News from Rutland, VT: A guest column by a
Rutland firster! by Ann
Corcoran 8/30/16
Editor: As regular readers know,
Rutland, VT citizens are not taking kindly to a plan to resettle 100 Syrians in
their town—a plan the mayor made in secrecy with a federal resettlement
contractor. For background, please click
here for our Rutland archive. And, for future reference, this post is filed
in our ‘Comments
worth noting/Guest posts‘ category.
With grateful
appreciation to Ann Corcoran and Refugee Resettlement Watch, it is with pride
and pleasure that I attempt, here, to provide you all with the saga of RUTLAND
VERMONT, a struggling, proud community facing the importation of even more
needy refugees when our welfare overload is choking us even now.
STRAIGHT TALK—–with Don Chioffi VERMONT’S AREA
51—THE SECRET RESETTLEMENT PROJECT
The proud,
struggling city of Rutland, Vermont has been fighting against seemingly
insurmountable odds to even get public information about the secret Refugee
Resettlement Program since late April. Here it is now in late August and
we have no more information than in April, despite numerous FOIA
requests. The arrogance, impudence, and outright defiance by the USCRI,
the secular agency responsible for this Refugee resettlement Program, with the
compliant secret help of Mayor Chris Louras and his crony President of the
Board of Aldermen, William Notte, would be more appropriately associated with
some third world country, in fact it is headed by a woman that is, in fact,
from one of those countries. Amila Merdzandovic, one of Lavinia Limon’s
dutiful henchman, has stonewalled, lied outright, and threatened even those in
our own state government for releasing even the most pitiful of information to
the citizens of our state and of Rutland, and our mayor vowed to reject a
lawful petition submitted by his own citizens requesting a moratorium on this
program until facts were forthcoming.
Our three state
senators from Rutland county, Peg Flory, Kevin Mullin, and Brian Collamore (all
Republicans) have even tried to gain information from the State Health and
Human Services department and were met with the response that even HHS
was not provided with the complete Application and Abstract, a document that is
supposed to have the coordination and cooperation of state and local government
bodies and the public prior to even being sent to the US State
Department. Our state senators were not even informed that this program
was being instituted at the state level by our ultra liberal governor, Peter
(lame duck) Shumlin. They were also rebuffed by US Sen. Patrick Leahy,
who, to date, has also refused to produce the documents. It sure looks
like all the Democrats at every level are closing ranks to protect the secrecy
of these documents.
The Application
has all the back-up information concerning Rutland’s ability to sustain the
number of refugees intended for resettlement during 2016 and forward.
Information on housing availability, law enforcement, medical capacity, social
service capacity, the burgeoning drug problem in our community, the
availability or lack of jobs in our community, and the severe drop in
population over the last 15 years are all supposed to be in that document—-yet
no one, I repeat, no one, has been able to see what has been put into that
document as justification for hundreds and hundreds of refugees from a war torn
country infested with terrorists being planted like seeds in our community.
Rutland City
Treasurer, Wedy Wilton, shocks Rutland with a 35% tax increase prediction in 5
years if USCRI gets its way. Indeed, USCRI
(US Committee for Refugees and immigrants) AND VRRP (Vermont Refugee
Resettlement Program) have treated the refugees like a commodity, at around
$4,000 each, that will sustain their own taxpayer funded VOLAG (90% government
funding), while adamantly refusing to release Rutland’s own application data,
which we the people cannot even therefore verify as being accurate and appropriate
as justification for the settlement of hundreds of needy individuals into an
already impoverished region with a staggering welfare load and severe
unemployment or under employment problem.
We, the people,
constituted as RUTLAND FIRST, have been struggling on our own to do the
research necessary to answer questions and develop information relative to this
invasion of our community in the guise of “welcoming humanitarianism”. We
have been battling for four months now against the “welcome wagon” which has literally
shut its eyes to the costs, the security challenges, and the lack of quality
jobs in our region, while at the same time labeling us as racists,
islamophobes, or any other vile descriptive adjective in their lexicon of
“Global Worldspeak” that they can conjure up, including un-American.
This, in spite of the fact that our group boasts several retired and active
service personnel who have fought for their country, professional leaders in
the community, and active government personnel in both elective and appointed
office in our community.
So, yesterday,
August 29th, RUTLAND FIRST conducted a forum to attempt to inform our local
legislators, state senators, candidates for higher office, and also the general
public. Attended by well over a hundred people, the dynamic presentation was
riveting in its focus on facts. That alone put it in great contrast to
the so called forums presented by the Mayor and the settlement agencies, which
characteristically were devoid of anything but emotional statements of support.
Today the Rutland
Herald had not one word on the dramatic presentation—but managed yet
another full column welcoming editorial.
Rutland City
Treasurer, Wendy Wilton presented some pretty startling financial impact data,
including the most shocking prediction based on present and future costs
associated with these programs. When she told the crowd there that based
on her calculations, within five years City property taxpayers would be facing
an increase of 35%, there were visible signs of multiple jaw dropping in the
audience. With a steadily declining population base in the City, the
remaining property taxpayers have been facing the high tax burden with no signs
of a break and an ever increasing unmet Pension Benefit obligation. Recent
comparative studies done by the city have shown that based on its population
the number of city employees far exceeds other cities in Vermont. The
very dramatic decrease in population has not, however, been met with anywhere
near such a proportional drop in personnel.
Gary Shattuck,
a local lawyer and a former prosecutor and investigator who worked for the US
Department of Justice in Kosovo and Iraq as a legal advisor, presented a
pretty bleak picture of any prospect that Syrian Refugees could be properly
vetted, citing many qualified opinions by high level US officials specifically
stating that there is no empirical data base left in Syria with which to
compare any biometric, historical, or verifiable sociometric information.
