Vying for Your Vote:
The Candidates for Governor
Address Your Issues

By Rickey Gard Diamond

Earlier this summer, we asked Vermont Woman readers what questions you wanted us to ask of the three major candidates for governor. What did you see as the most pressing women's issues this year? Thanks to those of you who contributed questions. And thanks to women on both sides of the aisle, and in City Halls, on select boards, working in business and public service, for talking to this reporter. Special thanks to Governor Madeleine Kunin, who gave her perspective on the role of governor today-saying the office's role was more important today than ever.

Gathering your issues and questions, we saw more usual "women's issues"-the rights to our reproductive health and our bodies, our right to love and marry whomever we will-taking a back seat. You have other bodily concerns this year. Like eating. Keeping warm. Staying safe. Women are back to the basics.

A number of women expressed concern about growing economic divides. One recalled "the soccer mom," who played a role in an earlier election. This is the year of "the waitress mom," she said. She works hard, doesn't qualify for welfare programs, and still isn't making it.

Women's median wage in Vermont still falls short of men's median by $4200 a year. As Anthony Pollina remarked during our interview: "That could heat a home." Not long ago, $4200 could have bought more than one winter's fuel oil; many women may face impossible choices this year. Women make up the majority of minimum-wage earners in our state, and most of our part-time workers. Even in two-earner households, women's economic shortfall will hurt.

Whatever their background, women we talked to had similar questions for Vermont Woman. How can women earn a living? How can they afford to heat their homes and drive their cars? How could a 12-year-old girl like Brooke Bennett be murdered in Vermont, and how can we prevent such a tragedy happening again? How can we make affordable the healthcare we all need?

Our readers also seemed aware economic issues can exacerbate domestic and sexual violence. When women's worth is widely discounted in the marketplace, risk of abuse at home grows greater. Lack of options can entrap women, and some worried that with increased economic stresses, we may see an increase in violence.

All three of the candidates we interviewed said they were not surprised the economy was at the top of women's list. The candidates also spoke of economic ties among all of the issues we discussed: healthcare, energy, housing, education, jobs, safe communities. Excerpts from our interviews follow a brief introduction to each candidate. The order in which we present them is intended to help clarify the narrative, not to imply any preference. Unlike a debate, candidates were interviewed separately, unaware of others' responses.

GAYE SYMINGTON

This year's Democratic candidate is our one female candidate. Gaye Symington, entered politics more recently than her two male opponents. She was first elected to the Legislature as Representative for Jericho, Underhill and Bolton in 1996, concerned about school funding issues. In 2005 and 2007, her colleagues elected her to the position of Speaker of the House. She has worked as a fiscal manager for businesses and non-profits. She's a library and school volunteer, on the board of the Vermont Community Loan Fund and the Vermont Education and Health Finance Agency.

Vermont Woman: What are your ideas for making the economic playing field more level for women?

Gaye Symington: The focus of my campaign is to bring new economic ideas to the office of the governor. I've been building on what's unique to Vermont and how we can get Vermont back in gear. Right now, we've got the highest unemployment rate in the state in 14 years; our job growth is the second lowest in New England, and the differential between high and low income in Vermont is growing faster than any other state in the nation. The economy is high on my priority list and I will walk into the office focused on some specific ideas. They're not all gender-specific, but they're about being creative in job creation, energy creation/distribution, and investing in work force development to connect Vermonters to jobs.

VW: What about our "waitress mom," who doesn't qualify for programs because she's making $15,000 or $16,000 a year?

GS: Last fall the Commission on Prevention of Childhood Poverty held hearings all around the state, and I attended the one in St. Albans. I remember several different women talking about their challenges to move themselves out of poverty. Several spoke about the trade-off they made-I mean having an unsafe situation at home. They had to make the choice to remove themselves from danger, but they were struggling to be a responsible parent. Their employment revolved around three things. If one came undone, then [all of it] broke down: getting to and from work, paying for healthcare, and paying for childcare.

