Dear Editor,
I am writing to express my support for John Rodgers as the next Lieutenant Governor of Vermont.
Having previously served as Commissioner of Vermont’s Dept. of Forests, Parks, and Recreation for 12 years, appointed by two different governors with a significant legislative portfolio over six legislative biennia, I worked over an extended period with both David Zuckerman and John Rodgers. Their differences are real and important, and Rodgers emerges as the best choice for Vermont.
It’s not close.
During his time in the Senate, Rodgers served on two committees with essential roles relative to Forests, Parks, and Recreation: the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Energy — with jurisdiction over FPR’s responsibilities, programs, and budget — and the Senate Committee on Institutions — with jurisdiction over capital appropriations and land transactions (think State Parks’ infrastructure, ski area leases, and land conservation transactions).
While John and I differed on some topics over the years, he was a breath of fresh air and a welcome voice of practicality and reality all the while. He listened, asked informed and sometimes challenging questions, and consistently offered ideas and solutions, with a willingness to work together to find those solutions.
My experience with David Zuckerman was different, characterized and summarized best as David doing a lot of talking at me — whether in the Senate Committee on Agriculture or in the hallways in advance of important floor debates in the Senate after he became Lieutenant Governor.
I’ve come to know John Rodgers as a friend, affording an expanded view of him and his values and ethics. John is smart, fun, talented, honest, hard-working, and reliable. He is committed to his family, friends, land, and community. Indeed, watching John delight in engaging with our young daughter says it all—whether when fishing with her or touring her around his farm.
I am grateful for John Rodgers’ significant and selfless service to our state to date and for his willingness to run and serve us as Lieutenant Governor now. He is spot on when he speaks of unsettling changes in Vermont’s legislative process over the last decade or so—becoming more political and less inclusive. Given his experience, personality, and commitment to Vermont and all her people, John is the best-equipped candidate to bring a different, more realistic, and genuinely effective approach to Montpelier.
I encourage you to consider John Rodgers’ candidacy and hope you, too, will conclude he is the right person at the right time to serve as our next Lieutenant Governor, regardless of party affiliation.
Michael Snyder, Stowe
