Some Documents: The Guildhall School Board Admits Past Unlawful Conduct

For the sake of public knowledge, I thought I’d publish two recent documents, in which the Guildhall School Board acknowledges that their past conduct was unlawful, specifically, that the conflict of interest law and Vermont’s Open Meeting Law were violated.

The Board, through their attorney, filed this document: Guildhall School District, Pleading to Court at Essex County Superior Court this past week. A day or two later, this statement, guildhall_written_statement_re_lawsuit was posted on the Guildhall Town website.

Again, long overdue but much appreciated.

Finally, A Small Measure of Justice: The Guildhall School Board

It’s been a while since I’ve written anything about the continuing saga of the Guildhall School Board controversy. But I’m now pleased to learn that our School Board has finally owned up publicly to its past mistakes.

As many will remember, in the late summer of 2011, one of the then-Board members joined with the Board majority in voting to pay tuition for his own child to attend an out-of-district school. This vote happened in spite of the fact that the electorate had, just months before, said no to the tuitioning out of any grade below 6th grade. It happened in spite of a Vermont statute which specifically states that School Board members shall not vote in a matter that will benefit them financially.

And to add insult to injury, that vote took place at what appeared to be an illegally called meeting, which the Board now admits was improperly warned, in violation of Vermont’s Open Meeting Law.

In the aftermath of that vote, there was a groundswell of outrage among townspeople, as you might imagine. Letters were written, petitions were submitted, and citizens attended School Board meetings in record numbers to voice their concerns about the Board’s actions. Yet the School Board majority stood their ground and refused to either rescind the action or even admit error.

After a slew of grass-roots activity, finally, a group of 10 taxpayers and voters filed a lawsuit in Essex County Superior Court asking the Court to declare the votes null and void. As I understand it, the lawsuit asked for no monetary damages, but simply asked that the Court declare the vote illegal and make the Board member in question pay for his own child’s tuition. In fact, many people in town, whether their names were on the lawsuit or not, felt that this was the least the Board should do, in light of the fact that so many families over the years have had to pay with their own money if they chose to send their child out of district.

Today, as reported in the Caledonian-Record, the School Board has finally admitted publicly, to the Court, that the Board violated the law, as it relates to conflict of interest and Vermont’s open meeting law. (The School District’s Memorandum to the Court is available to the public at the Essex County Court).

I frankly wish the School Board had owned up to its mistakes much earlier than this. If they had done so early in the game, we could have avoided much of the anger, outrage and divisiveness in our Town, and I suspect there might have been no need for litigation. In the end, it appears that perhaps the threat of a prolonged trial and the attendant publicity was enough to get the Board to finally admit error–something that was long overdue. Still, this goes a long way toward restoring confidence once again in our Board.

Now that the Board has conceded that its conduct was unlawful, we shall see what remedy the Court will order. Stand by.

Marion Hodge Klinefelter, 1924-2013

This is Marion Elsie Hodge Klinefelter, who passed away last week, on March 6. The photo was taken some time during 2009, at either the Hunters’ Supper or Mother’s Day Brunch at the Guild Hall. I remember being surprised and happy to see Marion because she had been sick and confined to her home for some time. But she looked well that night and told me how much better she was feeling. When I asked if I could take her picture, she smiled and said “of course!”

Marion’s roots in Guildhall ran deeper than almost anyone here. Her grandfather Ida Hodge fought in the Civil War and then lived in a home in Guildhall, a place I regularly pass on my daily runs.

Both Marion and her husband John Klinefelter had special places in my heart. They were an extraordinary couple, intelligent, witty, adventurous, open and forthcoming. On one occasion during our first year in Guildhall, Edward and I went biking on some dirt paths by the Connecticut River. We ended up stuck in tall grass, not exactly sure of our location, and under siege by mosquitos. We headed toward Rt 102 hand pushing our bikes through nearly impassable brush, and came out behind a house. We hesitated, not wanting to trespass on a stranger’s property, but knowing no other way back to the road. Then we saw a man waving to us cheerfully from his back porch. He called us over, sat us down on his back porch, called Marion out, and insisted on serving us ice tea. That was our first encounter with John Klinefelter, or, as I came to call him, “Uncle John” and Marion.

The Klinefelters were an important part of our lives those first years in Guildhall. They went out of their way to make us feel welcome. During my first year as Town Clerk, I had occasion to work often with John Klinefelter, who was a Guildhall Justice of the Peace. I look back fondly on the many afternoons I spent sitting with the Klinefelters in their living room talking about Guildhall history, election results, local politics, and lots of other interesting matters. When I decided to run for Town Treasurer in 2007, John and Marion were among my strongest supporters, campaigning tirelessly for me and giving me encouragement and advice as I undertook a new and unfamiliar job.

