Towns consider removing president

December 17, 2006
By DANIEL BARLOW Staff Writer

NEWFANE – Dan DeWalt expects to face a vastly different political environment in early 2007 than the last time he began asking Vermont towns if President Bush should be impeached.

DeWalt, a member of the Newfane Select Board, kicked off a statewide chain reaction last March when he successfully urged passage of a town meeting resolution supporting Bush's impeachment on the claim he mislead the country into war.

Inspired by Newfane's lead, five other Vermont towns followed suit the same day. And now up to 40 towns in the state will likely face a similar question at town meeting in 2007 if a grassroots effort organized by DeWalt is successful.

"People are gathering the signatures," DeWalt said. "People from towns all over the state have contacted us and we've reached out to peace and justice groups to pursue it."

Towns that will possibly be asked to support the impeachment resolution include the Windham County communities of Westminster and Jamaica and the Windsor County towns of Springfield and Ludlow. Other municipalities include Montpelier, Manchester and Middlebury.

Impeachment is expected to be considered in the Vermont House in the next session as well. For the second time in a year, Rep. David Zuckerman, P-Burlington, is expected to sponsor a resolution calling for Bush to be evicted from office.

"Certainly it seems like lots of people in the state want this," Zuckerman said. "The Legislature ought to tackle this issue."