For me, childcare and more public transportation and healthcare are economic development issues, tools for making reliable employees. These are especially critical to women, who are struggling to juggle all their responsibilities, especially when their paychecks don't keep pace with rising costs. I think that's why early education ended up being high on the priority list of the business round table I just attended. They're not just human services it would be nice to provide, if we had some extra money. They're not extra. They're critical elements.

VW: What is your vision for Vermont's energy future?

GS: My energy roadmap is up on my Web page, but there will be more there that relates to heating fuel and a new idea. It's about creating a linkage to help Vermonters with weatherization, while using renewable fuels produced within Vermont. Right now this might cost you $6,000 to $8,000 upfront. If you don't have this in savings, and you're not looking to take out a loan [it's impossible]. So what if-instead of having businesses just deliver #2 heating oil and then send 85 percent of the money out of state-what if we redefined the business-to deliver warmth to this house. Then that business might say, I'm going to install a new pellet stove and put in insulation. Vermonters will install it, and grow the grass and the wood for the pellets, and instead of sending 85 percent of that money out of state, and even out of the country, Vermonters will employ and pay Vermonters. The consumer would pay over time, out of the money saved on heating. That's one idea. On the electric side, one of the greatest failings of Jim Douglas is that we're still lacking an energy plan. His draft is a catalog of all the Vermont Legislature initiated. We need to invest in a "smart grid," not just a bigger one. Another whole aspect is Vermont Yankee. We need creative thinking and a clear plan.

VW: How can we make healthcare affordable? What are the next steps?

GS: Vermont has made progress in this area-my vision is that every Vermonter should have access to the health care she needs, when she needs it and at a price she can afford. One discussion has been about how we pay for healthcare; the other half is how do we deliver it. How do we reorient our system, to focus on healthcare, rather than illness care? Vermont has led the way in both regards, but refocusing on healthcare is where we really stand out, relative to other states. I will continue to move forward on that. How do we pay the bills? We've made progress, but there's a lot left to do. We've created Catamount, targeted at Vermonters who were not insured, and there are particular populations who now have access; college students and divorcees, who now are eligible without waiting a year. But I know there are many Vermonters who pay too much for less than comprehensive care.

VW: Sexual violence and child predators have been in the news lately with the death of Brooke Bennett. As governor, how would you help create safer communities?

GS: This is a good question. The unfolding story about Brooke Bennett's death was very hard to read about. It's a tragedy for that child, for that family, and for the whole community of Vermont. We need to be really smart about how we approach this problem. Under my leadership, we've made big strides in being tough by being smart. We've moved forward in addressing domestic violence and I will continue those efforts. We created tougher penalties and new funding for prevention programs and for victims, and in a very tough budget year.

A lot of my concern has been in response to the early release of Mr. Jacques, Brooke's uncle. It highlighted for me that aspects of our Sexual Violence Prevention Act haven't been implemented. That law made sentences much tougher, and it strengthened the registry, and created special investigative units statewide to make sure the offender is convicted. I'm asking why they're not in place. As governor, I would certainly press forward on establishing these. We need them.

The other issue for me is why do we have, not only Mr. Jacques, but many others? Apparently probation officers have initiated release of violent offenders, and I'm concerned those decisions are being made without adequate review. I've asked for a special investigation. Those questions need to be asked before we can consider new laws. I'm open to reviewing new laws, but especially those that are already on the books.

VW: How would you distinguish yourself as the best choice for Vermont women?

GS: What I bring to the office of Governor is a willingness to pull Vermonters together for a vision of who we can be. We can be a stronger state. I have a track record for making positive changes. In economic development, in healthcare, and in energy policy, as just a few examples. We need to step up to the plate. Tackle problems straight on. I can build on my reputation for making positive changes - and get results, not just talk about it.

VW: I can't help but notice you just used two sports metaphors.

