Rumors began to swirl early this week that Paul Burns, executive director of the Vermont Public Interest Research Group, had fired the advocacy organization’s health care lobbyist immediately after she informed him she was running for lieutenant governor.
When Cassandra Gekas first filed a petition to challenge incumbent Lt. Gov. Phil Scott, the word was that she had resigned voluntarily.
Because VPIRG is a nonpartisan organization, Burns said, one cannot simultaneously work for VPIRG and run for political office.
Then Wednesday, the weekly paper Seven Days reported Gekas’ account that she had been fired on the spot rather than resigning voluntarily. Burns said he cannot comment on the internal personnel matters of the organization, but he has maintained that Gekas resigned.
Then things really heated up when Seven Days and the Vermont Press Bureau reported on a leaked internal e-mail from Burns to the VPIRG board blasting Gov. Peter Shumlin and Gekas.
The e-mail called Gekas’ move “utterly unprofessional and dishonest.”
Burns told the board he believed the governor and others had talked Gekas into running.
“He should be ashamed of himself,” the e-mail reads.
Gekas, Burns and Shumlin all declined to comment on the e-mail this week.
