Gov. Peter Shumlin has asked former Douglas administration official Neale Lunderville to spearhead Vermont's recovery efforts in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Irene.
Lunderville will be responsible for leading the immediate and short-term assistance efforts for families, businesses and communities. He will also be in charge of rebuilding state infrastructure and coordinating disaster response local, state and federal programs.
Lunderville, an executive with Green Mountain Power and a former Douglas administration official, will take a four month leave of absence from the electric utility. He will receive pro-rated compensation, which will be based on the executive salaries of other secretaries in the Shumlin administration who earn more than $100,000 a year.
At a press conference last Thursday, Shumlin said he created the new post because his administration doesn't have enough operational capacity to meet the ongoing problems associated with the widespread infrastructure damage in the immediate aftermath of Irene and move ahead with his ambitious political agenda, which includes the 2013 federal deadline for broadband rollout to communities throughout the state (many of which are in the areas hardest hit by the storm); boosting and economic development efforts and maintaining a tight General Fund budget as the recession drags on; and embarking on a single-payer health care plan.
“My challenge is my team has its hands full,” Shumlin said. “We can't ask people who work so hard for me to do everything.”
Shumlin said Irene gives the state new opportunities to rebuild the state's infrastructure in ways that incorporate new technologies, such as fiber-optics for broadband access. He said the recovery effort will last six months to a year.
“I am bound and determined when the state has fully recovered that Vermont will be in better shape than when Irene came through,” Shumlin said.
Lunderville was one of Republican Gov. James Douglas' closest aides. He is widely viewed as a conservative and Douglas loyalist. He served as a campaign manager for the four-term GOP governor, and as secretary of the Agency of Transportation and secretary of the Agency of Administration under Douglas.
Shumlin, who is a Democrat, said politics had nothing to do with the decision. He was looking for the “best qualified person” for the job. The governor referred to Lunderville as a “proven problem-solver.”
“This isn't about Republicans and Democrats,” Shumlin said. “This is about getting Vermont back on its feet.”
Ten days after the storm re-routed rivers and streams, uprooted hundreds of trees, destroyed 700 homes, pummeled hundreds of roads and destabilized dozens of bridges, Vermont is still reeling from the scale of the destruction.
The state is faced with unprecedented infrastructure destruction that will cost hundreds of millions of dollars to reconstruct.
As the “Irene Recovery Officer,” Lunderville will help the Shumlin administration ensure that local, state, federal, nonprofit, private and public entities work together.
Lunderville will have oversight of four broad recovery efforts: individual and business access to financial assistance and emergency support from FEMA and state agencies; reconstruction of roads, bridges and culverts; coordination of community relief to “maximize resources, volunteers, donations and manpower”; and find opportunities to strengthen Vermont's long-term infrastructure as part of the rebuilding process.
When reporters asked whether the appointment would create a conflict of interest, given Lunderville's employment with Green Mountain Power, a subsidiary of Montreal-based Gaz Metro, which is in the middle of a merger with Central Vermont Public Service, Shumlin uttered an emphatic “No.” Nor did the governor think the perception that his administration is too close to Green Mountain was a problem.
“All I can tell you is my relationship to Green Mountain power is no different than my relationship with IBM or Green Mountain Coffee Roasters,” Shumlin said. “As governor, my job is to be close to large employers and help them grow. I don't apologize for that.”
Lunderville said though he may be “coordinating” utility work as czar, any big utility-related decisions would be made by Jeb Spaulding, secretary of the Agency of Administration.
Green Mountain Power sponsored Shumlin's inauguration festivities, and its CEO, Mary Powell, was chair of his inaugural committee. Shumlin has been openly supportive of the CV-GMP merger and the controversial Kingdom Community Wind Project on Lowell Mountain, now under way.
GMP is also part of a federal, state and private “SmartGrid” partnership with Vermont Telephone, which is charged with bringing broadband service to remote communities. The “SmartGrid” plan would enable utilities to gather information about power outages and electricity usage remotely, through wireless technology.