Republican incumbent Reps. Arthur Peterson and Tom Burditt are running against Democrats Dave Potter and Ken Fredette to represent Rutland District 2. The district is served by two legislators for the towns of Clarendon, West Rutland, Wallingford, Tinmouth and Proctor.
Tom Burditt, Republican
Burditt, who lives in West Rutland, assumed office in 2011. He owns Tom Burditt’s Rx Lawn Systems and was previously a partner in Vaillancourt Tree Landscape in Pittsford. He was also a Select Board member in West Rutland from 2005-2006. Burditt did not return a request for comment.
Q&A with Ken Fredette, Democrat
Fredette, 66, of Wallingford, is an eighth-generation Vermonter. He was raised in Rutland Town, and grew up working with his uncles on a dairy farm in Rutland. Fredette has served as a school board member, as a representative to the Rutland Regional Planning Commission, a volunteer at SolarFest and a moderator at the First Congregational Church of Wallingford.
Mountain Times: Why are you running for a House seat?
Ken Fredette: Friends and acquaintances encouraged me to do so, thinking I would be a good representative of the people. At the risk of sounding immodest, I agree. I feel I have a lot to bring to the table for civil and productive discussions on legislation that could benefit the people of Rutland-2, and perhaps in many cases all of Vermont.
MT: What do you think are the three biggest issues facing your district?
KF: Climate change, safe housing available to all, and health care available to all.
MT: The housing crisis is hitting Vermont hard. How can we combat this issue?
KF: Encourage and support rehabilitation of sound vacant or underused buildings, with a robust weatherization component that could benefit many elder and low income Vermonters, as well as the environment. Also support development in appropriate scale to create small communities with shared resources – water, power, sewer, recreational space, and such. Act 250 remains a crucial piece of Vermont being Vermont. That said, the conversation around supporting responsible development by revisiting regulations must continue.
MT: Many employers are struggling to find workers. What do you think some solutions are?
KF: More housing and childcare – “If you build it, they will come” type of thing; support and celebrate our schools; paid internships. Vermont has long been a desirable destination for tourism and short-term stays, but to encourage people to establish roots here, to enter the workforce and raise families, we must eliminate obstacles.
MT: Why are so many parents struggling to find daycare? What can be done?
KF: High-quality affordable child care would be on my list of the top three issues facing the district if it were not for the elephant of climate change.Daycare operators must adhere to substantial regulations to ensure the well-being of our children – and rightly so – but compliance costs money, and that takes away from what they have available to pay decent salaries their staffs so richly deserve. They have to balance that against what parents and guardians can afford to pay so they can be out in our workforce without spending their entire paycheck to have their kids under good care. Throwing more money at something isn’t always the answer, but I submit that Vermont would realize the benefits of a stronger economy in the future by front-loading investments in child care now.
MT: What’s your opinion on the proposed reproductive liberty amendment?
KF: I fully support it. Any health care decisions are between the patient and their provider, and in some cases their partner. The scare tactics being employed about “late-term abortions” are mythic, but what is truly scary is the fact that Vermonters’ expressed desire on this matter could be overruled at the federal level. This comes down to separation of church and state, and with a grossly out-of-step U.S. Supreme Court, it becomes incumbent upon states to step up; Vermonters have never hesitated to do so.
Q&A with incumbent Arthur Peterson, Republican
Peterson, 70, is a U.S. Military Academy graduate and an Army veteran. He moved to Clarendon in 1978 and worked as an engineer in the telecommunications industry for over 40 years. Peterson was the founder of the Mill River Union High School football program in the 1990s.
Mountain Times: Why are you running for a House seat?
Arthur Peterson: I am running for re-election because I want to continue to represent the people of Rutland 2 with a common sense approach.
MT: What do you think are the three biggest issues facing your district?
AP: I think the biggest issues are 1) Affordability, especially the price of heating fuel as winter approaches. People do not want any sort of carbon tax. Our tax burden in Vermont is the second highest in the country, people want that to change. 2) The rise in crime and the attempt to weaken law enforcement. People I talk to think we need stiffer penalties for criminals and more support for police. 3) The business climate in Vermont. We need good paying jobs, not regulation that discourages businesses from opening or expanding. A fourth would be the Article 22 abortion amendment.
