In and Out; the Loser Edition

The outcome of the 2015 Burlington, VT mayoral election was never in doubt; the only question was how strongly would the Democratic incumbent, Miro Weinberger win by and how badly would the Vermont secession flack Greg Guma lose by.

Weinberger defeated Guma by a factor of ten, garnering more than two thirds of the votes cast. Guma's distant third place showing was only matched by the last place loser who's campaign consisted primarily of hanging out at a coffee shop. Guma credits his miserable showing to "Matt for the strategic intelligence and social media savvy." That would likely be Matt Cropp who has yet to run an open campaign that was ever been even remotely successful. My personal favorite campaign was his stint as campaign manager for the 2010 secesher gubernatorial candidate Dennis Steele for whom far fewer than one percent of Vermont registered voters cast a ballot. Subsequently, Cropp penned a not quite concession posting that promised a lot for the future, declared Hancock, VT to be the secesher provisional capital, and then disappeared until his next electoral loss. Cropp went on to lose a bid for a board seat at City Market and for a local credit union. The Guma shellacking will be another significant notch on Matt's electoral guns.

Maybe Matt can craft a Guma concession message that proposes an outsized role for Guma in the next three years of the Weinberger administration. Certainly as the only candidate to run a negative ad in the campaign, Guma's earned something.

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In and Out - Part IV

Two weeks ago when I reported that Greg Guma's doomed to failure campaign for the office of mayor of Burlington (the usual result of Guma's several campaigns for public office) was on again I noted that Guma was setting out with a negative campaign style. That was hardly surprising given that Guma is a Vermont secession flack and dabbles in Vermont secesher historical revisionism. Secessionists and their allies are notoriously negative in their endeavors, laying on lots of hate to make their point. Proving so, Guma began his campaign by calling an opponent a "Republicrat," a pejorative from the Burlington political scene of the 80s. Vermont secessionists are promoting Guma's campaign as an "INSURGENCY" at their hate site (no link will be provided to the hate site).

For a little history, Greg Guma's first press conference on Friday, Feb. 6 was a flop. Described by Seven Day's Alicia Freese as "sparsely attended," Guma's presser elicited no public interest. Stung by this perhaps, Guma launched his first video ad that he admits is "reminiscent" of an attack style. Using wildly out of scale graphics to represent potential development on Burlington's waterfront, Guma's ad uses an ominous sounding, "in-a-world" style narration, including a target placed over the present mayor's face followed by a gunshot. You can read more about the ad here and see the target on Mayor Weinberger's face here. As a result of the outcry from the public, Guma has deleted his Palinesque target and gunshot, the only acknowledgement of which may be this vaguely worded, "(The ad) has been edited to comply with campaign regulations" on his campaign website.

Perhaps criticism of Guma's ad was best said by Burlington City Council president Joan Shannon in an email to the press that labeled Guma's ad claims as "absurd and inaccurate," adding,

"I urge Greg Guma to stop airing the ad immediately, so we can go back to the kind of honest, fair, civil debate that Burlingtonians expect from their politicians. Debating the issues and visions for Burlington is an appropriate debate to engage in. Putting a target on anyone’s head followed by the sound of a shot is something we all should be speaking up against, no matter our views on the mayor or development."

Here, here.

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In and Out - Part III

Vermont secession flack Greg Guma is back again. His on again, off again plan to run for Burlington's mayoral job is now back on with a quiet last minute signature roundup for inclusion on the ballot. That's not as hard a job as it might sound; one need only stand with a clipboard in front of the Post Office and the one hundred and fifty signatures will probably be had in a few hours. Hell, I've signed nominating petitions for people I thought hadn't a prayer to win since I believe even a loser deserves a grab for the brass ring.

Guma has embraced the Vermont secessionist establishment by having his mayoral campaign announcement posted at Rob Williams' anti-Semitic hate blog this week (no, I don't link to Rob's hate site). In it Guma outlines his aginner, largely revanchist intent for Burlington's future.

