THE "FRIENDS AND ARPA FUNDS

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Katie Buckley was a co-founder and Director for the Friends of Algiers Village. She was also Guilford’s first ever Town Administrator and was appointed when Anne Rider (President of the Friends) was a member of Guilford’s three-person selectboard.

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Following her time as Guilford’s Town Administrator, Katie became commissioner of the Department of Housing and Community Development and is currently the Director of the Federal Funding Assistance Program at the VLCT Vermont League of Cities and Towns

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The VLCT represents all 247 cities and towns in Vermont. When ARPA money flooded the state, Buckley became the VLCT Director for the ARPA Coordination and Assistance Program to help municipalities navigate the federal requirements to administer those funds.

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3 businesses of the 200+ in Guilford were awarded about $60,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds.

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All three businesses were directly associated with the Friends of Algiers. Two of them paid their rent to the Friends and the other business owner is a sitting director on their board. The store is housed in a building which is owned by the “Friends.” Whomever operates the community store, pays their rent to the Friends for that privilege.

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The previous managers of the Guilford Country Store were one of those three businesses. During covid they were struggling to maintain employees so Anne Rider petitioned the Selectboard for ARPA funds and they were awarded over $40,000.

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Several months following their award, the recipients of those ARPA dollars dissolved their business relationship with the Friends and left town.

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State Representative Sara Coffee, whose husband sits as a director for the "Friends," was at the Country Store making sandwiches during her campaign and the timing of this ARPA award is suspect. Was Sara being paid to make sandwiches backed with ARPA funds OR was she making sandwiches for free and campaigning at a 501c3?​

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After the first three businesses associated with the Friends received their ARPA awards, the selectboard established an ARPA Advisory Committee. Zon, acting as Chair of the selectboard, nominated himself to be the liaison to that Committee.

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Anne Rider also petitioned and was awarded $29,000 in ARPA funds to purchase a display cooler. This cooler is utilized by whomever manages the Guilford Country Store and pays their rent to the Friends.

 

​After Zon voted in favor of every ARPA request the Friends made, they endorsed him for State Representative.

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