GS: (Laughter) I'm a Title IX girl. I went to college in 1977 and competed as a rower. Rowing was getting a lot of attention then, because for the first time, in 1976, women were rowing in the Olympics. I had watched women at Dartmouth and Williams and other schools struggle to get access to facilities. Now, whether I'm preparing for a debate or an important event in the campaign, I draw on the mental discipline athletics brought me. You can get it in other ways, like music, but it came for me through athletics. See, it's these little changes that can make a big difference for women.

JIM DOUGLAS

Incumbent Governor Jim Douglas, Republican, has served in state government since he graduated from Middlebury College in 1972. He served three terms in the House of Representatives, becoming Majority leader, before being appointed one of Governor Richard Snelling's aides. He was elected as Secretary of State, serving from 1980-1993, as State Treasurer in 1994, and is now running for his third term as Governor. He's worked on the boards of many community organizations, including the 4-H, the Masonic Lodge, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Mary Johnson Daycare Center. He resides in Middlebury where he's moderated town meeting for 20 years.

Vermont Woman: Women worry about the economic divides we see in our state and the nation. What are some of your ideas for leveling the economic playing field for women?

Jim Douglas: I'm very concerned about this growing difference too. I just met with my Economic Council yesterday, and I wish I'd heard better results. As I've said in the past, this is the worst thing we could see. The wealthy will always do just fine, but the last thing we need is a state with only the very rich, on one hand, and the very poor, on the other. I've seen this divide. We have to work on making Vermont more affordable for working people. Especially this year, as far too much is needed for fuel oil and gasoline. I saw just today that gasoline had fallen to $3.81-but who can believe we'd get all excited about that? Families are really getting squeezed, and we have an affordability crisis in Vermont.

I've been talking about this for years and I have to say that I haven't had a good partner with our current legislative leadership. Under Gaye Symington's leadership, we've had eight different taxes proposed: they wanted to increase the gas tax, raise the diesel tax, increase the surcharge on heating oil, triple the tax on Vermont Yankee, impose a property transfer tax twice, for agriculture and then for housing, and an additional income tax for a healthcare scheme and education. What families are struggling with is the cost of housing. The property transfer tax Symington has proposed would only exacerbate the situation. I was talking to one employer who was so concerned, he was thinking of putting in some trailers near his place of business.

VW: One of our readers talked about the waitress-mom, who's essential to many businesses here in Vermont. If she doesn't qualify for "help," what ideas do you have that might make a difference for families like hers, living on the edge?

JD: The most important thing is to bring down her cost of living here. Now we have Green Mountain Care or Catamount healthcare insurance. Commissioner Reardon just reported that we now have 10,000 more Vermonters served through this program, and we have some more through VHAP, so we're moving in the right direction. We need to create more affordable housing, but the difficulty there has been all the roadblocks that the legislative leadership has put in the way. We proposed a program called "New Neighborhoods," which provided exemption from Act 250 in certain villages and provided a tax incentive for their developing downtowns. The Legislature came back with a program I call a "No Neighborhoods" proposal. They wouldn't allow the exemption of Act 250. Now I respect Act 250, it's been an important part of keeping Vermont a desirable place, but in a town with strong zoning ordinances already in place, is it always needed? We selected towns carefully, but the opposition was led by Gaye Symington.

On the other side of that affordability question, we need better paying jobs. We will always need waitresses, and we need to encourage more stable, better-paying jobs for them. But we also need to work at making Vermont attractive to entrepreneurs, who will be willing to risk their capital here. That's been a challenge for me. I proposed a change in our worker-compensation law, because Vermont employers pay high rates compared to other states. But that was rejected by this Legislature. If we can reduce the cost of doing business here, then we can make the economy work better and bend the curve. The property tax is another area. We want public schools. We've all benefited from public schools, and we need them or we'll be at a competitive disadvantage with other states. But people are asking me why their property taxes keep going up 7-10 percent, when now we have two percent fewer kids.

VW: Sexual violence and child predators have been in the news lately with the death of Brooke Bennett. You've been in the news about this, so I hope you'll talk about your ideas regarding issues brought forward by women in the victim's movement and the network against sexual and domestic violence.