In other words, no matter what name they give the fact checkers, there is no
data left in Syria to even check that name, let alone relatives, friends,
operatives, or terrorists who may or may not have been associated with the
applicant. Shattuck spent substantial time and expertise setting up a
system for vetting Iraq’s 850 judges and prosecutors following the breakdown of
order in that country to determine if they were, in fact, friend or foe.
David O’Brien,
former VT Public Service Commissioner former director of the Rutland Economic Development
Corporation (REDC) and presently a consultant in the Energy industry, presented
some economic data relevant to the job prospects for refugees, and it was not a
pretty picture. Dave cited the dramatic loss of manufacturing jobs in the
entire Rutland Region and the tremendous shift from quality long term
employment to a model featuring under-employment and service oriented jobs
exclusively.
There were
letters at the event to be signed by citizens and presented to the State
Department, and a local attorney, Judy Barone, Esq. and Don Chioffi, as Rutland
First committee members, presented a stinging letter*** to the local and state
legislators demanding that they get answers to all the questions posed at the
forum. Those present left with plenty of finally answered questions and
the clear impression, if not a mandate, that this program should be stopped
right now, in its tracks, until and as when the cloak of secrecy is removed and
Rutland’s ability to assimilate hundreds of refugees is fully justified.
RUTLAND
FIRST—-is—-RUTLAND STRONG!
For those of you in
‘pockets of resistance,’ Rutland citizens’ work should serve as a model for you
to use to craft strategies where you live. If you have questions, you can
reach Mr. Chioffi at this e-mail address: donsreelsports@comcast.net
Here is the
letter sent today to local and state lawmakers demanding they get answers and
express their opposition to a plan created in secrecy! Your local and state
elected officials may be telling you they can’t stop the federal government and
its NGO contractor, but they sure can add their voices in demanding their
constituents be given all the facts and that the federal government follows the
law!
Judy Barone
PLLC A T T O R N E Y A T L A W 976 Meadow Lake Drive, Rutland, Vermont 05701Telephone (802)
775-9886 judy@judybaronelaw.com August 29, 2016
Senator Peg
Flory
Dear Senators:
Mr. Don Chioffi
of Rutland Town has worked with me to compose this letter and address you as
our State Legislators, understanding your responsibility for representing the
people of Rutland City and surrounding communities on matters affecting
State Government.
We herein seek
your attention and ask for your help to ensure that the Application for Resettlement of Refugees in Rutland is opposed
by the State of Vermont for the reason that the Application is flawed.
Mayor Louras’
‘letter of support’ submitted with the Application was without legal authority
from the Rutland Board of Alderman, the governing entity. The Mayor
misrepresented himself as having authority to act for the City as the City’s
governing entity when nothing was further from the truth. The planning,
information about Rutland and ‘letter of support’ signed by the Mayor alone,
was done behind the backs of the City’s governing entity (the Board of
Aldermen), secretively. The Mayor was not authorized to provide his ‘letter of
support’ misrepresenting that the ‘City’ had a cooperative relationship with
the Resettlement applicants, which relationship did not exist.
It is important
that each of you act quickly on your oath to uphold the law and insure the
Mayor’s unauthorized misrepresentations are not relied upon by the State due to
lack of your complaint.
A collaborative
effort between federal, state and local authorities is required for successful
refugee resettlement and the governing entity’s cooperation is required to insure
ongoing support. It is the responsibility of the Vermont Agency of Human
Services (AHS) (Ms. Lamoureux), to ensure coordination of public and private
resources in refugee resettlement in the State of Vermont. (See; U.S.
Code, Title 8 and State Plan for Vermont Refugee Resettlement, AHS Refugee
Office, AHS Refugee Office, AUGUST 12, 2017). You may not be aware, but
access to Ms. Lamoureax has not been possible on this issue and it needs to be
made clear that the State of Vermont will not support the flawed
application, and the secretive process under which it was orchestrated, planned
and submitted.
We ask that
each of you make clear to the Governor and Ms. Lamoureax and the State’s Agency
of Human Services (AHS) AND our U.S. Senators that no resettlement can or
should be approved for Rutland on the pending flawed Application being there is
no support or cooperation of the Rutland City’s governing entity. The Board of
Aldermen has been denied information it has sought including a copy
of the FULL Application to examine and vet the facts represented about Rutland
(apparently provided by some people in Dorset Vermont) upon which the
Application will be judged.
Failing your
intervention under the power of your offices, the Application, as flawed as it
is, could be funded anytime in September even where it fundamentally fails to
meet the requirements of Federal law and the Vermont Plan for Refugee
Resettlement. Your surveillance and intervention is urgent and important to
assure nothing is funded and the State is not called upon if the Application
has not met the required standards in the law.
Failure on your
part to intervene could well be interpreted as your support for the flawed
Application and the secretive process that has left Rutland City and the City’s
government in disorder and confusion. There is division, fear and mistrust in the City’s government and in
our community concerning how government has acted.
Should you have
information different than we herein represent, we ask that each of you please
contact me or Don Chioffi and explain. On behalf of the people we write
soliciting each of you to help us protect our government under the rule of law
and afford the cities in our state the process instrumental to good
governance .
Kindly copy me
with any correspondence you have with AHS and the Governor, U.S. Senators, and
others on this request made of you.
Thank you for
your anticipated quick attention to this matter as it is urgent before the
Application is decided on facts not vetted for accuracy about Rutland. If
you can obtain the full Application, we ask that you send that to us, too. We anxiously
await your work, your questions and your replies. Very truly yours, Judy
Barone /jb cc: Mr. Don Chioffi
https://refugeeresettlementwatch.wordpress.com/2016/08/30/news-from-rutland-vt-a-guest-column-by-a-rutland-firster/
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