Justice honored
Skill set
Dooley portrait unveiled at county courthouse
CVU woman honored for lacrosse play
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Volume 51 Number 25
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shelburnenews.com
June 23, 2022
Human Rights Watch director eyes Senate seat Five candidates will battle for three slots COREY MCDONALD STAFF WRITER
Lewis Mudge describes himself as an optimist, an amazing feat of psychological resilience given the nature of his work in the last decade. He’s been shot at, kidnapped, heard first-hand accounts of villages being burned out and raided and has seen the bodies from the aftermath, and he’s interviewed warlords and rebel leaders accused of committing these acts — coming face to face with horrific war crimes, some of which have resulted in international criminal trials at the Hague. “I’ve been in some sticky situations,” he said. Now Mudge wants to bring that experience to the Statehouse as he runs for a seat in the newly created Chittenden Southeast Senate district. His work with Human Rights Watch, an international non-governmental organization that investigates and reports on abuses in dozens of countries across the globe, centers around central Africa, a region that has been mired in violent political conflict for decades. For much of his professional career, his job has been “us with notebooks out in the field, documenting what group perpetrated what act against civilians ... to bear witness, to document and to follow a prescribed methodology in that documentation.” So nowadays, when he has discussions with Charlotte voters on some of the state’s and the country’s most-talked-about issues, be it climate change, gun control or civil rights, he can’t help seeing a path forward. If good work can be done in such a chaotic political climate, then surely progress can be made within relatively stable democratic institutions, he said. He’s taken a step back from his work See MUDGE on page 16
PHOTOS BY LEE KROHN
Summer harvest Shelburne Farmers Market shoppers — and guest musicians — donned coats Saturday as temperatures struggled to reach 50 degrees. Fresh fennel for sale. The weekly market takes place on the Parade Grounds every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Former employee sues Shelburne over public records Issue boiled over at February selectboard meeting COREY MCDONALD STAFF WRITER
Shelburne’s former zoning and planning director has sued the town over several public records requests he says were improperly denied. Dean Pierce, in a lawsuit filed in the Edward J. Costello Courthouse in Burl-
ington, claims that Shelburne and its town manager, Lee Krohn, used an improper interpretation of the state’s laws regarding when public records can be withheld from the public, particularly those that include personal documents relating to town employees. “I think there’s important information yet to be disclosed and I aim to get it,”
Pierce said. “The constitution of the state of Vermont makes it clear” what should be public record “and it doesn’t seem to be very clear to the town of Shelburne.” Both Krohn, as well as selectboard Chair Mike Ashooh, declined to comment. Pierce previously worked for the town for nearly 20 years before resigning July 5, 2021. He had been on extended medical leave prior to that. See PIERCE on page 12