Marion was an endless source of fascinating local history. I will never forget the day that she and Uncle John came to our home in Guildhall (known as the Benton Cottage) and we sat on the porch drinking wine. As the shadows lengthened outside, Marion told us how in her late teens, she had worked for the Benton family, and therefore spent lots of time in our home. She then proceeded to give us a little mini-history of every single room in the house, with anecdotes about how each room had been used. It was a great day.

Rest in peace, Marion Hodge Klinefelter.

French Bread and Julia Child

I’ve been making baguettes for years, and the results have been decent, but I’ve never been fully satisfied. So for today’s bread, I decided to stray away from the Bernard Clayton book and go to the ultimate source for french bread: Julia Child herself. I dug out Edward’s copy of Julia’s The Way to Cook, which has elaborate, precise instructions for French bread (whether in baguette form or round). I resolved to follow her instructions down to the littlest minutae, in the hopes of making a great French baguette.

The outcome? Well, it’s pretty good, but still not perfect. The taste is top-notch, and the texture is just about right, but the volume of the loaves isn’t substantial enough. I don’t know if that’s because the yeast didn’t perform properly or because I somehow got the volume of ingredients wrong. Sigh. My quest is not over. In the meantime, here’s an amusing video of Julia observing a French baker in Paris. http://http://video.pbs.org/video/2262589124/

Egg Harbor Bread, from the Amish (provenance somewhere in Wisconsin)

Today’s bread is lighter and more airy. That’s because it calls for a whopping 6 (six) rising periods over the course of the day. The first one is 30 minutes. Then there are 4 successive 15 minute rising periods, and finally, a last 50 minute rising period in the pan before going in to the oven.

It’s a very satisfying bread, both because you feel accomplished once you’ve completed all those risings, and because it has a light, elegant texture. I noticed that each time I punched the dough down, there were more bubbles that had to be deflated. Before going in to the oven, I simply brushed the top of the loaf with plain water.

As you can see, someone got to the bread before I could, with my camera. But that attests to its great taste and appeal. Page 24 from Bernard Clayton’s New Complete Book of Breads!

A Daily Loaf, Bernard Clayton

I need some sort of regular, yet stimulating routine to keep me going through this dreary mid-to-late Northeast Kingdom winter. Something apart from the exciting peaks and valleys of law practice. Today, the answer came to me while I was poring over Bernard Clayton’s classic tome: The (New) Complete Book of Breads. It’s a volume that never fails to inspire me, where I always find some interesting recipe or piece of information about baking. Until now, though I’ve just chosen a few recipes here and there that seemed to work for me. But today, I’ve decided to throw caution to the wind.

Admittedly my plan isn’t terribly original. Those of you who have seen the fabulous film Julie & Julia will remember how the contemporary Julie, inspired and obsessed by Julia Child, decided to make every recipe in The French Chef–and to blog about it. I’ll never forget the scene when the contemporary Julie has a meltdown in her kitchen after a failed attempt and lies prone on the floor, sobbing.

I’m going to see if I can actually make a loaf of bread each day. That might be unrealistic. But at the very least, I will try to get through every single recipe in Mr. Clayton’s book and see what happens.

In the oven as we speak is Mr. Clayton’s recipe for Cuban Bread, pages 23-24.

Here is what it’s supposed to look like. Wish me luck!

Partial Preview: Who’s Running?

Entrance to Guild Hall, for Town Meeting 2012

Here’s a partial update on who is running for what office in our town of Guildhall, Vt at the  upcoming Town Meeting, March 5, 2013:

After my blog post about the lack of Road Commissioner candidates, it came to the attention of our Town Clerk that the RC position hadn’t been posted on the Town website (although it had been legally posted on the bulletin board). The deadline was extended, and Tim Cahill has placed his name on the ballot.   I encourage my fellow citizens to vote for him. Mr. Cahill has proven himself utterly competent and professional since going on the Selectboard last year.   After a rough and somewhat demoralizing patch on our Selectboard,  he’s been a voice of reason, intelligence, and good humor, and he stepped in to act as Acting Road Commissioner last year,  to good effect. Go Tim!

On the Selectboard, there is a contested race.  Karen Guile and James “Pete” Fay are running for one vacant seat. I’ll have more to say about these two candidates later.  For the moment, however, I’ll  note my opinion that Mr. Fay’s  conduct during his recent failed campaign  for a seat in the Vermont House of Representatives may raise some serious questions–at the very least–about his suitability for the Selectboard.

On the School Board side, there are two seats available. Karen Guile and Christina McGrath are running for the seats, each uncontested.  These are two independent-minded, thoughtful, and utterly competent women.   If elected, our teachers, students and indeed everyone in town will be extraordinarily lucky to have them.

More later on the always-exciting matter of Town elections…