While I cannot vote for Roger Allbee - I live in Addison County - I would if I could!
I can attest to his strength of character, knowledge, experience, and bipartisan approach to policy development and some of his many accomplishments.
I have known him since he was my ROTC captain at the University of Vermont. I have rubbed elbows with him as he worked as an employee of the Farm Credit system in several capacities and when he worked in Washington, D.C. for the House Agricultural Committee with a focus on international trade and dairy issues.
More recently, I have observed firsthand his evenhanded approach to addressing complex agricultural issues as secretary of agriculture, balancing the need to develop diversification with the need to support, guide, and maintain our more traditional agricultural engine.
He worked to build a broad base that led to the overwhelming support of the Vermont Working Landscape Partnership by working with all stakeholders. He reactivated the Vermont Milk Commission. He pursued enforcement action when necessary with an evenhanded approach.
He helped and supported the 25 x 25 initiative in the state, one of the first state efforts to coordinate agencies with the goal of 25 percent of our energy produced by agriculture by 2025. He saw the resolution passed by the Legislature.
Getting the job done and the problem solved was always much more important than which way the political winds were blowing. He always considered others as his partners and part of the team, not just employees or opponents. He acknowledged their needs as well.
He is a student of history, building for the future, ever mindful of what hasn't worked in the past. While my interaction has been primarily in the agricultural arena, I, too, served (though only briefly) on a hospital board, so I know the breadth of knowledge and experience necessary to be a board member - let alone an administrator.
I urge you to vote for Roger Allbee. It is a vote for experience, a vote for knowledge, a vote for a balanced approach and compromise, and above all a vote for compassion and the well-being of Vermont.