Biography
I grew up in a small town in south central Pennsylvania and attended local public schools. At graduation, I wanted to move to a city and to see how I would manage in a competitive academic environment. I chose Boston and Harvard and that ultimately led me to Danville, VT, because my roommate there was Toby Balivet. For the four years of college and the next eight years of medical training in Philadelphia, Danville continued to be a frequent destination as a place to “recharge my battery”.
In 1978 I came to Danville and started practicing internal medicine (primary care for adults) in St. Johnsbury, opening my own office three years later. I was later employed by both Northern Counties Health Centers and NVRH, the later establishing Kingdom Internal Medicine. I cared for people in the office, at the hospital, in the nursing home, and in their homes, at all hours.
In terms of community service, I have served as Moderator for Danville for over ten years and have served on the boards of NVRH, Fairbanks Museum, and Danville Senior Citizens Housing, for which I continue to serve as president.
My wife Beth Williams and I built our home in 2004 on land off Dole Hill previously hayed by Occie Beattie. Our kids are Adam Kennedy a graphic designer and trainer, and Sarah Kennedy a hospice nurse. I enjoy birding, playing the viola with local musicians, singing in the North Country Chorus, and monitoring a vernal pool for VCES.
Between now and election day I plan to reach out to voters in Cabot, Danville, and Peacham in order to learn their concerns and ideas. The Northeast Kingdom has been very good to me and now I want to help make it a better place through advocacy in the legislature, particularly around housing, education, public health, and public safety. Although I’m running as a moderate Democrat, my primary responsibility would be to all residents of these communities, and I am well suited to work with members of all parties.
Candidate occupation
Retired Physician
Why are you running for office?
The reasons I am running are the same as the reasons I became a doctor: I have the qualities and skill set to be an excellent representative. I like taking care of people, fixing things, and making people’s lives better. As a primary care physician, I listened carefully to each individual patient. After appropriate examination and studies, I applied what I knew in order to recommend a plan. Sometimes this involved reading in the medical literature or consulting with specialists. Ultimately, you stick with the patient over time, through uncertainty and good news and bad. In this era of conflicting political opinions, a steady and thoughtful consideration of all points of view is necessary. I will make every effort to reach out to residents of Cabot, Danville, and Peacham and bring their concerns to Montpelier. We want to do what’s best for them, our towns and our state. To get things done we must work together.
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?
No answer
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?
To help grow Vermont’s economy, particularly in our three towns of Cabot, Danville, and Peacham, we need to make housing more available, improve cell phone coverage and internet connectivity, develop apprenticeship and other training programs, support affordable child care, build resilience against future flooding, and generally make our towns attractive and affordable for young Vermonters.
What changes, if any, would you make to the way Vermont funds its schools?
The funding of Vermont schools has a fundamental problem in that the school spending budgets are separated from the funding process. The budgets voted by school districts all across the state are not linked to local property tax consequences. The legislature is caught in the middle. Because the state is responsible for equitable education funding but the local communities control the amount of spending, we pay a premium to have that local control. Current and anticipated property tax increases are not tolerable. I am learning about the complicated process in place and will support changes that will prevent continued double digit increase in property tax rates.
Is Vermont doing enough, too much or not enough to address climate change? Please explain.
Vermont can do more to address climate change: 1) Climate change is happening and we need to mitigate the impact, not only to reduce the damage from flooding but also to make sure that the cost is spread out over the whole population; 2) While Vermont is small in its contribution to global warming, nevertheless it needs to be part of the national response, which includes transitioning from fossil fuels, strengthening the electrical grid, and supporting local energy production and storage.
Is Vermont doing enough, too much or not enough to regulate gun ownership? Please explain.
Regarding gun ownership, I favor support of hunting and firearms safety. Current laws are appropriate. I have yet to hear justification for AR-15 type weapons in the community, as they are not useful for hunting and they are designed to cause catastrophic damage to any body they impact.
What would you do to help ease Vermont’s housing crisis?
It has been an eye-opener for me to witness the outsize cost of insufficient housing on our economy and on our citizenry. The answer has to be increased construction. The problem is not only the regulatory situation, but also the economic one: a developer can make a much better return in Chittenden county or Littleton, NH, than he can in our area. I am encouraged by the Vermont Housing Improvement Program and the example of developer Jonah Richard in Fairlee.
How would you address rising homelessness in Vermont?
Homelessness is partly related to the housing crisis, but also to issues of mental health, education, and job training. Everyone should have a stable place to stay and be safe. Those who are unable to achieve this will need to be assisted.
What would you do to increase access to health care services for Vermonters?
Improving health care access in Vermont will take growing the supply of primary care practitioners, including doctors, nurse practitioners, and midwives. The community health centers and federally qualified health centers are essential bases for this care. However keeping these practitioners will require improving access to housing.
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 Ziobrowski’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.
