LAMOILLE, WASHINGTON COUNTY – In the Lamoille-Washington House District, served by two representatives, incumbent Democrat Saudia Lamont was joined by returning Democratic legislator David Yacovone in winning the primary election. Republicans Charles Burnham and Nick Lopez obtained enough write-in votes in the primary to be added to the ballot for the November 5 general election.
 Saudia LaMont |  David Yacovone |  Charles Burnham |  Nick Lopez |
This district serves the Town of Woodbury.
All four candidates’ answers to seven questions are summarized below.
Question: Tell us a bit about your background, why you want to fill the position and why you are a good candidate for it.
LaMont: I’m a Vermonter and legislator who has spent most of my previous careers in servitude. Healthcare, childcare, advocacy, management, consulting, volunteering, serving on boards and committees, caucus’, the lot. I have just embarked on a new role as the global engagement and equity director with the United Way of Lamoille County. I am running for re-election because there is still so much to be done and I am just getting started. I am ready to take what I have learned during my first biennium and put it into action. I believe my cumulative skills, service, track record, ability to listen to and meet people where they are, see things from various perspectives, commitment to community, passion for people, working to ensure that we all have what we need to survive and thrive make me a good candidate to retain this position.
Lopez: I have a diverse background and put myself through college at UC Davis as a steelworker. That blended into my post-graduate work. I got my teaching credentials while recovering from an accident. Not many ironworkers taught kindergarten, but I have. I moved to Vermont in 1988 to raise a family with my wife, who’s from Johnson.
I’ve been in steelwork for three companies in Vermont over 24 years, traveling to different states, working with different unions and managing construction sites effectively. I have experience with coordination and scheduling. My background and skills are strong assets for the position.
Yacavone: I spent 16 years as a nursing home administrator at the Greensboro Nursing Home and 10 years in the Vermont Legislature, representing Hyde Park and Wolcott from 1993 to 1996 and from 2017 to 2018 for the Lamoille-Washington district. I served as the commissioner of aging and disabilities in the Dean Administration and as commissioner for children and families in the Shumlin Administration.
Burnham: I’m a retired Navy captain and retired landscape architect. I’m currently working as the zoning administrator for Elmore. I’ve spent a lot of hours in committee work. I was a founding member of the Stowe Land Trust. I’ve been on the regional planning commission and Stowe Rescue Squad. I was Stowe Community Church president. I would like to represent this district in Montpelier to try to control the uncontrolled spending going on there.
Question: Taxes keep rising as we address the needs of an increasingly complex
society. What’s the right balance between meeting the needs of the population and keeping taxes manageable? How does funding schools fit into that?
LaMont: Unfortunately, taxes are how we fund the economy. The balance is in identifying how we can keep costs down to better correlate with manageable tax rates. I am just learning how school funding fits into the equation and I know how to ask for help. It is my understanding that the way people vote locally on town budgets directly impacts the overall state funding. I have been speaking with our superintendent, school board members, community members and financial visionaries to better understand. I am working with our superintendent to schedule a School Finance 101 as he has offered to lead a session to help community members (myself included) learn about this very issue.
Lopez: Taxes is on everybody’s mind. With our school population dropping, the answer’s not easy for anybody. Worcester just fought to keep their school open for another year. Those decisions are tough and are not always going to be popular. The answers to keeping Vermont affordable won’t be popular either. We can’t keep adding to the taxes; something has to give. The population has to decide what’s important. Lowering taxes or keeping smaller schools open.
Decisions should be made on the ballot, not by representatives in Montpelier. More needs to be done to keep the population informed and have a chance to vote so people decide.
Yacavone: I believe that what amount a person pays for school taxes should depend more upon income than on the values of their properties. I support the state having a larger role in setting school budgets rather than each town determining their school budgets themselves.
Burnham: We need a little more accountability by the people spending the money. I am concerned about uncontrolled spending and the need for greater accountability in budget preparation and approval. There’s a need to reduce per-pupil spending and address the teacher’s pension issue to prevent huge deficits.
