Editor’s note: This story is by John P. Gregg of the Valley News.
Karen Marshall, who spearheaded Gov. Peter Shumlin’s universal broadband expansion efforts, will be the new president of VTel Data Network. The company, based in Springfield, Vt., received $116 million in federal stimulus grants in 2011 for broadband expansion in rural, underserved areas of the state.
News of her hiring comes less than two weeks after the Shumlin administration and the Vermont Telecommunications Authority announced a $5 million grant to VTel to expand cellular service in southern Vermont. Marshall is a VTA board member and was present at the board meetings when the grant was approved in April and then amended on Dec. 7, both by voice vote.
She told the Valley News yesterday she did not engage in job conversations with VTel until Dec. 12, when she and Guite “had a mutual conversation on the 12th in which I shared some of the challenges I face in balancing some of my family considerations with my current role.”
A Williston, Vt., resident, Marshall said she is a “single and only parent” with a daughter in college and a high school-aged son in the Junior Bruins Hockey program in central Massachusetts. Her new job, she said, would involve a data network that is largely out of state and would enable her to be closer to her son, and that “a lot of my role will take me outside the borders of (Vermont).”
An executive code of conduct signed by Gov. Peter Shumlin by executive order doesn’t prohibit Marshall from taking such a job, but she would be prohibited from lobbying her former colleagues, or the Legislature, for a year on behalf of VTel.
The code of conduct also says appointees are not allowed to “take any official action that materially advances the interest of any entity (except the state of Vermont) with which the appointee is actively seeking employment.”
Gubernatorial appointees “shall not take any action in any particular matter in which he or she has either a conflict of interest or an appearance of a conflict of interest, until such time as the conflict is resolved,” it also states.
Marshall was quoted in a Shumlin press release on Dec. 28 announcing the $5 million VTel grant, saying, “The mission to connect Vermont is twofold: to achieve universal broadband service and to vastly expand our cellular service by the end of 2013. Our cell carriers are investing heavily to upgrade their existing networks to 4G/LTE at the same time we are seeking expanded coverage. This grant to VTel Wireless, a Vermont company, represents a significant investment in leading-edge micro and macro cell technology that will meet the needs of Vermonters. We are using the VTel Wireless broadband infrastructure of the WOW project as a foundation, then identifying where those sites overlap with Target Corridors. Our public funds leverage federal and private funds already at work as we avoid duplication of infrastructure and stretch our resources further.”
Marshall said she and Guite “have agreed on a position” but have not finalized and signed an employment contract. “We’re still working on details,” she said.
She said she told Shumlin of her interest in a VTel job on Jan. 3, and submitted her resignation on Tuesday, effective tomorrow.
Asked for comment on Marshall’s new job, Shumlin spokeswoman Susan Allen said by email: “There is a state appointee policy on conflict of interest, and the governor expects all of his appointees to understand it and to follow it, including the portions that apply to conduct of business with the state after their departure. Karen had deep industry experience before her appointment, and it is no surprise that she would return to that field of work, particularly now that Vermont is on track to meet its broadband goal. When the administration learned that she had accepted an offer with VTel, we let her know that she would need to end her state employment immediately. We wish Karen well in her new position.”
State Sen. Joe Benning, a Caledonia Republican who also serves on the Vermont Telecommunications Authority Board, said he did not believe Marshall should be criticized for a conflict of interest if, as he had been told, her job discussions took place after the last grant was awarded.
“I thought she has done a wonderful job” balancing a role that included education of the public about broadband expansion while also working with providers in a technical field involving complicated contracts, said Benning, whose district includes several Orange County towns.
Benning also said it’s to be expected that a small state such as Vermont would see talented executives take jobs in a related field after serving in government.
“People who have expertise in these areas are few and far between,” Benning said. “As long as it hasn’t been used to the advantage of the company in past situations, I think it’s a perfectly legitimate thing to happen.”
