[U]p until the past few weeks, the gubernatorial primary season has been fairly low-key, with the exception of ongoing attacks by one challenger, Republican Bruce Lisman.
But as the primary draws near, the Democrats, too, are getting into the act, with Matt Dunne and Peter Galbraith both going negative last week.
That accusatory tone was evident Tuesday night in a televised debate with all five Democratic gubernatorial candidates.
The first question, posed by Vermont PBS moderator Joe Merone, addressed the recent political controversy surrounding Dunne’s position on wind energy.
Dunne had said he would give towns a say in where wind projects are sited but would not allow them to reject a project outright. On Friday, Dunne changed his position and declared in a statement to the press he would “use all the power of the governor’s office” to kill a wind project if a town did not approve it in an Australian ballot vote.
Dunne’s policy shift was roundly criticized by Vermont environmental activists, most notably Bill McKibben, who called it an “about face” and retracted his endorsement of Dunne on Sunday. McKibben said he would back Minter instead because she does not support town veto power.
At the debate, Dunne reiterated that “climate change is the biggest threat to our world,” but said that when it comes to the siting of wind projects, “we need to do it in a Vermont way.”
“I believe that a community should have an affirmation vote before you go forward with a wind project,” Dunne added.
While Minter accused Dunne of an “11th hour flip” on the issue, Dunne said in the debate that he had not changed his position, just clarified it.
“Climate change is too important to have vague positions on these issues,” he said.
Galbraith, who wants to ban industrial wind, criticized both Dunne and Minter. He said that unlike Dunne, his proposals “don’t shift with the wind.” He added that “Sue Minter is in favor of destroying the ridgelines.”
Vermont wind farms will result in a tiny reduction in the world’s carbon pollution, Galbraith said. Global warming, he insisted, “needs to be dealt with internationally.”
All three candidates promised to meet Vermont’s goal of getting 90 percent of its energy needs from renewable sources by 2050, with or without wind.
Following the wrangle over wind, the debate shifted to the EB-5 scandal that rocked Northeast Kingdom developments this spring.
In recent days, Dunne has attempted to tie Minter to the alleged EB-5 fraud because, as transportation secretary, she signed off on a contract that allowed one of the men accused of fraud, Ariel Quiros, to run an airport.
Minter accused Dunne of “deliberately trying to mislead the public,” pointing out that no EB-5 funds were involved in the contract she signed off on. She called his questioning of the contract a “smear campaign” filled with misinformation.
“Frankly, I’m disappointed and surprised that we are seeing Washington-style tactics here in Vermont,” Minter added.
Dunne said he was not alleging anything, just asking openly how Minter evaluated the contract, pointing out that red flags had been raised around Quiros’ involvement in EB-5 projects at Jay Peak and Q Burke.
VTrans officials say there was nothing out of the ordinary with the Newport Airport contract. Trini Brassard, special projects manager for VTrans, told VTDigger last week that the contracts for airport operations are all no bid and the Newport Airport contract was no different. Documents show Q Resorts did not make a profit on the deal with the state and Brassard said the state would not have given Q Resorts the contract without guaranteeing that long-time airport operator Lakeview Aviation would perform the work.
The debate also featured candidates H. Brooke Paige (who is also running for Attorney General) and Cris Ericson (who is also running for U.S. Senate.)
Ericson, a perennial gubernatorial candidate for the U.S. Marijuana Party, spent much of her allotted time accusing the Democratic Party of disenfranchisement, saying party officials “conspired to exclude me” from most of the primary forums and debates.
Ericson often referred to her policy videos, posted on the U.S. Marijuana Party website. She said EB-5 project had potential to do good, and she said homeschooling needed to be prioritized in Vermont’s education system.
In an effort to beautify solar farms, Ericson proposed to set up holograms of butterflies, snowflakes or fall leaves to mask the projects, and have ice cream stands next to the sites.
“They would become tourist attractions,” Ericson explained.
Paige, who wore a campaign sticker that was hard to read, called for a moratorium on industrial wind projects, and said he was opposed to EB-5 developments in Vermont.
On whether to keep the Vermont Health Connect website, Paige said it was “dead,” adding “take it out back and shoot it.”
The candidates also discussed a host of other topics, including broadband internet access in the state, health care and the budget.
Dunne, Minter and Galbraith all said healthcare is a human right, though only Galbraith said he was open to scrapping the state exchange. On cuts to budget spending, Galbraith pointed to reductions in special interest tax breaks while Dunne said the state pays too much money on IT projects. Minter focused on strategic investments that could leverage federal dollars.