NewsINK

Issue 1: Town Meeting Contenders

March 2011

Page 2 March 2011

From the Staff:We hope you enjoy the very first issue of NewsINK,a digital magazine showcasing the best reportingfrom the Vermont Center for Community Journalismat Lyndon State College. The VCCJ is a multiplatform news operation that covers the North-east Kingdom of Vermont. Students report forNewsINK and LSC’s award-winning News 7 news-cast and NewsLINC website, news7newslinc.net. Please direct suggestions and criticisms our way.

NewsINK Staff: Nadine Grimley

Sam Monroe Lindsey Profenno

Suzanne ProulxJared Richardson

RJ Brownell Rene Thibault Madison Cox

Phil Alexander Jeff Rusack

Adviser: Dan Williams

NewsInk is a publication of the Vermont Center for Community Journalism at Lyndon State College. Find us online at Issuu.com/newsink.Address queries to: NewsInk, Department of Electronic Journalism, Lyndon State College, P.O. Box 919, Lyndonville, Vt. 05849.

INSIDE Lyndon: David Dill 4 St Johnsbury: Bernie Tim-son 6 Jim Rust 7 Alan Ruggles 8 Bill Merrow 9 StacyPerkins 10 Werner Heidemann 11

Nadine GrimleyNewsINK

Kimberly Crady-Smith,owner of Green MountainBooks, casually sips hertea as customers enter thestore with a jingle of thebell above the door. Al-though she works in Lyn-donville, her thoughts areon Wheelock where sheholds a seat on the MillersRun School Board.

This is not the firsttime Crady-Smith hasserved on the six-personpanel. She was formerlythe chair of the board, butnow is undecided if shewould even accept a nomi-

nation for a school boardposition on Town MeetingDay.

"I ran again last yearand I wasn't re-elected, soI kind of felt like the townwanted somebody else todo the job," she says.

Not long after thatelection, she was ap-pointed to the board to fillthe unexpired term of amember who resigned.

Sheffield and Whee-lock share the Millers RunSchool. On Town MeetingDay, Wheelock will fillthree seats on the boardand Sheffield will fill one.

Crady-Smith says chal-

lenging issues in the pasthave included bullying andclassroom discipline.

“The board and thecommunity and the schoolhave worked very hard tosort that out and move for-ward,” she says.

Though undecided her-self, Crady-Smith encour-ages others to run.

“Being on a board is agreat way to learn about itbecause I don’t think peo-ple in the community reallyunderstand how schoolswork anymore.”

Kimberly Crady-Smith selects a book from the children’s section of Green Mountain Books in Lyndonville.

Bookseller onBoard?

Photo by Sam Gaddess

March 2011 Page 3

March 2011Page 4

Dillwants

businessback

Jeff RusackNewsINK

For sale signs adorn many shop windows along DepotStreet in Lyndonville, signs of a business exodus DavidDill says he wants to stop.

Dill is challenging incumbent Kevin Calkins for athree-year seat on the Lyndon Selectboard.

One of the latest businesses to leave was PaddyCakes Candy Shop, which packed up its treats andmoved to the Green Mountain Mall.

Dill, 64, says he wants to “promote business in thetown, including retail, and have a closer relationship with

Photo by Jeff RusackLyndon Selectboard candidate David Dill gets into his car behind the Lyndon Town Hall. Dill says he wantsto stop an exodus of businesses from Lyndon.

March 2011 Page 5

the Chamber of Commerce.”Dill says he is excited about a Chamber of

Commerce project aimed at improving the fa-cade of the town and making it more appealingfor tourists. Plans include changing signs andsprucing up buildings while keeping the small-town feel of Lyndon. He says he also wants tokeep property taxes as low as possible.

Dill was town administrator from 1990until 1998 and served on the Selectboardfrom 1998 to 2004, resigning to become Ver-mont’s deputy secretary of transportation.Gov. Jim Douglas elevated him to transporta-tion secretary in 2008, and he left that post inthe changeover to the administration of De-mocrat Peter Shumlin.

“I’m ready to throw my hat back in thering,” Dill says, adding his experience as headof the Vermont Agency of Transportation wouldserve him well on the Selectboard. “When youhave almost 1,300 people working for you, youpick up some management skills.”

Dill has lived in Lyndon for almost 20years. Before that he was pilot in the Air Force.

Window signs (above) tell customers of Paddy Cakesand Candy the shop has moved from Lyndonville to

the Green Mountain Mall in St. Johnsbury Center(right). Lyndon Selectboard candidate David Dill

says he wants to bring businesses backPhotos by Jeff Rusack (above)

Sam Monroe (right)

March 2011Page 6

Rene ThibaultNewsINK

Bernie Timson says running a town islike running a business.

