8/11/2019 Taking It to the Courts | Vanguard Press | May 17, 1987

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M A Y 18198/

TOTH.COURTS

Mayor BernieSanders and hisProgressive C 0 -alition havefought many bat-tles around thehorseshoHhapedtable at City Hall'sContois Auditorium. They'vew o n s o m e, an d

they've lostm o r e . N o w , a c -cording to Assis-tant City AttorneyJohn Franco, some of its biggest victoriesare facing challenges in court.

Such action says the mayor's legal advisor

Th e c o n t in u in g

b a t t l e o v e r

Mayo r San d ers '

in i t ia t ives

By

J o s h u aM a m i s

8/11/2019 Taking It to the Courts | Vanguard Press | May 17, 1987

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Assista nt Ci ty At tor n )' john Fr anco : "T he mo nied int eres ts" ha ue fr ien ds in cour t.

[items]? asks Franco. "These money the city felt DuBois. . continued from page 1 a re p op ul ar . a nd t hat 's t he o we d o n p ast d ue e xca va ti on

Earlier this year M ountain point." . fees. In court, Iim Spink, D u-Cableincreased its rates above And. Franco believes, the Bois' attorney. ISargumg tbatthe agreed-upon price. and the "moniedinterests"have friends the excavation fee I~arbitrary,city took the company to court. in court. that two instances 10whichThough the two parties Burlington's feisty assis tant DuBOIShas been assessedreached a compromise, Judge city attorney says that the were a s s e s s e d incorrectly, andKatz ruled that the agreement courts have been usedna t ion - that the CItydoes not have theviolated federal deregulation ally since the Civil War and power to assess the fee 10 thestandards. and nullified that until FDR's New Deal tosty- first place. . . .par t of t he agreem ent . At the mie le gisl ation aim ed at SO CIa l Spi nkcaD sany politicalrnoti-

time. Mayor Sanders com- reform. His perspective is ' . ~ation behind the la~sUltmen te d, " No t o nly was i t a n h ac ke d b y Mich ae l P aren ti s a ~lute n on se ns e. . .outrageous decis ion, but an bookDemocracy for ~heFew. .John[Fran~l has hIS~nter.example of how the system which pointsout that Byclass esting.theones. he says. M oedoes not workt o representordi- background, professional train- DuBOISISa hardworking fel-nary people." ing and political.sel~on. low ~d has no interest 10 SUIng

Some of the filings in these Supreme Court Justices over the CIty ofBurltngton ... Wesuits make for interesting thegenerationshavemorerom had no choice hut to sue. . .reading.InDuBoisvs. the City mortly identified with the Ian- "Th~ lS!,bsoI~y noI l Olitiof Burlington. for instance, ded interests rather than the cal m~tivation .behmd thisFranco wrote: "Plaintiffs landless , the s lave owners . laws~lt. I admire and ~espectclaims offraud are made wa n - rather than the slaves. the m - Bernie Sande~: I do~ t agreetortly,wi11fuiiy,frivolously,and dustrialists rather than the WIthall hl~political VIews.butin had faith in an effort to workers . the exponents of I think he s done a lot for theannoy, harrass and oppress the Herbert Spencer rather than citl' .. " City and to chill the exercise the proponents of Karl Marx, .Allmy.gu~ IS"7.'ng to do,of the City's rights andob l iga - the established SOCIalelites Spink maintains, ISget a fait

tions under City Charter Sec . rather than the unemployed shake."54 to enforce its ordinances blacks. underpaid migrants or Republican Board Presidentfor the benefit of the public ." illiterate immigrants." Ted Riehle does not buy

TowhicltJim Spink,DuBois ' In fact, writes Pare,!ti, "For Franco's conspiracy theoriesattorney,replied: "There is no more than a century. mto the etther."Certainlythere arepeo-question that such a claimis a New Deal era, the Supr~me pie who absolutelr despIse"claim for the malicious use of Cour t was the bastion ofla issez Berme and hIS phtlosophy.pro cess wh ich isth eev ilco usin fai rec api tali sm,str ikingd own he say s. "an d any way the yto malicious prosecution." reforms produced by the state can... make a problem forhim ,Inhis office.Franco speaks legislatures and Congress. and they would do it."

about the frustrations of fight limiting government's ability But,be says." O fthese cases.ingbat tle after battle,year after to regulate the economy." I don't think that's a releventyear to try to get progressive Are the attacks on Sanders' argument ... they don't haveinitiatives through the Board reforms a microcosm of past that deep a pocket," referringof Aldermen and the state US history? Two of the attor to the enormous expense ofL eg islature. neys in volv ed in th e action s pro tracted law suits.

"We've had the greatest against the city,and Burlington Riehle also believes that thenumber of legal challenges to Board ofAlderman President judicial option for people whowhat we're doing since we've Ted Riehle (RWard 6) think disagree with public policy isbeen here," explains Franco, not. beneficial."precisely at a time wben the JosephFrank. ofPaul,Frank "You have to be sure thatinitiatives of the administra and Collins,the attorneys who you're doing something protion are enjoying the higbest co-ownOneChurch Street (the perly," he argues. "Ifyou'redegree of popularity they've Masonic Temple). served as wrong. the courts will decideever had, as witnessed by the a Burlington Alderman (D. it."bal lot ite ms last Ma rch ." Wa rd 1) for one term in the Tbe lawsuits . Riehle be.

