GUBERNATORIAL RACE COMING TO A HEAD
By Natalie Jackson
As the August 9th approaches, the citizens of Franklin County need to take into consideration how each candidate will affect the county.
H. Brooke Paige
H. Brooke Paige is a Democrat running for Governor and Attorney General in Vermont.
What does Paige have to offer to Franklin County? Paige says his primary responsibility is to manage the operation of the government. “The reason I’m running is because I’m tired of my friends, my neighbors, the folks at church, the citizens, in general, being treated like lab rats,” Paige responds. He says he has many plans for Vermont’s future, including but not limited to business and employment prosperity, agriculture and farming, finance, taxation and revenue and healthcare. However, Paige did not seem to answer the question regarding his the advantages his governance to the population of Franklin County.
Obviously, his desire to repeal Act 46, work toward industrial wind and solar and focus on getting jobs for everyone will affect people in Franklin County, but is not specific toward the county or any other rural counties in general.
“We’re despoiling our meadow lands, our farming fields, and we’re destroying our reef lines, and all for nothing because in the end we’re being told that we’re increasing our carbon footprint by doing these things.”
One plan of Paige’s that relates more to Franklin County is his goal to provide financial support to improve control of fertilizer run-off to reduce and eliminate water pollution. With the northern end of Lake Champlain reaching into the county, it is important for the people of Franklin County to take the mass amount of pollution toward the lake into consideration when voting for candidates.
Bruce Lisman
Bruce Lisman is a republic candidate running for governor of Vermont.
In a broad spectrum, Lisman says the biggest things he would work on as governor would be getting a budget under control, reducing property taxes, and making the state easier to do business in. Lisman says he would focus on three separate things that would benefit the towns together specifically for Franklin County. First off, Lisman has great intentions to clean Lake Champlain. “We are yet to have a full budget for the full blast of what it needs, but I will just say it is truckloads of money,” Lisman claims. Lisman says his plans to clean up the lake will begin in the northern part of the lake, in Franklin County, because it is the most visible part of the lake that is in the state for cleanup. As a chairperson on the board of American Forests, Lisman says he has the plan to plant about 24,000 trees along the outskirts of the lakes to secure a riverbank that will support shutting down future ruins of the lake.
Lisman says we also need to make sure we do not have any more overflows of sewage, a familiar reoccurring story. He says he will support and lead the state, and specifically Franklin County, in finding and putting the resources we need to solve this problem to use.
“Rather than build storm water catchers, we need to grab some grants and try out things that other states have for slowing the flow of water after a heavy rainstorm, whether it’s down the street in St. Albans or down the streets in Franklin,” Lisman comments.
Although each of these projects will take time to accomplish, Lisman says the idea is to get started on these as soon as we can.
Lisman says that all counties in Vermont are affected by the opiate addiction problem in the state. With Lisman as governor, he plans to market the dangers of the drug, provide intervention to users when they need it and ensure that we are well policed in each county.
In the times that Lisman has spent in Franklin County, he has also heard many issues regarding the revitalizations of the towns. He has taken into consideration that many locals would like each town to follow St. Alban’s lead. Lisman fully supports this and would also like to be able to help each town do that in his time of reign.
Peter Galbraith
Peter Galbraith is running for governor of Vermont as a Democrat.
The first thing that came to Galbraith’s mind the second he was asked about Franklin County was protecting the county from industrial wind development. Galbraith plans to ask the legislature to ban new wind projects if he is elected. Galbraith also says he has a set goal to raise the minimum wage in Vermont to $15 an hour to represent a 50% increase for the lowest paid workers. “It will be the best anti-poverty program we can have. There are a lot of people in Franklin County that would benefit from that,” Galbraith says.
He also says he plans to eliminate special interest tax rates. The money from this, Galbraith says, will be used to fund four years of free tuition for every Vermont high school graduate to any of the five Vermont state colleges. This will help the issue of college graduates moving out of state in order buy a house and pay off the insane deal of debt they got themselves into.
Galbraith also touched upon his plans to address the pollution problem with Lake Champlain.
However, Galbraith says that most of the issues he has heard from citizens of northern Vermont, specifically Franklin County, relate to the industrial land. Galbraith’s time spent in Swanton watching the plans unfold, as well as talking to people near the wind turbines in Georgia Mountain ensures that he sees how concerning this is for the county.
“I’m on their side; I will be fighting for them,” Galbraith agrees.
Galbraith says he has met with some supporters in Swanton and even planned on making his way to Franklin County this week before the election date.
Matt Dunne
Matt Dunne is a Democratic candidate for the governor of Vermont.
When asked what Dunne’s plans for Franklin County are if he is elected, he began with stating that he would “make sure the governor’s office is a partner to Franklin County and all of its diversity.”
Dunne plans to accelerate the revitalization of the towns in Franklin County, similarly to that of the one in St. Albans. Dunne says he will also work first hand with the local farmers to ensure that runoff from the farms does not poison Lake Champlain anymore. Dunne will engage with the agricultural community in the county to make sure they are as strong as possible.
To get to know the Franklin County population, Dunne says he stays in contact with many supporters from the area that keep informed on everything that is going on.
Many of the concerns Dunne has heard from the area regard young people wishing to continue to live in the area and raise their future families there. He has heard from people that they are concerned about being in poverty even though work 40 hours a week. With this in mind, Dunne is fully supportive of raising minimum wages in Vermont to $15 an hour.
One primary concern he is aware of is from the farmers. Dunne wants to help the farmers to be able to flourish while maintaining a clean lake.
If Dunne is to be elected, he will help the rural parts of the states by bringing high-speed internet and cell service to them. Not only will does he believe this will help all of the towns, but he believes Vermont will be the telecommunicate capital of the world.
Phil Scott
Phil Scott is a Republican candidate running for the governor of Vermont.
Scott plans to restore faith and trust in state government.
Scott’s three biggest priorities if he were to be elected are to build a stronger economy, make Vermont more affordable, and to make a difference in the state.
To build a stronger community, Scott says he will work Together, focus on the fundamentals & contain costs for families and businesses. He will ensure a predictable political environment and set clear budget priorities in order to make smart investments.
Scott will make Vermont more affordable by working on health care, education reform, and the state budget.
Scott did not respond to the County Courier as of press time on Wednesday afternoon.
Sue Pinter
Sue Pinter is running for governor of Vermont as a democratic candidate.
Some of Pinter’s biggest concerns that she would like to acknowledge as governor if she is to be elected regard, families, the environment, and gun safety.
To help families meet ends, Pinter would like to focus on expanding early childhood and postsecondary educational opportunity and tackling opioid abuse, gun safety, domestic violence, property taxes, and skyrocketing health care costs.
Pinter would like to keep Vermont clean and focus on maintaining a high-quality environment.
To ensure gun safety in Vermont, Pinter plans to work on controlled gun laws. The government will require criminal background checks for all gun sales, expand the number of federal domestic violence gun law prosecutions, and support a ban on military-style assault weapons if Pinter is elected.
Pinter did not respond to the County Courier as of press time on Wednesday afternoon.
