Here’s Part 2 of Deb Markowitz’s interview on VTblogosphereTV. In this clip, she clarifies the many roles of the Secretary of State’s office and explains its scope. It’s easy to be confused about the nature of the job, given that the Secretary of State on the federal level deals with foreign policy and state level Secretary of States only seem to gain notoriety when some election sketchiness rears its head (see Bush, George W.: Florida 2000, Ohio 2004).
Sure there’s policing elections, but business licensure, professional standards, consumer protection, open government decisions, and citizen involvement all fall under the Secretary of State’s purview. That means Deb has had responsibility for some major functions of state government for the past 12 years. She’s challenged Douglas on government secrecy and displays more energy and enthusiasm for the work of government in this interview than I have seen from Douglas in the past eight years.
The clip rounds out with a discussion of a couple of issues Deb has highlighted in blog posts– a green zone for Windham County and the Douglas Administration’s evisceration of the Vermont Seal of Quality. Particularly on the last issue, she gives a great sense of how she would take apart Brian Dubie without a hint of animosity. Very promising!
Part 1 is here
Stay tuned for Part 3.
[Note: No endorsement implied. Just continuing the VTblogosphereTV tradition of showcasing the qualities of the guest.]