Question: What do you see as the solution to creating affordable home ownership and rental options for Vermonters? How does that work to make Vermont attractive for young people?
LaMont: I do not believe there is a singular solution to creating affordable home ownership and rental options for Vermonters. There are some great programs out there taking steps towards working to address the issue: Housing trusts, Habitat for Humanity, RuralEdge and Downstreet to name a few. With the cost of everything: labor, land, materials, and more on the rise, it becomes challenging for developers to work within those means, which makes it more challenging to build new units. Adjusting permitted land use and renovations of existing properties is a way to support unit availability. Some Vermonters want to downsize, some don’t mind living in apartment buildings. Homes and apartments that meet the needs of large families are lacking. The individualistic mindset of our society and the impact that has on housing is a topic for another conversation. We need diversified, affordable housing stock and more activities, social opportunities, accessible structures, professional development with upward mobility opportunities and better paying jobs and benefits to make Vt. more attractive to young people. We need to focus on both serving Vermont as it is through a lens of planning for Vermont’s future.
Lopez: Our biggest challenge is making Vermont affordable with taxes already so high. Cuts have to be made. Outside contractors say it’s cheaper to develop here because our costs are so high. We’re going to have to solve the problem here. Adding taxes and more fuel taxes is going to keep the costs going up.
Affordability is employment and hard work. Career opportunities are available, but can’t be filled. Taxing people to death isn’t helping.
I haven’t heard any good answers yet and there aren’t going to be popular answers.
Yacavone: The state should direct more resources of the Vermont housing and conservation board entirely to housing. This includes developing some land that is owned by the Vermont Conservation Board into affordable housing especially for seniors.
Burnham: I’ve been involved in the planning and permitting end of housing for many years. I find that permitting is quite a holdup and you can’t blame it all on Act 250. A lot of it has to do with zoning, starting right at the local level. The legislature in the past year created zoning opportunities to allow for increased density in villages with sewer and water. We need to make it easier for people to create housing in those areas. They’ve also allowed for increased density on residential areas to reduce the cost of getting a house site ready to go.
Question: Gov. Scott seems to be having difficulty striking the right balance between
funding housing for homeless people and reducing spending on programs to house the
homeless. What do you see as possible solutions to help Vermont’s homeless population?
LaMont: There is not one direct path to address our homelessness crisis. Some solutions I think are necessary are addressing root causes. People become unhoused for various reasons, and I think prevention is key. If we are not taking steps and putting systems and stipulations in place to help prevent people from becoming unhoused in the first place, the cycle will continue. It requires a balance of emergency housing which should be temporary and accompanied by wrap-around support services to help community members who need higher level assistance to obtain stabilized housing. Transitional support [is needed] for those who have access to more resources and can have a more successful transition into permanent housing with less assistance. We need to balance our funding for housing and programs for unhoused individuals, as well as support services that help people become sustainably housed.
Lopez: The popular solution isn’t going to be found in Montpelier by the legislature. They need to get out like I have. I met with a gentleman from the foundation in Montpelier who works with the homeless. Every homeless individual and family has circumstances attached to that. The criminals that take advantage of those programs overcloud the people that really need the help. The public image is something we really need to turn around because Vermonters help each other.
If we don’t get spending and affordability under control, homelessness is going to increase because a lot of families are one paycheck away from being homeless.
Taxing the working man is not the way to go; taxing the rich is not the way to go because it just filters down to the working class. Politicians need to get out there and see what’s happening.
The answer is probably easier than we think. It’s a two-way street and the homeless need to want to get off the streets. Some people choose that lifestyle.
Yacavone: I believe in creating supported housing for Vermont’s homeless population. I am in favor of the state buying hotels and motels that are marginally successful and converting them into supported housing. This solution centers the root causes of homelessness which include poverty, drug abuse and healthcare.
Burnham: The homeless population needs all the help it can get. It’s a tragedy to see this happening. The answer is at the local level by developing local solutions. The legislature can help by affirming the problem and ways to resolve it.
