by Kolby LaMarche

The recent exposé on Tyeastia Green, once at the helm of the Racial Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Office, lays bare a troubling tale of accountability gone entirely wrong. 

Greens’ involvement in a Minneapolis event mired in financial discrepancies prompted a city-commissioned inquiry into her conduct. The probe unearthed rampant mismanagement. 

In one instance, according to Green’s testimony, the City’s 2022 Juneteenth Celebration had a tax-sponsored budget of $500,000. However, Burlington’s attorney and the report’s author, Heather Ross, came to a different conclusion. Ross found that Burlington’s Board of Finance only allocated $180,000. 

The event totalled $414,677. Green additionally stated that she was promised between $200,000 and $300,000 from private donors. But due to Green’s incapacity to manage a budget, Burlington tax-payers were forced to foot the remaining bill of $131,657 after only receiving $103k in private donations. 

With the official inquiry out of the way, and the report published, Green now faces the public court of opinion. And she has opted for an expedient escape. Green’s defence is easy to say, but a bit harder to prove: Miro Weinberger is a white supremacist that doesn’t like investing in the black community. 

Green ought to be apologizing. Instead, she has decided to use race as a cudgel to beat Burlingtonians and the City into believing her blatant smokescreen. In Minneapolis, too, Green accused senior officials, both black, of being anti-black. One of the accused, President Andrea Jenkins, responded “[I am] not anti-black, I am anti-incompetent.”     

I hasten to remind you, however, that Green’s misconduct is not the only case of mismanagement in recent Burlington history. In fact, her conduct is only a symptom of an administration rife with discrepancies. I disavow Green’s excuse completely, but I also can’t imagine working with the current administration could be easy.

Earlier in January of this year, State Auditor Doug Hoffer released a report detailing “millions of dollars of mistakes”. Hoffer’s report found that in one project, the City spent an extra $1 million in project expenses, exceeding what voters had authorized. Additionally, the city is in debt by $197,510 to the state education fund. The report also highlighted that $173,056 allocated for bike path restoration was utilised for work outside the eligible financing zone, making it ineligible for financial coverage. 

As another illustration, consider the case of Kyle Dodson, a Burlington resident appointed by Mayor Weinburger, who received a payment of $75,000 over 6 months to create a report on police transformation. More than half of Dodson’s final report contained blatantly plagiarized material, and no concrete – or Burlington-centred – recommendations. Burlington taxpayers effectively granted Dodson a paid vacation, during which he earned more than any other city employee within the same 6-month period.

Much of the left has seemingly disregarded the vital significance of meticulously monitoring and prudently allocating each tax dollar. While we must invest in infrastructure projects and communal gatherings, we also must maintain a vigilant awareness of instances of mismanagement and abuse.

Burlingtonians deserve to derive real improvements to city life from the taxes they pay. What we don’t deserve are fabricated diversions to evade professional responsibility, widespread fiscal mishandling, or a deepening affordability dilemma.   

Click here to watch the season finale of Green’s web series “TH3M” from 11 years ago.

Burning Sky is dedicated to providing critique and commentary on the issues of the day from an unapologetic perspective, fueling change in the heart of Vermont. Authored by Kolby LaMarche every Saturday.