MT: The housing crisis is hitting Vermont hard. How can we combat this issue?
AP: This is a tough issue. The Covid pandemic, and other factors, caused housing costs to inflate with many out of staters purchasing homes here. This has made home ownership tough for many hard working folks.One answer is to stimulate the rental market by removing burdensome restrictions on landlords and adding some on tenants. Simply put, there are people who would consider purchasing and opening up rental units who don’t do it because they know they can’t get rid of problem tenants. When it comes to the state’s role in building affordable housing, I would have to look at any legislation carefully to see how and where money is spent. I need to learn more about the housing issue. Overall, though, I believe in personal responsibility by those seeking housing. They need to work for and pay for whatever they get.
MT: Many employers are struggling to find workers. What do you think some solutions are?
AP: This is a tough issue that the Legislature has been dealing with for some time. In the House healthcare committee, where I serve, we are keenly aware of the shortages of nurses, PAs, and doctors and have passed several incentive programs to try to solve the problem. I think this problem has to do with the age of our population in Vermont. It is my feeling that many older Vermonters who were working before the pandemic chose not to return to work after Covid. I also think that parents, home with children due to the pandemic, found that they enjoyed parenting more than their job and didn’t go back to work. There has also been a steady decline over the years in the number of students in our schools which later translates to less workers. In order for this demographic to change we need to establish good paying jobs, great recreational opportunities, a family friendly atmosphere, and an affordable tax burden. Paying folks to come here won’t work in the long run. This problem will take a long time to be resolved.
In addition we need to take a hard look at those receiving state benefits to make sure that all that can work are, in fact, working. Finally, we may have to consolidate services if the problem persists.
MT: Why are so many parents struggling to find daycare? What can be done?
AP: I would offer two solutions to childcare: 1) Adjust regulations on private daycare facilities that restrict numbers of children allowed in a facility and; 2) offer some sort of incentive to businesses that provide childcare to their employees. I am not in favor of publicly funded childcare, that is an unwarranted expansion of state government. Again, high paying jobs, a great business climate, and a lower tax burden would go a long way towards solving this problem.
MT: What’s your opinion on the proposed reproductive liberty amendment?
AP: Article 22 Amendment: I am adamantly opposed to the amendment and will vote NO to it. This amendment would make late term abortions a right. It will create the foundation for prostitution and other sex related businesses as the courts interpret “personal reproductive autonomy”. It is not a replacement for Roe v. Wade, it goes much, much farther. All Vermonters should oppose this amendment.
Q&A with Dave Potter, Democrat
Potter, 78, previously served in the House from 2005 to 2021. Potter has worked as a tree farmer and a teacher. He also served in the United States Air Force from 1967 to 1972.
Mountain Times: Why are you running for a House seat?
Dave Potter: I am running to support Vermont families with good jobs and economic opportunity. To ensure quality and affordable education, healthcare, and an environmental future for all. To make sure our communities are safe, crime free, and adequately protected by law enforcement. To bring improved transportation infrastructure to Rutland County.
MT: What do you think are the three biggest issues facing your district?
DP: The biggest issues currently facing the district are inflation, lack of an adequate workforce pool, and lingering Covid impacts.
MT: The housing crisis is hitting Vermont hard. How can we combat this issue?
DP: The housing crisis is best combated by state and private investment in housing. Better balance of laws between tenant and landlord rights might also help.
MT: Many employers are struggling to find workers. What do you think some solutions are?
DP: The shortage of workers may be helped by educating new workers, and weaning those off existing federal benefits that discourage workforce participation.
MT: Why are so many parents struggling to find daycare? What can be done?
DP: Parents are struggling to find adequate daycare. Educating and properly paying quality daycare workers and pre-K instructors are necessary to solve this problem. A universal livable wage for the daycare industry is what is most needed.
MT: What’s your opinion on the proposed reproductive liberty amendment?
DP: I support the reproductive liberty amendment. I have never counseled anyone to have an abortion, and don’t intend to. However, I will never stand between whatever a woman decides in consultation with her doctor, clergy, or spouse. Politicians have no place in interfering in these very personal decisions.