“Selectboard members are like theCEOs of a company,” says Timson who isan incumbent selectboard member runningfor one of the one-year seats. Timson isup against three other candidates: TimPersons, Bill Merrow, and Alan Ruggles.

Timson has been on the board for sev-eral years now, and he says his dedicationto board meetings and the town is whatearned him a spot on the board. “I didn’tmiss a single board meeting in four years.I believe that if you want the job, you haveto be at the table, and I was for twoyears.”

He is a St. Johnsbury native who ownsseveral businesses in the area. Timsonhas been a self employed contractor since1973. He owns two apartment buildingsand Junction 2 &18 Self Storage. Tim-son’s business experience is what led himto the St. Johnsbury selectboard. “I feellike my real life experience is a valuableasset to the board.”

Timson is hopeful he will be re-electedbeacuse there are still projects that hewants to see completed.

“We want to move town offices to thewelcome center. Doing so would make thewelcome center the unofficial hub of thecity,” he says.

Timson also wants to get rid of a per-sonal property and business tax in St.Johnsbury. This would save businessesclose to $500 and attract more companies

to the area, he says. “We have a great, open-minded board,

I’ve helped improve the town of St. J. andI hope voters realize this.”

Bernie Timson (left) and Jim Rust speak at a public meeting in this file photo.

St. Johnsbury incumbents vying to stay on board

Jared RichardsonNewsINK

Jim Rust says he is running for the St.Johnsbury Board of Selectmen to make thetown run more efficiently.

“Do voters want to go back to sketchyvotes in smoking rooms and back room meet-ings, or do they want to go ahead with the fu-ture of St. Johnsbury and the prosperity of thetown?” he asked.

Rust is challenging Daniel Kimbell for athree-year seat on the board. Both are incum-bents and Rust is the chairman. Kimbell de-clined comment for this article.

“There are several issues that need to befinished up,” Rust said, “like the bike path, thetown offices being integrated with the welcomecenter, and to fix public safety.”

Rust feels that he has a lot of supportersand he is confident he will win.

“I think it’s the best position for me,” hesaid. “If voters want good dynamics and want achange, vote for me, and I feel like that’s up forthe voters to decide.”

Rust lost to Kimbell at the St. Johnsburyannual caucus, which nominates candidatesfor the election on Town Meeting Day. Rustchallenged the town’s use of a generic petition,which was photocopied onto individual peti-tions for each winning caucus candidate.

“I contacted the Secretary of State andthey said that the petitions were acceptedwrong,” he said. “My main concern was that Iwanted every candidate to have an equalchance.”

The office told him that the town’s caucuswas “improper” and voters should have beenprovided with individual ballots.

The candidates were required to submitnew petitions to qualify for the March 1 race.

Rust was planning to submit a petition afterhis caucus loss.

“I wanted it to get fixed,” he said.

March 2011 Page 7Bernie Timson (left) and Jim Rust speak at a public meeting in this file photo.

Photo courtesy Todd Wellington/Caledonian-Record

St. Johnsbury incumbents vying to stay on board

March 2011Page 8

Phil AlexanderNewsINK

Alan Ruggles has hiswork cut out for him in therace for selectman for thetown of St. Johnsbury.

Ruggles is competingagainst Tim Persons, Bill Mer-row, and Bernie Timson forone of two one-year seats.

However, Ruggles saysthat he is more focused on hisown campaign rather thancompeting with the other can-didates.

“I think with my back-ground and the personal skillsthat I’ve acquired, I can helpthe community move forwardand make it better,” he says.

Ruggles says he origi-nally was not interested in theposition but realized St.Johnsbury had problems thatneeded to be fixed. He saysthat was when he decided tostart discussing town issueswith others.

“Most of my life here, Iguess I was a firm believer inif you say something youshould back it up,” Rugglessays. “After hearing some fa-vorable comments from thepeople around me, I started tobecome interested in thetown’s issues. I realized that Ibelieved in what I said, andtalking to other people, I got alot of encouragement to runfor the Selectboard.”

If elected, Ruggles sayshe has an idea which issueshe would address.

“I think some of the focusneeds to be on the town’s in-frastructure, making sure thateverything is up to date. Weneed to focus on the budgetand keep it on a manageablelevel, but I think that focusingon the revenue is more impor-tant than cutting expenses,”Ruggles says.

Ruggles has served aschairman of the DevelopmentReview Board for the pastthree years. The board is incharge of planning and zoningdevelopments in St. Johns-bury.

