Williston Observer

By Greg Elias
Observer staff

Candidates have voiced their views. Budgets have been finalized. Now it's time for voters to have their say.

Williston residents will cast ballots for a host of candidates and a trio of budgets on Tuesday, March 4. The annual Town Meeting, heavy on tradition but light on substantive business, takes place Monday evening.

The election features four races, a change from recent years when uncontested seats on town and school boards were the norm. Candidates this year have widely varying backgrounds and civic experience.

Town and school budgets reflect belt-tightening efforts, with spending increases lower than in previous years. Officials hope the budgets are thrifty enough to pass muster with voters, who last year rejected the school budget and barely passed the municipal budget.

Here is a review of the candidates and budgets on the ballot:

Williston Selectboard

A race for a two-year seat pits Joel Klein, a television producer whose credits include the reality show "Fear Factor," against Christopher Roy, a lawyer with Downs Rachlin Martin.

Klein moved from Los Angeles to Williston last July. He now teaches a filmmaking course at Burlington College and continues to pursue writing projects for television. His wife, Abby Klein, is running for the Williston School Board.

Klein, who has never held elected office, said he would bring "fresh eyes and open ears" to the position. The self-described liberal thinks managing growth is the most important issue facing Williston. He said Williston should consider small business incentives so the town isn't totally dominated by chain stores.

Roy has a long record of civic service. He is a member of the Williston Recreation Committee and a former member of several other boards and commissions. Until it was discontinued pending the election, Roy wrote a column with a conservative slant for the Observer.

Roy views the sometimes-heated debate over growth as largely settled. He would like to keep the town on its present course.

In a race for a three-year term on the Selectboard, Bob Blankenheim, vice president for a Plattsburgh, N.Y. packaging company, is running against incumbent Judy Sassorossi.

Blankenheim, who is making his first run for public office, is among the 37 residents suing to overturn an agreement between the town and the Chittenden Solid Waste District. The agreement permits operation of the current transfer station off Redmond Road in Williston and a proposed landfill.

Opponents say the landfill would cause pollution and decrease home prices. Blankenheim lives less than a half-mile away from the site.

To deal with the conflict of interest if elected, he promised to recuse himself when the board discusses the landfill. He noted the lawsuit seeks no financial damages from the town and asserted that nullifying the agreement would benefit Williston because it is a bad deal for the town.

Blankenheim wants the town to formulate its budget in a more business-like manner, starting from scratch and justifying each expenditure. He said the town should improve infrastructure to safeguard sales tax revenue generated by retailers.

His opponent is Judy Sassorossi, who has served on the Selectboard for two years and on the Planning Commission for about a dozen years before that. She is an employee benefits specialist with a South Burlington insurance brokerage.

She disagrees with Blankenheim's bottom-up approach to the budget, saying it would waste time because there are many non-discretionary expenditures that pay for essential public services. On the landfill, she noted that voters approved the agreement and said the lawsuit raises questions about her opponent's allegiance.

There is one other contested race for a municipal position, a three-year term as lister. See the story on page 3 for more information.

Williston School Board

The Williston School Board has one contested race, for a three-year seat. Williston newcomer Abby Klein is running against incumbent Darlene Worth.

Klein wants to see changes in the upper house structure as well as a new, less costly and more nutritious school lunch program.

Klein has been a teacher for 19 years and is a children's book author. She currently teaches kindergarten in South Burlington.

Worth has served on the School Board for three years and is currently the board's chairwoman. She is the director of the Champlain Valley Educator Development Center and was a Vermont educator for more than 30 years.

Worth said she has enjoyed her service on the board. She noted that the board held down spending in the proposed budget while extending the school day and adding all-day kindergarten.

Other candidates

A handful of uncontested races will also appear on the ballot.

Town Clerk Deb Beckett is running for re-election to a three-year term as both clerk and treasurer.