JD: Sexual violence is awful, but, I think it's important to keep it in perspective. We live in a relatively safe state. I've long worked with victims and was appointed a member of the Survivors of Crime Council and I signed the legislation for Victim's Compensation. I go to the events of the Network Against Sexual and Domestic Violence. A cornerstone of my approach is to prevent child abuse. Let's get the information out to people to teach their kids. There's the Good Touch, Bad Touch program, for instance, to get children to understand-not that they can really understand, they're kids-but to teach them to talk to a trusted adult. Prevention is key.

But we need to make sure that violent crimes are punished and we need to keep the perpetrators off the street. There have been too many lenient sentences handed down, and not just ones connected to the Bennett case. One that really got to me had to do with this fellow, Michael Brillon, in Bennington, who had beaten his partner and the Vermont Supreme Court let him off with a 3-4 vote. I'm happy to say my two appointees dissented, but all three branches of our government need to take these crimes seriously. In the judiciary branch, first of all, and in the administrative branch. I'm concerned about some of the Department of Corrections decisions.

On the legislative side, I've proposed three things. First enhance the sex offender registry and provide communities with more information. We saw a man who had just moved here from the Midwest and he said there was an automatic notification sent from the school whenever a violator moved into the district. A lot of this may be mandated at the federal level through the Adam Walsh Act. Secondly, I've proposed a program called civil confinement. If an offender is still a risk to the public, then the state should have the right to detain that offender in the interest of public safety. Seventeen states already do this. The safety of the community has to trump civil liberties in these cases. Third, we need tougher penalties. A large number of states, I think 42, now have mandatory minimum sentences.

VW: Haven't women in the front lines of this work said these mandatory sentences haven't worked; that those states are getting fewer convictions?

JD: We have to learn from others' mistakes. We have to ask ourselves, how would we make this work better here?

VW: But hasn't the Legislature already changed the sentencing laws and legislated special investigative teams be made state-wide?

JD: I proposed CUSI! (Chittenden Unit of Special Investigations, the first such team). I've heard some carping about this, but the law says we have until October 1st to implement. (Editor's note: Gov. Douglas later announced the law's deadline is July 1, 2009). And even though there isn't yet such a unit in every barracks, no one can tell me that our State Police aren't doing a good job. We will continue to move in that direction. The other changes the Legislature has made have been positive, but they're not enough. Senator Sears has been very good, but the original proposal was weakened, the result of compromise in the Legislature. The law is now less aggressive.

VW: How would you distinguish yourself as the best choice for Vermont women? You haven't mentioned transportation or childcare for women workers…

JD: Public transportation has increased under my leadership by 75 percent. My budget for this went from $12 million to $21 million, but the challenge is the cost of gas and the taxes to pay for it. Building Bright Futures was my childcare initiative. We appointed regional coordinators around the state for this private-public partnership. I have been an advocate of women in the workplace and have two employees in my office right now who are nursing moms. I think most employers understand they'll be better off if they are family friendly. It's an advantage to make the workplace friendly for women.

I've also taken a strong interest in our foster care program. I'm very grateful to those families who come forward to help, but I wasn't satisfied with our system. I held a summit at the Statehouse and said, with all due respect, I don't want to hear from the experts. I want to talk to the kids. The message that came out of that was the need for more continuity. I proposed what I think is unique in the nation. Now foster care funds can continue up to age 22, if that is in the child's best interest. We need more foster families. We're short on them.

Here's another proposal that didn't get support. For me, a mentoring program is a no-brainer. There are kids who may not need foster care, who only need a good role model. The Chamber of Commerce was active in supporting this and I recommended an appropriation for it, but the Legislature cut that mentoring appropriation in half. That's not directly a woman's issue, but… we face real demographic challenges. We need to raise our kids so they can hold a job, become taxpayers, and contribute to civil society. Childcare, foster care, and mentoring all work.

