Biography
Husband, father. Bachelor of Fine Arts. Served on Village Trustees and Selectboard. Volunteered on boards of local nonprofits, including The Children’s Room and Revitalizing Waterbury. Chaired Downtown Designation Committee. Served as President of the Board of Trustees of Downstreet Housing and Community Development. Chair, General & Housing Committee. Recipient of the Brenda Torpy Award for Support of Permanently Affordable Housing.
Candidate occupation
Retail
Why are you running for office?
To continue our work in providing equity in housing and the economy, as well as in climate justice and employment. With a split government and an aggressively antagonistic Supreme Court working to roll back democratic protections, it is incumbent upon us to keep them alive while looking to move progressive and needed policies like child care, climate resiliency and affordable housing.
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?
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?
Continue to house the homeless, feed those who are hungry, build affordable housing, support nonextractive businesses, fight for universal health care and paid family leave, all in order to build a foundation of societal wealth that will build our economy in the long run.
What changes, if any, would you make to the way Vermont funds its schools?
Start by studying where “the money” is if there are different places than from where we pull it now. We must continue to seek ways to pay for our Children’s education without returning to the days of inequity in both funding and quality of education.
Is Vermont doing enough, too much or not enough to address climate change? Please explain.
Not enough. While a tiny state, our commitment to mitigating climate change must continue to fight through the strong opposition that exists in the state and in the state house. I’m always amazed by the sheer number of people who either don’t believe climate change exists or that it is worth fighting.
Is Vermont doing enough, too much or not enough to regulate gun ownership? Please explain.
Not enough. Guns are readily available without requiring a legitimate accountability and responsibility for ownership. I’m more worried about the sheer number of guns out in the world and the free market has done little to mitigate the dangers. Responsible gun owners, at least individually, have tried to lead the way, but run into well-funded groups who try, and usually succeed, in defeating reasonable efforts to make our state safer.
What would you do to help ease Vermont’s housing crisis?
Continue what we are doing to house the homeless or those at risk of homelessness. That is the true housing crisis. Otherwise we have a severe shortage, just like every other state. We can’t control the cost of money or of building supplies, nor can we control the “market” that sets prices through sales. Many of the “knobs” we can turn are out of our control. That said, we can continue to encourage and reward building densely and with resilience, as well as making certain planning needs easier without threatening our commitment to conservation of our natural landscape.
How would you address rising homelessness in Vermont?
Fully fund eviction prevention programs that can keep folks in their homes at a far lower cost to the state than homelessness services. In balance, sustaining landlord efforts to keep their housing livable for more Vermonters. Funding and sustaining efforts like these has been difficult. The recent Supreme Court decision does not help us or our efforts.
What would you do to increase access to health care services for Vermonters?
Continue to support our efforts to provide health insurance to more low and middle income and senior Vermonters.
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 Stevens’s financial disclosure here.
Disclaimer
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