MONTPELIER — Gov. James Douglas’ legacy will be that of a very mobile, skilled politician who was able to maintain allegiance of the state’s conservative voting block while deftly appealing to mainstream voters as well as fiscally conservative Democrats.
SHOREHAM — Students at Shoreham Elementary will be returning to school a little later than expected this year.
On Aug. 27, Addison County Supervisory Union (ACSU) officials announced the school will open on Sept. 14, almost two weeks later than the originally scheduled Sept. 2 opening. In a letter to Shoreham families, ACSU superintendent Lee Sease explained that the delay is due to the need to remove mold and asbestos in the school, discovered following a routine carpet cleaning in early July.
SHOREHAM — The Swinton sisters still remember the night in the early 1950s when a tugboat on Lake Champlain ran a barge aground on a sandbar, not far from the family’s home in West Bridport.
It was late, and the tugboat’s crew came over to the Swinton home to use the telephone — several times, as Peggy (Swinton) Clark, now 71, remembers it.
One thing led to another, and after several calls, the crew made plans to take their tug and head for Port Henry, N.Y., where the tugboat could make arrangements to have the stranded barge dislodged from the sandbar.
If political change is in the air following Gov. James Douglas’ decision not to seek re-election, it would seem that the race for governor is the Democrats’ to lose.
But lose they will if their agenda is seen by Vermonters as so liberal that the state simply cannot afford a party that seeks to expand government programs and will not be shy about raising taxes to pay for them.
Governor Jim Douglas announced Aug. 21 in Montpelier that he will not seek a fifth term in office.
I want to thank all of you for coming this morning.
I especially want to thank the members of my Administration for being here, as well as
my staff.
Since January 1973, after I was first elected to the Vermont House, I’ve been making the
trip over the Appalachian Gap from my home in Middlebury to serve the people in
Montpelier.
Jim Douglas is doing what only one other governor has done in the last 47 years: He is leaving office from a position of strength.
Every governor since 1962 – except for Deane Davis – stayed at least one term too many. The only problem was that no one knew it was too many until it was over.
Phil Hoff’s third and final term – he served 1963-1969 – was an absolute disaster, by his own admission. He was distracted by the national unrest and was exhausted by his first two terms.
MONTPELIER — In the wake of Thursday’s announcement by Gov. Jim Douglas that he would not seek re-election, speculation has focused on the mix of candidates likely to compete for the gubernatorial post.
Longtime Vermont political observer Eric Davis, Middlebury College professor emeritus of political science, said Douglas’s announcement was clearly timed “to give other candidates time to organize campaigns. The Democrats are out there already.”
