[S]tate Rep. Mike Hebert, R-Vernon, announced on Thursday he will not seek re-election this year so that he can devote more time to caring for his wife, who has been diagnosed with cancer.
In announcing the decision, Hebert, a four-term Republican, recalled a time when he had been gravely ill, in the fall of 2015. All he really remembered of the worst days, he said, was the constant presence of his wife, Deb. And the time had come, he said, to let the roles reverse.
“Since I was a little kid, my parents would tell us, there’s nothing more important than family,” Hebert said.
Hebert, 67, who serves on the House Health Care Committee, was elected to his first term in the House in 2011. Windham County’s only Republican legislator, he succeeded the retiring Rep. Patty O’Donnell, who also is from Vernon.
Being a member of the minority party in Montpelier, he said, has been frustrating, because “you’re infrequently on the winning side of the vote.” But the affable legislator said he has also forged strong bonds that transcend politics. “Everybody has their opinion,” he said. “I’ve never looked at it as personal.”
“We kind of have an ongoing joke: When I walk in to vote, and I hear his vote, I know I’m voting the opposite way,” said Rep. Matt Trieber, D-Bellows Falls.
Trieber and Hebert sit next to one another in the House chamber. Politically they have little in common — they joined the Legislature the same year — but they share mutual respect and friendship.
“Regardless of our different political views, Mike is a great guy,” Trieber said. “Difference in political views on certain things would never get in the way of the fact that he’s one of the kindest people I’ve ever met.”
Trieber added that Hebert is an “unbelievably hard worker” as a legislator.
Hebert has had plenty to do. Partway through his second term, the power company Entergy announced the closure of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant, eliminating hundreds of high-paying jobs in Vernon and a crucial tax-revenue source.
Responding to the shutdown of the state’s only nuclear power plant has been a long-term, multi-jurisdictional effort. Hebert played a role by helping to secure an extension and a slower phase-out for a property tax break that was related to Vermont Yankee.
That “saved our property owners millions of dollars in education taxes to the state of Vermont,” Hebert said.
Hebert was instrumental in another, more-recent victory for Vernon: He pushed successfully for legislation that allowed Vernon to vote itself out of a regional school union, meaning the town did not have to take part in merger talks that could have eliminated its popular, unique school choice options.
“This not only allows the parents of our students to make decisions for the best educational opportunities for their children, it has lowered our per-pupil costs and hopefully will continue to slow the rate of tax growth in our community,” Hebert wrote in a letter announcing his retirement.
Hebert also has worked on behalf of neighboring Guilford, including securing state funding to restore a dam at Sweet Pond State Park. A groundswell of resident support for that project helped push it along, but Hebert lobbied hard for the dam, joking that Sweet Pond became known as “Hebert’s damn dam.”
While those legislative efforts made headlines, Hebert said he’s most invested in everyday constituent service. “My most satisfying work is back home, when people call me with a problem navigating the system,” he said in an interview Thursday.
Hebert also has been a longtime member of Vernon School Board.
“I’ve always appreciated Mike’s commitment to the region and the Vernon Elementary School,” Vernon Selectboard Chair Josh Unruh said. “He will be missed as Vernon’s voice in the Statehouse.”
Hebert’s public service was briefly interrupted in fall 2015, when complications from gallbladder surgery landed him in a Massachusetts hospital for weeks. Hebert said he believes that were it not for his wife’s support and care throughout that ordeal, “I would not be here today.”
Deb Hebert retired last year. She was diagnosed with cancer around Christmas time, Hebert said. That prompted a re-evaluation of his future as a legislator.
Hebert said he is optimistic about the future due to his wife’s “courage, faith and positive attitude.”
“We know we will win this new campaign, move on to our plans for retirement, live together full-time, year-round and enjoy some date nights along the way,” he wrote in his letter to the community.
“I will continue to serve our communities in any way I can,” he wrote.
