A blatant attempt to buy votes?

No matter what you think of industrial wind power, the financial proposal that Eolian Renewable Energy has come up with in Essex County doesn't smell too good. In fact, it reeks of desperation.

Eolian Wind says that, if the deal goes through, residents and property owners will get a check. It also says that of the majority votes against the project, it won't materialize. The nonbinding ballots are in the mail.

Eolian Wind has sweetened the pot in a way that hosts towns of other wind projects haven't seen. Property owners (over 400) in, and residents (roughly 40) of, the Unified Towns and Gores (UTG) would receive an annual check of $922 if the plan is approved. That's not public money; it's a personal check -- $922 in each landowner's pocket.

That's a very different situation from what happened in Sheffield and Lowell. In those towns a Town Meeting was held, and whoever wanted a say in the matter officially voted up or down. In both towns the wind projects were approved by a majority of voters -- the people who live in town.

Yes, they benefit financially from hosting a wind farm, and some votes were undoubtedly influenced by the prospect of a big contribution to town finds and the potential for reduced property taxes. But the vote was among resident voters, the money went to the town, and the town as a whole decides its use.

Under Eolian Wind's plan, some money would go directly to the UTG, but in addition to municipal savings, such as they might be in the UTG, individual property owners -- whether they live and vote in Essex County or not -- have been given direct financial incentive to vote for the project.

In fact, many Essex County landowners don't live on their property. Perhaps their land is an investment, or primarily used as recreation. It could be that the reason many Essex County landowners have the property in the first place is to hold on to a place that's still wild, in which case they might oppose industrial wind turbines.

Still, $922 is not pocket change. It's real money, and it might be enough to sway the vote of many a landowner who seldom sees his land but pays property taxes on it.

We don't like Eolian Wind's methods here and that's not because they're proposing a wind farm. If they wanted to put up a biomass plant, a prison, or a dog kennel, we'd feel the same. They can't be accused of bribery since, legally, only public officials, not individuals, can be bribed in Vermont. But this proposal looks like a blatant attempt to but votes.