second chance before the council.
Knodell acknowledged that she had several phone conversations with ZRF Partners over the last few weeks, but said she did not negotiate anything. “To characterize my conversations with anyone as negotiations is absolutely wrong and baseless,” she said. “The council has been very divided. I felt it was prudent to keep our options open.”
Hartnett said he supported Knodell’s communications, saying that it was the only way to ensure that the process the council voted on Monday was followed. “I think the council’s lost trust in the format of Terry Dorman and the administration” as negotiators, he said.
Councilor Kurt Wright (R-Ward 4) also reached out to Schurz, he said, and on Wednesday, he defended those calls. “Obviously we should not be negotiating, but it’s important to be prepared, because we know there’s a timeline,” Wright said. “If we sprung it on them, then we’d be getting criticism of, how are we going to do this on the tight timeline?”
“I think we should stay on the high road here,” Wright added, urging councilors to focus on the negotiations at hand.
While communications with bidders without council approval do not explicitly violate council rules, they obscure a process meant to take place in the public eye, Shannon said. Knodell had not told the council about her communications, Shannon added.
In an interview last Friday, Mayor Miro Weinberger also said that he had discouraged councilors from reaching out to bidders. “That’s not something I support,” he said.
On Wednesday, councilors all around were quick to fling barbs. Knodell said she was “disappointed in Councilor Shannon’s remarks.”
Hartnett, too, was quick to lambast Weinberger’s lack of transparency throughout the process.
“If people want to know why we’re at where we’re at, it’s because of the mayor and what’s he been doing,” Hartnett said. “Quite honestly, it’s been a wreck.”
None of the councilors who spoke to Seven Days said they had heard updates on the negotiations between Tucows and KBTL. That’s the way it should stay, Knodell said. “I’m hoping that councilors and the mayor will let the parties negotiate freely without interference,” she said.
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@BTVKG… as I wrote in a previous comment, maybe the KBTL votes on the council did not choose political expediency and wanted a “clean” vote either way so as not to sully the decision by cries of an incomplete council vote?… that’s a concept the mayor and his Dems might not understand… also… Knodell is being accused of speaking to ZRF after this current round of voting… imo probably to see if this guy could be brought on as a capital resource for the KBTL bid?… but that is just speculation… and I would assume the same conflict of interest with his bid exists… but then he could always quit his job!!!
A general comment: The comments from some of the other supporters of the mayor’s preference – the actual regular $$ donors or the ones who do professional internet outreach for his development projects- and especially those who may have future development projects in the pipeline?… your comments I take with a large amount of salt…
This article raises some interesting questions. Why was there a 6-6 deadlock vote this week? At least 3 of the 6 KBTL supporters voted to POSTPONE the decision at the Oct 30 city council meeting when they could have successfully voted in KBTL 6-5 since Karen Paul had recused herself. Maybe those KBTL supporters really didnt want KBTL to win. Why did Jane Knodell continue communications with ZRF when she chose KBTL as her top candidate? I dont get it.
Another point that has been brought out is Councilor Paul’s rescusal and subsequent quitting of her job so she could vote without conflict (a questionable tactic for another topic of discussion). If she had not voted for Ting, KBTL would have been the choice! Perhaps the Mayor knew this outcome could happen and was behind her strategy in order to move along his preference…which wouldn’t surprise me about our Mayor
You know what?… maybe the KBTL votes on the council wanted a full vote of the council because that was the right thing to do… so that any decision on BT would not be sullied by a perception that the vote was somehow unfair… the process has certainly been a shit show and I put that on the mayor and the Dems… it’s pretty funny to hear Dems attack Knodell for contacting ZRF… I wonder if Shannon was as angry and disappointed about the the mayor’s contact with ZRF over the pulling of their bid?… doubt it… we all know that Joan Shannon is firmly in Miro’s pocket so don’t tell me that Shannon came up with this new bit of mudslinging on her own… she is for all practical purposes a wing of his PR machine… just like some of the regular commenters I regularly see on these threads… The mayor’s handling of the ZRF bid in the first place? Paul’s recusal, quitting her job, what will be her eventual rehiring at her previous or another accounting firm once the dust settles?… the optics of that little Dem “junket” to Toronto for votes that were already lined up?… it’s made a mockery of the process… transparency?… bs… this mayor and his team are 24/7 political schemers… the ends justify the means…
I disagree with the comments that criticize this BT process. Its been a long road from virtual bankruptcy to two $30M offers – the steps we took to get to today have been a huge success in my mind. Lets finish this process swiftly and smoothly by selecting the best offer in front of us so that we can move on to other City matters. We’ve strung Ting along long enough, they are one of the finalists, their offer is excellent, its time to give them the win. Opening this back up is a huge waste of time. Everyone got a chance to vote for their two finalists, if they don’t like the outcome, that’s unfortunate, but they had the opportunity to vote and did so. Please put your personal issues with one another aside for the moment and do whats best for the City right now. Thank you.
Pointing to the fact that they had the votes to get KBTL in, but passed is revealing. You’re right. They all didn’t really want KBTL in the first place. So why have they been posturing as such? That’s the question to ask. The reason will be different in each Councilor’s case but in the end none of those answers will be satisfying, and most will reveal more of a political need to block the mandated success of this Mayor than anything else.
Also consider this for a sec. Check the Prog FB page. That will reveal that they have supported KBTL and opposed all other bidders before their bids were even revealed.
“Maybe those KBTL supporters really didnt want KBTL to win.”
I think that statement may apply to many more Burlingtonians than just members of the Council. Speaking for myself, I’ve supported KBTL, I still have the lawn sign up, and I’ve even delivered KBTL pamphlets (to Joan’s Lakeside neighborhood, heh).
But I’ve still been uneasy with the riskiness of the proposition (i.e., “junk bond” capital, a seemingly imminent Citibank suit, the possibility of Bluewater Holdings and/or the Public Utility Commission giving the deal the thumbs-down). Honestly, I’d be fine to know that Burlington Telecom was owned by a seemingly responsible and responsive company like Ting.
My point is, I suspect there are many more Burlingtonians like me out here who love the idea of a co-op in theory but are not yet comfortable with the degree of risk that KBTL represents. Certainly that would explain some of the seemingly ambivalent behavior from some of the pro-KBTL Councilors.
Appears some of the votes for KBTL were really anti-Ting votes designed to open it back up to other bidders. The process has been terrible. Start with the criminal actions of Leopold and Kiss, the attempt select buyer in secret, then mayor has back door communications with ZRF that cause them to drop out, then Paul recuses/”unrecuses”, and now this. I support KBTL, and I am not happy about more action from councilors that undermine trust.
The fundamental question that no one is addressing directly is whether our public utility should be publicly or privately owned. It would help if the council addressed this head-on.
Even if you disagree with Jane (and I certainly have!) it is clear she has integrity and good intentions. I may not agree with her all the time but she has taken positions that have angered the left, the right, and the center in Burlington to do what she believes is right, and has done so without resorting to political attacks.
We need a new city council. What a mess.