Inside Track: Althea Later?

Chittenden County Assistant Judge Althea Kroger is on the hot seat this week — finally. The Vermont Association of County Judges has been conducting investigative hearings since Monday, hearings brought on by Kroger’s belief she’s God’s gift to the Vermont judiciary.

But let’s not forget Althea is first and foremost a politician, and not just any politician but a Chicago politician. She once told yours truly back in the days before she stopped returning Inside Track’s phone calls that her dad was a precinct captain back in the Windy City. In Chicago, that’s royalty.

Here in Vermont, Princess Althea has enjoyed a sterling career in public life first as a state representative from Essex and then as a state senator from Chittenden County. Along the way she picked up an M.P.A. from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government (without getting indicted for it like Brian Burns did), and a degree from Vermont Law School. Then last year out came her idiotic guncontrol bill that was shot down quicker than Starksboro buck on the opening day of hunting season.

But all that name recognition she’d piled up was enough to win her one of the county’s two assistant judge positions, and the rest — well, the rest has been a nightmare for the court stafT and Assistant Judge Elizabeth Gretkowski. Judge “Ski” served in the post for eight peaceful years without Princess Althea. Now she’s on the verge of a nervous breakdown. You see, Judge “Ski,” unlike Judge Kroger, is not a politician.

The best example of Princess Althea’s skill as a political spin doctor was demonstrated by the fraudulent letter she sent out a couple weeks ago on Superior Court stationery to every town clerk and selectboard chair in the county.

“Last week,” wrote Althea, “the Vermont Assistant Judge Association created a ‘Study Committee’ to explore issues regarding the county budget and the accountability of Assistant Judges to Vermont’s local governments. I write to you.. .and ask for your help during this important exploration.”

Althea invited the recipients of her missive to contact the chair of the association, Assistant Judge Allen Hogdon with their “insights.”

Sounds harmless enough. Sure, she got the name of the association screwed up — it’s the Vermont Association of County Judges — but her intent seems noble, right?

Wrong.

The fact is, Althea’s letter was a very calculated smokescreen designed to upstage the Association, misrepresent the truth and shore up support in ‘ her hour of need.

When the Association’s Executive Director Eric Benson caught wind of it, he wrote his own letter to everyone on Althea’s mailing list. “I am writing to inform you,” wrote Benson, “that Judge Althea Kroger, despite being a member of the Association, is in no way authorized to speak for the Association… First of all, Judge Kroger asserts in her letter that the Association created a ‘Study Committee’ to explore county budget issues. This is not correct. In fact, as the press accounts clearly reflect, the President of the Association has appointed two separate Investigating Committees…” And this week those committees are investigating Althea Kroger and the mess that bears her signature.

Benson asked the recipients of Kroger’s spin-doctor special to “disregard” her invitation to comment on what Althea called “county budget and accountability issues.” He noted the Association has no problem with “the current statutorily sanctioned budget process.” He wrote that “Judge Kroger’s representation that the Association is considering otherwise is misguided and not based on fact.”

“Misguided.” No word better reflects the reign of Judge Althea Kroger than that one.

Club Fantasy Update — Hats off to Chairman Bill Cimonetti and the South Burlington City Council for their success in turning the only strip joint in Chittenden County into a teen hangout. Way to go, fellas! That, after all, is the effect of their decision to suspend the Club Fantasy’s liquor license for 45 days. Without the liquor license, proprietor Shaun Cliche has opened the doors to 18-yearolds. It’s showtime!

And it’s beginning to look like Cliches nightclub will become a long-term fixture on Williston Road. Shaun admitted to the council at one of their recent inquisitions that he had received “bad advice” from his attorneys. No kidding. Last week he signed up a new lawyer —former Deputy State’s Attorney Karen Shingler. Good move.

Despite all the moral out” rage vented by the righteous few, city officials concede Club Fantasy has had none of the problems that some South Burlington nightspots encounter, such as underage drinking, over-drinking and fighting. Cliche runs a pretty tight ship.

Nevertheless, Cimonetti and company are reluctant to remove the blue from their noses. In the interest of protecting their city from moral decay, the council has required the Club’s female talent to stay at least four feet away from the patrons while- performing. (That’s 48 inches if you’re counting.) This despite the fact that Cimonetti told Inside Track last week that the^ocal constabulary has informed him there’s no problem with “touching” at the club. You see, any patron who touches a dancer receives an immediate free pass to the parking lot without passing Go.

Cimonetti, who’s also the state chair of the Republican Party, continues to play the role of Chief of the Sex Police with unbridled passion. Thanks to his wisdom, the city will have to equip each member of the South Burlington Police Department with a tape measure. Duty calls.