‘Trust me,’ said the spider to the fly

Arrogance and incompetence and a healthy splash of narcissistic qualities certainly are not attractive qualities for a governor of Vermont in any circumstance. There may now be well more than $100 million on the line for the Waterbury complex and Vermont State Hospital when Vermont’s fiscal sustainability is shockingly fragile.

While Vermont waits to hear if the state employee complex and Vermont State Hospital so necessary to our economy and its citizens will be rebuilt, Gov. Shumlin asks Vermonters to “trust him to find the money.” Just where was he looking, under our mattresses? Our Legislature was sold on an ambiguous assurance of FEMA money to help the rebuilding process in Waterbury after Hurricane Irene’s devastation. Throughout this year’s budget legislative hearings, Gov. Shumlin’s administration promised Vermonters and our legislators that FEMA would provide 90 percent of the money to rebuild in Waterbury, yet last week that promise was blatantly broken.

Gov. Shumlin seems as detached from reality as when I asked him why he got a zero rating from the National Federation of Independent Business. Is the governor looking out for us again, like the spider told the fly, “Trust me. I am here to help you”?

Where will the money come from to bridge the substantial shortfall created by this broken promise?

Peg Coutermarsh

Bradford