On the Williston School Board, Holly Rouelle is running for re-election to her two-year seat. On the Champlain Valley Union High School Board, newcomer David Rath is seeking a three-year term.

Patricia Mardeusz is running for a five-year term as library trustee. Donald Phillips is seeking another three years as Champlain Water District representative. And Kermit Laclair wants to serve another year as town constable.

Budgets

The Williston School District's proposed budget totals $16.24 million, a 3.7 percent increase over current spending. The budget adds an all-day kindergarten program and a longer school day. Separate articles ask voters to approve bonds for $480,000 for roof repairs at Williston Central School and $187,000 for two school buses.

The $7.6 million municipal budget increases spending by 5 percent. The budget includes one new administrative position and includes funding to increase hours for two other administrative employees working in the police and fire departments.

A separate ballot item asks voters to approve a bond for $489,500 to pay for a new fire engine.

The proposed $20.7 million budget for Champlain Valley Union High School represents a 4.7 percent increase. The budget includes $175,000 for new staffing.

Staff writer Tim Simard contributed to this story.

SIDEBAR

Voting information

Town Meeting will be held Monday at Williston Central School's auditorium. The meeting starts at 7:30 p.m. The school's Jazz Band will perform beforehand at 7 p.m.

Voting for candidates and budgets takes place between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Tuesday. The venue has changed this year to the Williston Armory next to Town Hall. Parking is available at the Armory and Town Hall.

Annual town reports are available at Town Hall, the library and some Williston grocery and convenience stores. A summary of the report has been mailed to residents.

Absentee ballots can be cast at Town Hall until Monday at 5 p.m. Voters can also pick up ballots, but only for themselves. Ballots will be mailed upon request through Friday. Call 878-5121 to request one.

More information about the candidates and budgets on the ballot is available at the Observer's Web site, www.willistonobserver.com. Check next week's edition for voting results
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Williston expects huge turnout for March election

By Tim Simard
Observer staff

In less than a week, Vermonters will get their say in what is arguably the most exciting election season in recent memory. Democratic voters will get their choice between two frontrunners: Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois and Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York.

The race has been neck and neck since the New Hampshire primary, with both senators trying to outdo each other in the delegate count. Vermont carries 15 Democratic delegates, as well as eight superdelegates.

On the Republican side, Sen. John McCain of Arizona is all but a shoe-in, with no real competition left in the delegate count. Vermont carries 17 Republican delegates.

Voting takes place on Town Meeting Day, March 4.

Gearing up to vote

Williston town officials are getting ready for a huge March election. Deb Beckett, Williston town clerk, says the interest in this election is much higher than usual.

"For March elections, we usually see 27 to 30 percent of eligible voters," Beckett said. "We expect to see that much, much higher."

She said a good indicator of voter turnout is the number of early votes that have come in. As recently as Monday, Beckett said she had received 350 absentee ballots. Since Friday, she had registered more than 40 new Williston voters.

Democrats battling for nomination

Clinton's campaign has quickly mobilized in the Champlain Valley in the weeks before the March 4 primary, said Carly Lindauer, a campaign spokesperson.

Lindauer described herself as a "transient campaigner," having worked in the New Hampshire, Wisconsin and Missouri campaigns.

"I think we have a really great base of support in (Vermont)," Lindauer said.

Lindauer said the campaign is "feeling good" about its chances in Vermont, even when a poll released on Saturday — conducted by American Research Group Inc. — has 60 percent of Vermont Democratic respondents favoring Obama, with 34 percent favoring Clinton.

Clinton volunteer and Williston resident Marlene O'Brien looked long and hard at all the Democratic candidates and their issues before deciding that Hillary Clinton was her choice.

"(Clinton) is the only one out there who brings real solutions to real problems that we face," O'Brien said.

O'Brien has canvassed local neighborhoods and made numerous phone calls for the Clinton campaign. She said there has been some "amazingly positive" reactions, as well as lots of grassroots action in the state.

