>>20828613 (You) Colleges are now closing at a pace of one a weekPN

The unraveling of Jane Sanders' Burlington College legacy

April McCullum Burlington Free Press1/4 (note how many declined to comment, they made money off it)

Jane O'Meara Sanders had an ambitious vision for Burlington College.

Sanders, wife of 2016 presidential candidate and Vermont senator Bernie Sanders,described herself when she was hired in 2004 as a "turnaround president."She orchestrated the college's move from a small, cramped campus to an expansive lakefront property in 2010.

The sprawling green would give students space to relax. The small private college could have built dorms, townhouses and single homes on the 32-acre property. Some property could have been leased, perhaps to a restaurant or cafe. There could have been space for weddings, outdoor movies or afternoon tea with a chamber music accompaniment — all with stunning views of Lake Champlain and the Adirondacks.

Five years after Jane Sanders left — after significant board turnover and three college presidents — Burlington College, and her vision, collapsed under "the crushing weight of debt."

The Burlington College story unfolded over more than a decade of growth and struggle:

• 2004: Jane Sanders is hired as president and announces a goal to improve the school's financial health. The presidential search committee had said it wanted a candidate with proven fundraising experience.

• December 2010: Under Sanders' leadership, Burlington College purchases a new lakefront campus for $10 million.

• October 2011: Ten months after the property purchase, Sanders resigns, citing "different visions for the future" with the board of trustees.

• June 2014: The college's accreditation is in jeopardy due to financial troubles.

• January 2016: A Republican attorney accuses Jane O'Meara Sanders of bank fraud related to the property purchase.He later says Sen. Bernie Sanders improperly pressured People's United Bank to approve the loan.

• May 2016: Burlington College shuts down under the burden of debt from the property deal.

Little remains today of the now-defunct college. Federal authorities, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Attorney's Office, are investigating the 2010 property deal that Sanders orchestrated. A local Republican attorney has accused Sanders of bank fraud.

About 150 boxes of orphaned Burlington College records were taken by the State Agency of Education— minutes of board of trustees meetings, facility information, student transcripts, enrollment inquiries and SAT scores.

Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation looked through the records and took everything they needed for their inquiry, according to emails obtained through a public records request. On March 30, the state shredded everything that remained except for student academic records.

Sanders, who denies wrongdoing, has saidshe left Burlington College in a hopeful financial condition.

"There were no problems when I left. It was great. It was poised for soaring," Sanders said in a 2015 interview with the Burlington Free Press during her husband's presidential campaign. "I have no doubt that had we worked out a good transition plan, or had I stayed, that it would have been wonderful."

The final piece of the Burlington College property was sold in a foreclosure auction last week, and the former campus is slated to become a housing development and park. The large red Burlington College roadside sign was recently taken down.

One poster in the window of a former campus building attests to the college's non-traditional spirit. It reads, "Taking the road less traveled."

Sanders was hired to lead Burlington College in 2004. She had previously served a one-year stint as interim president of Goddard College in Plainfield, Vermont, and was running her own political and higher-education consulting firm. Sanders has described her style as president as "entrepreneurial," and when she left in 2011 said the board of trustees had a different approach.

Adam Dantzscher, who was chairman of the board of trustees at the time,declined to comment.

https://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/local/2017/07/21/unraveling-jane-sanders-burlington-college-legacy/486054001/

>>20828954

2/4

Jeff Weaver, a spokesman for the Sanders family, provided a memo dated October 2011 that Sanders wrote to the Burlington College board of trustees to recount the accomplishments of her seven-year tenure. "In recent years, we have achieved the highest rating for financial responsibility that the U.S. Department of Education provides," Sanders wrote, later adding that her administration had managed finances through "smart money management" rather than budget cuts.

Read the full memo here. Sanders declined to comment further Thursday on the plans that she said were discarded after she left.

"I felt, to the detriment of the school, that the development plan wasn't implemented, the plan for the college," Sanders said in the 2015 interview. "Everything that we said, ‘We’ll do this, this, this, this, this’ — nothing happened."

A $10 million dream

For Burlington College, it was a golden opportunity. Students complained about the lack of an outdoor college campus and gathering spaces at the old two-acre property. Burlington College commissioned architectural drawings for a new building —but then learned that the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington would sell its 32-acre lakefront property just down the road at a "comparable expense."

"We decided to change our plans," wrote Sanders and Christine Plunkett, the chief financial officer at the time, when they applied for tax-exempt bond financing for the purchase from the Vermont Educational and Health Buildings Finance Agency in 2010. The purchase price was $10 million, about half of the property's assessed value.It was a bold step for the tiny college with an endowment of $100,784, annual revenue of approximately $3.6 million, and192 students.

