by Rob Williams

75 Vermonters turned up on a rainy Wednesday night to participate in a community candidate town hall forum organized by Waterbury resident Elizabeth Brown, who is seeking a State House Representative seat as a Democrat in Vermont’s upcoming August 13th primary and November election on behalf of the residents of Waterbury, Huntington, Duxbury and Buels Gore. 

“An ever-increasing budget (46% since 20219) and bills upon bills that are adding hundreds of millions of dollars of expense on to hard working Vermonters has made our state truly unaffordable for many – as a financial services leader, I realized that I have the skills, capabilities and capacity that our state so desperately needs right now, and we need compassionate business minds who can help to create focus to solve our most pressing issues through the lens of financial accountability,” said Brown in her opening statement. 

Held on the 2nd floor of the Waterbury Fire Station on Main Street, the community forum featured four candidates – incumbents Tom Stevens (D) and Theresa Wood (D), and challengers John Griffin (R ) and Brown (D). Before a packed room of residents, each of the four candidates spoke for 5-7 minutes, and then listened to questions from the audience, crafting their responses during the last portion of the evening. Stevens highlighted his 16 years of service, work on affordable housing and other economic issues like minimum wage and paid family leave, and acknowledged that the work “is not always easy or successful.”

“Now that federal dollars have gone away post COVID,” Stevens explained to the packed room, “we are relying on tax dollars’ ‘ to fund state programs. “We must find a way to make this place more affordable at a time when everybody is stressed out financially,” Stevens concluded in his opening remarks. 

Wood, meanwhile, highlighted her work with the Joint Fiscal Committee, Rebuild Waterbury, and other legislative groups, while Republican challenger, husband, and father of three Jonathan Griffin highlighted his Vershire roots, UVM civil engineering degree, VT TRANS experience, and hard work as a “bridge builder” (literally), asking a question on many residents’ minds – how do we make child care more affordable? 

“I feel the financial pain that people feel,” Griffin noted, “and I want to address questions of affordability.” 

In her opening remarks, Brown a UVM graduate with experience in the world of finance and business, spoke last, stating that “affordability is the #1 issue facing our state right now,” and with visible emotion, noted that “I told my husband that I either need to get involved, or we need to leave Vermont.” 

After the candidates’ open remarks, audience questions proved wide ranging. Here’s a sampling: How do we balance sensitivity to drug users with the need to get real about those harmed by drug use?; Do you believe climate change is human caused, given ongoing flooding?; Do we need taxpayer-funded social programs, which are “niceties,” and what about personal and family responsibility? How do we contend with a Democratic supermajority in the state legislature that seems hell bent on passing unaffordable initiatives? The entire evening event is available soon on ORCA’s YouTube channel for viewing:

https://www.youtube.com/@ORCAMedia