Droege and Sammis compete for Castleton House seat

Two candidates are seeking election to the newly created Rutland 3 district serving Castelton. Democrat Mary Droege, 60, is running against Republican Jarrod Sammis, 32.

Q&A with Mary Droege, Democrat

Droege is a faculty member at Castleton University where she teaches in the natural sciences department and manages the biology labs and the university greenhouse.

Mountain Times: What do you think are the three biggest issues facing your district?

Mary Droege: 1. Inflation rising faster than cost of living wage increases. 2. Affordable housing and housing availability. 3. Good jobs that pay a livable wage and provide benefits.

MT: The housing crisis is hitting Vermont hard. How can we combat this issue?

MD: This is a very complicated issue that has been decades in the making. One idea is to amend Act 250 to allow for higher density housing within designated cities, towns and village centers with robust zoning and development capacity.

MT: Many employers are struggling to find workers. What do you think some solutions are?

MD: I’m no expert, but I wonder if, for some jobs at least, offering competitive benefits (or benefits at all) might help attract more workers.

MT: Why are so many parents struggling to find daycare? What can be done?

MD: We need more high quality, affordable child care! Child care workers need higher pay and better benefits so that child care will become a career choice that is economically feasible for those who would like to pursue it.

MT: What’s your opinion on the proposed reproductive liberty amendment?

MD: I support it! We need to trust women and their healthcare providers to make healthcare decisions.

Q&A with Jarrod Sammis, Republican

Sammis is a Castleton University graduate who works in marketing.

Mountain Times: Why are you running for a House seat?

Jarrod Sammis: I am running for a House seat to try and help Vermont heal itself and move forward economically and socially. Our economy consistently ranks among the lowest progressing in the country, and that itself is causing stagnancy in our state. It is also a contributing factor to crime, substance abuse, along with mental health crises across our state – and it’s time our representatives address it.

MT: What do you think are the three biggest issues facing your district?

JS: One major issue right now is economics — families are seeing the value of their dollar diminish in real-time, while facing an ever increasing cost of living. Many folks are worried about the implementation of a “carbon tax” on top of it, which will make the cost of living even higher for regular citizens. The second issue is the increasing rate of crime in our region – many people feel uncomfortable to even open their doors or work at their businesses alone anymore due to the influx of criminal activity. The third issue is also related to economics — businesses are struggling to hire long-term employees, while young people and college students worry about being able to pursue long-term career options when they get older or graduate due to the stagnant wages and constantly increasing cost of living in our state. This leaves our state with an aging population with the younger population leaving for greener pastures.

MT: The housing crisis is hitting Vermont hard. How can we combat this issue?

JS: Vermont has to modify Act 250 in order to allow for more housing development, and it has to become a priority. Act 250 creates excessive red tape that discourages housing development, and also discourages businesses to invest in Vermont. People cannot purchase homes without jobs, and people with jobs cannot purchase homes if it becomes too restrictive or cost prohibitive to build them or buy them. Increasing the housing inventory will also help stabilize the housing market value of the state.

MT: Many employers are struggling to find workers. What do you think some solutions are?

JS: The state of Vermont has to allow for new housing development to be created, along with easing the requirements for businesses to become established in our state. The state also needs to create tax incentives for those businesses in order to attract them and have them stay in Vermont. Ultimately, it comes down to money and how much the state regulates our industries.

MT: Why are so many parents struggling to find daycare? What can be done? Parents are struggling to find daycare due to the amount of regulations required by the State in order to open one as a business. It is also a matter of population, as the younger population leaves the state and the older populations retire elsewhere, it leaves very few prospective business owners to take on the daycare business.

JS: The state needs to incentivize daycare by making it easier to a.) open a daycare business, and b.) not regulate it to the point where the business is no longer profitable for the entrepreneur. If businesses are regulated to the point where the owners are no longer making money, the business then shuts down – which results in communities losing jobs as well as vital services.

MT: What’s your opinion on the proposed reproductive liberty amendment?

JS: While in principle the reproductive liberty amendment may have seemed like a good idea, laws already exist on the books in Vermont that protect reproduction-related medical procedures. The final portion of the text stating “unless justified by a compelling State interest achieved by the least restrictive means” is also concerning, as it could be interpreted the state still has involvement in the medical decisions of the individual — which completely would defeat the purpose of the amendment. The amendment itself is redundant, vague, and should be voted down.