In rambling speech, Salmon tells all
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Vermont State Auditor Thomas Salmon listens to a question at a news conference at the Statehouse in Montpelier on Friday. The Associated Press |
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By Peter Hirschfeld Vermont Press Bureau - Published: November 21, 2009
MONTPELIER – In a news conference he dedicated to the "warrior in all of us," State Auditor Thomas M. Salmon addressed his arrest last week for drunken driving by way of a discursive speech seemingly intended to illustrate his history of triumph over adversity.
"Dickens wrote, 'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times'," Salmon said Friday. "This press conference is dedicated to the warrior in all of us."
So began an approximately 30-minute monologue that charted everything from Salmon's youth in Bellows Falls to his work as a teacher in East Los Angeles to his 9-month tour in Iraq as a Naval reservist. Salmon convened the news conference ostensibly to offer a mea culpa for his pending criminal charges. It was, by turns, an apology for past mistakes and a treatise on "accountability and transparency."
"People are starving for two things – truth and leadership," said Salmon, whose father, Thomas P. Salmon, served two terms as Vermont's governor in the 1970s. "So who is your Vermont state auditor? Who is this person? Fact one: your state auditor is Thomas M. Salmon. I am not a junior."
As to his arrest last Friday for driving under the influence, Salmon said Friday he would plead guilty at his Dec. 3 court hearing and put himself at the mercy of the judge. Salmon said he's secured an attorney but that he has not negotiated any plea deals. Salmon's attorney, Brooks McArthur, said he could not comment on the pending case.
"On Dec. 3, I will go into a court of law and I will look at the judge and look Vermonters in the eye and say 'I am guilty of DUI one,'" Salmon said. "… You don't need an attorney to know what's right and what's wrong. If I broke the law, I should be held accountable."
Salmon also addressed for the first time the number of drinks he consumed on the evening in question. Salmon's blood-alcohol content registered a .086 percent, just slightly above Vermont's legal limit of .08 percent.
"I think I had five (drinks)," said Salmon, who was pulled over in Montpelier after a three-hour dinner with colleagues at a Capital City restaurant. "Two red wine, two scotches before dinner, and one of those coffee drinks with Kahlua or liquor in it."
Since his arrest, Salmon hasn't shied away from media scrutiny. Given his numerous interviews with nearly every news outlet in the state – he e-mailed one reporter with news of his arrest at 1:06 a.m. last Saturday after leaving the state police barracks – he almost seems to be embracing it.
At Friday's press conference (an e-mailed announcement of the event invited the "perfect and imperfect" alike to attend), Salmon continued his turn in the media spotlight.
"Regarding transparency, I don't think there's anyone who would argue I've made myself available for questions, comments, interviews," Salmon said. "Some would say I've taken on too many questions over the last few weeks, the last few months."
His address Friday – an almost stream-of-consciousness narrative that included autobiographical vignettes and personal asides seemingly unrelated to the matter at hand – capped a week of public apologies by the auditor.
The transparency and accountability he's displayed, Salmon said, are required of every public official. And those traits, he said, will be particularly important as the state works to resolve its fiscal troubles.
"We're bound to be unafraid of any issue or person, including our own issues," Salmon said. "Speaking of being unafraid, many accept that Vermont's financial situation will require new thinking, brave action, cooperation and a transparency, at levels not known in recent years."
Salmon said his deployment to Iraq has shaped his perception of the state's budget woes and lessened his tolerance for divisive politics.
Salmon, reelected to a second term in the auditor's post as a Democrat in 2008, switched political affiliations in September. Citing lack of fiscal responsibility in the Democratic platform, he announced he would be joining the Republican party.
"There's this idea when you come back from the desert that you really don't have a lot of patience for people fighting for their piece of the pie, fighting over political issues at the expense of progress" Salmon said. "That would explain to some folks about why even if I'm at a Walmart or a Best Buy, it sticks out to me when I see all these people looking at all these different TV screens. I'm a one-TV kind of guy, and we've got to get on same sheet of music to address that tsunami."
In addition to his drunk-driving charge, Salmon also addressed a civil suit filed against him in California early this decade for failing to repay $30,000 in loans. He attributed the financial troubles to an ill-advised purchase of Enron stock that saw a $50,000 investment virtually disappear overnight.
"A significant investment I had dropped in value due to fraud and deceit. So my wife and I … were pretty much broke overnight," Salmon said. "But no victim here. I made a risky investment and I made a mistake, I made a mistake – no victim here."
Salmon said he takes pride in having repaid the debts in full without filing for bankruptcy.
Salmon said he'll work to earn back his constituents' faith and trust by handling his adversity with the openness and honesty they demand. He said Friday's press conference would be the last time he comments publicly about the pending charges until his court date.
"My mission is to be both professional, objective and honest about the events of the last two weeks, or the last two decades for that matter," he said.
When it comes to Vermonters' relationships with their public officials, Salmon said, "you should know who they are what they've done and what difficulties they've had and what responses they've mustered," Salmon said. "I acknowledge, people are angry – they want fairness in Vermont and everyone knows it's important to get the facts."
Members of Salmon's staff were on hand Friday to videotape his prepared remarks – from which he veered considerably. Portions of the speech, he said, will be posted on his Web site in coming months.
"It may have future value," Salmon said of preserving his remarks for posterity. "We're moving into an arena where we're going to be able to put video pieces on the Web site. You may think this is all just personal today. But transparency begins here, by telling you folks to do the right thing no matter what. It does relate to my office, which is an accountability office."
Salmon said he'll seek reelection to his post next year.