The Clinton campaign has only recently opened offices in Vermont. An office opened in South Burlington on Friday, Feb. 22 and one in Rutland opened Tuesday. Lindauer said they have a full-time staff operating in the state.

The Obama Campaign has seven offices throughout the state, most of which opened early last week, according to Obama campaign spokesperson Ted Brady.

However, Clinton has had high profile Vermont politicians stumping on her behalf for quite some time, including former Gov. Madeleine Kunin and current Speaker of the House Gaye Symington, D-Jericho.

O'Brien has been a staunch Clinton supporter since before the New Hampshire primary, even though the New York senator's campaign has been slow to canvass the state.

"I think we could always have started earlier, but who would've thunk?" she said.

Said Lindauer, "We're going to work hard on the senator's behalf. She's working hard everywhere."

Brady, a Williston resident, is encouraged by the recent poll numbers for his candidate and feels strongly about the Illinois senator's chances next week.

"Sen. Obama's campaign is going to make sure that the voice of every Vermonter is heard and the message of hope and change is heard loud and clear," Brady said.

Brady, who works for Sen. Patrick Leahy at his Montpelier office, is taking a week off from work to campaign on Obama's behalf. He said the volunteer effort for Obama is strong throughout the state.

"Volunteers are talking to neighbors, calling their friends, knocking on doors, trying to spread the message of hope and change that Senator Obama inspires," Brady said.

Vermont doesn't carry the high delegate count of larger states such as Texas and Ohio, which also have primaries on March 4, but Brady said Obama cares about every state.

"The senator is committed to campaigning in every state," he said. "The main message here is that Vermont matters in the national primaries."

Despite the campaign office presence of Clinton and Obama, neither Lindauer nor Brady could confirm if either candidate would visit Vermont.

Republican focus on McCain

McCain enjoys widespread Republican support throughout Vermont, according to the American Research Group poll. McCain has 73 percent of the support among Republican respondents, compared to Texas Rep. Ron Paul's 11 percent and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's 9 percent.

Williston resident Chris Roy, a co-chair of McCain's Vermont campaign, believes the Arizona senator best appeals to Vermont independents.

"His brand of Republicanism jives with Vermont's brand of Republicanism," Roy said.

McCain visited Vermont two weeks ago, on the same day former challenger and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney endorsed him.

"He felt strongly enough to come up," said Roy, a former Observer columnist who is running for a seat on the town Selectboard. "It was an opportunity for him to say 'hi' to his supporters in the state. He enjoys Vermont. A lot of his staff have Vermont ties."

Neither Huckabee nor Paul have campaign offices in the state.

And with McCain already winning far more delegates than Huckabee, his nearest competitor, Roy believes the Republican side of the primaries has already wrapped up.

"The turnout for the Democrats will probably blow the doors off the Republican turnout, because (the Democrats) have a real race there," Roy said.

Instead, McCain is gearing up for the national election in November, which is one of the reasons he made the trip to Vermont recently.

"McCain's approach to the election is really a 50-state approach," Roy said.

During his February stop in Vermont, McCain promised to visit the state again before November.
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Food writer Pasanen gives tips at library event

By Tim Simard
Observer staff

Shopping for groceries at South Burlington's Price Chopper and trying to find quantities for a one-person meal, food writer Melissa Pasanen had a hard time picking out individual-sized portions. When she did find the items, they were at a premium price.

"I couldn't buy only one chicken breast," Pasanen said. "I had to get two or more. There were no offers from the butcher to get just the one."

Pasanen was preparing a cooking-for-one article at the time, and the experience highlighted the difficulties faced by home chefs preparing meals for one person.

Creativity was the key to her shopping-for-one experience, she said. She found items to replace certain ingredients in recipes: Instead of sour cream for a sweet potato dish, she used cottage cheese, an item she could use in other meals.

"You do have to think a little beyond the box sometimes," Pasanen said.

