The Springfield Regional Chamber of Commerce helps promote democracy for the region through its “Meet the Candidates” nights. On Oct. 23 at the Hartness House Inn, the chamber is hosting a moderated public forum for the Windsor 3-2 State House District and the Windsor County Senate.
The forum for House candidates will run from 6 p.m. to 7:15 p.m., and the forum for Senate candidates will run from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.
There are 11 candidates on the agenda:
Candidates for House of Representatives
- Alice M. Emmons - Incumbent Democrat
- Robert “Bob” Forguites - Incumbent Democrat
- Elizabeth Gray - Republican
- George T. McNaughton - Vermont Progressive
Candidates for Senate
- Alison H. Clarkson - Incumbent Democrat
- Randy A. Gray - Republican
- Richard “Dick” McCormack - Incumbent Democrat
- Alice W. Nitka - Incumbent Democrat
- Wayne D. Townsend - Republican
- Mason “Cloud” Wade - Independent
- Jack Williams - Republican
This public question-and-answer session will be aired on local cable channel by SAPA-TV. The Hartness House Inn has graciously offered to open their tavern at 5 p.m. before the forum for informal conversation with the candidates.
“This event,” said chamber Executive Director Caitlin Christiana, “is an example of how we serve the entire region, not just our members. We want to give both the businesses and people of Springfield a better sense of the people who want to represent them.”
For more information, call the chamber office at 802-885-2779 or springfieldrcoc@vermontel.net.
Here are 16 incisive questions that citizens might want to pose to candidates for governor, lieutenant governor and the Legislature as Election Day 2018 approaches:
ReplyDelete1. School Spending Control: Do you believe the state should take control of all K-12 public education, reorganize school districts, mandate higher pupil to staff ratios, and enforce rules to control school spending?
2. Paying for Education: Do you support increasing income or sales tax rates to further subsidize residential school property taxes?
3. Parental Choice: Do you support protecting parental choice in education and expanding it to all pupils and parents?
4. School Consolidation: Do you support Act 46 of 2015, that requires consolidation of town school districts into larger unified districts?
5. Minimum Wage: Do you support a state law requiring that all employers pay their employees $15 an hour by 2020?
6. Parental Leave: Do you support mandating employers of more than 10 employees to offer 12 weeks of parental leave per year, for pregnancy, birth, adoption or serious illness, paid for by a payroll tax paid by all covered employers?
7. Energy Mandate: Do you support the state adopting whatever regulations, mandates, subsidies and taxes that may be required to make 90 percent of all energy used in Vermont come from renewable sources, such as wind, solar and hydro, by 2050?
8. Carbon Tax: Do you support enactment of a carbon tax on fossil fuels, such as natural gas, heating oil, gasoline, diesel fuel and propane, with the net revenues used to subsidize renewable energy production and the electric bills of low-income and rural Vermonters (the ESSEX Plan)?
9. Land Use Regulation: Do you support making a proposed development achieve net zero carbon dioxide emissions (to combat “climate change”) a condition for obtaining a permit under Act 250?
10. Pension Fund Solvency: Do you support the voting of additional funds beyond the “annual required contribution” to the state employees and teachers retirement funds, in order to work down the present $4.5 billion unfunded liability?
11. Health Insurance Mandate: Do you support the state levying special taxes or fines, or suspending drivers, hunting, fishing and other licenses upon individuals who refuse to purchase state-approved health insurance on the Vermont Health Connect exchange?
12. Health Care Reorganization: Do you support creating a mandatory-participation “all payer” health care system, whereby Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance carriers pay a large accountable care organization of hospitals, clinics and doctors to manage the health care of the families they cover?
13. Gun Control: Do you support repeal of the provision of Act 94 of 2018 that makes it illegal for an individual to possess a firearms magazine holding more than 10 rounds for a rifle or 15 rounds for a handgun (unless he or she possessed the magazine before Oct. 1)?
14. Mandatory Seat Belt Usage: Do you support allowing law enforcement to issue tickets to adult drivers, who are not otherwise committing an offense, for driving without a buckled seat belt?
15. Marijuana: Do you support setting up a state-regulated system for the retail sale and taxation of marijuana?
16. Ballot Reform: Do you support changing election law so that voters would cast a single “one big choice” vote for their preferred governor-lieutenant governor team, and the Legislature would elect the treasurer, secretary of state, auditor and attorney general as they do the adjutant general?
Try out the questions that interest you on your candidates for governor, lieutenant governor, House and Senate. If they can’t give you a coherent reply, look for others who can. Questions by John McClaughry of the Ethan Allen Institute
Oh, they'll all have answers to those questions. You'll be able to tell what those answers will be beforehand, just by looking at party affiliation. Thanks to polarization, it's really that simple these days!
DeleteSpringfield has alot of schools that taxpayers are fronting. What do u think about consolidating? Save towns people money
ReplyDelete