Out In The Mountains : News - Four Vie for Two Legislative Seats: Democrats and Progressives Run in Winooski

      WINOOSKI - Only Progressive and Democratic candidates - two in each party - are running for the slots in Chittenden 3-6. No Republicans are in this race to fill two seats in Vermont's assembly. One of the seats is being vacated by outgoing Rep. George Cross, while the other is held by incumbent Rep. Kenneth W. Atkins, a Democrat.
      Besides Atkins, Winooski's Mayor Clem Bissonnette, also a Democrat, is hoping to win a seat; and two Progressive candidates, Jean Szilva and Israel Smith, are also running. If Szilva wins a seat, she will be the only out lesbian serving in the legislature.
       Atkins, who has served in the House since 1999, earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees at UVM. He taught elementary education and was a coach in Vermont schools for 34 years until his retirement in 1998. Atkins voted against the civil union law on the final reading, although he approved it in earlier votes. He also voted against the attempt to repeal civil unions the following year.
      Atkins voted for the Gender Identity Nondiscrimination bill that was vetoed by Gov. Douglas this year.
      According to the Vermont Secretary of State website, Atkins is also a justice of the peace, is a charter member of the Winooski Spartan Boosters, and enjoys competitive pistol shooting and fishing.
       Bissonnette, mayor of Winooski since 1999, is making his first bid for a legislative seat. He retired from IBM after 36 years and is a life-long resident of Winooski.
      Last year, Bissonnette said he wanted Winooski to have town meetings to discuss the town's budget, like other Vermont towns, the Burlington Free Press reported. He expressed concern that there was little debate prior to voting for the municipal budget.
      Bissonnette has served as mayor during the recent redevelopment in the center of Winooski.
      Neither Atkins nor Bissonnette returned phone calls from OITM.
      Progressive Smith, an architect at Truex Cullins and Partners in Burlington, has lived in Winooski since 2004 and serves on the city's Advisory Planning Council. He says he supports same-sex marriage and the Gender Identity bill.
      Smith told OITM that "basing taxes on property value is not fair and it isn't working. Taxes should be based on income and ability to pay."
      "I will also push for expansion of clean and sustainable energy and energy conservation programs in Vermont," Smith continued. "We have to move forward towards making so-called 'alternative' energy the standard. This is not only the right thing to do environmentally for our future, but if the state had a real strategy for building Vermont up as the nation's leading center for 'green' energy and technology research, development, and implementation, then we could really secure our state's economic future as well."
      Szilva, the other Progressive candidate, was profiled in our last issue (Oct. '06 OITM). Szilva, a former physician, favors a universal, single-payer health care system. She has served on the Winooski school board and currently teaches at the University of Vermont College of Medicine.— Ed.