It's apparent that Guma's decided to run a negative campaign from the start. He's already indulged in name calling by dredging up a slur from the 70s to call Mayor Miro Weinberger a Republicrat. He's constructed a "thumb-on-the-scale" unscientific poll about Weinberger. Despite having participated in the Progressive Party caucus in early December of 2014' Guma now "dismissed the suggestion that as another Progressive-minded candidate, he risked taking votes away from Goodkind (the winner). "I don't think those kinds of labels make as much sense as they used to ..." Right. Guma got one vote at the caucus, presumably his own, and now the results don't mean shit about his appeal to progressive voters. For further evidence of the sour campaign Guma intends run, one need look no further than his blog. Outrageously he equates the development plans for the Burlington College property to heinous crimes committed by priests against children; his over the top rhetoric suggests equivalency between a land deal and the rape of children by both priests and the institution of the Roman Catholic church:

"So, the "school without walls" and the cloistered catholic campus near the lake. How did they get entangled? The answer begins with secrets, the first about what went on in the church -- and on that property."

"In the end dozens of former residents came forward, and revealed a dark, sordid history of physical and sexual abuse by nuns, priests and staff. Like other parts of the church, the diocese ultimately found itself under attack and in serious financial trouble. By May 2010, it had paid almost $20 million to settle 26 lawsuits. More were to follow. Selling the land was urgent to help cover up to $30 million in legal settlements for the abused..."

[snip]

"This land has seen more than enough secrets, loss and pain."

Such an disgracefully contrived connection makes a little more sense when you factor in Guma's reliance on an endorsement and help from failed political operative Matt Cropp:

"Matt Cropp, outreach coordinator of the Vermont Employee Ownership Center and an NPA (Neighborhood Planning Assembly) leader, writes, "By joining the race, he's bringing some vitally important issues to the conversation, such as reversing the de-funding and marginalization of the Neighborhood Planning Assemblies over the last decade, ensuring that the temptation to cut sweetheart deals with politically connected developers is tempered by a robust, transparent, and participatory review process, and devolving certain powers (such as the appointment of commissioners) from City Hall to Burlington's neighborhoods."

In return for such a ringing endorsement at a Cropp event, Guma promised to support giving the group $5,000 in walking around money should he become mayor (as if the decision to do so was to be his alone).

Here's what I've said earlier about Cropp the political apparatchik:

"I noted in his blog post that Guma seemed to rely most heavily on the counsel of Matt Cropp. That's a mistake that most Burlingtonians will get to breath a collective sigh of relief over. For those of you (and that's probably most of you) unfamiliar with Cropp, he's a political loser of the first order. Among, but certainly not all of Cropp's failures was his failed effort to gain a seat on the City Market board of directors; his failure to takeover a credit union's board; his failure to make a go of a provisional capital for his secessionist, so-called Second Vermont Republic in Hancock, VT in 2010; his failure to follow through on any of his promises made after his disastrous management of the 2010 secesher campaign of Connecticut native Dennis Steele's gubernatorial effort (99.24% of the voters gave their vote to someone other than Steele); and, perhaps most tragically, when Cropp was Thomas Naylor's secesher embed in the Burlington Occupy group, his group's advisory to the City of Burlington that they'd be assuming responsibility for the homeless in City Hall Park was followed within a day of their letter to the City by the suicide of one of the homeless (nice one there, Matt!)."

"Looks like everyone gets to dodge a bullet here. Imagine a Guma administration with a loser like Cropp in some position of importance. According to Guma, Cropp is now setting his sights on Burlington's neighborhoods. My advice to the residents of those neighborhoods - MOVE!!!"

Having watched secesher campaigns like these bumble along over the years my money's on a disappointing last place finish for Team Guma.

