In preparation for the Nov. 5 elections, Vermont News & Media – which includes the Brattleboro Reformer, Bennington Banner and Manchester Journal – will be publishing a series of profiles on candidates throughout Vermont.
Each candidate was asked to respond to the same three questions in no more than 500 words:
1. What skills and experience do you bring to the office you are seeking?
2. There are 3 key issues often cited as Vermont’s biggest challenges: Crime, housing and affordability. What solutions would you propose to address these issues?
3. What other challenges do you see for Vermont and how would you address them?
The following are from candidates for the Benn-5 State House Rep seats of which there are two.
Mary Morrissey [R]
I have been a member of the Vermont House of Representatives for twenty eight years, serving on various committees, including appropriations. I am a member of many local civic and social organizations, serve on several boards and have been an active volunteer in our community. I listen to people’s ideas and concerns, analyze issues and work hard to make a difference.
There are 3 key issues often cited as Vermont’s biggest challenges – Crime, Housing & Affordability
CRIME
We need a legislature who will put public safety and law abiding citizens first. Our laws need to be strong enough and enforceable to ensure the safety of our citizens. The drastic increase in crime, in part, relates to laws that now mitigate wrongdoing and hamper law enforcement efforts. Rehabilitation and compassion are an important part of our judicial system, but refusal to prosecute crimes and take criminals off the street is not working. It is only creating and allowing more criminal activity in our Vermont communities. The legislature needs to seriously review and change some of our laws that have been watered down and provide the resources needed to keep our communities safe.
HOUSING
Vermont needs a multifaceted solution to address the need for more housing. We need additional revisions to Act 250, which has been a barrier to building new housing. We should undertake efforts to realistically measure and define the different kinds of housing needed in our communities, whether it be workforce, affordable, first time home or general apartments and housing of all income levels. Government should incentivize care of property and encourage private sector builders and developers to help address our housing crisis. We should also expand, if possible, upon efforts like Habitat For Humanity that combines professionals, volunteers and the family receiving the home to create more housing opportunities.
AFFORDABILITY
Vermonters pay the third highest taxes in the nation. The latest increases and the creation of new future taxes to fund legislation that has passed in language only, are making it harder to afford living here. The legislature needs to take a deep dive to reevaluate our existing laws, projects, programs and costs before adding to the tax burden for our citizens. We need to eliminate waste and take a serious cost/ benefits approach in deciding revisions or eliminations. Fiscal responsibility and sustainability need to guide legislative decisions.
The legislature passed Act 18, the Clean Heat Standard Bill that would put a carbon tax on home heating fuels. It was irresponsible for the legislature to pass a piece of legislation of this magnitude, without having the true fiscal impact and the resource needs incorporated into the law before it passed. As the fiscal piece of Act 18 is just being developed, Vermonters could see a $0.70 to $4.00 or more increase per gallon on what they are already paying for heating oil, kerosene, propane and natural gas. Most Vermonters will not be able to afford these cost increases to heat their homes. Efforts to repeal this legislation failed, so it is imperative for citizens to continue to voice their valid concerns to their legislators. I have heard from a large number of my constituents who have said clearly that they do not have another pocket to pick to pay the taxes and do the requirements that will be attached to this law in the next legislative. session.
The next legislature needs to also seriously focus on the following issues that have seen large cost and tax increases: Education/Property Tax, Health Care/Premium Costs and delivery of service issues.
If re-elected, I will continue to listen and to work hard for my constituents and the citizens of Vermont.
Michael Nigro [D]
After obtaining an MBA, I spent a decade as a manager and then director of a residential facility for at-risk youth. Following that I was the director of a home health care agency for eight years. In that work, I experienced firsthand many challenges we face today: workforce shortages, the struggle faced by many lower income Vermonters, and the regulatory complexity and rising costs of health care. For the past six years, my wife and I have made our living as small business owners. I understand the difficulty of starting and growing a business, but also the joy of entrepreneurship.
From 2021 to 2022 I served as a Vermont State Representative, sitting on the Commerce Committee. There I had the opportunity to work on a number of bills that became law, to co-present several bills on the floor of the House, and act as lead-presenter of one bill.
