Petition Seeks Vote On Al-Jazeera TV

The Defenders Council of Vermont, a small group that led the fight against Burlington Telecom’s continuing to air the 24-hour news channel Al-Jazeera English, will mount a petition drive to place a referendum question on the Burlington ballot in the November general election.

Jamie Zeppernick, Defenders Council executive director, said Wednesday that wording of the referendum question, while still being edited, reads: “Should Burlington Telecom enter into a contract with Al-Jazeera English, provided reasonable and agreeable terms can be reached by Burlington Telecom management?”

City Council President Kurt Wright, R-Ward 4, said he would speak at a Defenders Council news conference at City Hall this morning.

“I’m going to be very careful not to take a position on whether it should be kept on the air,” he said of Al-Jazeera English. “It should not be a political decision by the (city) council or the mayor.”

In late June, Burlington Telecom’s two citizen oversight committees, following two heavily attended public forums, unanimously recommended to Burlington Telecom management that it keep Al-Jazeera English on the air.

Wright said that because contract talks between Burlington Telecom and Al-Jazeera English are “on the fast track,” he will urge today that the city pursue only a short-term contract that would expire shortly after the results of a November referendum become available. Thereafter, he said, the city “could make a decision about whether to let the contract expire or sign onto a new one.”

Zeppernick said the Defenders Council, which has 11 board members statewide, will work with Burlington residents to collect signatures on the referendum petition.

He said the public forums of the oversight committee were “insufficient” to ensure that the sentiments of Burlington residents had been fully aired.

– By John Briggs

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