Ward One candidate facing Lauzon lied about Judd campaign finance report, Judd says
by Guy Page
A 2022 candidate for Barre City Council Ward 1 lied when she stated in an April 29, 2021 letter to the editor that 2021 Ward 2 council candidate Brian Judd had not filed a campaign report, Judd says.
Sue Higby is running for the council seat vacated by Progressive Jake Hemmerick, who is running for mayor. Thom Lauzon, a former mayor and a well-known local businessman, is running against as a Republican.
Judd – who is not running this year – is incensed at what he says is Higby’s unwillingness to admit a false statement. “Sue Higby lied about me not filing my election financials with the State of Vermont. It was a blatant lie. I did everything I was suppose to do and I did it on time. She owes myself and the citizens of Barre an apology. She’s had almost 11 months to do this and has yet to humble herself and tell the truth. If she’ll lie to us once, she’ll lie to us again. Sue Higby is not fit for public service.”
In her April 29, 2021 letter in the Times-Argus, she described her search for financial supporters of Judd’s 2021 race for City Council and stated (in part): “It appears Judd has not filed a campaign finance report and therefore, I was unable to get this information.”
In fact, Judd did file campaign finance reports: three of them. All were filed before Higby’s April 29 letter. Below is a list of the dates and titles of the three reports, and a screenshot of the final report.
“I have filed 3 Finance Reports: February 26th, March 16th and April 11th all in 2021,” Judd emailed Vermont Daily Chronicle this morning. “A friend of mine went on the Sec. of State website this morning and found the information in 5 minutes. Sue Higby could have done the same thing. I called the Sec. of State and two of their employees called me back and confirmed with me that I did everything I was supposed to do.
“Sue Higby is also a hypocrite,” Judd added. “She says I should move on from the election when in fact she has contested at least one election in her lifetime. Why don’t you move on, Sue Higby? – from lying, from being a hypocrite, from trying to create hate and division between people just because they have different political beliefs.”
Vermont Daily Chronicle emailed Ms. Higby for comment. She replied: “As you know, the Vermont Secretary of State office practices transparency with these financial disclosure reports. The public and members of the media may visit the website of the Vermont Secretary of State to view reports made by candidates. It appears that the candidate you have mentioned did not file the financial report that was due to the Secretary of State offices, as required, by February 26, 2021. Once information arrives late like this, I am unaware if there is a potential delay in providing the financial information publicly.”