Two days ago the State House walkway was full of beautiful tulips. People were taking pictures, kids were walking around them, pollinators were using them, and honestly it looked great.
I left around 6 PM and came back the next day and every single flower bed was stripped down to brown dirt.
Who made that decision?
Tulips are not cheap.
Labor is not cheap.
Transportation is not cheap.
And these are the same people constantly lecturing everyone else about:
sustainability
carbon footprint
pollinators
environmental stewardship
economic restraint
So how much money and energy were spent ripping out perfectly healthy flowering plants at peak bloom just to leave bare dirt?
Symbolic of the situation we are in with the people we elected.
Honestly, it feels representative of the larger problem in that building:
bad timing,
bad priorities,
and decisions disconnected from ordinary people.
At the same time, Vermonters are dealing with:
Act 250
Act 181
statewide reassessment
exploding education taxes
and property values distorted by post-COVID cash buyers
An old farmhouse assessed at $53,000 suddenly becomes “worth” $500,000 because the market changed around it.
The owner did not suddenly become wealthy.
But the tax burden follows the inflated valuation anyway.
Meanwhile, ordinary Vermonters fight through endless land-use restrictions and permitting systems while massive projects like data centers are already being discussed with carve-outs and exemptions that regular people would never receive.
Regular Vermonters get regulation.
Mega-projects get exceptions.
That is why people feel like Vermont is slowly being transformed into:
a second-home state
a retirement enclave
and eventually a playground for outside wealth
while the people who actually built communities here get priced out.
People were literally enjoying the flowers the day before.
Today:
brown dirt.
Come see for yourself, and let them know how you feel about their priorities
I will be here all week!
#VT4VT