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In and Out - Part II

UPDATE: Friday, Dec.5, 11:00 AM Okay, Greg's starting to give me whiplash. Here's the latest on his aching for relevance from his FB page yesterday:

"FYI, I posted a statement this a.m. saying no Independent run. Then a reporter calls & asks about accepting the Prog nod. I say well, uh, I'd be honored, thought surprised -- but only if it came after a real process / debate. Will that happen? Guess we'll find out Sunday when the Party caucuses. Feel like Pacino in Godfather III."
21 hours ago

I guess that Guma's heard my criticism of his not telling "the peeples" where TF he and his vast army of supporters are meeting so he tells us,

"Pick BTV candidates: Sunday, 5-7pm, Champlain Senior Ctr: potluck & caucuses for March candidates, including Mayor and City Council. Progressive Burlington residents are encouraged to attend."

Actually, the meeting is open to the public but what's a little caucus voter suppression if it's all for the cause. Guma supporters will caucus at the empty table.

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In and Out

After a couple of weeks of offering "the peeples" to lead them to his vision for Burlington if asked nicely enough to do so, Greg Guma, faux journalist and all-around political crank, has given us his decision.

He'd gotten very little news buzz over his public political pondering of a potential political challenge to incumbent Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger. Fact is, most of the coverage came in the form of his own Facebook page and his blog. He'd said that he'd meet with "the peeples" on Tuesday, Dec.2 at what remained throughout his musings an undisclosed location. I would have gone for a look at his political fan dance just for the giggles but he never let "the peeples" know where the friggin' meeting was being held!

Accordingly, he found support to be insufficient for him to consider a run for office at this time. No doubt in his own mind he coulda been a contenda. With a position of opposition to virtually every development plan on the horizon and a call for an unrealistic back-to-the-past platform with no jobs plan or any appeal to present day Burlingtonians actual desires, Guma's bowing out seems to be the only realistic aspect to his candidacy.

I noted in his blog post that Guma seemed to rely most heavily on the counsel of Matt Cropp. That's a mistake that most Burlingtonians will get to breath a collective sigh of relief over. For those of you (and that's probably most of you) unfamiliar with Cropp, he's a political loser of the first order. Among, but certainly not all of Cropp's failures was his failed effort to gain a seat on the City Market board of directors; his failure to takeover a credit union's board; his failure to make a go of a provisional capital for his secessionist, so-called Second Vermont Republic in Hancock, VT in 2010; his failure to follow through on any of his promises made after his disastrous management of the 2010 secesher campaign of Connecticut native Dennis Steele's gubernatorial effort (99.24% of the voters gave their vote to someone other than Steele); and, perhaps most tragically, when Cropp was Thomas Naylor's secesher embed in the Burlington Occupy group, his group's advisory to the City of Burlington that they'd be assuming responsibility for the homeless in City Hall Park was followed within a day of their letter to the City by the suicide of one of the homeless (nice one there, Matt!).

Looks like everyone gets to dodge a bullet here. Imagine a Guma administration with a loser like Cropp in some position of importance. According to Guma, Cropp is now setting his sights on Burlington's neighborhoods. My advice to the residents of those neighborhoods - MOVE!!!

Buh-bye Greg.

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Is a Secession Supporter Running in the Burlington, VT Mayoral Race?

UPDATE: Wednesday, Dec. 3, 4:00 PM Secession flack and political drama queen Greg Guma to announce Burlington mayoral election bid on Thursday, Dec. 4. Yawn...

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Well, certainly stranger campaigns have occurred in Burlington's past. But this year's musing by longtime political wannabe and unsuccessful influence on the body politic, Greg Guma, deserve a look if not much more.

Guma's been on the edge of the Burlington political scene for what seems like forever. One news organization even made the mistake of using him for past Burlington political campaign coverage and learned that with Guma's "journalism" comes his inevitable slant.

