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Pam Loranger commented on Municipal Ethics - Feb 29, 2024 2024-03-03 07:20:01 -0500Following please my testimony to the Committee:
Good Morning. Thank you for inviting us to your committee on Government Operations and Military Affairs. I am Pam Loranger, Chair of the Colchester Selectboard. I am joined today by Town Manager Aaron Frank, Inge Schaefer Member Board of Ethics of my fellow Board member Maureen P. Dakin. My colleagues will take the floor for the majority of testimony. Their testimony will reflect the exhaustive and deliberate work the Town of Colchester has undertaken to create and conform to a comprehensive Ethics Framework. We are not alone in that endeavor and other municipalities have availed themselves of their particular resources, expertise and experiences based on the Town’s individuality as well as the model provided by VLCT to create their own Ethics Policy, Framework and Boards. Questions regarding enforcement, training and cost remain outstanding in this current legislative initiative. We have the proven capacity to manage those items locally and have done so. We consider removing control from each municipality unnecessary and detrimental to a process that is best managed on a local level. Individualism and independence are a hallmark of the Vermont spirit. Intervention in our policies, framework and process is unwarranted and unnecessary. I respectfully request the Committee to abandon this draft. We have the policies and tools in place to do the job, please respect our ability to self-govern.
Thank you for your time and consideration this morning. -
Petition to Listen
Are you tired of constant cost of living increases and declining public services? What about state leaders who don't seem to care? So are we! Instead of complaining we are launching a petition drive to set them straight.
Vermonters are tired of the state failing them.
Join us in calling on the Legislature to listen.
Add signatureDear Legislators, Vermonters rely on critical state services like infrastructure, public education, housing, and economic development. According to recent Campaign for Vermont polling, Vermonters now believe that the state is failing in the delivery of every one of these key services and that we are headed in the wrong direction as a state.
Top issues that we care about are the cost of living in our state, affordable housing, and public safety. We urge you to focus on these critical issues instead of chasing radical policies that are widely unpopular and will increase the cost of living for Vermonters. Additionally, we need to shift our climate change strategy towards resiliency efforts - building dams, flood barriers, and other infrastructure to protect us from the impacts of climate change - instead of solely chasing carbon reduction strategies (particularly those that have outsized negative impacts on low and middle-income Vermonters).
For too long the extremes at either end of the political spectrum have controlled the narrative despite the majority of us wanting moderate and reasonable policy solutions. In fact, 44% of Vermonters identify as independent voters and don't affiliate with either major party. Now we are calling on legislators to pull themselves out of these echo chambers and follow the will of the many instead the will of the few. Work for us instead of against us.
Sincerely,
Vermonters
Pam Loranger
Pam Loranger
Colchester, VT