Five Burlington City Councilors this week will visit the Toronto headquarters of Ting, one of the finalists in the bid to buy Burlington Telecom.
The trip will cost approximately $6,500 and will be paid for by Burlington Telecom, according to Katie Vane, Mayor Miro Weinberger’s communications and projects coordinator. The councilors will fly out on Thursday evening and tour Ting offices and meet with management before returning to Burlington close to midnight on Friday.
On Monday, the city council will choose between Ting or the co-op Keep BT Local as the winning bidder for Burlington Telecom.
Some councilors not taking the trip believe that the visit is an effort by Ting to tilt the balance in their favor. Other councilors say the trip will serve as a valuable piece of research in making a decision.
Ting, a publicly traded company, has put forward a bid of $27.5 million for Burlington Telecom, while KBTL has offered $12 million.
The trip will provide the chance “to get a clear sense of what the company’s like, what the culture is like … get a sense of their operations,” said Adam Roof (I-Ward 8).
In spite of initial misgivings, Roof decided to go on the trip. “I didn’t want to be prioritizing potentially negative political optics over what I see as an important due diligence activity,” he said.
Besides Roof, four Democrats — Richard Deane (East District), Joan Shannon (South District), Karen Paul (Ward 6) and Chip Mason (Ward 5) — will make the trip to Toronto. Brian Lowe, Weinberger’s chief of staff, will accompany the councilors.
“We’re now deciding between [Ting] and the local folks we know,” said Shannon. “I know that folks have concern about selling to an outside company.”
The trip could help answer those questions, she said.
The entire city council was invited on the trip, according to Roof. The five going on the visit also voted on October 16 to keep Ting as a finalist.
“The accusations will fly that this is a wine-and-dine” trip coordinated by Ting, acknowledged Roof. “That’s not the situation.”
He said he would make public his itinerary and scheduled activities, as well as his list of questions for Ting and the company’s answers.
The trip expenses will be covered by Burlington Telecom revenues — not taxpayer dollars, Roof noted. But if the public has concerns, he added, he’d pay for the trip out of councilor discretionary funds or, if need be, out of his own pocket.
Max Tracy (P-Ward 2) billed the trip as unnecessary. “Other councilors are meeting Ting reps in Burlington,” Tracy wrote in a message to Seven Days. “Why do councilors need to go to them if they are already coming to us?
“I think that this crucial period leading up to the vote would be better spent meeting with Burlington residents to share information and gather feedback,” he added.
Former councilor and current state Rep. Selene Colburn (P-Burlington) took to Facebook on Tuesday to raise questions about whether the trip was appropriate “given the strong administrative support” for Ting. In early October, Weinberger urged councilors not to support KBTL because he said its low bid would open the city to legal challenges.
Dave Hartnett (D-North District), who voted in favor of KBTL on October 16, is the only Democrat not traveling to Toronto. “I’ve done my research, I know my options, and I’m happy with where I’m at,” he said.
Hartnett noted that he had no concerns about the ethics of the trip, though others may see it as a “pay-to-play trip,” he said.
“I don’t see it as that. I have respect for all my colleagues,” Hartnett said. “All five are going with the intent to learn more about a potential owner of Burlington Telecom.”
Related Stories
Got something to say?
Send a letter to the editor and we'll publish your feedback in print!
“The trip expenses will be covered by Burlington Telecom revenues not taxpayer dollars, Roof noted. But if the public has concerns, he added, he’d pay for the trip out of councilor discretionary funds or, if need be, out of his own pocket.”
What planet is Roof on? Put another way, how stupid does he think we are?
1.) Where does he think BT “revenues” come from – the moon? Does he think BT revenue is any different from “taxpayer dollars? It all comes from the same place, sir – our pockets.
2.) Sir, you say if need be, you can pay for the trip with the “councilor discretionary fund.” Do you take us for idiots? Do you know who finances that slush fund? We, the taxpayers, do.
3.) Are you for real?
If you’re worried about time and money, as you claim to be, why do a mass visit to Ting BEFORE they are one of the two finalists and BEFORE those two finalists submitted their final bids (Oct. 25)? It makes perfect sense for the councilors to do exactly what they are doing NOW, i.e., final due diligence on the two final bidders after their final bids are in.
Some of you KBTL people will see conspiracies around every single corner.
Dave,
Most of the councilors expressed that their reasoning to support KBTL or Ting was based almost entirely on their interpretation of fiduciary responsibility. What do these councilors expect to see in person that would change their interpretation of those documents?
