WALDEN – On November 5, Mike Southworth was elected to the Vermont House of Representatives for the Caledonia-2 District covering Hardwick, Stannard and Walden where he has lived the last 28 years. Southworth is married and has three adult sons.
Southworth says he’s more practical than political and hopes his common-sense approach to government will bring a fresh perspective to the statehouse. His guiding principles while serving in the legislature will come from the Vermont Constitution, he says. A sentence there states, “That frequent recurrence to fundamental principles, and a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, industry and frugality are absolutely necessary to preserve the blessings of liberty and keep government free.”
Southworth has experience working within state government, beginning with a stint as a deputy game warden at 18, time with the Department of Corrections (DOC) and, most recently the Agency of Transportation and Department of Motor Vehicles until his recent retirement. In his last position he provided support to small businesses in overseeing auto dealerships and inspection stations during the time of implementing new inspection protocols.
He says his motivation for seeking the position is what he sees as a lack of good discussion in Montpelier while it gets more and more costly to live in Vermont. He hopes he can be part of bringing a voice for change as the state gets away from a one-sided legislature.
The experience he brings and believes will be most valuable is in listening to everyone, while knowing how to present and look at things from a fresh perspective. Looking for ways to go back to what the Constitution says; creating new ways of solving problems instead of making small changes to what’s not working, are a new perspective he hopes to bring.
Southworth said his top priority will be affordably funding education after last year’s laregincrease. He’s not sold on the idea that property taxes can continue to fund education, but also believes savings must be found.
He’s also concerned school consolidation hasn’t been equitable given the student population and tax base. The Walden school district included Barnet and Waterford, which means any vote in the small town of Walden can be overwhelmed by the other towns. He served on the Walden school board before consolidation when the budget was about $2 milllion. There has been a huge increase since that Southworth is concerned results from consolidation.
Housing is another critical area where Southworth sees room for improvement. He’d like to see a program combining workforce needs, tech schools and abandoned properties that puts students to work developing trade skills while renovating abandoned properties to provide needed housing. He noted concerns with second homeowners removing needed housing stock as a concern.
Crime and punishment are an area Southworth knows something about, given his experience in the DOC. He’d like to see improved messaging from the judicial system and better support for law enforcement, which isn’t being supported as it should be, he says.
The judicial system needs to emphasize the consequences of criminal actions and not be so ready to release those who are arrested without consequences. Punishment should be a deterrent, he says. He says many things combine to create the situation we are in and he looks forward to learning more about them.
Southworth would like to see both term limits and longer terms, suggesting, by the time a new legislator learns the ins and outs of the job after a year, it’s again time to begin campaigning. Perhaps four year terms might make more sense, he says. With term limits, he would hope to prevent legislators and the Governor from developing more power than is appropriate. He says, “When people have power, that’s when they shouldn’t be there.” He thinks term limits will bring in new legislators who come in with fresh, up-to-date ideas and be more in touch with the population.
He financed his campaign by himself to avoid any perception that he might intend to serve anyone other than the voters.
Experience with transportation leads him to want to serve on that House committee. His experience with the Fish and Wildlife Department would be useful on the Natural Resources Committee.
Finally, he has an interest in the Government Operations Committee where he sees an opportunity to look at streamlining and efficiency. That’s an area in which he thinks he can be valuable given his experience working in state government and seeing bureaucratic inefficiencies.
As an example he cites a situation in which wastewater and streamwater permits were required, but each required the other to be obtained first, even though both came from the same state department. Problems like that through state government can be found and streamlined, making it easier for people and costing less.
The job is already beginning to take up a significant amount of Southworth’s time. He’s already been to an orientation and to the Hardwick select board. There he told them he intends to share a regular report which they agreed to attach to the meeting minutes. Today he will attend a joint fiscal presentation at the statehouse.
Southworth is happy to hear from his new constituents through his new state email address, [email protected]
Paul Fixx is editor of The Hardwick Gazette and lives in Hardwick.