The new property purchase would be financed with a $3.65 million mortgage from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington and $6.7 million tax-exempt bonds, which would be purchased by People's United Bank.The college would pay back its new debt through a major capital campaign and by more than doubling student enrollment to 400 students over four years."The projections for enrollment are very conservative," the college leaders wrote.

The $2 million question mark

At the heart of the property deal was a list of donations, including $2.6 million in confirmed money and another $2.5 million in unconfirmed pledges.The list included $2 million that never materialized."At this time, we have a firm commitment of $1 million from one donor and a verbal commitment for an additional $1 million from another donor," Sanders and Plunkett wrote in the financing application.

In a report this year, VTDigger.org identified the confirmed $1 million donor, listed on college documents as "CBM," as Corinne Bove Maietta.

In the 2010 financing application, Sanders and Plunkett said Maietta pledged to give $1 million over the next seven years. Maietta said in an interview with VTDigger.org, however, that it was a bequest upon her death and not a donation. Maietta said she gave less than $100,000 in donations.

"You can't borrow money on the future," Maietta said, according to the report. "That doesn’t exist." The college's financial audit on June 30, 2011appears to confirm that the pledge was an estate gift. (She had to die first to the estate to give them $1 million)

The second $1 million "verbal commitment," listed in the bond application under the initials "TP," was a matching donation from Tony Pomerleau.His gift was contingent on the college receiving $1 million from another donor.

"I said, 'When you get that million dollars, I'll match it,'" Pomerleau, the 99-year-old Burlington real estate magnate and philanthropist, said in a phone interview this week. The Pomerleau promise was a handshake deal with Sanders. Pomerleau said he never signed a written commitment. The first million dollars never materialized, Pomerleau supposed, because neither Sanders nor anyone else from the college approached him to complete the matching donation.

Reached Thursday, Sanders confirmed that she had listed Pomerleau as "TP" for $1 million on the college's list of potential donors. Sanders declined to comment on the "CBM" donation. Michael Luck, a fundraising consultant for Burlington College at the time, did not return two phone messages seeking an interview, nor did Plunkett, the chief financial officer at the time who later served as president of the college.

Deal approved

The financing agency VEHBFA reviewed the Burlington College proposal in 2010 and held a public hearing in Winooski, a nearby city, about the financing plan. No members of the public offered any comment.

https://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/local/2017/07/21/unraveling-jane-sanders-burlington-college-legacy/486054001/

>>20828962

3/4

Charly Dickerson, one of the board members for VEHBFA, opposed the deal out of concern about the college's ability to repay the debt, according to minutes of the meeting. Another member, Thomas Pelham, opposed it because he was concerned that the property deal was a "fire sale."

The majority of the financing agency board voted to issue $6.7 million in bonds and to certify "that the College appears that it will have sufficient revenue to repay the bonds and the interest thereon when due." Gov. Jim Douglas, a Republican, signed off on the board's recommendation.

Pomerleau agreed to provide a $500,000 bridge loan to help Burlington College purchase the new property. Pomerleau said in an interview that he loaned the money to People's United Bank at the bank's request. Matt Mahoney, the underwriter of the Burlington College loan at People's United Bank,now works at a different bank and declined to comment. A spokeswoman for People's United Bankalso declined to comment.

Jack Bergeron, a Burlington attorney listed as Burlington College's counsel in the bond application,also declined to comment, other than to say that no federal investigators had contacted him. Sanders and college leaders planned a five-year, $6 million capital campaign to support the property deal, and considered fundraising to be going so well that they might set a more ambitious target.

"With more than one third of this total currently pledged, the total goal may be increased prior to announcing the public phase of the campaign," Sanders and Plunkett wrote in the application.The property deal was finalized on December 31, 2010.

The collapse

The college struggled financially after Sanders parted ways with the institution in October 2011. In her goodbye memo to the board of trustees, Sanders wrote that the college had "realized" gift and grant commitments of nearly $1.7 million over the last year, and another $1.25 million was on the books for the future. Many of the donors, like Pomerleau, had personal relationships with Sanders.

"For all these donors, the handling of this transition is crucial," Sanders wrote. Sanders also suggested that Burlington College pursue opportunities for additional revenue and property deals. She was working to sell a nine-acre southernmost parcel of the college property to a "well-respected financial services firm" connected through the Greater Burlington Industrial Corporation. The potential sale would bring in $7 million to $10 million, Sanders wrote — potentially enough to pay off Burlington College's $6.7 million debt from tax-exempt bonds or even to cover the entire debt.