Mayor Sanders agrees. early seventies. Now,be says. lieves. are a result of the frus"Every one ofour progressive "Iam nota verypolit icalf ig u r e . l Ia t io n m any people feel whentax initiatives has been taken I am not paying attention to dealing with the Sandersto court." the mayor charges. the political background." administration.His administration, be says H,s suit. he maintains. has "The rhetoric of the Sand"is a progressive city gov';'. no politicalmotivations."This ers administration has beenme~t in the midst of a conser property," be ~xplains."bas so alienating," he says. "it's

vative state. What yon see is an annualta x~iI1~$ 5 O ,O C ? O ." gotten to the point where thereo ur fr ie nd s.m th eb usi ne ssO Ol ll ' T he ~ ~ on h e IS can't be a diaIogue .... Thatsmurutyu sm g the courts . . .it's qlplI8iUgmmurt,besays,adds the only option available toanother ~y ofsubverting t he "an . e x t r a $ ~O .OOOperyear" them. Whether it inhibits ere-pop ula r will. to h is tax bill. ative taxes or other ideas I

"People th ink that thecour t s f ! " t gard myself asaliberal don'tthink that....It will ~ eareahove thepo l it ical process," poIi!icaJly,butf lO ~y us look long and hard atideas."saysSanders, "butthey'renot." oot Inthe same political b e d Though no one involved

. as the m ayor "beadm its "B ut adm itstopoli"_' 00'-"",,Franco believes that I o c a 1 tha t bas .' uuu m vauv'~,conserva t ives , b o x e d ou to fth e th is Ia n~ todo with the lawsu its ma y ~ve thepol itic al a ren a are ' ~ courts an opporturuty to haveth eco urtsto~ ~ ~ BoIS E xcavating 's law h istor y rep eat itself. "T herelos quo. "How come theY're' :s more comI!lex.puBois ba s been a consistent effortno t going to the City C o u n c iI s that th~ CItywillfully by people to bring smts mS u p e -IIId l IIkingthem I& repeaI engaged t h e m Inawork o rder , riorC ourt," argues Franco, '10

. . . ~. then beld paymem against get the court to substitute Its

jud gment ove r tha t of the C ity

Council.". .As the rulings come In, he

says. the question is "wh~tberthe courts are going to givedeference to the products ofthe political arena. or exercise

jud icia l v eto ove r the pro duc tSofthe political arena becausethey don't like the result? Ifthey do the latter. they will berepeating what was done 100years ago."

. joshua Mam is

W H A T E V E RH A P P E N E DT O C H I E FB U R K E ?PO R T S M 0 U T H, N H

O

ne year after leavingVermon t. former .Burlington Police

Chief Bill Burke hasreturned to New England.Burke has been appointedchief of police of Portsmouth.Ne w H ampsh ire , a seac oas ttown one hour north of Boston.

Burke's one - y e a r stint asBurlington's top cop was con -troversial. He took over a d e-moralized force in the wake ofan attorney general investiga-tion concerning drug use byofficers, and has been ereditedwith turning the BurlingtonPolice Department around.However. he also institutedreforms that did not go over

so well with Queen City resi-dents. such as "haby cops."young people bired to patrolheaches and parks wbo en fo r -ced such regulations as theopen bottle law and applied itto juice bottles.

Before leaving. Burke hadalso considered challengingMayor Bernie Sanders in lastMarch's election.

The race, he says, "wouldhave been fun. I think be[Mayor Sanders] should bave

bee n cha llen ged ... Bem ie istough competition. You haveto be a real tiger to take himon."

Burke bas spent the last yearin California. working as c o n -sultant. He returned to NewEngland "for the same thing

.that brought me bere in the

first plaoe-ethe quality of li te. 'With approximately 30,000residents, and a police forceofabout 50. Portsmouth isverysimilar to Burlington. It is alsoneighbor to the Seabrooknuclear power plant. and bometo the University of NewHampshire.

Will Burke use the sametactics with New Hampsbireactivists that he did inVermont?

"We'lI use tactics that areappropriate. legal and moral,"he says. But. be adds. he"wouldnot rule out plainclothes

officers for tbe protection ofthe public.""Burlingtonis agreat city,"

Burke says. "Its got superpeo ple -ev en tho se tha t en-gage in protest, which is theirconstitutional right, and those

Former Burlington Police Chief Bill Burke has resurfaced asthe chief of police in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Perbaps even more contro- who disagree with the chief ofv ersial was Burke 's u se o f p ol ic e. "pla inc lothes off ice rs to "ob As for his pol itic al future .serve" the activites of area Burke says that Portsmoutb's

pea ce gro ups . On e suc h off i ma yor nee d not be wo rried.cer was exposed wbile posing Portsmouth is "ingood shape,"as a demonstrator at a protest he says. "It's a solid twopartyin front of Burlington's Fed system."eral Buildinll. . joshua Mam is