Perhaps the most important skill I have developed throughout my career is the ability to work with people who have diverse viewpoints, something that I see our democracy in need of today. I learned to listen, and to value people with different ideas and experiences than myself.
CRIME
Relating to crime, we need to continue to work on common root causes by improving our mental health and substance abuse resources. But it is also important that lawmakers work with law enforcement and state’s attorneys to learn what support they need to be effective.
HOUSING
There will be no fast answer to increasing and improving housing stock, but I think the legislature has moved in the right direction by trying to make it easier to develop in town centers. I also support programs that help private businesses and property owners develop new housing; the Vermont Housing Improvement Program (VHIP) gives grants to property owners to build or rehabilitate rental units. My wife and I received one of these grants in 2020 and were able to quickly convert a derelict space into a quality apartment. This program alone has made many new apartments available in our community.
AFFORDABILITY
In the conversations I have had with voters, affordability has repeatedly been cited as a top concern. The governor has made this one of his priorities and the legislature also needs to hear voters’ concerns about rising costs. I believe for any bill or budget that is proposed, we must be able to make a clear case for how it will improve (or not negatively impact) affordability.
The challenge that I think about is not one for Vermont, but specifically one for Southern Vermont. There has been economic growth and development, but the majority of that has been in the northern part of the state. We need an economic vision for growth in Southern Vermont. The good news is that I frequently meet smart people invested in our community who are building that vision. It is time for Southern Vermont to reap some of the success seen in other parts of the state.
Jim Carroll [D]
Having an unwavering love for my hometown and wanting to always make it a better place to live and lessening the stress and burdens of others is a fundamental requirement for anyone in this role. Helping others in this role is the essential trait that’s necessary for being a public servant and never being willing to give up is absolutely necessary. Hearing the relief in the voices of people who have felt they had nowhere to turn is the reward of this role.
As a small business owner for the majority of my working years, you have to have a can-do attitude every day because problems present themselves every day, and addressing those problems has only one option: do all you can to find a solution.
Similarly, being a legislator requires the same skills: listening to problems, talking with constituents about issues and doing your best to solve the problems that might seem insurmountable is your number one job.
Crime, housing, and affordability are all closely tied together.
A lack of housing is the greatest impediment to economic growth. We can’t build housing fast enough. It’s taken a long time to get here but the legislature has and must continue to address it by making it easier to build responsibly by reducing regulations without sacrificing safety or the benefits or beauty of our towns.
Crime and housing too often walk hand in hand. However, there are ways to cut crime and drugs out of Bennington and it’s already happening and has been working for many years. I think we can adopt a way of making neighborhoods safer, cutting drugs and criminal activity by passing an ordinance that requires landlords to have their prospective tenants submit to a criminal and credit background check. It has worked for Shires Housing and other responsible landlords and the proof that it works is in the lower cases of police calls at the properties where landlords employ the same kind of requirements for prospective tenants.
Passing this sort of ordinance would not require landlords to exclude any prospective tenant; that would be up to the landlord. At the very minimum, landlords would be on notice about who their tenants are and the risks involved in renting to them. Adopting this way of renting protects tenants, neighborhoods, and the landlord’s property.
If this ordinance were to be adopted, I believe we’d see a dramatic drop in drug activity in Bennington and our neighborhoods would be safer with the kind of neighbors we all would like to have. Furthermore, the landlords who have this as a standard have far fewer problems with their properties. It can be done.
Adopting this sort of ordinance would kill three birds with one stone: reduce drug activity, make neighborhoods safer and reduce the number of calls to the police.
The continuing challenges for Vermont are the perennial problems: taxes, attracting business and people and building more affordable housing.
As a community, we’re all pulling in the same direction and it would be nice to have easy solutions to these issues. There are no easy solutions or answers; otherwise we would have done them. We have to keep searching for new solutions and tweak what’s working. These are problems that will always be knocking on our doors. We have to keep working on them and never be afraid to try to make things better with new ideas and approaches. We just have to keep pushing forward and never give in or give up.
