Update Blogging: Progs of War/Pollina’s Milk Fiasco

April 7, 2008 | 12 Comments

Progs of War: Thanks to Morgan Daybell at Vermont’s Progressive Party for sending me the official minutes of the Party’s State Convention on November 17, 2001. It’s the meeting I attended and wrote about earlier in which a “stop the bombing” amendment was introduced, passed, and then quickly tabled by the Party’s hierarchy. In order to put to rest any questions of “accuracy,” below are the exact, unedited minutes of that part of the meeting:

Amendment to the resolution by Jimmy Leas (the committee has this in writing) (to stop the bombing immediately)
Jimmy Leas motioned
Seconded by Steve Howard
Jimmy Leas: speaks in support of the amendment to the resolution, the bombing is affecting millions of innocent people who had nothing to do with the September 11 attack. The bombing will create rage that will inspire further terrorism.
Joe Hammond: Opposes, we are involved in legitimate military action, let’s just accomplish the goals quickly.
Karl Novak: Supports amendment, war wastes people, materials and environment, amendment is appropriate and moral
Erhard Mahnke: Opposes, the amendment makes it a divisive issue, and it will marginalize the Progressive Party in Vermonters eyes.

Amendment vote: 63 in favor, 54 opposed

The resolution discussion:
Ken Eardly: Opposes, because of the amendment only
Steven Howard: Supports, we are here because of our principles, we can’t act out of fear of being marginalized.
John Gallagher: Opposes, this is poison for average working folk and will alienate us
Burt Townsend: Supports.
John Demeter: Opposes, this will alienate Progressives
April Jin: Abstaining, we can’t wait for the U.N. to make decisions
Mark Montalbam: Supports, American foreign policy is hurting people all over the world.
Andy Torres: Opposes, this is not the place to discuss why the fighting is happening, the resolution has admirable parts, but also naïve parts, we don’t really know yet what we’re talking about.
Ben Grosscup: Supports, millions of Afghans are dying because of what the U.S. military is doing.

Carina Driscoll: makes a motion to table the resolution
Seconded by: Remy Gratton
The motion to table the resolution is passed.

And there you have it – a terrible lack of vision, leadership and courage from the Prog hierarchy.

–

Pollina’s Milk Fiasco: If the Vermont media would wake up to the mess that is the Vermont Milk Company, Anthony Pollina would be quitting his campaign for governor. Other than a few media mentions, much of Vermont’s mainstream media have given Pollina a pass for stiffing the farmers he was supposed to be helping. Think about this: Pollina’s Milk Company stopped paying its farmers the price they were promised beginning on December 1st of last year. In case you forgot, this was when Pollina was out bragging about how he was raising $100,000 for his political campaign. Got that, folks? Pollina’s Milk Company wasn’t paying its farmers while he was boasting about all the cash he was swimming in for his political campaign. No wonder the farmers at the Vermont Milk Company are so angry.

I also find it interesting that the Pollina campaign has said next to nothing about the mess. It might help, of course, if the media asked. But, so far, the only mainstream journalist to wade into the story is Ross Sneyd of Vermont Public Radio. Congrats, Ross. But Sneyd’s story soft-pedaled Pollina’s involvement with the company, simply calling him a co-founder. But, according to Pollina’s campaign biography, he “ran the company” until 2008. Moreover, company officials told Broadsides that Pollina “signed all the checks.” Well, except the checks that never got to the farmers…

Brian LaCoss, the acting plant manager at the Vermont Milk Company, told Broadsides last month that operations at the facility were “a complete mess.” According to LaCoss, the business guru that Pollina brought in to help set up the company, Peter Burmeister, “didn’t seem to know much about business or making good business decisions.”

When asked about the non-payments to the farmers, LaCoss declared that Pollina was out raising the money to “pay them off and make the issue go away.”

But, interestingly, Pollina was only moving on it once the Caledonian Record published a story on the company’s financial and managerial problems. Shortly after the Record’s story was published, Pollina stepped down from the company’s board of directors.

Late last month, Pollina and the Vermont Milk Company announced that they had secured a $200,000 infusion of cash from an “anonymous donor.” While it will certainly be a relief for the farmers who will now presumably get the money they were promised for their milk, the anonymity of the contributor gives rise to a host of other questions, not least of which: What are the contributor’s possible connections/expectations to Pollina’s campaign for governor? One can only imagine the (understandable) outrage that would come from the Pollina camp if an “anonymous donor” pumped $200,000 into – let’s say – a private business venture of Governor Jim Douglas right in the middle of campaign season.

Let’s hope the media wakes up to this story soon because Pollina’s got some explaining to do. And it would also be nice if he’d identify the sugar-daddy-or-momma who plunked down $200,000 for a little campaign damage control.

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Update Blogging: Progs of War/Pollina’s Milk Fiasco

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