Pasanen, a food writer for the Burlington Free Press and co-author of the "Cooking with Shelburne Farms" cookbook, recently spoke at Dorothy Alling Memorial Library. The event, titled "Cooking For One," gave tips and ideas to those who live and cook alone.

Challenges

For someone who lives alone, it's very tempting to order take-out dinners or cook microwave-ready meals every night, Pasanen said. The food writer believes these aren't the best or healthiest options.

"Cooking for yourself has the advantage, hopefully, of also providing your body with better nutrition than a constant diet of frozen prepared foods or take-out," she said.

Another reason some people are reluctant to cook for themselves if they live alone, said Pasanen, is because of dreaded leftovers.

"It is certainly more efficient to cook one recipe and eat it for four or five meals, or freeze it in single portions for future meals," Pasanen said, "but it can get monotonous and frozen portions often don't keep as well as one would like."

Leftovers may be unavoidable, but limiting the frequency of the same meal – like avoiding a week's worth of beef stew – can make leftovers manageable.

Jessie Price, food editor for Charlotte-based Eating Well Magazine, believes properly freezing and storing leftovers is the best way to stretch out a meal and save money. At the same time, cooking the right amount to fit the individual is "always the best idea."

"It's definitely important for yourself to not make a huge pot of something and then get sick of what you've made," Price said.

But before even thinking about leftovers, people have to overcome the biggest challenge when it comes to cooking for one: shopping for one.

Buying the groceries

Pasanen said it can be difficult shopping for one, but there are several options to make it a less painful process.

She recommended looking at the salad bar for certain ingredients, which can be a cheaper alternative.

Price agreed.

"It's convenient because the stuff is always cleaned and prepared for you," Price said.

Price and Pasanen agree it can also be cheaper to purchase smaller quantities from olive bars or bulk bins, the latter of which are turning up in mainstream supermarkets. Pasanen also recommended people take advantage of pre-prepped items, such as minced garlic, bottled ginger, salsa and instant rice.

"Rather than hurrying around to buy fresh herbs all the time, it can work," she said.

And while buying large quantities might seem excessive if someone is only feeding him or herself, Pasanen said perfecting freezing techniques to avoid freezer burn can make foods last longer and taste better. She suggested using a hand-held vacuum device – along with appropriate freezer bags.

Still, Price and Pasanen say the best method is to be a savvy shopper.

"You don't need to shop at Costco all the time if you're just eating for one," Price said.

Finding recipes

During part of Pasanen's presentation, she demonstrated two dishes that someone could easily prepare for one: sweet potatoes with black bean and tomato topping and Asian pork lettuce wraps. Both meals featured ways to diversify ingredients.

That cottage cheese Pasanen bought at Price Chopper, for instance? It was for this sweet potato recipe.

As another tip, Pasanen suggested finding recipes geared to one or two people, or paring down larger recipes.

Price, who also edits the magazine's "Serves Two" column, said many Web sites feature recipes for two or one. Some creative and healthy smaller recipes are on Eating Well's Web site, EatingWell.com.

Spreading ideas

Pasanen explained her inspiration to research creative cooking for one came from her mother, who lived alone for many years before remarrying.

"She was amazing about cooking for herself," she said. "She loved it, loved to cook."

About 15 people attended the event at Dorothy Alling Library, many of whom shared the love of cooking.

"I do have a husband at home, but he doesn't always eat what I eat," said Joy Pashby of Williston.

Another Williston resident, Rickie Emerson, said although she lives alone, she still buys groceries at the supermarket like "I'm cooking for a whole family."

"I am the type who usually cooks something and eats it for four or five days in a row," she said.

Coralie Magoon of Colchester came for ideas of how to cook differently. Magoon said she does a lot of gardening and canning. She was glad to find out about the pre-prepped items such as ginger.

"I would never think to spice up things like she did," Magoon said.

Pasanen believes finding new and interesting dishes and cooking them for oneself – without overdoing it – is a great activity, especially for seniors.

