Rematch set for Orange-Caledonia
Photo Courtesy of Vermont.gov
Voters may be familiar with the two candidates squaring off to represent the Orange-Caledonia District at the Statehouse.
State Rep. Joseph Parsons, R-Newbury, is seeking reelection while Kelsey Root-Winchester, a Democrat from Wells River, is his same opponent as in 2020. The district, which covers Groton, Newbury, and Topsham, was unchanged by redistricting.
Parsons, who has served on the Newbury Selectboard since 2019, was elected to his first term two years ago.
Parsons said in a recent interview that the “cost of housing because of [a] low vacancy rate” can be fixed with investment in contractors, “the workers who actually build the houses.” He believes that distributions of federal Covid relief funds to contractors through the Vermont Housing Finance Agency “was an appropriate use.”
Inflation compounds housing struggles as another challenge hitting people hard across the state. Annual inflation rates across the U.S. have ballooned in the past two years from 1.4% in 2020 to 8.2% in 2022, and for Vermonters living on fixed incomes the pressures have been mounting.
In order to address some of the cost of living expenses for living in Vermont, Parsons sponsored H.558, a bill that would adjust the taxable benefits received under Social Security by $10,000.
Root-Winchester, no stranger to the need for housing across the state, feels the Statehouse is “the next step to help the community further.” She’s been working with the Wells-River Action Program, a local nonprofit to establish affordable housing, “specifically 29 out of the 110 apartments around here,” she said, referring to local housing.
Other key focuses for Root-Winchester are education and health care.
“We have huge gaps in some of our trades programs … I’d love to see more programs, like we have River Bend Career and Tech Center in Bradford.”
She thinks plugging those gaps would alleviate some of the pressure faced by local tradespeople.
“If you try to call a plumber around here, you’re looking at months for a wait if it’s not an emergency,” she said.
Article 22 — the ballot initiative to shore up abortion rights in Vermont — is unsurprisingly another big divergence for the candidates.
“I’m not going to vote for something if I can’t explain what it means to my constituents,” said Parsons. He also believes the ballot item, also known as Proposal 5, creates new rights, the extent of which would have to be determined in court.
“Sometimes the rights of men and women come into conflict,” he said. “What if a man wanted to try to use this to get out of paying child support?”
Root-Winchester, on the other hand, calls the proposal “an important step in securing a woman’s right to choose.”
Both candidates found common cause with the state’s proposed juvenile detention center in Newbury. They expressed dissatisfaction with the decision last week by the Environmental Court to reverse the town’s rejection of the development permit application..
The decision was “disheartening … I want to see a facility like that built where they have services,” Parsons said. “It’s on a Class IV road that was closed this past mud season.”
Original story published in the Journal Opinion
