This story was updated at 10:35 p.m Friday and at 11:20 am Saturday with additional comments from Sen. Rodgers and Sen. Campion.
A Vermont state senator is under fire for sending his colleagues an email that used what the chamber’s leader said included “derogatory language” with homophobic undertones that targeted two senators, one openly gay.
Sen. John Rodgers wrote to his fellow senators Thursday morning after concerns were raised he had missed recent committee meetings and floor sessions. His use of the term “snippy little bitch” drew criticism from Senate President Tim Ashe, who said the Essex-Orleans Democrat’s committee assignments would be reviewed.
Rodgers apologized for the “ill sounding” email.
The email criticized the Senate Natural Resources and Energy Committee, which Rodgers is a member of and is chaired Sen. Chris Bray, D-Addison. Another committee member is Sen. Brian Campion, D-Bennington, who is openly gay.
Rodgers began the email: “After hearing the snippy question about what I have been doing while committees are meeting I thought I would let my colleagues know.”
Rodgers went on to explain that he and his wife had just purchased a family farm and inn. He said he was losing money due to Covid-19 and a lack of visitors. “On top of that,” he wrote, “I have my construction Business, doing stonework and excavation, that operates on a schedule based on when the legislature should get out.”
“I do not intend to go bankrupt and lose the farm that’s been in my family for almost 200 years to attend Senate meetings on nonessential legislation,” Rodgers wrote. “I am doing all of my constituent work and trying to keep up with what is happening in the Senate and have many friends that keep me apprised of what’s going on.”
He concluded the email: “So if any snippy little bitch wants to question where I am during committee meetings and what my values are I would challenge them to walk a mile in my shoes. My bet is that few could keep up with me until lunchtime say nothing about until 9 o’clock at night.”
He criticized the Natural Resources Committee for attempting to attach an Act 250 amendment to an affordable housing bill currently being debated on the Senate floor. He had specific problems with elements of the Act 250 amendment that he didn’t think the committee took adequate testimony on to reflect the views of those who live in more rural areas.
In a Senate caucus meeting Wednesday, Bray said: “I regret that, for good reasons I suppose, Senator Rodgers hasn’t been able to be with us for the last month,” when Rodgers questioned him about the Act 250 amendment on the affordable housing bill.
Later Friday, Bray said he accepted Rodgers’ apology.
“Today, Senator Rodgers did attend committee, and he apologized,” Bray said via email. “I accepted, and I plan to move on. We are elected to get work done on behalf of Vermonters.”
The second senator Ashe said Rodgers apparently targeted was Campion. During the Thursday floor session, Campion pushed back on the questioning that Rodgers was directing at his committee on the Act 250 amendment. Sen. Bobby Starr, D-Essex-Orleans, also accused the committee of not being transparent about its work on the amendment during the caucus.
“False accusations are serious things,” Campion said. “Earlier today during a public caucus the senators from Essex-Orleans, Senator Rodgers and Senator Starr, both accused the Senate Natural Resources and Energy committee of working in a sly secret manner when working on the Act 250 amendment.”
“I want to stand here right now and say I find those comments not only offensive but completely false,” he continued. “They reflect poorly, in my opinion, on the two senators and on their district as well as this body. And I hope in the future they will not make such accusations.”
Bray said the committee’s work has been conducted in “a fair, open, and appropriate manner” and that emails to the chair and agendas are sent to all committee members.
After Rodgers had sent out the early morning email, Ashe, D/P-Chittenden, sent out an email in the afternoon condemning the language Rodgers had used.
“John – I’ll cut to the chase – it’s totally unacceptable in your Senate role to employ any kind of name calling regardless of who it is directed at. It is still worse to use derogatory terms. It is also totally out of line to impugn the motives and integrity of the Senate and one of its committees,” Ashe wrote.
“While your email references broader concerns, the primary invective and the derogatory language you used seems to be directed to two members of your morning committee,” he continued. “One of those Senators is openly gay, which raises larger concerns about your choice of words. I will not tolerate this treatment of anyone in the Senate.”
“You owe Senators Campion and Bray an apology, and the rest of your committee and staff an apology as well. And you owe these apologies now.”
Ashe ended the email by saying he would be reaching out to Rodgers to discuss the email and “to discuss any implications for your committee assignments.”
In a follow-up conversation with VTDigger, Ashe said Rodgers’ comments had a “loaded nature” to them and they were “problematic.” Ashe said the comments were “totally unacceptable.”
The Senate pro tem said the Committee on Committees will be meeting with Rodgers to discuss his committee assignments moving forward. Ashe said a meeting has not been scheduled yet and that there hasn’t been a determination if it will be held publicly.
In a Friday morning Senate Natural Resources Committee meeting, Rodgers apologized to his committee members for the email.
“I would just like to apologize for losing my temper and sending out an ill-sounding email,” Rodgers said. He further explained that he wanted to express his frustration that he didn’t think a Zoom Senate floor session, especially when internet can be spotty, was an appropriate setting to debate a contentious topic like Act 250 reforms.
His committee members thanked him and accepted his apology.
Later Friday, Rodgers told VTDigger that the “snippy little bitch” comment was not directed at any specific lawmaker. He said the Zoom format for both voting and caucus conversations frustrates him because he can’t immediately respond to comments or thoroughly debate a bill – especially controversial ones – through his sometimes spotty internet connection.
The comment was generally directed at anyone who criticizes his work ethic, Rodgers said.
He disputed his comments had any homophobic undertones and that beyond his direct apology to his committee colleagues, he also sent a Senate-wide email apologizing for the comments.
“I probably should have gotten some more sleep the night before and there was a line in it I probably should have put in,” Rodgers said, referring to the email.
Campion said: “I feel Sen. Ashe handled the situation superbly, and I was pleased that Sen. Rodgers apologized to the Senate.”
This is not the first time Rodgers has been criticized for using harsh language over email. In January, when Rodgers had received national attention over a symbolic bill he introduced to ban cell phones (the bill was a statement on gun restrictions) Rodgers called a critic of the bill a “clueless fuck!” in an email.
Clarification: An earlier version of this story mistakenly attributed a particular phrase to Sen. Tim Ashe. While Ashe did characterize Sen. John Rodgers’ remarks about his Senate colleagues as “derogatory” and having a “loaded nature,” he did not specifically use the term “undertones.”
Xander Landen contributed reporting.