"I would think that any activity in which you are engaged, whether it's cooking or doing crossword puzzles, can be a good thing," she said.
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Shaw campaigns for Obama on East Coast

By Tim Simard
Observer staff
It was a busy January for Williston resident and college student Katy Shaw. Instead of relaxing at home over winter break, Shaw, 19, was busy holding signs, making phone calls, canvassing neighborhoods, and organizing events, all for Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois. Shaw volunteered in the biggest primaries of last month’s presidential campaign, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

When the Democratic presidential field was full of candidates, Shaw, who attends Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, chose to support Obama after seeing him speak in Portland at a September 2007 event.

Shaw said she liked his views on education, health care, and the war in Iraq. Better international relations is an issue important to Shaw and she believes he’s more willing to open dialogues with other countries than is his opponent, Sen. Hillary Clinton, of New York.

“What he had to say was about change and doing things differently,” she said. “It was good for me to hear because I feel like a lot of young people are cynical about politics today. They don’t think they are listened to.”

According to her mother, Joanne, Katy’s hard work has helped the Obama campaign in a lot of ways.

“She’s gotten many, many people enthusiastic about Barack,” Joanne said.

Volunteering in N.H.

Shaw said she’s always been interested in politics. She grew up listening to NPR at home.

“Politics have always been a part of my life,” Shaw said.

This was the first presidential election in which Shaw would be eligible to vote and she looked forward to helping select the next president of the United States. Shaw became involved after receiving a campus-wide email from Obama’s grassroots student organization. She expressed interest in volunteering and the organization asked her to campaign in New Hampshire before the Jan. 8 primary.

She was sent to volunteer in eastern New Hampshire on Dec. 31, 2007, in the White Mountain community of Conway. Shaw said she was one of 11 staffers and volunteers at the Conway location. Part of her job was to go door to door in the rural towns of Freedom, Ossipee, and Effingham in Carroll County, as well as hold Obama campaign signs and place phone calls to area residents.

In the week leading up to the primary, the media reported Obama was ahead in the polls and that he could win New Hampshire after his Jan. 3 win in the Iowa caucus. Shaw said she and fellow Obama supporters were cautiously optimistic about the senator’s chances.

“When the polls kept coming out that he was so far ahead, we didn’t really believe it because we kept talking to people who were either voting for Hillary or were undecided,” she said.

On New Hampshire primary day, Shaw made last minute phone calls and held Obama signs in and around the Mount Washington Valley. When results came in later that night, Sen. Clinton took an early lead and held it to the end.

“It was unfortunate, it was disappointing,” Shaw said. “It was hard to be there a week and then lose.”

Clinton won New Hampshire with 39 percent of the vote. Obama wasn’t far behind with 36 percent. However, he did win Conway and Carroll County. It was a tie in the delegate count, with Obama and Clinton picking up nine each.

“The change that Obama is talking about and the change he’ll bring, it would have been too easy for him to win both Iowa and New Hampshire,” she said. “It would have been too fantastical.”

The South Carolina primary

After the New Hampshire primary, the next big contest for the Democratic candidates was the Jan. 26 South Carolina primary. Shaw volunteered her time once again and flew down the week before the Saturday contest. She worked in the small, south-central town of Bamberg, S.C. in Bamberg County. Since she was one of only three volunteers and staffers at the location, Shaw had more responsibilities. Instead of knocking on doors, she made phone calls and helped organize events in Bamberg and Barnwell counties.

While in South Carolina, she was able to attend a rally in which Obama’s wife, Michelle, spoke.

“It was great to meet her,” Shaw said. “She was very supportive of all the work I’ve done and the work all volunteers had done.”

South Carolina proved to be a huge victory for Obama. He easily won South Carolina’s primary, taking 55 percent of the vote and picking up 25 delegates. Hillary Clinton received 27 percent of the vote and 12 delegates.

“That felt really good,” Shaw said. “I was disappointed in New Hampshire, but was then part of a big win, so it was great.”

