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The Vermont Unaccountability Machine: Kurn Hattin Homes for Children
Just Ask Vermont Governors Shumlin, Kunin and Douglas
Kurn Hattin - Celebrating 130 years of unaccountability in Vermont!
Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin is pictured with the Kurn Hattin Homes Choir at his inauguration along with Vermont governors Kunin and Douglas. Shumlin's daughter’s maternal grandmother and three uncles all attended Kurn Hattin. Madeleine Kunin, contributes financially to Kurn Hattin and graces the institution while addressing business leaders from local Chambers of Commerce with her magnificence and magnanimity, dispensing her insightful wisdom and thought terminating cliche to the children, such as, “Don’t be shy, or you’ll never be Governor.”
Kunin’s public tack diverges and reveals her true character when, in the following instance, she allegedly confronted a survivor of Kurn Hattin engaging in ther constitutional right to petition over decades of child abuse perpetrated at the institution for marginalized children. Near the Dartmouth Green in Hanover, she asked, allegedly, with obvious not-so-passive-aggressive intent, “Do you have a job?” They replied, “Yes, thank you for asking. It is said work that allows me to be here today.” When the survivor refuses to give Madeleine their name, she allegedly hissed, “You are human, aren’t you?” And then she spun on her heel and strutted off down Main Street with her shopping bags.
It is no small wonder that the Vermont Approved Independent School, which receives Vermont taxpayer funds, has never been held accountable. The residential school has been supported by the those at the highest levels of power who posess the lowest levels of character and substance in Vermont since its inception in 1893 when it was first incorporated by a group of wealthy and wellborn Vermonters, including the Mayor of Burlington, as an Asylum for Inebriates, that operated a highly profitable licensed franchised medical healthcare scam targeting vulnerable people suffering from addiction at the height of the temperance movement, known as the Gold Cure.
Below is an excerpt from the Westminster Gazette, Westminster’s local self-serving community rag, supported substantially for decades by Kurn Hattin and in which, Kurn Hattin features prominently.
Westminster Gazette: Our Monthly Community Newspaper February 2015 Vol. 11, No. 2 - THE GAZETTE GRATEFULLY ACKNOWLEDGES THE SUPPORT OF ITS UNDERWRITERS: Kurn Hattin Homes for Children
The Kurn Hattin Homes Select Choir performed a moving rendition of the Vermont State Song, “These Green Mountains” for re-elected Governor Peter Shumlin. In his opening remarks, Governor Shumlin described the young Kurn Hattin children as a “tough act to follow.” Governor Shumlin, who had invited the choir to sing at the ceremony, explained that it was “a special moment for me, as they were able to knock it out of the park.’’ Shumlin noted that the late grandmother of his daughters had attended Kurn Hattin Homes for Children with her three brothers, years ago. Before the ceremony, the children enjoyed a special luncheon with Governor Shumlin and former Governors Madeleine Kunin and Jim Douglas, as well as other state legislators.
The Town of Westminster itself joins in to sound off in the Kurn Hattin chorus with this quote from the Westminster Annual Report: “Westminster succeeded in breaking ground in many ways. The following is a list of only a few of those things that the Town was “first” for in the State of Vermont. The Kurn Hattin Children’s Homes were started in 1893 by the Reverend Charles Dickinson, a native of Westminster, as a place for wayward or orphaned children. Today New England Kurn Hattin Homes continues to be a major presence in our town.”
