the essex
June 7, 2018 • The Essex Reporter • 1
RepoRteR
Prsrt Std ECRWSS U.S. Postage Paid Permit No. 266 Burlington, VT 05401 Postal Patron-Residential
FREE Vol. 17, No. 23 essexreporter.com
{ Thursday, June 7, 2018 }
Wrenner sues town over records Selectwoman says lawsuit stems from town mishandling her sexual harassment claim against town employee By COLIN FLANDERS Selectwoman Irene Wrenner is suing the town of Essex for refusing to share documents from last year’s sexual harassment investigation that began after she alleged “gender-based unprofessional conduct” by a high-level town employee, court records show. Though the case is a public records dispute at heart, Wrenner’s decision to sue effectively outs herself as a victim of alleged sexual harassment. Undoubtedly one of Essex’s most outspoken public officials, Wrenner was hesitant to go public for fear
of retribution from staff and her fellow board members, she said. But Wrenner said she was emboldened by the #MeToo movement, the international push against sexual assault and harassment in the wake of dozens of highly publicized misconduct scandals. She says the town mishandled its investigation, and she’s suing to improve the odds for other victims. “I held out for a really long time hoping that the sexual harassment I was experiencing would stop,” she told The Reporter on Tuesday. “That the person I’ve accused would realize that we’re in the 21st century. That men shouldn’t behave like that. But
nothing changed. It’s time.” Wrenner’s three-page complaint, filed by her attorney, Pietro Lynn, on May 17, says the town violated the Public Records Act by denying her Feb. 1 request for a private investigator’s billing and reports, claiming those records are held at the town attorney’s office and therefore not public. Wrenner’s lawsuit argues otherwise. It says the town must share the records or at the very least describe the ones being withheld. It asks the town to comply with her requests, cover attorney fees and costs and “all other relief that the court deems just and equitable.”
Reached Tuesday, unified manager Evan Teich said the town will address the suit “as the law requires.” He said he couldn’t comment further. The court records clarify what has remained a highly secretive process. Town officials remained mute on the allegations earlier this year as The Reporter investigated the undisclosed claims and have spoken little of the matter since. The topic did earn some airtime at a selectboard meeting in April, when Wrenner said she couldn’t support Max Levy’s bid for chairman, in part because he denied her See LAWSUIT, page 3
BLM flag flies at Essex High School By COLIN FLANDERS
Farmers' market returns By COLIN FLANDERS
L
ive music spilled out onto Maple Street last Wednesday as Essex Jct.’s beloved farmers' market broke in its new time and location, kicking off the 2018 season in style. Twenty vendors – some new, some old – held court behind Road ResQ in the temporary parking lot, which will be transformed into a market scene once a week throughout the summer. Vendors sold products ranging from produce and prepared food to crafts and whiskey, and when their booth was empty, spilled into next-door tents to check out their neighbors’ stash. Attendees, meanwhile, moseyed around the market, bending down to inspect some fresh leaves or sit in the grass and chat with friends. While the changes might take some getting used to, the familiar bustle was proof: The Five Corners Farmers’ Market is back in action. See MARKET, page 3
See BLM, page 2
Police looking for fairgrounds burglar By AMANDA BROOKS
PHOTOS BY COLIN FLANDERS
TOP: Juliet and Killian Cote buy a bag of popcorn from a vendor at the Five Corners Farmers' Market last week. ABOVE: Kate Halladay of Sustainable Kitchen dishes out grub from her tent.
Volunteers spiff up WWII veteran’s home By MIKE DONOGHUE For The Essex Reporter The Essex home of Vermont’s oldest World War II veteran is looking spiffy thanks to members of the local Veterans of Foreign Wars Post and a few volunteers, including Gov. Phil Scott. The home of Harold Bergeron, 103, of Maple Street was scraped and painted over the weekend by about a dozen sets of hands all pitching in. “It is so nice of them to do this,” Bergeron said as members of the work brigade went about their respective duties. His daughter, Ann Yandow, was equally impressed. Some scraped. Some caulked. Some painted. Some cleaned windows. Some fed the troops. One neighbor, who had read about the project in The Essex Reporter, stopped by with fresh doughnuts
If ever there was a day for flag flying, Thursday was that day. Joined by a few dozen spectators, students gathered under cloudless skies to watch one of their own hoist a flag high above the campus of Essex High School. And just after 11 a.m., as the banner peaked beneath the American flag, a breeze rippled its cloth to display its message clearly: Black Lives Matter. “I'm really grateful,” senior Dominique Sweat said after the flag-raising. “I feel very supported, and I'm really excited that our group was able to pull this off.” Sweat is a member of the EHS diversity club, which formed earlier this year to celebrate and promote acceptance and diversity among the student body. She and fellow members worked on their proposal for months before attending a school board meeting May 15. There, they presented a petition started by sophomore Denetra Reeves that earned over 400 student signatures. And like a group of Westford students who first approached the board, they too earned unanimous approval to fly the flag for the rest of the school year. Westford students raised the flag May 16. For Sweat, the flag represents inclusion, diversity and acceptance – what she called important messages for a school where dozens of students choose to attend each year. “This says, 'Hey, we see you. Hey, we want you here,’” Sweat said. “We appreciate people of color, and we want [them] to feel included in our community.” EHS and Westford are the latest Vermont schools to raise the BLM flag after Montpelier High School first did so in February. Burlington High School and several Brattleboro-area schools have since followed suit.
in the morning. One surprise volunteer was Gov. Scott, who showed up in work clothes and spent two hours working hard. Sunday afternoon, he was high on a two-story ladder scraping paint off the backside of the home. Scott, who as lieutenant governor adopted jobs for a day to learn more about Vermonters, seemed to enjoy a day off from the Statehouse. Bergeron, who worked at Archie Myers’ Fiat dealership as parts manager for 16 years, has lived in the house for 55 years. His wife, who died in November, would have been 105 years old on the workday. They were married for over 70 years. “My mother lived to 103,” Bergeron said when asked about his old age. Butch Burns, a member of Post 6689 on Pearl See PAINT, page 2
Essex Police are investigating a burglary at Pete’s RV storage center at the Champlain Valley Fairgrounds in Essex Jct., a news release said. Police say an unidentified male entered the storage site on Thursday, May 17 at 11:19 p.m., caused damage to multiple recreational vehicles and stole a 48-inch Proscan flat screen TV with the serial number A1608179850000048. Anyone with information on this incident is encouraged to contact the Essex Police at 878-8331.
PHOTO BY MIKE DONOGHUE
Members of the local Veterans of Foreign Wars Post and a few volunteers slap paint onto the Maple St. home of Harold Bergeron, 103, Vermont's oldest World War II veteran. Bergeron has lived in the house for 55 years.