Biography
I moved to Shrewsbury at 19 and married a local boy. We went to VTC together. We raised 3 successful, now adult, sons. All of our boys went through our local public schools and beyond. Many years ago, I worked for National Life as a Pension Analyst while my husband finished school and worked in Barre. When we had our first son, we returned to Shrewsbury full time. I’ve been Shrewsbury’s Zoning Administrator for many, many years as well as serving previously as an Auditor, Lister, and Development Review Board member. Currently I am the Animal Control Officer, and a Justice of the Peace. I’ve served as a School Director and Chair for 20+ years in all of the various iterations of school organizational structures in our area. I currently serve as a Guardian ad Litem in the Rutland Family Court and serve as an Employer Commissioner for Educators’ Healthcare. Past volunteering has taken many forms through the years from being the Four Winds program coordinator to helping resurrect our elementary ski program at Okemo to being treasurer to our local FIRST robotics team. I also help run my parents’ rental business, Vintage Homes LLC. At its largest we had 10 single family homes, now down to a manageable 5. I’m a busy person.
Candidate occupation
Zoning Administrator/Rental Agent
Why are you running for office?
The coming legislative biennium will be jam packed with important issues, school spending, school funding, lack of affordable housing, and healthcare spending are a few of the big ticket items that will likely be tackled. I bring my town level experience to the discussion. I think that experience is both valuable and much needed.
Issues in brief
Do you believe Vermonters are better off now than they were 10 years ago?
No answer
Do you believe Vermont needs a new education funding formula?
Yes
Do you support imposing new taxes on the wealthiest Vermonters?
Yes
Do you support the establishment of overdose prevention centers?
Yes
Do you support a ban on flavored tobacco products?
Yes
Do you support increasing penalties for property crimes such as shoplifting?
No
Do you believe Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election?
Yes
Issues in depth
What would you do to help grow Vermont’s economy?
Increase the availability of childcare, reduce healthcare costs for self-employed persons, increase funding to winterize homes. Find funding for villages to install wastewater systems that allow greater housing densities. So many things need doing…..
What changes, if any, would you make to the way Vermont funds its schools?
Hopefully we will find a way to fairly tax wealth rather than our heavy reliance on the property tax.
Is Vermont doing enough, too much or not enough to address climate change? Please explain.
Not enough, but we are 1 small state.
Is Vermont doing enough, too much or not enough to regulate gun ownership? Please explain.
Not enough. We need to hold gun owners responsible for the costs to our gun loving society. Liability insurance for gun ownership is one thing I’d like studied.
What would you do to help ease Vermont’s housing crisis?
Make funds available to developers in cities to build out the upper floors in so many of our small cities and towns. ADA compliance is expensive. Make $’s available to smaller villages and towns to build wastewater systems to increase building density. Ease the way for our many smaller motels to transition to efficiency and 1 bedroom apartments.
How would you address rising homelessness in Vermont?
So many of the homeless population is affected by both mental health and substance abuse issues. If these don’t get addressed they will continue to lose whatever housing is made available. Those who simply can’t afford housing need more programs to help them into housing and then continue to help them stay in housing.
What would you do to increase access to health care services for Vermonters?
Entice more healthcare workers with programs that pay down their student debt.
Financial disclosure
Candidates for state and legislative offices are required to submit a financial disclosure when filing to run. These disclosures include each source, but not the amount, of personal income of each candidate, and of their spouse or domestic partner, that singly or jointly totals more than $5,000 for the previous 12 months. The information provided is an opportunity for voters to learn about candidates’ potential conflicts of interest.
You can find Raymond’s financial disclosure here.
Disclaimer
We emailed a questionnaire to every candidate with a valid email address. The responses provided by candidates are in their own words. VTDigger has not edited or fact-checked information provided.
If this is your candidacy and you’d like to fill out the questionnaire or report an error, please contact us at voterguide@vtdigger.org.