Governor Jim Douglas is presently engaged in a lawsuit against Middlebury College over the removal Governor John Meads' name from the Chapel now known as Middlebury Chapel because of Meads early role in promoting eugenical sterilization in Vermont as a representative of the State. Ironically, the President of Middlebury College John Thomas, also promoted eugenical sterilization during the period in speaking engagements throughout Vermont along with former Kurn Hattin Homes for Children director, Joseph Barrs, Vermont State employee and Superintendent of the Vermont Industrial School. A behind the scenes attorney of Governor Douglas alleges that Middlebury College removed Eugenics Survey of Vermont documents from a Middlebury College online directory administered by Dr. Holly Allen, allegedly in violation of a document retention letter served upon the school. One of the documents, now no longer on the school's website is the report authored by the Chairman of the Committee on the 'Handicapped' Kurn Hattin Executive Director, W.I. Mayo, Jr. for the Committee on the Human Factor and the Eugenics Survey of Vermont (ESV). Middlebury College President Paul D. Moody was Chair for the Committee on the Human Factor. The sole purpose of the Committee on the 'Handicapped' in scare quotes as handicapped is first used in this instance in Vermont to replace 'Feebleminded' so as to soften the language of the report to the Vermont Legislature. The sole purpose of the Committee on the 'Handicapped' as stated by UVM Professor of Zoology, Henry Perkins, director of the Eugenics Survey of Vermont, was to "ensure the enactment of eugenical sterilization law in Vermont." Under the auspices of the Vermont Commission on Country Life, an ESV offshoot, and its director, Governor John Weeks, who was also Vice President of Kurn Hattin Homes for Children, the director of Kurn Hattin, William Mayo's Committee on the Handicapped was successful in its goal to enact eugenical sterilization law in Vermont in 1931 in a vote of eugenic zeal by the Vermont Senate and House Legislature.
Governor Madeleine May Kunin, during her tenure as Vermont Governor completed what has been referred to as the single most encompassing study on child abuse in Vermont history during her administration. The study found that of the sixteen counties in Vermont, Windham County had the highest rates of child abuse in Vermont. What was done with the study on Vermont Child Abuse and paid for by Vermont taxpayers? Given Vermont's continued endemic and epidemic of child abuse - apparently nothing. Where is the study? In a gray cardboard box, on a shelf at the Silver Special Collections Library of UVM. Governor Kunin was at the Vermont helm when she sent a tactical team of 50 armed Vermont State Police troopers to quell a disorderly group of youths at the Weeks School (as in Governor John Weeks, president of Kurn Hattin) in Vergennes - formerly the Vermont Industrial School, and prior to that name change, the Vermont Reform School. The children were standing up to the abusive conditions and culture of brutality at the school that had been entrenched for decades and began during the ten year period during which former Kurn Hattin director, Joseph Barrs, fashioned the eugenics era Vermont Industrial School, at the behest of the Vermontese, after his warm-up at Kurn Hattin Homes, into the isolating controlling hellhole that Vergennes, as they threatened the children at Kurn Hattin with, was to become. Governor Kunin has been a supporter of Kurn Hattin Homes for Children for decades and is currently a publicly listed financial contributor to the school.
Governor Peter Shumlin is noted for forever altering Vermont history through his role in presiding over Vermont's Jay Peak EB-5 scandal.
Der Rattenfänger von Hameln (The Rat Catcher of Hamlin) – The Pied Piper Phenomenon: The phrase "Pied Piper" is a metaphor for one who attracts a following through false promises and describes someone who is able to charm or lure others through the use of their skills or abilities, often through the use of attractive, but controlling means. More broadly, it refers to someone who leads others astray or manipulates them for their own gain. The principal definition of a Psychopath is: To violate the rights of others for personal benefit, at the expense of others.
In 2016 Federal regulators revealed the largest financial fraud in Vermont’s history. The owners and developers of Jay Peak ski resort were accused of misappropriating more than $200 million that they’d raised for development projects in Vermont’s so-called Northeast Kingdom.
In 2008, Jay Peak Resort was purchased by a group of investors lead by Miami businessman, Ariel Quiros and the resort's CEO, Bill Stenger (Peter Shumlin, Vermont’s then governor, once described the pair as “miracle-makers”). They raised money from EB-5 Immigrant Investor Visa Program investors and initiated a major expansion of the resort's facilities.
