To the editor:
“Honesty, Understanding, and Communication will be the hallmark of my service if I am elected to the Senate,” said Donald Koch of Barre Town in announcing his candidacy for the State Senate from the Washington District. “First, I will always tell the truth, even if it hurts me politically. Second, I will never vote for a bill I don’t understand and can’t explain to the voters—no more Act 60 property tax monstrosities or (Un)Affordable Heat Acts! And third, I will keep in contact with the voters, knowing that communication is a two-way street!”
Koch is a life-long resident of Barre Town, a graduate of Spaulding High School and Johnson State College. He did post-graduate work at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, examining a possible call to the ministry but realizing that his life’s work lay in a different direction. He is currently a long-haul truck driver who owns and operates his own company, Cedarbrook Trucking, based in Barre. He is an active member of Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church in Montpelier.
Koch said he believes that the current legislature has passed unrealistic and unwise bills, simply because the legislature is run by a supermajority of Democrats that has the power to pass bills without the necessity of negotiating with other factions or even taking other views into consideration. He cited the so-called “Affordable Heat Act” as one example—a bill that one senator called a “Rube Goldberg,” though he voted for it anyway! “Another example,” Koch said, “is the Democrats’ treatment this year of the property tax mess. They ‘reduced’ the property tax increase to a ‘mere’ 13.8% by increasing other taxes, created a special committee to study property tax reform and report back in 2025, and then went home thinking they had done something good! But it’s not good; we need property tax reform now!”
G.E.T. R.E.A.L. is a campaign theme adopted by the Vermont Republican Party this year, and Koch said he subscribes to the theme because of the unrealistic measures that the Democrats have passed in recent years. He said that although he is a Republican, he will be an independent voice if elected and will use his own judgment rather than adhering to a party position.
Koch can be reached by email at [email protected], and his website is http://www.DonaldKochforVT.org.
Donald Koch
Barre
The Washington Senate District includes the towns of Cabot, Calais, Marshfield, Plainfield, Woodbury.
Donald Koch
