by Don Keelan
The former Prime Minister of Turkey, Ahmet Davutoglu, once said, “The Mid-East needs a success story.” And here in Vermont, that is precisely what we need in 2026.
Success is not that of any individual receiving a state/national award, or the placing of 1,000 acres of a mountainside into the Vermont Land Trust, or even a Vermont company announcing a major expansion.
The above is commendable. After years of attempting to find solutions for the homeless crisis, housing, healthcare, illegal drug addiction, and education, a success story has been so needed.
Vermonters could very well be suffering from trauma fatigue and loss of spirit emanating from decades of having to deal with one catastrophic event after another. This raises the question: do we have the stamina to deal with what the State is facing today? Do we believe that success in any area is just beyond our grasp?
The regularity of the traumatic events has been insidious over the past three decades. At the time, we did all we could to address the calamity, only to face another shortly thereafter.
In the winter of 1998, an ice storm devastated much of central and northern Vermont. The damage to utilities, trees, homes, and municipal and business properties was almost incalculable. A life-altering event occurred three years later on September 11th. and within two years, many Vermonters witnessed a family member engaged in war, either in Iraq or/and Afghanistan.
These events were soon followed in 2008 by what became known as the Great Recession, an international financial collapse from which, some conclude, Vermont has never fully recovered. Further trauma soon followed in late August 2011, Tropical Storm Irene.
It was not only natural disasters and world events that were life-impacting, but illegal drug usage was also prevalent throughout the State. Lives were being lost daily, and criminal activity centered on the drug trade was embedded. By 2014, it was out of control; hence, Governor Peter Shumlin devoted his entire ‘State of the State’ address to the crisis.
Other negative events were unfolding: a systemic decline in public school enrollment, spiraling health care costs, and the beginning of what would turn into a housing shortage for seniors, the workforce, and the less fortunate.
And still, the Vermont landscape was not immune to further trauma. In late 2019, a worldwide pandemic, COVID-19, consumed us for the next 24 months. Lives were lost, and livelihoods changed dramatically. Tens of thousands of Vermont students were confined to their homes with monumental negative impact, still being manifested today.
The Scott Administration dwelt with the pandemic daily as best it could. We thought we were finally free of disasters. But the breathing spell was fleeting.
In the summers of 2023 and 2024, central Vermont experienced unprecedented rainstorms that caused flood damage comparable to that in 1927.
And, of course, we must not ignore, especially in Vermont, the impact of Donald Trump’s two presidencies and the attention given to Climate Change, both all-consuming and distracting.
Several years ago, a colleague of mine took over leadership of the local food cupboard, which serves approximately 75 families each week. At the time, I asked him what his goals were. His response was, “in time, I wish to close the food cupboard because we will have eliminated its need.”
I found this statement very positive. Should it not be the goal of our Legislature and Administration to find, once and for all, the solutions to our State’s long-standing issues?
The administration and legislature should recognize that outsourcing to consultants, special study commissions, and NGO’s, along with billions of dollars spent, has only resulted in temporary fixes to the long-standing issues.
What might work is less partisanship and recognition that we all have had ownership for decades. It is time to fix our house.
There is only so much trauma Vermonters should have to endure; however, we will endure. What we, as a State, need most is a success story in 2026; this is within our control.
The author is a U.S. Marine (retired), CPA, and columnist living in Arlington, VT.