In Sync

The Community and Economic Develoment Committee meeting started late tonight as Sharon Davis had to wait for a quorum to arrive.

As they waited, Ed Larson declared that he would vote to restore the contingency fund when the budget makes it to the full board. Davis and David Allaire replied "Absolutely" in what sounded like perfect unison.

Ballot, ballot, who's got the ballot?

I'll be making calls tomorrow to try to sort out how a ballot from District 5-4 wound up in a bag from District 5-3, and whatever I find should appear in Wednesday's paper along with the latest developments in what is threatening to turn into a recount saga.

Meanwhile, the best theory I can come up with is that an absentee ballot got sent to the wrong place.

This was not the first time a city ballot wound up in the wrong place. During the 2008 recount between Courcelle and David Allaire, one of the 5-4 bags had a stray ballot from another district. Since the recount that year only covered Courcelle's district, nobody made an issue of the other ballot.

It's not like we didn't know

Since learning of the lawsuit Three Tomatoes filed against the city, state and everyone else they could think of over the floods in 2008 and 2009, I keep thinking about all the stories the Herald has run  - I wrote at least one of them - about how outdated and inadequate Rutland's water and sewer system is. I also keep remembering how the guys in public works will haul out that cross-section of corroded pipe and show it to anyone who is interested.

I'm no lawyer, but it sure seems like that's a case for negligence on the city's part. They can't claim they didn't think there were serious problems with the system.

Even though he declined to comment on the case when I first spoke to him about it last week, I decided to put that specific question to City Attorney Andrew Costello, who said there is a difference between knowing about a problem and being able to do anything about a problem.

"I think you have to look at what's responsible to repair," he said. "Does the city have the money to fix every inch of sewer system in the city? Not by a mile."

We've all heard about corporate bean-counters deciding that settling a certain number of lawsuits is more cost-effective than issuing a recall, so I asked Costello if, in the face of unaffordable repairs, the city still has an obligation to downtown businesses it can fulfill by reimbursing them for their losses when the system fails.

"I'm sure they will try to make that argument," he said.

Notte hopes he isn't the lone holdout

Alderman William Notte was on the losing end of several 4-1 votes during the General Committee meeting Thursday, among them the vote to cut the contingency fund.

"I can understand my fellow aldermen on the committee wanting to reduce the budget wherever possible," he said Monday. "Some cuts are simply not acceptable from the standpoint of being a responsible official ... For us to slash our contingency fund by $100,000 - that's not belt-tightening. That's gambling."

Notte also rejected Alderman David Dress's reasoning that the city could lay someone off in order to make budget if faced with emergencies costing more than $100,000.

"Let's say we're at the end of the fiscal year and we have something equivalent to the norricane," he said. "You're not going to see the financial benefits right away from that action."

Notte said some of his fellow aldermen entered the process thinking they had to cut the budget no matter how low it was to begin with, and that he hopes to see a "full debate" when the budget goes before the full board.

Outside the Box

Two novel ideas for dealing with the budget were promptly shot down by the rest of the room at the General Committee meeting Thursday.

The election section drops markedly after every general election because, in odd years, the town only has to pay for polling on Town Meeting Day, wherease in even years the primary and the general add to the tally.

Seeing the cliff-like drop, Committee Chairman Christopher Robinson suggested amortizing general election expenses over the off years to make for a more stable budget line.

Mayor Louras said that would require setting up an enterprise fund to keep the leftover money from the off years from returning to the general fund. William Notte said it was probably easier to just "have the clerk do the math every year." The idea was dropped.

David Dress wants to stop giving away copies of the city report and start charging for them.

Louras said that would create a problem with the charter, for starters, and with city residents.

"Last year when we ran out there were some irate people, individuals who came back from wintering in Florida and said 'Where's the town report?'" he said.

Several Aldermen in the room quickly declared they wanted no part in such a change.

The Inadequacy of Government by Proverb

There's a meme I've heard in just about every budget process I've covered since I've been a reporter. Or, at least, whenever the economy's been rough, which seems like it started right after I became a reporter and never really let up.

It goes like this: When times are tough for your family, you "tighten your belt." Therefore, in a troubled economy, government needs to cut everything it can. I heard it in just those words back during the argument over the water and sewer rates, and I heard it alluded to again tonight in the argument over the contingency fund.

Like with so many other pieces of "common wisdom," that's not quite how real life works. For a lot of families, not having enough money means somebody is working extra shifts, or a second job, or someone who has been staying home is going back to work.

I'm a city taxpayer. I'd like to see the budget go down, too, but I worry about what we'll lose if that turns into a blind imperative to cut, cut, cut. I'd rather see discussions on the merits of each expenditure. 

A Dry Spell Approaching

Several aldermen had wrenches with them at the committee meeting tonight and jokingly divided up the properties in Rutland Town they planned to shut off the water to before going home.

Mayor Louras said that shut-off notices can go out as soon as they are ready because it has already been 30 days since the last bill was due. The city has to then wait 14 days, he said, after the notices are mailed.

Some in the room seemed disappointed - if in jest - that this meant they could not shut off the Mall's water until after Black Friday.

The Engines' Dull Roar

The service at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Main Street Park this morning would have been a more solemn affair without the near-constant rumble of trucks going by on Main Street.

A war memorial ought to be the sort of place that's good for quiet contemplation. I don't know how much it would help, but maybe the city should consider planting a row of tall shrubs or hedges along there to try screening out some of the sound.

Hindsight

The Diamond Run Mall is maybe two or three shop-closings away from feeling like a ghost town. No music shop. No real book shop -- that temporary place with the long tables full of remainders doesn't count. No Gap. A half-empty food court. It wouldn't surprise me if you could fit what's left there in the old mall with room to spare.

What I really wonder about is what would have happened if the old mall had stayed in place and they had built the Home Depot where the mall is now. Would we still have a book store and a music store and maybe even a movie theater all in one place, or would the old mall be losing more and more stores just the same?

Election Night

I'll admit up-front, my track record at predicting elections is abysmal. I didn't do too bad tonight.

I'm going to claim a 50-50 success rate with the city House races, but only for the moment. As we go to press, all three races in the city appear headed for recounts.

Speaking strictly as a gambler, I would have bet on Doug Gage to oust Gale Courcelle. Courcelle's last two elections were close enough to justify recounts and Gage seemed like a more aggressive campaigner. If the initial results hold, Courcelle made it by one vote. We'll see if the scales tip, but right now I missed that one.

I guessed Peg Andrews would probably be re-elected. Incumbents are usually safe bets if they haven't done anything specific to rile their constituents, and I haven't heard any complaints about her. That theory looks like it held up, but, again, we'll have to wait and see what the final numbers say.

I didn't have a prediction for Carl Haas and Herb Font-Russell. It's tempting to claim that as a success since it was so close, but I'm leaving it off the scoresheet.

The city ballot items went how I figured they would.

City voters seem to be pretty supportive of infrastructure projects, so I had no doubt the bond would pass. My gut told me the non-binding city manager article would fail. Vermonters generally prefer voting for more of their officials rather than fewer of them, and I never heard much of an argument that the problems with this city had anything to do with us having a mayor.