U.S. Senators Patrick Leahy, and Bernie Sanders, U.S. Representative and Kurn Hattin supporter and financial contributor Peter Welch, and Governor Shumlin all praised the plans to bring the projects to the Green Mountain State. Shumlin’s predecessor, Governor Jim Douglas, was also a vocal proponent of the state-run EB-5 program.
In 2013, Shumlin appeared in a video that was translated into Chinese, falsely claiming the projects were audited by the state. And there were several junkets to China in 2013 and 2014 in which Shumlin, Senator Patrick Leahy, and Representative Peter Welch, were featured speakers at meetings with investors organized by Jay Peak.
Leahy has long been a prominent backer of the EB-5 program in Vermont, and a friend of Stenger, who continued working for Jay Peak until he was indicted in May. The senator held his 50th wedding anniversary at Jay Peak and called on Stenger to testify before Congress about the benefits of the EB-5 initiative.
Furthermore, Leahy joined Stenger on a trade mission to Ireland and the senator solicited investors in China on behalf of the EB-5 program and the Jay Peak projects. The senator also wrote a letter of support for the proposed biomedical research project, which was later found to be “nearly a complete fraud” by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy wanted people to associate one politician with the program: him. Leahy’s staff in 2011 pushed then-incoming Governor Peter Shumlin to sing the senator’s praises during his inaugural address for playing a lead role in backing the state’s EB-5 program. They offered a suggestion about what to include about the congressional delegation. “Recognize them and their good work – on EB5 you need to recognize Leahy and only Leahy.”
Jay Peak and Burke Mountain Ski Area, were seized by U.S. government officials amid investigations regarding fraudulent offerings, and the commission of 52 counts of securities fraud in what the Securities and Exchange Commission called, a Ponzi-like scheme. Quiros and Stenger pleaded guilty and received prison sentences.
Unsealed FBI investigation documents recount how Shumlin and his team knew by the spring of 2015 that the EB-5 projects were fundamentally fraudulent and doomed to collapse, and yet they continued to promote the projects for a full year. Their efforts only ended in the spring of 2016 when the federal government launched a massive civil suit against Bill Stenger and Ariel Quiros. “State officials were pushing the Governor to shut down the projects,” the FBI paraphrased the commerce secretary as saying. “But the governor said no — they would wait for SEC to take action.”
Governor Shumlin showcased the Jay Peak projects in his inaugural address in 2011 and in his state of the state speech a year later. Shumlin actively promoted Jay Peak in China in 2013 and reversed a commerce agency decision to suspend the projects in 2015, allowing the developers to continue to solicit investors right up until the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a fraud complaint in U.S. District Court in April 2016.
Lawsuits suggests that Shumlin and several members of his team may have known, or even been involved in the EB-5 scandal that left a path of arrested development across Vermont, and eventually resulted in federal charges being brought against the developer.
A lawyer in Vermont’s Department of Financial Regulation warned in 2015 that the state and administration officials could be targeted by the federal government for having “aided and abetted” the fraud. Administration officials also did their best to prevent disclosure of any information to Vermont investigative journalists. Then-secretary of the Agency of Commerce and Community Development (now Central Vermont Recovery Officer) Patricia Moulton declared: “We are on a public records exemption for any more details out to [journalists].” In violation of state public records law, Shumlin’s administration willfully stonewalled journalistic fact-finding.
Peter Shumlin, also attempted to avoid testifying about an alleged kickback scheme to pay an attorney, who promoted Jay Peak to Chinese investors. Shumlin, in a motion to block his deposition in the lawsuit, denies he has any knowledge of the scheme. The lawyer representing a group of EB-5 investors who were victims of the Jay Peak fraud, accused former state officials of being negligent — and even complicit — in the fraud. Shumlin has been silent about the scandal since leaving the governor’s office. He has stated that he never made misrepresentations about the project, even though he was in a 2013 promotional film that falsely claimed the project was audited by the state. Curiously, Shumlin's deposition to the Federal Bureau of Investigation is conveniently strewn with declarations, such as, "I don't know," or "I don't remember."