Last week I learned of Guma's latest ploy in a post of his at the Second Vermont Republic hate site (and, no, I don't link to there). I then found a similar advisory on the all-Guma-all-the-time blog here. In a tired and typical pol style, Guma self flogs his importance to the political scene despite his abundant lack of real accomplishment; it's like he's made it notwithstanding his never having done so. His brief tenure at Pacifica was wracked with conflict that led inevitably to his departure with little to show for his time there. Hell, he once had a largely self written Wikipedia article that Wikipedia dropped due to his "lack of notability."

Guma gives himself a backslapping blurb in the announcement post from some other non-notable and even hints at his crucial role in the ascent of Vermont's star and possible presidential contender Bernie Sanders.

Guma goes on at some length about a December 2 meeting without providing a link or a place whereat some might ponder the importance and relevance of a Guma candidacy to the public weal.

"In short, the question I am now considering is whether to proceed anyway or, as I did 35 years ago when Bernie Sanders and I were both organizing mayoral campaigns, step aside for someone else. I'll be listening, watching closely, and thinking it over between now and Dec. 2. In the meantime, I have asked my current supporters to spread the word, invite others, and let me know what they think. If the prevailing sentiment is that Steve (Goodkind) is the right person and the only challenger needed, I need to hear why. The responses, along with discussion on Dec. 2, will be a significant factor in my choice."

Okay. We can probably agree that for such a non-player on the political scene Greg Guma has a pretty inflated sense of self-importance. But by this point one or two of you may be asking why-TF does Rowley give a shit about this loser? Well, Guma comes from a short list of flacks for the so-called "Second Vermont Republic." It's a really short list that includes basically Christopher Ketcham and Shay Totten. Ketcham's published a book on the topic that's gone nowhere, acknowledged that he snuck in a piece for Time that he later admitted was "a favor" for his Vermont Secesher friends and Totten now flacks books since Thomas Naylor is no longer his meal ticket - you'd of thought they might have gotten together on it but seceshers aren't exactly the brightest bulbs. In 2008 Guma wrote one piece that pushes what he thought were the strengths of secession without really telling the whole truth; some "muckraker," as he likes to characterize himself. Here's how he colored the controversy that sent SVR into its death spiral:

"... The controversy began when the Southern Poverty Law Center accused (Thomas) Naylor and the group of talking to an allegedly racist group, the League of the South. Critics pounced, and Seven Days, a liberal weekly in Vermont that was distributing Vermont Commons as an insert, decided to end the arrangement. Labor groups soon demanded the removal of offensive web links on Second Vermont Republic's website, disassociation from certain groups or individuals, and the release of a statement clearly opposing racism, fascism, bigotry, and discrimination. Although there is no evidence that Vermont secessionists condone such things, they've been pressured to prove it."

Actually, Greg, the"critics pounced" before the Southern Poverty Law Center took an interest in SVR and Naylor, and there's nothing "alleged" about the overt racism, misogyny, anti-Semitism and homophobia of the League of the South, in fact they're quite proud of their various hatreds. This blog and two others published extensively and were quite involved in petitioning the SPLC to take a look at Naylor and his flying monkeys. And there was plenty of evidence at the time that SVR condoned institutionalized homophobia, segregation, anti-Semitism and racism; all one had to do was read their publication, Vermont Commons, and Naylor's own website.

Guma has written other dishonest representations of the Vermont secesher movement but that could be the basis for a future post - who knows? Until then Guma will be consumed with his bloatedly self-important decision.

"This is an important moment for Burlington. In the next few years, decisions will be made that could transform the community for generations. If I do run, my goal will not be just to win, but to challenge complacency, provincialism, gentrification and the current redevelopment push, and to open up debate on crucial choices facing the city we love. What I find out in the next two weeks will determine whether that happens. I look forward to hearing what Burlington residents have to say and how they feel about a real independent voice in the race."

Yes, Greg. I'm sure that there are tens of Burlingtonians awaiting your decision.

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