David Roth for VT
I'm David Roth, and am thrilled to announce that I am the Democrat running to represent Caledonia in the Vermont State. For those who don't know me, I'm a St. Johnsbury resident, a small business owner, and a North Danville sugarmaker.
My family and I chose to live and work in this remarkable part of Vermont, and I'm running because, over the last couple of years, I've increasingly heard the same concerns and frustrations that you have heard, from neighbors, teachers, parents, farmers, and small business owners; "the decisions being made in Montpelier are not making our lives better."
Our lives are not made better by losing control over our local schools, nor are our lives made better by eliminating families' access to the independent schools that serve our rural communities, or by weakening protections for our kids online. Our lives are not made better by mismanaging our health care system and losing our hospital or ambulance services, or failing to fix our crumbling roads. Our lives are not made better by starving the infrastructures that are vital to our rural communities or by party line votes only serve to divide us further.
Every business owner knows you can never "slash your way to growth," yet that has been the goal of too many politicians in Montpelier, and our current senator, for the last ten years. It's time for bold ideas that will result in real change.
Our lives will, however, be made better by tackling the high cost of living and the high cost of doing business in our very special corner of Vermont. That means investing in our region's infrastructure, growing our population, our economy and our tax base, making it easier to build affordable homes, and ensuring the people in those homes can find good jobs close to where they live. Our lives will be made better by growing the agricultural economy that represents the very best of Vermont, and our lives will be made better by ensuring that every single person who works their land can make a good living as a result of their labor by being paid a fair price for what they produce.
Bottom line, our lives will be made better by creating the environment the next generation of Vermonters needs to thrive.
Some would have you believe that too much government is the problem. I believe an inefficient, ineffective government is the problem. To paraphrase Ronald Reagan’s classic question: Are you better off now than you were ten years ago? I doubt it, and I know education, health care, housing and so much more has suffered.
Elections are fundamentally about priorities, leadership, and the future direction of our communities. Our District needs a new voice in Montpelier and a new approach: leadership that listens more closely, communicates more openly, and acts more boldly on behalf of the people who live here.
This is our Brave Little State, and Caledonia is Vermont's very brave little Senate district, and I will be working hard the next weeks and months to meet with neighbors throughout the District to learn your concerns, and build a vision of a better future together. I look forward to earning your trust and your vote.