Positions

The most important issue to me is making sure that Montpelier addresses the affordability and housing crises in our towns. I don’t know a single person who isn’t struggling right now. High housing costs and decreased housing stock are forcing people to move out to the communities they love, further away from their jobs, and sometimes even out of Vermont. I believe we must find ways to make housing more available and affordable for people who want to live and work here full time. That’s the only way we can have healthy, sustainable communities.

But the affordability crisis goes beyond that. The cost of everything keeps going up and up. I’m not going to lie to you and tell you I can change that— economic forces far bigger than us are driving that. I am particularly concerned with helping to find ways to help our farmers and small business owners thrive. They are the backbone of our communities, and I believe we have a responsibility to make sure people can continue to farm and build businesses in our towns. Affordability must be our number one priority, and that will always be front and center for me in Montpelier.

I believe that towns should be able to keep their elementary schools if they so choose. I am sick and tired of hearing of school districts doing shady things like “repurposing” buildings to get around the will of the people to keep their elementary schools. We must have a law that states clearly and unequivocally that in order for elementary students to be bussed to a different school, the town must vote in favor of that happening. No more shenanigans from our school boards. No more forced moves handed down from above. No more “repurposing” schools to get around the voters. We should be in control of our schools—period, end of story.

We need to improve the infrastructure in our towns. The two things I'm most concerned about is Route 22A and broadband.

22A is a two lane country road and we have massive trucks barreling down it with areas of terrible sight lines and sharp curves. Rarely a week goes by without an accident. VTrans says they’re doing something about it south of Orwell, but it’s just as bad north of Orwell. If it’s going to be a major truck route, it needs to be fixed so it can be safe for truckers and for cars, and it needs to happen yesterday.

We need to move forward more quickly on broadband. One thing that the pandemic taught us is that high speed internet is so much more than a way to watch movies or look at pictures of cats--it's a way to access education, health care, our jobs, and more. As a state we are woefully behind on broadband, and we need to find a way to build out access to last-mile fiber more quickly.

The court system touches each and every one of our lives. I believe that if a governmental institution is going to have such power over us, it should be accessible and understandable to everyone. We need to invest in developing more programs to make it easy for people to use the court system so they are not at a disadvantage if they cannot afford an attorney. We also need to be teaching civics in our schools so that every high school student graduates with knowledge about how to use the courts.

Justice shouldn't be based on how much money someone can throw at a lawyer. We have the tools to make our system easier to use, and need to increase our investment in them to make it more affordable for everyone.

The climate crisis is an ever increasing threat to our communities and our lives. Around the world we are seeing increased extreme weather events, more flooding, more disease, and a planet that is more and more uninhabitable.

I am particularly concerned about what this all means for the poorest people in the world and in our state. While the richest among us benefited from the climate crisis, it is the poorest who will see its greatest impacts. The suffering of the poor globally will be unimaginable, but even closer to home we’ll see massive impacts on the poor that the well-to-do will not.

I am in favor of legislation to mitigate the impacts of the climate crisis and will insist that any such legislation specifically address economic inequities. Whether it is investing in more energy efficient heating methods or encouraging greater weatherization, we need to make sure no one is left behind as we try to find solutions.

I believe that every child should have an equal chance at life no matter their circumstances. We have the ability to level the playing field for all Vermonters through the use of targeted policies that would help children while reducing the cost burden on working families.

I support the Vermont Early Childhood Advocacy Alliance's 2022 Legislative Agenda. I believe these policies broadly benefit everyone in our state, making it a more affordable place to live while meeting our obligations towards the next generation.

This page is a work in progress. Just because I didn't list something here doesn't mean I don't care about it. Please reach out and let me know your concerns so I can let you know my position on that matter and you can make an informed choice about your vote.