VANGUARD PRESS; I

S C O P I
Rick Sharp (left) and Paul,~af?yette (center) led a toaterfront walk Saturday, December 7,
1 0 encourage vote" to vote no. Last Tuesday the duo led the celebrations.
P U B L I C D I S T R U S T D E F E A T S B O N D
BURLINGTON
ill
ard 4 is tradi-
tionally a conserva-
tive ward. Many of
its residents grew up
in Burlington, or moved here
with middle-class aspirations
for their families. But it is an
economically mixed ward, with
a trailer park amid the small
ranch-style homes that pre-
dominate, as well as a sprin-
kling of expensive lakefront
villas.
It was in Ward 4that Mayor
Bernie Sanders made his
unsuccessful stand on water-
front hand issue election day.
Behind him, leaning against
the wall of the Lyman Hunt
school, was a sign. "May I
answer your questions?" He
shook hands with voters, but
few asked any questions. Most,
it appeared, had already made
up their minds.
Less than seven thousand
votes were cast in the election.
The complicated financing
agreement garnered only 53.4
percent of those votes, far
project, the McNeil wood chip
plant, disapproved the hand
by 40 votes, Ward 5, already
facing a high-rent condo devel-
opment on its own stretch of
w at er f r o n t , al s o c as t a m aj o r -
ity of no votes.
Ward 3, traditionally a San-
ders stronghold along with
Ward 2 and where the hotel
an d c o n d o m i n i u m s o f t h e
Alden Corporation's design
would have been located, voted
375for the financing plan and
414 against.
"I don't like it," declared
Ward 3voter Vincent Hayes.
" "I think it should be all stores,
bars and shops, no condos."
"I'm in danger of losing
e something that's part of my
life," if the bond passed, said
a heavyset man outside Law-
rence Barnes school. "l grew
up down there. What do we
pay people tax money to keep
the city clean for?" he asked,
and offered to help clean up
the site, if that would make it
more accessible to more
people.
Even on election day, San-
ders didn't hold much hope
for the hand's passage. "It's
too easy to vote no," he said.
"They don't like condos, or
they're worried about taxes.
or electric rates, there's a dozen
reasons. We're not choosing
between two alternatives here.
Plan A isthe Alden plan, plan
B is nobody knows."
Lawyer Rick Sharp, the
Alden plan's most vocal op-
ponent, celebrated the hand
issue's defeat as a victory, The
day after the vote, he was
already beginning work on his
scheme to create a state park
on the waterfront using the
public trust doctrine.
According to Sharp, the
State of Vermont, which gave
the waterfront land to the
railroad companies, has the
right to take it back if the land
is no longer being used in the
public interest. But such a sei-
zure would require an act of
the legislature.
"I have drafted a letter to
the Burlington legislative del-
egation to invite them to a pub-
lic forum on December 19,
either at Contois auditorium
ur Fletcher Free Library, to
explain in detail the public trust
doctrine," Sharp said. "I have
already spoken to Represen
tative Howard Dean, and he
will hold a strategy session
after the public forum to dis-
cuss how to move forward in
the legislature."
The City of Burlington and
the Alden Corporation have
taken the public interest issue
to court in an amicable suit
aimed at settling whether the
Alden design for park land and
commercial property would be
considered in the public
interest. Paul Flinn, a princi-
pal shareholder in the Alden
Corporation, and corporation
lawyer Charles Shea could not
be reached for comment by
p r es s t i m e.
"The legislature is a better
way to go than through the
courts," said Sharp. "We
couldn't get standing in the
case. nor coutn anyone else.
But in the legislature, every-
one in the state of Vermont
has the right to come and tes-
tify and have full public
discussion."
Asked about Burlington's
chances for state assistance,
given the legislature's snub-
bing of the city's proposed tax
initiatives last year, Sharp said,
"The current mayor seems to
have a grudge match going
with the legislature, And those
were issues that benefitted
only Burlington, The public
trust doctrine has implications
for all of Vel1llQlll. We're talk-
ing about the state's interest
in the land."
Noting that he grew up in a
small town away from the lake,
he added, "I think I can talk
Bellows Falls legislators into
seeing the importance of hav-
ing that land available as a
state park."
despite confusion over the
impact of the financing agree-
ment and the development on
schools. '" got the impression
that if you supported the plan,
that meant you don't support
the schools, and I don't think
that's true. I have school-age
kids, and I think the develop-
ment would mean improved
revenues eventually. The
basic problem with school
funding," she continued, "is
the state aid to education for-
mula, not the waterfront
development."
A student-age voter in Ward
6said he liked the integration
of public and private sectors
in the plan and voted for the
hand. Another Ward 6 voter
said he voted for the plan
b ec au s e " We' r e i n d es p er at e
need of additional tax reve-
nues in this town - the schools
especially." But Melanie
Duchin voted against the bond,
explaining, "It's just aimed at
the rich people rather than the
lower- and middle-class."
Ward 2, site of another con-
troversial city bond issue
below the 66.6 percent 'needed
for passage of a bond issue.
Wards 1,4 and 6, farthest
away from the railroad-owned
downtown lake front and most
solidly middle-class, voted in
favor of the hand, with only
Ward 6approving it by the
required two-thirds majority.
'" voted for it," said Ward 4
resident Andrew Bostock.
"But I'll bet it'll get voted down.
There are just too many un-
an s w er ed q u es t i o n s ."
His neighbors in the ward
were almost equally divided
on the issue, with only five
more votes (1,050) cast for the
$6 million tax incremental
financing plan than against
(1,045).
An older couple, who said
they had lived in the ward for
22 years, said they "don't think
much of' the Alden waterfront
design, questioning what
would happen to electric rates
with a big development on the
waterfront.
Becky Davis, carrying one
child and with another in tow,
said she voted for the hand
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