Vermont's Independent Voice
Browse News
Browse Arts + Culture
Browse Food + Drink
Browse Cannabis
Browse Music
Browse On Screen
Browse Events
Browse Classifieds
Browse Personals
btvFredP
Member since Nov 9, 2017
Recent Comments
Re: “In Reversal, Burlington City Council Won't Put Noncitizen Voting on Ballot”
Being in power is harder than it looks...
Posted by
btvFredP
on 01/28/2020 at 6:27 AM
Re: “Burlington City Council Appoints Morrison as Interim Police Chief”
Burlington is fortunate to have someone who appears to be good to step into the role as interim chief on Day 1. On City Place, Seven Days, it should be a separate story here. Developers renege on promise to engage in public process? That seems like a bigger deal than "in other Council business."
Posted by
btvFredP
on 01/07/2020 at 5:31 AM
Re: “Pit Happens: How Readers Would Fill the Hole That Is CityPlace Burlington”
Financial mismanagement by the Weinberger administration. We need a fresh start.
Posted by
btvFredP
on 09/21/2019 at 9:15 PM
Re: “Developer: CityPlace Burlington Project Will Be Redesigned”
Seems to me the comments below beg the question of whether a significant redesign will have to go back through the formal (State/public) TIF approval process. And it must be mentioned - why is the mayor referring to this as a "long-troubled" site? More on his watch than anything else. You can see the political-revisionist history wheels turning, some leadership (or at least just avoid passing the buck, for once) would be nice instead...
Posted by
btvFredP
on 07/19/2019 at 5:11 PM
Re: “CityPlace Architect Says Mall Project Will Be Redesigned”
No one should be pleased about what appears to be a serious debacle that is developing here. This risks to Burlington of this fiasco are real and could be lasting, so let's hope there is a solution. However, there's no comparison to BT ("written" IMO you are "rewriting" history). We're not there yet, but City Place could be a liability without an asset. BT was the building of a long-term asset, despite the corresponding liability (which was a problem - but at least it was for an asset) - as already pointed out, the funds that went into BT were spent for the asset. City Place might just be a money pit that is also an eyesore on the downtown and entire city, and may seriously limit the City's options down the road.
And to be clear, there was nothing special about how the current Mayor dealt with BT - through bond funding (a thinly-veiled bailout) and personal relationships. All this took was political and personal capital (as well as a friendly Council), which is surely running dry, not special financial or administrative acumen.
Posted by
btvFredP
on 07/17/2019 at 3:08 PM
Re: “Burlington Council to Question Mayor, Police Chief About Death Investigation”
It is rare that this type of corruption (or attempted corruption) receives such a public airing, due to the emails and perhaps texts (which at this point someone should probably be requesting) that have been disclosed. This type of "soft" corruption is problematic, to say the least. And it might say volumes about how this Mayor operates in other areas, which haven't been exposed. Very troubling.
Posted by
btvFredP
on 04/26/2019 at 9:37 PM
Re: “Vermont House Passes Emergency Coronavirus Bills After Procedural Delay”
Rep. Browning did the right thing.