Candidate For Office
State Representative
Vermonters trust their legislators to shape important aspects of their lives, and I will strive to be worthy of that trust. While all Vermonters are unique, I do think I have valuable skills and experience that qualify me to represent my neighbors.
My experience in Burlington has run the gamut, from student to professor; from renter to homeowner to small-time landlord; from post-graduation job-hunter, to employee, to small business owner, to independent consultant. My academic training has taught me to listen closely, research carefully, think critically, and ask hard questions. My years of teaching have taught me how to communicate complex ideas clearly and accessibly.
I think all those things would enable me to serve our district well.
Administrative consolidation, the CESA model, and the foundation formula are steps in the right direction—as long as consolidation is not forced and the foundation formula is enough to fully fund our schools, including the many supportive services our students and school families need.
But we’re never going to solve our education funding problem without solving healthcare. It’s the primary driver of spiraling costs.
Property and sales and use taxes are stable sources of revenue, but are highly regressive. Instead, we should shift to a small progressive income tax surcharge, taxes on second homes, substantial additional transfer taxes on real estate purchased by large corporate investors, and taxes on AI token and social media use.
Vermont has more bedrooms than people! Most households are 1-2 people, but most homes have 3+ bedrooms. Meanwhile, new affordable housing costs $500K *per unit* to build, more than most Vermonters can afford, and much of that goes to new infrastructure. However, if we split existing homes, as is being done successfully already, we can create new housing for a tenth of the price.
Home-splitting is the most-affordable, lowest-carbon, lowest-sprawl, and least-environmentally-impactful way to house Vermonters while preserving our landscapes. My priority would therefore be to promote funding, new financing and insurance products, and zoning regulations that make home-splitting a matter of administrative rather than full DRB review.
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