Regulation in slow motion: Natural Resources Agency delays decision on public representation

By Kathryn Casa | Vermont Guardian

posted November 18, 2005

There is a citizen wanting a seat at the table, and a seat wanting a citizen on the committee charged with helping revamp the state’s Agency of Natural Resources (ANR). Yet for more than two months, the citizen-at-large position has remained vacant.

“Essentially, they don’t want me and they’re looking for somebody who has a clean slate, and no work-related experience to be Joe Public Citizen,” said Annette Smith, executive director of the Danby-based Vermonters for a Clean Environment (VCE).

Questions about the empty seat arose at three meetings last month of the Natural Resources Restructuring Committee (NRRC), the 13-member panel charged with helping guide ANR Secretary Tom Torti through what is expected to be a five-year-long retooling of the organization.

At one meeting, a colleague nominated Smith for the seat, and at another an ANR employee reportedly asked for an explanation as to why the position remained vacant. Unofficial transcripts of the meetings indicate that Torti said he is looking for someone with “no agenda” and no experience working with ANR.

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