Biography
Served Vermont through 45 year career in health and human services. Served as Commissioner of Vermont Department of Aging and Disabilities and as Commissioner of Vermont Department for Children and families. Past Chair of Vermont’s Public Oversight Commission. Licensed Nursing Home Administrator for 17 years, and Chief Operating Officer of Agency of Human Services, including Director of Refugee Resettlement and Director of Rate Setting. Also served at municipal level as Select-board member, School Board member and local and regional Planning Commission Chair, Town Moderator, justice of the Peace and Assistant Judge for a total of 30 years.
Candidate occupation
Retired
Why are you running for office?
I believe service to others is a calling and I should help give back to others in any way possible. I hope I can contribute to make Vermont a better place to live for those who come after us, while helping to improve our quality of life now.
Issues in brief
Do you believe Vermonters are better off now than they were 10 years ago?
No
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?
Yes
Do you believe Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election?
Yes
Issues in depth
What would you do to help grow Vermont’s economy?
I would solicit economic development proposals from our regional economic development commissions aimed at supporting small business and I would help fund these proposals through revenue bonds.
What changes, if any, would you make to the way Vermont funds its schools?
I would work to reduce property values as the source of our school funding and shift our funding source more to our income than our property. What our homes might sell for has little todo with our ability to pay. Also more controls on spending will help with sustainability. The cost to support over 50 supervisory districts should be examined also.
Is Vermont doing enough, too much or not enough to address climate change? Please explain.
Our level of aggressiveness should be aligned with our progress in reaching ourreliance on fossil fuels. If we are not reaching our targets we need to increase our efforts. Strategies would need to advance our green economy. We should make sure our open spaces in our housing and conservation programs have cover crops planted wherever practicable.
Is Vermont doing enough, too much or not enough to regulate gun ownership? Please explain.
I have voted for gun safety measures in the past, including red-flag protections. I am under the impression that further efforts are best implemented at the federal level.
What would you do to help ease Vermont’s housing crisis?
Full funding of the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board at the statutory levels is a must. A robust development of mobil home parks for older Vermonters who want to down size will create housing for Vermont Family to move into. We need to direct state investments in this area.
How would you address rising homelessness in Vermont?
Vermont should purchase marginally economic motels and convert them into housing with case management and support services to help address the underlying issues contributing to the homelessness. Focusing on addictions, applying for social security when appropriate and securing employment when possible, among other assistance will help mitigate poverty. The challenge of homelessness will not be solved by any one action, but will require years of commitment and the will to address it with dignity for all.
What would you do to increase access to health care services for Vermonters?
To achieve continued healthcare access for Vermonters we must address the affordability issue. The cost is too high. We must change our payment systems away from traditional fee for service payments to a value based system which rewards providers for keeping people well. In short, we must pay for wellness not for sickness, whenever appropriate.
We must dramatically increase our efforts to attract people into the nursing profession and into primary care. We could pay for nursing education and for primary care physician education with the understanding people would have that cost covered if they agreed to stay in Vermont and work for a period of time. Without an adequate number of nurses and physicians no matter what we do we won’t have access to healthcare.
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 Yacovone’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.