Contendercites skills

St. Johnsbury Selectboard candidate Alan Ruggles wants to focus on the town’s infrastructure. Photo by Phil Alexander

March 2011 Page 9

Madison CoxNewsINK

Clashes on the St. Johnsbury Selectboardneed to stop, according to candidate Bill Merrow,who says he’s the one to do it.

“There is a very defined division amongst theboard members,” Merrow says, blaming the ten-sions on different philosophies and views on is-sues. “I’m hoping I can possibly service as a voiceof reason to help bridge that divide.”

He is campaigning for one of two one-year se-lectboard seats. The other candidates are Tim Per-sons, Alan Ruggles, and Bernie Timson.

“I’ve been on a number of committees andboards,” Merrow says, including the Zoning Boardof Adjustment, the Finance Committee, the Build-ing Committee, the Planning Commission, as wellas participating in putting together the town plan.He was the chairman of the Planning Commissionfor eight years.

Merrow says he knows that being on the Se-

lectboard requires dedication and a lot of time.“I’m retired now so I have the time for it,” he

says. Merrow says the town needs to decide what to

do with the recreation center on Main Street. Ac-cording to Merrow, the building has fallen into disre-pair, and would be expensive to renovate.

“The bottom line is what do we do with it?” hesays. “It’s sort of a white elephant.”

Other issues Merrow wants to address includethe proposed movement of the town offices to theSt. Johnsbury Welcome Center, as well as whatwill become of the current location of the offices,near the fire station.

Merrow also says the merger of the water andhighway departments is an important issue for thetown. Challenges include cross-training employeesfrom both departments, assigning workloads, andstoring equipment.

Merrow, who is originally from Lancaster, N.H.,moved to St. Johnsbury in 1974, after three yearsin the military. He earned a bachelor’s degree inbusiness administration at Southern New Hamp-shire University.

He worked at the St. Johnsbury TruckingCompany as the accounts receivable supervisor,and later at Timberland Machine as the finance di-rector.

“I’ve been involved with finance all my life.”

Bill Merrow goes through land records at the St. Johns-bury town clerk’s office.

Photo by Madi Cox

Merrow seeks end to clashes

March 2011Page 10

RJ BrownellNewsINK

Stacy Perkins says she is determined to takeover as town clerk in St. Johnsbury because “achange needs to be made.”

Perkins is running against incumbent SandyGrenier for town clerk and town treasurer in theelection on Town Meeting Day March 1.

As qualifications, Perkins cites experience inaccounting, customer service and working withlarge groups of people.

She says she has been involved by attendingSelectboard and budget meetings on a regularbasis.

Perkins says she has concerns about the waythe town has been run for the past 30 years andwants to see St. Johnsbury update its policies andprocedures.

“Things have been done the same way foryears and years and years,” she says. “It’s 2011.We can’t be doing the same things we’ve beendoing since 1990, 1980.”

Perkins says she would emphasize teamworkif elected, and wants to see a full town audit. Shesays she also favors installation of a new com-puter system to make employees’ jobs easier.

Efforts to contact Sandy Grenier for this arti-cle were unsuccessful.

Town clerk candidate looksto shake up St. Johnsbury

Above: An original railroad station bench sits inthe St J. welcome center, which could house thetown offices if voters approve on Town MeetingDay. Below: an old railroad sign at the welcomecenter.

Photo by Dan Williams

Photo by Sam Monroe

March 2011 Page 11

Sam MonroeNewsINK

To hear Werner Heide-mann tell it, he wouldn’t mindlosing his campaign to hangon to his seat on the St.Johnsbury School Board.

“I’m not interested in call-ing this a race,” he says of thecontest against Tony Green-wood. “I’m doing this simplybecause I feel as though Ihave something to contribute.And if the people want some-one new, that is fine with me.”

Heidemann and Green-wood are vying for the three-year seat that Heidemanncurrently holds. Repeated ef-forts to contact Greenwoodwere unsuccesful.

“I got on the school boardwhen no one was running,”Heidemann says. “I ran awrite-in campaign because I believe we allhave an obligation to be involved.”

Heidemann says the school’s biggestproblem is one of culture, stemming fromthe decision a decade ago to build the St.Johnsbury School and send all of the stu-dents to the same building.

“We are just getting over the culturechange,” Heidemann says. He says it wasdifficult for parents to see their children go

to a different school. But now the studentsin the school system have known nothingbut the school they are in now.

Heidemann says other challenges areSt. Johnsbury’s poverty rate and the variedbackgrounds of families.

“Education has changed,” he says. “Wehave to take care of all the students now.”

Heidemann: not in it towin, just to give back

St. Johnsbury residents will vote on a school board seat and a pro-posed $15 million school budget at Town Meeting.

Photo by Sam Monroe