In 1991, we had 20-30 women incarcerated. Then it grew to 150, 160. That's still a small percentage, compared to 1900 incarcerated men, but their numbers are rising faster. Many times they're having drug problems. Valley Vista in Bradford has a great drug program for women. At the Windsor jail (which will soon be going to St. Albans), they have a Master Gardener's program, growing food for schools, and women are building homes, learning skills. I went to a grand opening-and the male inmates had baked cookies for the event. (Laughter) It was good to see. Now our numbers are down to 130-135 women. It's expensive to house women in jail.

[The governor's campaign manager, Dennise Casey, then pointed out that there are more women on Douglas's staff than men, three of them moms, and that he is a very supportive employer. Douglas said he thinks most employers try to provide flexibility when a pregnancy or illness comes up in the family. He hoped Dennise would run for governor one day, but joked a woman governor this year would not be a good step. Douglas ended by noting the high numbers of women in Vermont's House and Senate, obviously proud-setting aside his earlier complaints about the same Legislature.]

ANTHONY POLLINA

Independent candidate Anthony Pollina of Middlesex has been part of Vermont politics since he ran as the Democratic and Rainbow Coalition's candidate for U.S. Representative in 1984. He founded and directed Rural Vermont, has been active in environmental organizations, the organic farming movement, and in 2003 co-founded the Vermont Milk Company. He led the reform of campaign finance in Vermont and ran on the first Progressive Party ticket for Governor in 2000 and Lt. Governor in 2002. Through the years he has served as a policy advisor to Bernie Sanders and to Governor Madeleine Kunin, and hosts Equal Time Radio, a daily talk show on WDEV.

Vermont Woman: What in particular is your economic vision for women in Vermont?

Anthony Pollina: First, I'm glad to hear the methods Vermont Woman used, similar to my own. The whole month of May I traveled around the state, trying to engage people. I told everyone in every meeting: we all needed to talk. First we met as a large group and we made big lists. Then we broke up into smaller groups to ask: What needs to be changed? How can this community be better? I came away from those meetings increasingly aware globalization isn't working for most of us.

I would provide more opportunities for women to influence policy and to set an example for other women to get involved, appointing more women to state boards and adding more women to positions in my administration. We need a more flexible workplace and there's still a wage gap. When you look around the world, women do most of the care-giving work, growing food and doing childcare, the most important work of any society. Unfortunately, we've long expected women to do this work for no or low pay. It's important to educate people about this.

Overall we're losing jobs, replacing good-paying jobs with low wage jobs. Women need flexible rules for accessing higher education and accessing childcare. We need better funding for childcare. And we need to look at apprenticeship programs, so that women can learn skills for higher-paying jobs, in the building trades, for instance. We also need the state to encourage responsible employers who will hire Vermont workers. The new Lowe's shopping site in South Burlington, for instance, brought in workers from outside Vermont to shut out organized labor. We need to invest in small Vermont businesses. We can do better with the Veggie program, the Vermont Economic Growth Incentive Program that gives businesses tax subsidies. Tom Salmon, our state auditor, found the state is spending money to support normal growth that would happen anyway. We can spend that money better. We might fund Vermont programs, micro-business lending for women, for instance. If we do more local small business development, then Vermonters can work in the communities where they live. It's harder for women to commute long distances when childcare is involved.

VW: How would you lead Vermont's energy future?

AP: In the short term, [I'd] make some of the Vermont "rainy day funds" available, if Congress doesn't come through with funding for heating fuel assistance. This administration is saying people are going to have to make some tough choices. Some people have been making these tough choices for a long time. We should use some of those funds if needed. Second, we need to pay attention to local fuel dealers, who purchase from larger dealers who give them 10 days to pay, while customers have 30 to 60 days to pay. Dealers need a good line of credit. Long term, we need to get out from under Vermont Yankee. It's aging, not safe, and the nuclear waste is a disaster. The cheapest power is power we don't use. We need to do more with efficiency and we need an infrastructure that includes hydro-power, solar energy and farm power, meaning biomass and wind. Vermonters tell me the technology is there. Smaller farms are ready. But that will take some capital investment here in Vermont.

