Pam's Positions as Queried by The Sun

 The Sun Asked and Pam Answered!

Gotta get those lawn signs staked and placed!

 Last year, Gov. Peter Shumlin surprised some when he focused his “State of the State” speech on opiate addiction in Vermont. If you were tapped to give this year’s State of the State speech, what would you focus your speech on?

Education cost containment is top priority. The ballooning cost of education is driving statewide education property taxes to levels that are crippling the budgets of many Vermonters. Under the  current funding structure, the Legislature can control the purse strings and yet they have refused to curtail spending and re-tool the funding mechanism. We need to constrain costs, re-consider unfunded mandates and provide a formula for funding that every Vermonter can clearly understand.

I support a two year moratorium on the increasing burden of property taxes capping spending at the 2015 levels.  For the next two years,  the Legislature should concentrate on assessing Acts 60/68 and confine Education Fund monies only for the functions listed in Statute(16 V.S.A.).    Towns must send a resounding message to Montpelier to address the current unsustainable education funding.  I will carry that message from Colchester.

The Colchester School Board recently agreed to a contract with the Colchester teachers union that increases teacher salaries by an average of 3.25 percent annually over the next three years. Can Colchester taxpayers support these increases, and is Vermont’s education system sustainably funded?

As noted above, I do not believe education is sustainably funded.

We are educating fewer students yet the costs per student continue to rise. Consider the following: in the past 10 years student population has declined by 10% while spending has increased by 33% and the per-student spending has increased by 60%.  Property taxes fund 70% of education spending. Anyone who runs a business or a household knows this trend is unsustainable and cannot continue.  

Taking on a comprehensive review and overhaul of this broken system is no small task but that is why you send us to Montpelier.  I am asking you to elect me to do the hard work and face the tough decisions.  Education reform and its consequences must be paramount in the upcoming Legislative Session. Runaway education costs are the responsibility of the State to fix.

Have the struggles implementing health care reform under the federal Affordable Care Act/Vermont Health Connect changed your outlook on the state’s move toward universal, government-run health care? How will you handle the issue in the Legislature next year?

 Health care is a topic of utmost importance for Vermonters and they are being led down a single-payer road on a hope and a prayer by the Shumlin administration and the Democrats’ super-majority in the Legislature. I have seen no evidence that Vermont’s single payer experiment can succeed in our small state without substantial rationing of care. The failure of Vermont Health Connect is a clear example of government overreach, a colossal waste of taxpayer funds and evidence they are incapable of managing such an upheaval in the medical system.

I support quality healthcare for everyone, but prices are better controlled by a system that encourages multiple insurers either through a person’s employer or purchased on an individual basis. The costs of health care must be constrained by a  combination of rational government regulation of hospitals and personal responsibility  by everyone for their own health.

As a legislator, I will not support single-payer.

The EPA is pressuring Vermonters to stem the tide of polluted urban and agricultural runoff into Lake Champlain that is degrading the lake’s water quality. What needs to happen to ensure the lake has healthy water for swimming and drinking supplies?

Conservation Commission at Colchester Pond 

I am very pleased to report it is already happening!.  Last year, the Legislature passed the Shoreland Protection Act.  As steward of 27 miles of shoreline, Colchester has led other municipalities in local shoreline protection.  Our regulations are of such high caliber that the State of Vermont has granted Colchester municipal authority to provide for continued permitting under our existing regulations.  The Planning Commission and staff worked diligently throughout the session to ensure our delegation would be granted.  Additionally, the Planning Commission approved and provided to the Development Review Board guidance for seawall construction The Shoreline Stabilization Handbook.  

As chair of the Planning Commission and member of the Conservation Commission,  I believe I am uniquely qualified to serve on the House Natural Resource Committee when elected to the Legislature.

  Is there anything else about you, your history in Colchester or your candidacy that voters should know?

I began my service to our Town in 1998 after attending a meeting of  the Conservation Commission. My commitment quickly mushroomed into greater interest in Town government. I jumped in with both feet, first to understand our local governance and secondly to participate constructively and collaboratively in Town government.

Now, 16 years later I:

o  remain a member of the Conservation Commission.

o  am the chair the Planning Commission

o  remain a founding member of Colchester Blooms,

o  am a member of the Historical Society

o  volunteer at the Malletts Bay Schoolhouse

o  serve as Secretary of the Colchester Community Center Initiative

o  participated on the Governance Committee

o  serve on the Firearms Safety Committee

o  was a member of the Citizens Committee selecting our Town Manager.

Now it’s time to apply my energy, experience and knowledge accumulated in the past 16 years to serve the residents of Colchester in Montpelier.

I have the passion to help bring balance to our Legislature and re-align Montpelier’s actions to reflect the pressing needs of Vermont citizens.