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Mayor Miro Weinberger Statement Announcing Completion of Settlement Agreement in Burlington Telecom Lawsuit

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 2, 2015
Contact:  Mike Kanarick
                 802.735.7962

Mayor Miro Weinberger Statement Announcing Completion of Settlement Agreement in Burlington Telecom Lawsuit

At a news conference this afternoon, Mayor Miro Weinberger delivered the following statement about the completion of the Settlement Agreement in the Burlington Telecom lawsuit:
 

Good afternoon and happy New Year. Thank you for joining us.

For the City of Burlington, the start of the New Year is an especially happy time.  Earlier this afternoon, the final steps were taken to complete the Settlement Agreement in the Burlington Telecom lawsuit with Citibank. 

We now have definitively ended a long and unfortunate chapter in our City’s history, and Burlingtonians can welcome 2015 knowing that the dark cloud of the $33.5 million Citibank lawsuit is gone and that taxpayers have been absolved from any further liability. 

Together, we – the Administration, the City Council, and the people of Burlington – have tackled and addressed the mistakes of the past.

Since 2009, the lawsuit has hung over this City, threatening our financial future, dividing the community, and diverting us from other, critical efforts to improve the lives of Burlingtonians.  The lawsuit drove our City’s credit rating down to the edge of junk bond status and had begun to undermine the foundation of our City’s greatness.

Last February, after nearly two years of focus by this Administration and a second two-day mediation, we reached a Settlement Agreement with Citibank that offered a path to resolving the lawsuit in a way that met all of the City’s goals.  The agreement protects taxpayers, saves from destruction a public utility that provides critical services to thousands of Burlington residents and businesses, preserves competition for those services to the benefit of Burlingtonians, and creates a route for partial recovery over time of the $17 million of taxpayer money spent on BT prior to 2010. 

While reaching a Settlement Agreement created a clear path to resolution of the lawsuit, that path was steep and perilous, and it was far from certain that we would arrive at today’s conclusion.  We worked hard throughout the entire year to secure the necessary approvals to complete the settlement.  Those months of critical work continued until nearly 11 PM on New Year’s Eve and resumed again early this morning.  And this afternoon, Citibank provided a release from any further liability, and this document – stipulating to the dismissal of the lawsuit – has been filed with the court this afternoon. 

This work has been led by City Attorney Eileen Blackwood, Chief Administrative Officer Bob Rusten, and BT General Manager Stephen Barraclough and his partner Terry Dorman. On behalf of the people of Burlington, I want to offer my deepest thanks to these talented and committed public servants – we are very fortunate to have had them fighting for us during these tense and momentous months.

  • Thank you to our team of lawyers (Thomas Melloni, Kim Hayden, AJ LaRosa, Mark Heath, Jennifer McDonald), the members of the Burlington Telecom Advisory Board (citizen members David Provost, David Parker, and Pat Robins, and City Council members President Joan Shannon, Karen Paul, and Vince Brennan),  and all our City Councilors  for the enormous efforts to get to today.
     
  • Thank you to the BT team members, who have been working on the ground and in the trenches to turn around BT and made this day possible through their hard work and commitment.  Exciting opportunities now lie ahead for BT, and on another day soon, we will hear more about this.
     
  • And, thank you to the people of Burlington, who made today happen by sticking with BT, supporting the Fiscal Stability Bond that laid the groundwork for a settlement, and supporting this resolution.

 

*Please see attached Citibank-City of Burlington Stipulation of Dismissal with Prejudice.

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Press Release Date: 
01/02/2015
City Department: 
Mayor's Office