Question: How can the state meet the challenges of maintaining the state and town
infrastructure of roads, bridges, water and sewer systems as weather events are increasingly destructive? As more vehicles become electric and the gas tax becomes less effective at funding those needs, how can that funding gap be filled?
LaMont: Find ways to access and draw down more federal dollars to support not rebuilding, installing and paving old roads and infrastructures as they were. Instead taking a comprehensive approach of addressing our riparian zones, waterways, natural landscape and drainage, building more sustainable, improved, reinforced structures and systems, reassessing floodplains and where and how we can build.
Lopez: That’s what politicians call unintended consequences. The push for electric vehicles in rural Vt. to any working person isn’t attainable. Vt. doesn’t produce any significant electricity since the nuclear plant shut down and now relies on Hydro Quebec.
The weight of electric vehicles is a strain on our road sand bridges, especially larger batteries in trucks.
Vermont can’t afford to be an experiment. We need to stop and rethink this whole path we’re going down. That’s why a lot of people that aren’t politicians are running now.
Cleaning up streams and rivers to alleviate the debris that puts a strain on the system will make a difference.
Yacavone: To help repair Vermont’s disaster damaged and aged infrastructure I would look to implement a wealth tax towards some of the wealthiest Vermonters. This would work to relieve rises in property taxes that are usually used to maintain infrastructure.
Burnham: Every vehicle that uses the highway should be paying their fair share. There’s a need for electric vehicles to contribute to highway funding as cars and trucks paying gas and other taxes do.
I work closely with the highway department in Elmore where they and the state engineer new culverts to size them to handle stormwater and reduce sedimentation.
Question: Please share your perspective on how the issue of abortion should be
addressed in our state and country. What specific policies do you support to ensure
women’s health and reproductive rights are adequately considered?
LaMont: I do not believe abortion should be addressed in our state, country, or government. Reproductive choices are a very personal matter that directly impacts the health of the individual experiencing them. I supported Proposition 5, S.37 and will continue to support policy that maintains a woman’s right to autonomy of such a personal and intimate matter.
Lopez: My grandson was born three months premature and he’s a productive citizen. That’s where I stand. The Supreme Court settled it so it’s up to the state. Put it on the ballot and let people decide.
Yacavone: I don’t believe it is the function of the government to tell a woman what to do with her body. Organizations such as Planned Parenthood and local healthcare providers can help support women to make the right choices for themselves and their health.
Burnham: My intention is to listen to both sides and respect other opinions because I have religious beliefs I follow. and believe it’s an open question.
Question: Is there anything we haven’t asked you about that you’d like to share and
might be important to your constituents?
LaMont: I would like my constituents to know I am here. I am listening and I do my best to factor in all perspectives, facts, data, and options available to inform my decisions. I rely heavily on your input and your voice. Please reach out to me or invite me to your forums and events so we can continue to work together.
Lopez: The top three issues I here going around my district are taxes, affordability and safety. Our aging populations are targets. I’m in a wheelchair and I’m a target now. At one border station in Swanton 19,222 people were caught from 97 countries. Being soft on crime is allowing criminals to threaten our citizens.
Yacavone: Healthcare in Vermont is too expensive as it has some of the highest premiums in the country. I would look to start moving away from a fee for service system of healthcare. To address problems in the healthcare system such as a lack of nurses I am in favor of recruiting nurses from out of state. Part of this recruitment could be promising to pay for parts of their nursing education if they agree to stay in Vermont for a certain amount of time.
Burnham: My background in planning and being in committee work is to reach consensus. Everybody in the room has to speak up and be part of the solution. I don’t think the legislature is working together very well. I’d like to go down and help resolve that problem. For one side or the other to have a majority have a hammer and bludgeon the other to death, there needs to be more consensus and we’ll all be the better for it.
An earlier version of this story incorrectly indicated Charles Burnham and Nick Lopez had been added to the ballot by a party caucus and not as write-ins during the primary election.