Which is why I proposed a Vermont credit card. Right now I earn sky miles with my credit card, but I'd rather see the rewards from my card go back to invest in Vermont, to be used for local energy and in other creative ways. Local merchants could also work together to lower their fees with this card. I'm also proposing a two percent for Vermont Investment Fund, at least that's what I'm calling it now. We're going to ask Vermont institutions with investment portfolios-like the University of Vermont, for instance-to invest two percent here. Energy investment is one good possibility.

VW: Many women are concerned about what one of our readers called "the waitress mom." What else could make a difference for her?

AP: We've had welfare reform, but not economic reform. We need to encourage people to organize. If everyone is working, we need childcare. Even at the low end of wages, the childcare subsidy doesn't pay for what it costs. We also need to deal with the cost of healthcare. And relieve the emotional burden of finding your way through this patchwork of health insurance programs we've got, Catamount and VHAB. We should be focusing on lowering healthcare costs. Vermont needs a self-insurance program, for the same insurance whether you're the governor or a waitress. Right now the Statehouse is cutting budgets for funding affordable housing-another big part of the waitress mom's picture-looking for the money to plug holes in the Medicaid budget. If we address this healthcare issue and its cost dilemma, then we can fund other needed programs like housing and childcare.

I've offered a way we could build affordable housing, closing an exclusion in our capital gains tax. Vermont taxes capital gains less than we tax wages, and have been since 2001. Even the governor has said that this recent exclusion primarily benefits wealthy people. We should explore closing it. There might be tweaks we need to make to protect business owners, but closing it, we might gain $20-30 million a year in tax revenue. We could invest $5 million of it to put people to work, building affordable homes. Have some friendly competition for designing the best affordable homes, energy-efficient. I've met with the Vermont Realtors Association, as well as others, to talk about how we can get people together and problem-solve and be creative. Some legislation was considered this last session, for certain housing in certain "growth centers," exempt from Act 250, if 20 percent of their housing is affordable-which they defined as $250,000! For a lot of Vermonters, $250,000 isn't affordable.

VW: So how would you distinguish yourself from the other candidates as women's best choice for governor?

AP: I've had nearly 30 years experience working as an advocate and coalition builder. I'm not saying I'm the only one who has, but my work has been focused on giving people a voice in the state's policies, whether it's farmers, or families, or kids with disabilities, or senior citizens. I've had lots of people tell me over the years that nobody in Montpelier is listening to them. That's the most important thing a governor can do: bring more people into the conversation. Vermonters can solve problems, given the opportunity to do that. We need a governor who isn't going to tell us why we can't do things, but will actually work with Vermonters on what we can do. For what it's worth, I also have two daughters (laughter). Having a strong family is important. We always made the time, even with the work I've done and the work my wife has done, to sit down to dinner with our family. I cook Sunday dinner and I think that kind of connection is important.

VW: How would you go about creating safer communities for daughters, and all of us, given the recent news stories about Brooke Bennett?

AP: We need to strengthen our sense of community. These crimes can become politicized and I have the sense that people want revenge. But there are bigger elements eroding our sense of security and community and young people fall through the cracks. We need better family services for foster families and better enrichment programs, after-school programs, at our schools. Not all kids excel academically, but they ought to be able to find out who they are and excel at something-instead of sitting at home, isolated, or hanging out with people not trustworthy. We need prevention programs for at-risk youth. It's fair to look at sentencing for these crimes, but also important to look at release programs. It doesn't make sense to release a sex-offender to a family with young kids. It's a scary world, and girls are harassed and bullied and a lot of this has to do with gender. Girls have to be taught to stand up for themselves. They need to know they can speak out about this.

VW: Do boys need to be part of these prevention programs?

AP: Duh. Yeah. Boys need to learn respect and be responsible for their behavior.

Contributing Editor Rickey Gard Diamond was founding editor of Vermont Woman (1985-87). She lives in Montpelier.