Iowa’s doing it, too…

The article also quotes an Iowan who has made an issue of access to particular records as saying that he thinks the newly-proposed office to deal with records requests “…would stop a lot of this stuff from happening in cities and counties.” That’s what I think, too, about all manner of bureaucratic missteps in Vermont—a lot of it would never happen if bureaucrats knew that someone was looking over their shoulder and could hold them accountable.

And now a few words about the journalists…

So now we have these talking heads who are all rah-rah for the right or the left and who have turned the words “fair” and “balanced” into limping, oozing parodies of themselves. Blog Land often doesn’t show itself to be a lot better, but there are some wonderful, real journalists who pop up from time to time.

“Pure, vindictive, political thuggery:” A New Tale of Vermont Politics

Green Mountain Daily just added this post about Burlington’s Intervale having lost a major battle to stay in operation and continue providing its many benefits to the community and state. Granted that there were problems with composting in the Intervale, but the responsible parties were willing to, well, be responsible, and make whatever changes were [...]

Not So Common Sense and Vermont State Laws

On the one hand, we do not want every detail legislated, but neither can we fail to specify “common sense” behavior when people who should know better repeatedly fail to act that way.

Two Weeks and Counting…

It has now been two weeks since the referenced meeting, and I’ve gotten no word yet on the outcome of the meeting.

First in the List of Bills to Watch

This is the first of a series of posts that will feature bills introduced in the current session of the Vermont legislature that have implications for how well or poorly state bureaucracy may serve the public. The first bill to watch is H. 66, AN ACT RELATING TO INTERNET PUBLICATION OF STATE AGENCY RULES.  Here [...]

Guilty Verdict in Patricia Scoville Murder Owes to Parents’ Citizen Lobbying

…the slaying went unsolved for years. Meanwhile, her parents lobbied to get Vermont lawmakers to establish a DNA databank.

DNA submitted by Godfrey after a 1996 aggravated assault conviction in an unrelated case was tested by an FBI laboratory in 2005 and matched his DNA profile, leading prosecutors to charge him.

Today? Maybe?

I really should have known better. I mean, really–after years of experiencing the excruciating slowness of Vermont’s Office of Professional Regulation, what basis did I have for thinking I would have heard by early this week of a decision that was made at the end of last week? I’m an optimist by nature, and said [...]

Good Things in Threes?

Waiting to find out if there will be a third good story involving bureaucracy to start out the New Year. The news could come today, but early next week for sure.

Fickle Bureaucratic Accountability

Here’s a piece from Mark Green today that illustrates the fickleness of bureaucratic accountability: Mark Green: Rudy Watch IV: When “Transparency” Means Secrecy and Deception – Politics on The Huffington Post Three City Officials got police security and city cars over eight years — Rudy, me and Comptroller Alan Hevesi. Tragically, Hevesi years later as [...]