In the crowded political race leading up to the 2010 elections, voters in Vermont will have an opportunity to assess which candidates are most likely to display important leadership qualities such as visionary, unconventional thinking that is not bound to party politics.
A cursory review of the state’s political history proves beyond a doubt that time and again, Vermont’s future has been fundamentally altered by bold and unexpected decisions on the part of its most important political leaders.
- In 1940, Republican Gov. George D. Aiken rebuffed critics who said he was destroying Vermont’s mountains and approved a plan by State Forester Perry H. Merrill to lease the Mount Mansfield State Forest to a private developer to create a ski area. It was the start of Vermont’s now famous ski industry which today represents $1.5 billion in total economic impact.
- In the middle of the 1960s, Democratic Gov. Philip H. Hoff modernized Vermont’s creaky state government and the state’s judicial system, banned billboards, and created regional planning and development commissions that have helped manage Vermont’s growth policies.
- Gov. Deane C. Davis shocked his allies in 1970 and put his political muscle behind the creation of law that we now know as Act 250. It was akin to President Nixon going to the People’s Republic of China when a Republican businessman governor advocated the need to protect Vermont from rapid over-development.
- Three years later, Democratic Gov. Thomas P. Salmon presided over the creation of Vermont Economic Development Authority to make the state a partner in the creation of new jobs for Vermont, this after campaigning on a platform of slowing growth in the state.
- Republican Gov. Richard A. Snelling seized the opportunity to transform Vermont’s energy future in 1981 by teaming up with Quebec’s Parti-Quebecois Premier Rene Levesque to have state government import power to Vermont from Hydro-Quebec. Today, these imports account for more than 33 percent of Vermont’s power supply.
- Democratic Gov. Madeleine M. Kunin paved the way for new female leadership in state agencies and the Vermont Legislature, thus ensuring equality in governance for future generations.
- Democratic Gov. Howard Dean in the 1990s greatly expanded the use of state funds to secure open land for future generations and to stimulate housing through the Housing and Land Conservation Fund, even as he preached fiscal conservatism in many other areas of government.
- Republican Gov. Jim Douglas created a version of a “public option” in health care with his decision in 2005 to support Democratic legislation that started the Catamount Health Plan, now seen as a national model.
I am sure readers can think of other examples, but these are the ones that immediately come to mind as I look back at nearly 75 years of political leadership in Vermont.
In each of the decisions, political leaders went against the grain and took action in spite of entrenched opposition, often from their own supporters. These decisions all have had or will have long-term impact on future generations of Vermonters. Obviously, all of the governors cited above also made other decisions that didn’t stand the test of time.
Looking ahead, 2010 is another important election year for Vermonters. Douglas, a four-term Republican governor, has decided against re-election, one that he likely would have won.
Douglas’s decision unleashed years of pent-up political ambitions, giving us five candidates now vying for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination. The 2010 election provides Vermonters with an important opportunity to change course and evaluate gubernatorial candidates on their leadership abilities, their capacity to make courageous decisions, and especially to make the unexpected and politically risky choices that are required by the times.
In Vermont, the most important political office is the governorship. It is the one state office that has the most daily impact on how we live our lives, run our businesses and create opportunities for the future.
Here are four questions Vermonters should be pondering during the upcoming gubernatorial campaign:
- How do we best leverage Vermont’s assets (a clean, healthy environment, a highly-educated workforce, an independent spirit) to create new jobs and new economic opportunities?
- How do we keep younger Vermonters here and convince those who have already left the state to come home?
- How do we elect a new governor who will advocate fiercely in the Legislature and throughout Vermont for new policies that will create long-term assets, despite short-term costs?
- How do we elect a new governor with a 10-year policy view, despite a two-year term that only fosters extreme caution and political survival?
We can only hope that Vermont’s new governor will make the kind of forward-thinking decisions that have served the state so well in the past.
Steve Terry is the co-founder of Worth Mountain Consulting.