Communications unsealed by the court show that Vermont officials allowed the fraud to continue even though they knew investors would be harmed. Michael Pieciak, then-commissioner of the Department of Financial Regulation - now Vermont’s 31st State Treasurer - gave a presentation in August 2015 to Shumlin’s staff and appointees. In it, he pointed out that, because of the fraud, investors would not get their money back, nor would they receive green cards.
FBI interview summaries establish that Quiros for years had a direct line of communication with the governor, frequently texting him on what Shumlin referred to as his campaign phone. They first met in person over dinner in Miami in 2011 and continued to meet — without any others present — until New Year’s Day 2015 when Quiros dropped by Shumlin’s Montpelier home.
The unsealed records show that, even as Quiros sought Shumlin’s assistance with the troubled projects, he gave the governor campaign contributions, gifts and access to his Manhattan apartment. As Quiros doled out favors, Shumlin became a key cheerleader of Vermont’s EB-5 projects, traveling to Miami, China and Vietnam to promote them, and appearing in a promotional video for the Jay Peak developments in which he falsely claimed that the state audited the projects.
After Quiros notified Shumlin of the SEC investigation, the governor recounted to the FBI, he asked his staff to “confidentially” verify the assertion with the office of U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, a strong supporter of the EB-5 program. Leahy’s staff confirmed the news, according to Shumlin.
Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark settled a lawsuit, costing Vermont taxpayers $16.5 million, just days before Peter Shumlin and other top officials would have had to testify under oath. Most relevant, is Vermont’s Attorney General serving simultaneously as counsel for the people and for the state. If the interests of state and people are in conflict, then Vermonters get the proverbial shaft.
The State of Vermont agreed to settle claims by dozens of investors who were swindled in the Jay Peak EB-5 fraud. In nearly three dozen lawsuits, more than 150 investors have been seeking recompense from Vermont for the state's role in overseeing the EB-5 program. Investors have long asserted that the state, including then-Democratic governor Peter Shumlin, was complicit in aspects of the Jay Peak fraud.
The global settlement, resolves all investor litigation against the state and prohibit similar lawsuits in the future, according to the Attorney General's Office. It also means there'll be no trial in which more information about state officials' conduct could come to light. Charity Clark, declined further comment on the case. “We are going to let the filed papers speak for themselves,” she said. Stowe Vermont attorney Russell Barr replied. “It is now abundantly clear that the Attorney General’s office is doing whatever it can to prevent the truth from coming out.”
A report released by Vermont State Auditor Doug Hoffer affirmed a longstanding conclusion of the EB-5 scandal: that a lack of state oversight allowed the fraud to happen. “In short, we found a pattern of misplaced trust, unfortunate decision-making, lengthy delays, and missed opportunities to prevent or minimize fraud,”
Paul Van de Graaf, a prosecutor on the case, characterized it as one of the most significant in the state’s history. “Many people in Vermont could not believe that something so bad had happened here,” he said. “We needed to show not only that it could but that it did.” Russell Barr, who represents the investors, said he is outraged that no government officials faced legal consequences: “If they were in private industry, they probably would have been locked up.”
Many of the 800 immigrants who invested in Jay Peak said they did so because Leahy and Shumlin and Governor Jim Douglas vouched for the projects and falsely touted the state’s oversight. How the fraud continued unabated for a decade under the noses of state officials has never been explained.
Vermont journalist John S. Walters expounds succinctly on the dehumanizing pathological culture that is inherent in the State of Vermont:
“The primary difference between Vermont and anywhere else is not our inherent virtue; it’s our small population. In Vermont, people can to unspeakable things without anyone else noticing. Our peaceful rural countrysides are full of horror stories.”
Child abuse requires silence to continue. And so, child abuse will continue in Vermont. ... Snakes in Suits: When Psychopaths Go to Work