Read the full memo here. Plunkett, the chief fiscal officer, stepped into interim leadership, and while she was busy with administrative responsibilities the college struggled to keep up with financial record-keeping, according to a letter by Plunkett attached to the fiscal year 2012 audit published online by VTDigger.org.

"Due to these transitions and staffing challenges, there was little success with fundraising or enrollment growth during the year," Plunkett wrote. She was appointed president in June 2012. About two years later, college fundraising efforts remained on a back burner. Gains in student enrollment did not materialize, and the school's accreditation was placed on suspension for financial reasons in 2014.

In July 2014, Burlington College obtained a $250,000 loan from a subsidiary of the Vermont Economic Development Authority. "It was a loan that we were clear from the start was a risky loan," said Jo Bradley, VEDA's chief executive officer. Bradley said the college repaid some of the loan, but not all, and no collateral now remains. Plunkett resigned in public, unexpectedly, during a September 2014 confrontation with protesting students. Michael Smith became interim president, then the college hired Carol Moore. The following February, Burlington College sold 27.5 acres of its property to developer Eric Farrell for $7.65 million in an effort to stay afloat.

In March 2015, shortly before Bernie Sanders held a news conference to announce his presidential campaign, a news outlet, the Daily Caller, raised questions about the pledged donations at Burlington College and suggested that Jane O'Meara Sanders may have defrauded the state bonding agency and the bank. The allegations lingered through the next year, and in January 2016 aRepublican attorney, Brady Toensing, asked federal authorities to investigate the finances underlying the property deal, which he said amounted to bank fraud. Toensing also alleged that Bernie Sanders' U.S. Senate office may have pressured the bank for financing, an allegation both Bernie Sanders and Jane O'Meara Sanders have denied.

https://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/local/2017/07/21/unraveling-jane-sanders-burlington-college-legacy/486054001/

>>20828976

4/4

"My wife is about the most honest person I know," the senator said in a recent CNN interview. As the college struggled, the estate of a former faculty member filed a lawsuit, alleging that the college misused a $70,000 gift that was meant to be used for student scholarships. After a settlement, the estate of G. Jason Conway held a $70,000 mortgage on Burlington College property, but now no longer expects to be repaid, said Norm Blais, the attorney representing the Conway estate.

"It's a very sad chapter for my client," Blais said in a recent interview.Blais said the executor of the Conway estate, Marjorie Lemay, has been contacted by the FBI as part of the ongoing federal investigation into the college. A phone number for Lemay could not be found.

In April2016, People's United Bank declined to renew the college's $1 million line of credit, and the New England Association of Schools and Colleges moved tofully revoke Burlington College's accreditation. College leaders announced in ==May 2016 that the college had buckled under "the crushing weight of debt."

As the dust settled, Moore, the college's final president, wrote a letter to theChronicle of Higher Education that placed the blame for the school's failure directly on Jane O'Meara Sanders and the trustees who hired her.

Moore wrote that the property purchase was an "appallingly inappropriate business deal"that should have gotten more scrutiny. Yves Bradley, chairman of the most recent Burlington College board of trustees, did not respond to two voicemail messages seeking comment on Wednesday and Thursday.

When her husband was running for president, Sanders continued to argue that Burlington College could have succeeded with its property purchase."Watch what the developer that bought the land does with it," Sanders said in August 2015, shortly after Burlington College sold part of its campus to Farrell, "and you will see how much money he will make and how much money the college could have made doing similar-type things."

https://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/local/2017/07/21/unraveling-jane-sanders-burlington-college-legacy/486054001/

(No one got prosecuted in this matter, ever)

Citizen Free Press

@CitizenFreePres

Fani Willis refuses to testify before Georgia Senate committee. She believes she is above the law.

0:02 / 0:29

From

Rob DiRienzo

5:10 PM · May 6, 2024

·

4,469

Views

(https://x.com/CitizenFreePres/status/1787590902728229202

>>20829043

Kemp and Carr haven't punished her because they were in collusion with Bidan and Fani

>>20829043

I despise this creature!

>>20828999

Steve Bannon Calls Out The Speaker Power-Sharing Agreement For Destroying AmericaJohnson is partnering with Democrat, Hakeem Jeffries

11:55

https://rumble.com/embed/v4r3bow/?pub=4

Charlie Kirk

@charliekirk11

==Pictured here is our Latino Coalition doing community events in ARIZONA.

We are the only group in Arizona building a full-time hispanic ballot chasing army.==

If we are serious about winning we must engage in the communities we have traditionally struggled in.