Why wasnt there a visit much earlier in the process when the bidders were first narrowed – why wait until the literal last minute? And why were councilors not invited to visit Schurz on BTs dime? Lastly, maybe instead of councilors choosing not to go, most of them work more typical, inflexible 9-5 jobs where they are not allowed to miss work with little notice?
The responsible step here is for all Councilors to see Ting’s operations first hand. I’m stunned to learn that they hadn’t already. Meetings in Burlington with a select few cannot provide an accurate feeling for the culture of a company. How could any Councilor not choose to visit informally with employees in their space. To see their work environments, and to get a real sense of the vibe of the company. Its absurd to question the attending Councilors doing their due diligence (and no, that isn’t on taxpayer’s dime). What should be in question are those Councilors who choose not to. These Councilors have a duty to properly vet each candidate and they are choosing not to. Why?
These councilors already support Ting. What do they expect to learn on this trip? At the last vote, Richard Deane’s opposition to Keep BT Local was aggressively unequivocal. Given his statement with regard to going with KBTL, “I WILL NOT DO IT,” I can see no point in spending our money to send him to Toronto. The other 4 were somewhat less emphatic, but they should focus on how to make KBTL work, not on being entertained by TIng. Councilor Roof said he’ll pay for the trip with his own money. My response to him and the other councilors is, please do that.
The decision on who operates BT will have a significant impact on Burlington’s future. It is critical that we find a solid operator who can effectively manage and buildout a telecom business. That is no small lift. Why criticize city councilors for gathering as much information as possible to inform their decision making?
I thought BT money was taxpayer money, which is why it had to be sold to private interests to recoup our losses, so how is this not at the end of the day a taxpayer funded trip? BT paying for this trip and this trip only doesnt help the already shaky optics.
Youd think since BT entered the world with such secrecy and potential conflicts our elected officials would do everything in their power to be particularly sensitive to even the faintest hint of a conflict.
Hmmm, one name that is conspicuously missing is that of Ward 4 Councilor Kurt Wright, the only Republican on the Burlington City Council. It’s hard for me to believe that Kurt would end up to the left of the Dems, whom nearly all, disappointingly, seem to want to sell to the commercial interest.
Former Ward 7 Councilor Tom Ayres, a dear friend of mine whom I owe much to, but I feel that his replacement will maybe vote better (i dunno, i never really asked Tom what his current thinking was regarding BT). Thank you, Councilor Dieng for holding the line on this.
This is hopeful, but the scary thing is that Kurt will side predictably with the Dems (even though he has sided in the past with the Progs when they were ganging up to defeat the Dems on something like who was gonna preside over the Council), it will come out 6 to 6 and the Mayor will vote against KBTL.
I’m pleased (and a little surprised) that Councilor Hartnett has taken the KBTL position. Please hold the line on that, Dave. And Kurt, please show us all that you can surprise us with a vote that might not be the GOP “free market” way.
If we sell BT to the commercial interests, we basically toss that $17 million away. We’ll never see it again. If we keep BT local, if we make a condition to the private investors of BT that the city can exercise an option to buy out BT at some time in the future, like we have for the Winooski Dam, that $17 million loss will get paid for many times over in reduced costs for telecom access and will keep Comcast a bit more honest by having a decent utility to compete against.
Tiki. I would welcome the opportunity to engage in a discussion about the legal and regulatory risks associated with KBTLs bid. The final revised bids were due today at 5. The council has not received them. They are being reviewed by the Citys advisors who will advise us whether their assessment of the risks have changed. This is not a junket. Ting is not paying for the flight, hotel or any expenses associated with the trip. We are scheduled to do a site visit and q&a with ting Friday am. Our visit follows the visit the Mayor and certain BTAB members made to both Ting and Schurz before our last vote. I understand that the visit was very informative and I am looking forward to getting a first hand look at issues relating to culture and customer service. The invitation was extended to all councilors and while I wish all could have attended, I respect that some have chosen not to take this oppportunity to visit. I also understand that a reporter from 7days will be attending as well to verify it is not a junket.
Reminiscent of Mayor Weinberger’s “fact-finding” mission – sponsored by GBIC on a private plane – to an air base in Florida to judge firsthand how loud F35s are. Viewed objectively, of course, with no outside influence. Shocking outcome: he supports F35s.
If concerns are over legal matters with KBTL’s bid, unsure what a junket to Toronto will resolve.
Tee up 5 votes to Ting.