Lack of transparency got
citizens steamed in Rutland, VT in the first place, Posted by Ann Corcoran on June 26, 2016
Vermont
citizens, who are not happy that they were blindsided by their mayor who
quietly invited 100 Syrians to resettle in the small city, have succeeded in
getting enough signatures on a petition to bring the issue before voters…but
get this!
The mayor says
he isn’t sure he will put it on the ballot! I don’t know enough about
Vermont election laws, but I do know a bit about the secrecy surrounding
refugee resettlement in almost any city in America where refugees are resettled
or where the feds are targeting next, and I know that time and time again
arrogant politicians thumb their noses at voters (at their peril!) and that the
paid federal contractors sneak refugees into towns with only refugee advocates
in on the plan.
Stacie Blake
representing the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (the major federal
refugee contractor working in VT) attempts to place blame on citizens with
concerns—that they are sending an ‘unwelcoming’ message to immigrants. This is
however, your fault Ms. Blake because your organization chose to proceed with
this plan and willfully kept information from citizens for months! It is about
secrecy coming from Washington, not about the refugees themselves! For background
for new readers, visit our previous posts on the escalating controversy in
Rutland, VT by clicking
here.
From WAMC
Public Radio: Some residents in the city of Rutland were
blindsided when the mayor and the Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program announced
in April that 100 Syrian and Iraqi refugees would be coming to the city in
October. Now, a petition seeking to put the issue before voters has been
validated.
Concerned
citizens have appeared repeatedly before the Board of Aldermen seeking information
on the resettlement plan. But little information has been made public. A group
called Rutland First circulated a petition and collected more than 1,200
signatures asking the mayor and Board of Aldermen to put a proposition before
the voters.
Despite the
demand that the refugee resettlement plan be placed before city voters, Mayor
Christopher Louras has been quoted that he’s “not inclined at this time to put
it on the ballot.” Calls to the mayor were not returned. Continue
reading here.
Have you been
noticing a trend? Small town newspapers (owned by big media corporations)
are skewing stories to put concerned citizens in the worst light, while there
appears to be some efforts still going on at TV and radio stations to give a
more balanced report on the latest news about immigration/refugees.
The following
cities are ones that are newly targeted. There could be many more, but
these are the ones we have reported on so far (in addition to Rutland): Reno,
NV, Ithaca, NY, Missoula, MT, Charleston, WV, and Fayetteville, AR.
Again, I believe there are dozens more. Let me know if you suspect
something is up where you live!
https://refugeeresettlementwatch.wordpress.com/2016/06/26/lack-of-transparency-got-citizens-steamed-in-rutland-vt-in-the-first-place/
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