Maine and Vermont

While back at Bowdoin College at the end of January, Shaw helped campaign for Obama in between class responsibilities. On the Maine caucus day, Feb. 10, Shaw hung door hangers on dorm doors encouraging students to come out and caucus in Brunswick. Town residents and students braved cold temperatures and snow to caucus, giving Brunswick one of the highest voter turnouts in the state. Obama won the town and the state easily with 59 percent of the vote, picking up 15 delegates.

As for the upcoming Vermont primary on March 4, Shaw said she wants to help out either from Bowdoin or a quick weekend back in Williston. Shaw said that she’s very proud to be from Vermont and she’s excited that this year, Vermont’s voice will be heard.

“Vermont actually is mattering more than it usually does!” she said.

Shaw has gotten her family involved, as well. Her father, Tony, joined her in New Hampshire to canvas neighborhoods and her mother and younger sister, Emily, plan to volunteer locally.

“Her passion has been contagious,” her mother, Joanne, said. “She’s gotten the whole family on the Obama bandwagon.”

As for Obama’s goal to win the Democratic nomination, Shaw believes “it’s totally possible.”

“He’s still the underdog in some ways in terms of name recognition,” Shaw said. “The only way he can win the nomination is if people go out and vote. It’s up to the 15 states or so that are left.”

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Incessant snow exhausts supply

By Greg Elias
Observer staff

Warning: slippery roads ahead.

A steady stream of snow and ice storms this winter has kept plow trucks busy spreading salt and sand. But now the salt shed is nearly empty in Williston and elsewhere. Additional shipments are stalled amid a nationwide supply crunch.

Public Works Director Neil Boyden wants residents to know he and his road crews are still trying to keep roads clear. But with supplies having dwindled to less than what is usually used for a single storm, Williston road crews are doling out salt in smaller doses, mixing it with sand and skipping applications altogether on less-traveled roads. Crews are concentrating on intersections, curves and hills.

“We’re doing the best we can with what we have,” Boyden said. “And we’re going above and beyond trying to get more product.”

Williston, like towns throughout Vermont, has space for only a limited stockpile of salt. The town’s shed can hold enough salt for at most three storms.

So Williston counts on ongoing shipments to replenish supplies. But an unusually snowy winter in Vermont and other parts of the country has strained the supply chain, and now many areas are not receiving salt quickly enough to replace what is being used.

The town has sought help from the state and gone outside normal supply channels.

Earlier this month, Williston worked with three other Chittenden County towns to arrange shipments from Canada. But after much red tape and a couple of shipments, that supply was cut off.

As for the state, Boyden said limited help has been forthcoming. “We asked for seven dump truck loads and we got three loads,” he said. “And that wouldn’t even get us through one storm.”

Vermont Agency of Transportation spokesman John Zicconi said the state is struggling with the same supply shortage.

“We understand people are in a pinch right now and we’re trying to do what we can to help,” he said.

The Agency of Transportation said last week that it had provided salt to nearly 100 municipalities. However, the agency also announced that it would only loan salt until a given maintenance district’s storage facility reaches 25 percent of capacity. In District 5, which includes Williston, the reserve was down to about 36 percent, Ziconni said.

Meanwhile, Williston has even begun to run out of sand. Unlike salt, the town buys all its sand at the beginning of the winter.

“I’ve never seen the pile that low,” said Rick Peet, Williston’s public works foreman. He said the town’s sand stockpile had dwindled from 20 feet high at the beginning of the winter to less than 4 feet high.

As of Feb. 5, the town had used 88 percent of the 2,100 tons of salt it planned to apply this winter. Williston will likely spend more than the $98,700 budgeted for salt this year, which could force cuts in other areas such as road paving.

“Who knows what Mother Nature will bring us over the next few weeks, but I suspect she won’t be nice enough to allow us to stay within the salt budget,” Boyden wrote in a memo.

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