Latinos want border security, they're pro-family, pro-Christian, pro-America, and anti-woke.

Making huge strides! Onward!

🇺🇸

https://x.com/charliekirk11/status/1787570000783622631

>>20828999

Bannon is right

>>20829064

What is the deal with Johnson, why is he being tolerated? What plan does Trump have in mind?

Amy Kremer On Bid For National Committeewoman Of The GA GOP “I Don’t Want To Be A Part Of The Club.”Nothing has done anything on election interference, in any place in the Rep party. Time for change.

2:21

https://rumble.com/embed/v4r3dhw/?pub=4

>>20829169

Any Georgia anons here, check out her website, she is trying to break the power brokers in the GA RNC committee and get elected. They are all good ol boys

https://www.amykremer.com/

https://www.amykremer.com/

Kristi Noem’s publisher issues statement regarding falsehood in book.

https://x.com/centerstreet/status/1787238419124338865

KEK

May 5, 2024 - Politics & Policy

Trump's real-time reviews of 2024 VP possibles and other surrogates

Everyone is a winner right now as far as former President Trump is concerned, according to an audio recording obtained by Axios.

Why it matters: Trump's most prominent surrogates went to his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday to audition for vice president, and Trump provided some real-time reviews.

What he's saying: In the audio, Trump at a private luncheon commented on each of the following lawmakers, giving some insight into his thinking:

• Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) — "His name is coming up a lot for vice president!"

• Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) — "As a candidate he did a good job, but as a surrogate he's unbelievable."

• Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) — "He wasn't a supporter of mine at the very beginning… He was saying things like 'the guy's a total disaster'…any ways I got to know him a little bit… As a non politician, he's become one of the great senators."

• Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) — "I love your haircut! … And he's a good man too."

• Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) — "[When she ran in 2018] she was like the energizer bunny. She would go from stop to stop to stop."

• North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum — "I didn't know this: He was a supporter of my two campaigns. He's a very rich man."

• South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem — "Somebody that I love. She's been with me, a supporter of mine and I've been a supporter of hers for a long time. "

• Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) — "A very smart person. She was in upstate New York when I met her…little did we realize she would be such a big factor."

• Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) — "Somebody who's created something very special politically…I like diversity. Diversité as you would say. I like diversité. [Donors] worth millions of dollars…all want a piece of Byron."

• Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-Tex.) — "Another friend of mine… makes the best commercials…beautiful family."

• Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.) — "A man that knows more about the military. When I want to know about the military, I call him."

https://www.axios.com/2024/05/05/trump-vice-president-audio-mar-a-lago

I only see 2-4 I'd support, where's Ben Carson? I'd vote for him.

U.S. soldier detained in Russia and accused of stealing, officials say

The soldier, who was stationed in South Korea, traveled to Russia on his own to visit a woman he was romantically involved with, officials said.

May 6, 2024, 2:46 PM EDT / Updated May 6, 2024 By Courtney Kube and Mosheh Gains

A U.S. soldier was detained in Russia last week, a U.S. Army spokesperson said in a statement.

The soldier, Staff Sgt. Gordon Black, had been stationed in South Korea and traveled to Russia on his own and not on official business, according to four U.S. officials.

He had finished his deployment and was heading back to the U.S. when he made a side trip to Vladivostok, Russia, to visit a woman he was romantically involved with, officials said. They added that he had traveled there without permission from his superiors and is now being held in pre-trial confinement.

The soldier is accused of stealing from a woman, the officials said. It was not immediately clear if it was the same woman he was visiting.

The soldier was detained Thursday, U.S. Army spokesperson Cynthia O. Smith said in a statement.

Smith said the soldier was apprehended in Vladivostok "on charges of criminal misconduct."

"The Russian Federation notified the U.S. Department of State of the criminal detention in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations," Smith said. "The Army notified his family and the U.S. Department of State is providing appropriate consular support to the Soldier in Russia. Given the sensitivity of this matter, we are unable to provide additional details at this time."

Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he is "deeply concerned" by reports that a soldier was detained in Russia.

"Putin has a long history of holding American citizens hostage," McCaul said in a post shared on X. "A warning to all Americans—as the State Department has said, it is not safe to travel to Russia." (And the US, so it’s vice versa)

Current travel guidance from the U.S. State Department restricts travel for citizens to Russia. "Exercise increased caution due to the risk of wrongful detentions," according to the State Department advisory. The Pentagon also restricts travel for Defense Department personnel.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/us-soldier-detained-russia-officials-say-rcna150928

>>20829361

No Going Back, has she recently had a mental breakdown? Sounds so freaking strange. Like she's lost all wisdom and discretion, and ability to tell the truth